In Connect Savannah's 2005 article, I read that you had moved to Los Angeles. I'm curious, are you now living in Savannah full time?
Stephen Stanley: Yes, so actually, I moved to Los Angeles, worked out in LA for ten years. First, at a talent agency called The Gersh Agency, which is one of the larger talent agencies in the business. Then, in distribution, I started and ran a distribution company. At the time, when I moved, I was writing and directing. I got out there and realized my real passion and skill lied in producing so after working in the business, I started producing feature films on the side and then realized I really wanted to do that as my main focus.
When did you move back to Savannah?
Stephen Stanley: I met my [now] husband actually here in Savannah, and we moved out together and then he actually got a job back here first, SCAD brought him back. He's the director of ShopSCAD. So that was 2017, and then, of course, we wanted to be in the same city and I love the school and we started talking. I had taught at Lacoste, [France] for two summers in 2017, 2018. And then they brought me back on full time in 2018. So now I'm based here, I teach at SCAD and then also produce about one movie a year, sometimes it's every other year, but I keep producing feature films.
So this film "Ganymede," can you tell me a little bit about what it's about?
Stephen Stanley: "Ganymede," is a mash up. It's a southern gothic thriller, mashed up with a LGBTQ coming-of-age story, which may sound a little crazy. The director is Colby Holt and Sam Probst. They really wanted to explore the terror that comes along with being in the closet in rural areas in red state America. So they're from Indiana and Kentucky. I grew up in Appalachia, in a small town in east Tennessee. So we all experienced that while there's this really vibrant, queer community in these rural areas now, there's also a lot of fear. There's a lot of fear no matter where you are, particularly recently, as this legislation has come about in many states is further marginalizing LGBTQ youth. So they wrote this story, really thinking about coming out of the closet as a creature feature.
This young man is attracted to a boy in his class. He's from a very conservative, very politically powerful dynasty in this small town, and the more he's attracted to another young man in his high school, the more this creature begins stalking him. So we made a practical creature. We kind of play with a lot of horror conventions. I wouldn't describe it as horror, I would describe it more as a southern gothic thriller. But we play with a lot of horror conventions, to explore that terror that comes with having shame and having a secret. It could be any number of secrets, really, we hope it can resonate with a broader audience who might understand that weight that carrying shame brings to us. So throughout the film, Lee, who is the main character, is dealing with this attraction. His family puts him into conversion therapy and electroconvulsive therapy with their pastor and so Lee has to eventually make a choice: Does he carry this this generational shame from his family or does he break free and try to be his true self?
Where did the filming take place at?
Stephen Stanley: We actually filmed in Paducah, Kentucky. So through the SCAD network because I'm SCAD, [and] another faculty member, Amanda Kulkoski, who was our gaffer, the person who handles all the lighting. Amanda then brought on recent graduates that she'd worked with and students, and so just because of all our Savannah connections, we had a lot of Savannah folks involved.
So how long did it take from start of filming to completion?
Stephen Stanley: We filmed in June and July of 2022 and we really just finished post [production]. You know, it takes a year or more, really to finish a film. I first read the script in 2019, but with COVID and everything else, it's taken us almost four years to get it to the screen.
What are you hoping that audience members and viewers take away from from watching the film?
Stephen Stanley: Our biggest goal with this film is to start a conversation or to be part of a conversation if it's already started. We want LGBTQ youth and their families and allies to hopefully use the story of struggle and eventual triumph, maybe that's a spoiler; to use this story of this young man's struggle with shame and be able to one, hopefully gather hope from it, to maybe feel less alone, and to see, through someone else's path, a potential path for themselves. We also hope for people who maybe aren't allies to watch this film and see the incredible amount of fear and pain that can be caused by a lot of the words and deeds directed at a community. So, we do hope it can maybe change some minds. One of our characters really undergoes a transformation through the film in watching her son struggle with coming out. Of course beyond all that, we hope we've made an entertaining movie. It's fun, as dark as it is, it's got a lot of humor. It has a lot of warmth, much like the ones inspired by Tennessee Williams or movies like "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte." It mixes the terror and the tragedy with love and comedy, because that's what life is, right? So, that's three things but I mean, we hope it is an entertaining movie that people will enjoy, we also hope that it will start a conversation.
Tell me a little bit about some of the feedback and the awards it's received thus far.
Stephen Stanley: We premiered in Chicago about three weeks ago. That was our first screening anywhere. This is our second screening. In Chicago, we had a sold out theater, a really diverse crowd, people loved it. You never know as a filmmaker what people are going to think of a film and both the directors and I were optimistic but you know, there's always a little bit of, you know, worry there too. We won the Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature at the film festival, which is the Reeling Film Festival. It's one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ film festivals in the country. Then, we decided we wanted to play it here. We have a lot of Savannahians that were part of this movie. Particularly with SCAD, we had faculty, staff, alumni, students as cast, crew, advisors and helpers. It was also important for us to play in Savannah, just because it's my home and it's a city in Georgia where these sort of discussions are all happening. We've gotten so far great response, so I'm very encouraged and then we plan to keep rolling it out in screenings at festivals and special screenings, and then eventual national distribution.
What else would you like us to know about the film?
Stephen Stanley: We have a wonderful cast. Pastor Royer is played by David Koechner that people know from "the Office," and from "Anchorman." He's a wonderful comedian, but here he is playing our villain. We have Robyn Lively who people know from "Teen Witch" and "Karate Kid," a really amazing actress [who] plays Lee's mother. Joe Chrest from "Stranger Things" is the father, so it's a really fun cast. You know, we're a small film, but we're one that we feel punches above our weight.
The film screens on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center at 7pm. For updates and more information, visit their Instagram handle @ganymede_movie.
