Tasha Hardy is a writer and producer with extensive experience in film and video. She won “Best Texas Writer” at the 2019 Austin Revolution Film Festival and is a three-time optioned writer. Tasha’s scripts have won first place five times in competitions and her work has made it to the finalist round in over ten other contests. Her resume includes producing the Star Trek special “World Enough and Time,” starring George Takei, and the television pilot, “Hollywood Quad,” starring Bryan Cranston. We had the opportunity to speak to her about her career and the short film titled ‘Curiosity’, which will be screened at the FirstGlance Film Festival.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Firstly, for readers who are unfamiliar with you and your work, what drew you to the film industry?
Believe it or not, the first inclination I had was when I went to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the first time when I was sixteen years old. I got obsessed with it, and joined the on-stage cast as “Columbia.” I got into other dark, odd movies after that. I think I saw every Terry Gilliam movie from the ’80s & ’90s approximately ten times. My main interest was rooted in deep, darker humor that had a unique perspective/commentary on the human condition.
Who has been most influential on your career to date, and why?
Most recently actor/comedian John Lehr. For years after I moved from Hollywood to various other parts of the country, I hid from the industry and wrote. I convinced myself that because I was writing scripts I was still “in it” and “trying” but in the background had kind of given up. After I wrote the pilot for “Curiosity” I blind emailed John after seeing him and Bob Clendenin on the show “Quick Draw.” He took me under his wing, a total stranger, and mentored me through the whole TV proof of concept process, introduced me to the director James Sunshine, etc. He had total trust and faith in the project and it transformed my perspective on getting into the industry.
As a filmmaker, how do nurture your creativity, particularly with regard to writing? And, as a producer, what do you look for in a script or screenplay?
I’m in a heavy producing phase right now, however, I am always rewriting an old script or TV pilot at the same time. I’ll just rewrite 1-2 pages a day and keep sending it off for feedback. It takes forever, but if I stop writing and only produce I get pretty anxious pretty fast. (And feel a weird “emptiness.) As a producer, I look for depth, authentic humor, and different perspectives on relatable stories.
Observing current trends and independent productions, how would you assess the quality and importance placed on screenplays; does it reflect the level of interest and funding available for indie filmmakers?
That’s a tough one because I think it depends a lot on the genre and also is it a known filmmaker. Filmmakers we trust like Wes Anderson for instance – he can embrace that style of filmmaking and get more easeful results whereas an unknown writer with a similar tone might be invisible. I hardly ever watch movies anymore as I feel like they’ve lost their magic for me in general. Reboots and franchise-oriented films are just not my bag. Television has really raised the bar and I love long character arcs, and a lot of the shows now are fantastic.
Your resume and accolades include winning Cannes Gold & Silver Medals, producing the Star Trek special “World Enough and Time,” with George Takei, and producing the television pilot Hollywood Quad starring Bryan Cranston. To date, what career achievement are you most proud of and why?
I would say “Curiosity” because it was something I wrote and had only produced for others in the past. I felt so strongly about telling this story, I crowd-funded over one month, mostly by myself, and produced it almost entirely remotely from Texas during Covid (it was shot in LA). I had never met any of the seventeen cast and crew until I stepped foot on set and the actors donated their time because they believed in the project so much. It was a magical experience!
Congratulations on the success of your short film “Curiosity,” which received its world premiere at the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival in July last year. For the benefit of our readers, please tell us more about the film and what audiences can expect.
The film stars Bob Clendenin, Eddie Steeples, John Lehr, and Joseph Reitman and was directed by James Sunshine. It’s a short film and TV proof of concept.
“Curiosity” is about a bored, small-town mailman who has a not-so-secret double life of spying on people. When he witnesses the girl of his dreams being kidnapped, it sends him into hyper stealth mode, working alongside his younger, skeptical friend Dustin – a cop wannabe – to save her.
The movie’s theme revolves around the main character feeling invisible but wanting to make a difference with people. I feel we can all relate to this on some level. Also, this is a very diverse project, with positive commentary and undertones of racial inclusion and understanding.
Please tell us more about the origins of the project and the development of the characters.
I was home for Christmas one year, in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere Michigan, talking to my stepdad (a retired mailman) about his troubled but best friend Dan, who happens to be twenty-five years younger than him. Dan had recently visited a psychiatric hospital, after falsely believing he had a series of terrible ailments that led him to a mini-nervous breakdown. My stepdad pulled him out as he always does, the same way Dan had pulled him out of a period of depression in the recent past. I started thinking about how interesting (and often amusing) their relationship is. How they both love to gossip, but also help the people in the town (oftentimes against their will). How much time they spend together despite their age and background differences. How broken they both are, but how their odd friendship bonds them together. I thought, “This could be a show.”
The film received a positive response as a Short film/TV proof of concept. Will the project be developed further?
The whole idea with that is James and I getting into networks to pitch. My current game plan is to invite managers and development executives to festival screenings (we’ll be at FirstGlance in Los Angeles in March) and to get as much press as possible. It’s challenging because you obviously can’t just email Hulu or Netflix to set up a meeting (I’ve tried, but it doesn’t work haha) unless you’re at a certain career level, so I continue to think of back-door strategies. (Or more like “break-in” strategies!)
What other projects are in the pipeline?
I’m producing another short/TV POC that I wrote with my writing partner Keiko Tamura called “I Love You So Much.” We have a couple of name actors interested and will be raising money for that in the spring. I Love You So Much” is an award-winning silent film about a musician who loses her hearing and has to integrate into a new community, finding hope in a repeat customer at her new job at a deaf cafe. Having left a singing career behind, she finds a unique way to make a daily positive impact that ultimately leads to saving a stranger’s life. Other than that, rewriting old scripts!
Where can readers find out more about you? ( please provide any updated websites/ social media links)
https://www.curiosityshortfilm.com/
Creative Portfolio: https://tashahardy.carbonmade.com/
Facebook: tasha.hardy1
Instagram: hardy.tasha
Twitter: @TashaPHardy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashahardy/
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