Finding a place to belong is never easy, and Liza Anonymous is no exception. Directed by 3-time Tribeca Director Aubrey Smyth, Liza Anonymous tells a powerful story about a young woman’s struggle to fit in who goes on a witty journey of finding herself through one support group after another. The Smyth-directed short stars Danielle Beckmann and was an Official Selection for the shorts program at the 2021 Tribeca Festival.
Check out our interview with Aubrey Smyth and star Danielle Beckmann below!
The Knockturnal: So first off, huge congrats on the film for both of you guys. You, Danielle, for starring and then Aubrey as the director, and an even bigger congrats that it’s led by an award-winning all-women team?
Aubrey Smyth: I always tried to have women on set and behind the scenes as much as possible in heads of department roles. I love the collaboration of working with women. There’s just so much positivity on set and really so much talent in this. A lot of the crew were crew from my commercials actually. I really loved our crew. We filmed this in two days with five circular Dolly track setups and six different scenes with full production design and wardrobe. So in order to accomplish that in two days it’s a lot of locations. It really took a team that we had a shorthand with, we’ve been working together for a while, and we have that commercial background. So we know how to move fast and do these really ambitious projects in a day or two.
Danielle Beckmann: Yeah, we shot the whole thing in two days. So moving fast especially as me being the Executive Producer, I really appreciated [that]. I was like, this is great, you guys. I think the shorthand that Aubrey had with her crew was invaluable. It was really something special. It’s something that can take years to develop. So I felt really set up for success to enter onto a set where a lot of people already knew intuitively how to work together.
The Knockturnal: That’s amazing to hear. For Aubrey, so this is your third Tribeca Film in the last four years. What’s it like being essentially a Tribeca pro now?
Aubrey Smyth: I love Tribeca Film Festival. I’ve been going to it for 10 years, and it’s just one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. This year was very special because we were Official Selection in the competition. And at the last Tribeca, I had my documentary with Tribeca studios. So to be in competition on their 20th anniversary, right as the world is starting to open up again. New York is also opening again and it was just really so special. We were so happy to be included in that. We were at a venue with 600 seats that sold out in less than 10 minutes. It was really fantastic.
The Knockturnal: That’s incredible. And for you, Danielle. The writer of Liza Anonymous, Leah McKendrick, actually wrote the character of Liza specifically for you. What was that collaboration like between the both of you?
Danielle Beckmann: Yeah. So Leah, and I go way back. We went to college together. She knew that I was wanting a role to sink my teeth into I was doing a lot of Theater in New York City. That was a breakout role on camera and so she just wrote this script for me gave it to me as a gift. You know, she said, I want to play to your strengths, I want to do something you want to do. And after a couple of discussions, this is what surfaced. I said I want to play a bunch of different things in one in one piece, and I had no idea what that would look like at the time. And so Leah’s comedic screenwriting brain is so sharp and so fun, and I love how it turned out. I couldn’t have asked for a better script. And because the project started with the two of us, she gave it to me and then said, ‘Okay, go for it.’ So I could have just let it sit on my hard drive and instead, I chose to raise the money and hire everyone and make it happen. I’m really grateful for that gift she gave me.
The Knockturnal: For those who haven’t seen the film, Liza is very unique for short. How would you describe her?
Danielle Beckmann: She’s definitely someone searching deeply for love and acceptance, approval, appreciation. She has all these unmet needs in her life. And of course, it was a short film, so we only had 12 minutes to tell the story. But if Liza goes on to something like a feature or a series, we’ll be able to tell more of her backstory. But she’s definitely what I would consider an outsider. She is searching for belonging in a very extreme way. And as she jumps into these personas, it’s almost like her riding that high of adrenaline of feeling that love feeling acceptance. But it’s a quick fix. And we all know that things can’t last forever, the burnout is real. And so the film deals with what happens when you can’t keep the charade up.
The Knockturnal: Danielle, did you find yourself relating to Liza a lot?
Danielle Beckmann: Yeah, you know, actually, I found myself relating to her more, after we shot the film, because of quarantine, and COVID-19 actually. I found myself relating to the isolation aspect of Liza. And really searching for community but not exactly knowing how to go about it and feeling awkward and stumbling and navigating brand new waters, you know, as 2020 really rocked all of our worlds. Of course on a human level, I think we all relate to realizing that we all want to be seen, we all want to be loved. We all want to be the funniest person in the room. We all want people to clap for us and have the applause like she desires. And in my life, I wouldn’t go to the extremes she does. But I’ve gone to pretty intense places to get that validation. And so I think the more that we recognize and have that empathy for others to say, okay, hey, this person seems to be acting out. Maybe there’s something under the surface. Maybe, what are they really searching for? Having that empathy, I think, is really important. So I hope that people get that from the film, too.
The Knockturnal: If Liza were to get picked up for a series, what do you think that would look like?
Danielle Beckmann: Ooh, juicy question.
Aubrey Smyth: Well, we can’t say too much about that yet. We’re planning our next move. So stay tuned. [laughs]
Danielle Beckmann: Yeah, I mean, honestly, right now, because we just had our first premiere. We had our dream festival, obviously, we’re just so excited for the festival route, and to see where all of that takes us. But it would be a dream to get to play Liza, for years into the future. And as we all know, film and TV production takes years.
The Knockturnal: What do you hope the viewers get out of seeing this short?
Aubrey Smyth: Well, I actually wanted to say something [and it] relates to that, is how Danielle was talking about empathizing with Liza. One thing as I was directing it {was} I thought about the shots and how they can visually help you empathize with her. Danielle’s performance was just so spectacular and really helped you feel what Liza’s feeling and all those situations. Then we added to it too, like having the circular Dolly track go around Liza. We did that because she’s centered, and she wants all the attention around her. And then later, at the very end, she moves through the space with a little bit more wonder. ‘Where am I?’ [referring to] the improv scene at the very end. I think using the camera to help you feel for her was something that I wanted the viewer to take away. But that’s less from a team perspective and more from a visual perspective.
Danielle Beckmann: You also you never know, really what someone is going through in the lengths they’ll go to feel seen. And so I hope that Liza makes people stop for a second.
Aubrey Smyth: Ultimately, as a comedy, we hope it’s a very enjoyable experience and that the jokes hit. One thing about being in Tribeca this year, the first in-person Festival in the northeast, was hearing the reactions of the crowd, which, you just can’t get without being in an audience. And to hear the laughs and their reactions were so validating. You put so much work into the film, and the payoff was at the premiere and hearing those laughs So, you know, ultimately, we want people to take away having a good time at the movies.
Danielle Beckmann: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that.
The Knockturnal: Finally, with COVID now that you brought that up, I feel it seems to play a role in the film especially when it comes to isolation even though it was pre-COVID. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Danielle Beckmann: So it’s interesting, we actually shot in November 2019. So we shot about three or four months before lockdown. So we did post-production all during 2020, during COVID. And the timing just happened to work out. So I think the idea of isolation was the thing that Liza was already going through, and it just happened to be that all the world was going through it after we released the film as well. So I think the timing just lined up there and art imitating life on accident.
Aubrey Smyth: I like that, art imitating life on accident. We were lucky that we filmed before the pandemic started, but we do think that, yeah, without meaning to there are themes touched upon what a lot of people were feeling this year. So we’re happy that we were able to create a character that kind of spoke to people in that way. Yeah.
Danielle Beckmann: Absolutely. And it and doing post-production completely virtually was very interesting. But we made it work.
The Knocturnal: Yeah, you guys definitely did. Congratulations on the success of your short and I can’t wait to see what you both do next.
Danielle Beckmann: Thank you, Ashlee. It’s been lovely chatting.
