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Ep 130 - Heir Of The Witch - An interview with filmmaker, Victoria U. Bell
432 Plays1 year ago
We talk to Victoria Bell regarding her new movie, Heir Of The Witch which streams everywhere from 4th August.
She discusses her influence for the movie -
Heir of the Witch is a story that was
drawn from my personal fears. anxieties and individual
experiences. In my youth, I learned to write from my
heart and immerse into my deepest feelings and at
times was hesitant and ashamed to admit my families
dark, malevolent past and reveal my worst nightmares.
The story of Heir of the Witch was birthed from my own
childhood happenings. My grandmother on my paternal
side, was a formidable witch. I was told she sold her soul
to the devil and couldn’t die until the spirit of the
darkness released her ghost only after she passed the
“gift” to someone else. Until this day, we do not know
who she passed this “gift” on to as we no longer
associate with that side of the family for fear of
condemnation.
My father abandoned us when I was only 1 year old. His
actions were a result of my grandmother’s “work” or so
she claimed. I grew up with vividly, terrifying nightmares
and a heaviness that carried though my waking
moments that made me consistently fearful and weary
of my surroundings. It wasn’t until I spent several
months in a monastery continuously praying that this
heaviness was lifted and the nightmares went away.
I’ve always felt a deep shame and never wanted to
admit that my paternal grandmother was a witch. But
shame cannot survive in the same space as
vulnerability. So I started to write…. Write what I know,
write what I fear, write from where it hurts. Something
cathartic happened through the process of producing
this film. By speaking out about my fear and shame, I
have conquered that within myself and have put the
past behind me.
She also discusses women in the film industry and her thoughts on the paranormal.
Check out the trailer - https://youtu.be/GC34fDuvCuU
Website - https://www.heirofthewitch.com
Follow us on www.pursuitoftheparanormal.co.uk
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the worst nightmare of all. Reality. Explore the lesser known stories of our unknown world. Join the pursuit of the paranormal with Ash and Greg.
00:00:24
Speaker
Right. So on this episode, we are joined by Victoria Bell, who's creative director of Pasha Entertainment and has come on to talk about a new film that is going to be streaming from next month called Air of the Witch. Welcome along, Victoria. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
00:00:47
Speaker
So after seeing the trailer and reading your statement as director about the film itself, absolutely
Inspiration and Personal Influence
00:01:00
Speaker
fascinating. It is kind of thing we would talk about as a real life thing anyway. We cover the paranormal, we cover cryptids, aliens, everything under the paranormal banner. So when I started reading,
00:01:15
Speaker
about how the film was inspired to be created, it definitely pricked my interest. So you've got a particular sort of strong link to the story behind the film. Could you sort of explain the origins? How did you come about the storyline and how did you start the process?
00:01:45
Speaker
Yes. Well, the movie is called Air of the Witch, and it was born and inspired from my direct connection with my grandmother. My paternal grandmother was a witch, and she was the reason behind my nightmares from my childhood, but it also followed me all throughout my adulthood as well. I was all the way up until my second year of college when I still had this
00:02:15
Speaker
sensations that there is a different presence, there is a spirit, that's a dark spirit that is present with me at times. And it was very different and unique. And I couldn't mistake it for anything else. And I knew it was there. And it was a long battle for me, a long battle to rebuke those spirits to rebuke that energy to tell it it's no longer welcome here and to
00:02:44
Speaker
self-protect myself into disengaging with those spirits. And I was, no, I kept it very hidden. It was my lifetime secret. And it was also a shame in my own family to admit that my grandmother was a witch. We no longer keep in touch with that side of the family, with my father's side. My parents did break up when I was a year and a half.
00:03:14
Speaker
My grandmother took credit for that. She said that she separated the marriage, that she created so much anguish in my family, that she did not want my mother to be part of the family. So I tried my best to separate myself from that pain. I tried my best to leave it behind, like a wound, trying to cover it.
Film as a Personal and Cultural Exploration
00:03:38
Speaker
You put all these band-aids. But then I realized that
00:03:41
Speaker
If I'm going to write a film, if I'm going to write a movie, I'm going to be, I'm going to put a flashlight, big flashlight directly on my wound. And I'm going to talk where it hurts the most. I'm going to talk about what I'm ashamed of. And my family was very much against it. My family was encouraging me not to talk about it, not to even show the connection between it. It just said, you know, just say that it's fiction. It's all in your head.
00:04:10
Speaker
And I had to be honest because as a creator and as a writer and as a film director, we owe to our audience our hearts and our honesty. If we don't show up fully honest and present in our art, then why are we even creating and putting everything on the line for a movie? So that's how Air the Witch was started. It started from my own connection and fear.
00:04:35
Speaker
But then, of course, I took the movie and the script on a roller coaster ride and I brought in a lot of fiction in it because you have to, as a creator, as a writer, you have to bring a lot of elements that are supernatural and they're spooky and exciting. And there is a lot of, in the movie, that it's relating to humankind and connection and human needs, like, you know, the lead
00:05:03
Speaker
of the movie, she is going through such an intense agony. And we all go through our own inner battles, where we all fight our own inner demons. And I wanted to show that on the screen, that Anna, she may be a good human, but she's still faced with challenging decisions.
00:05:29
Speaker
And what is she choosing? And her choices have consequences. I just want to take it back a little bit. There's a few things I want to build on from what you just said, but I want to take it back maybe a bit. Because you're in the USA, but there's a definite European accent in there. I was wondering what's just interesting, what's your background, where you're from originally? Yeah, I'm originally from Republic of Moldova. It's right next to Ukraine, that tiny little country. We have
00:05:59
Speaker
great wine and beautiful women. And it's a beautiful little country. I left home when I was 18, sorry, yes, 18, I went to college in Romania. And then I came to the States at 21. And I called my home US, it's my home now, but I always have that strong and deep connection with Moldova. And that's where I brought that element of my folklore and my culture and my history into the writing.
00:06:26
Speaker
because it's part of me, it's part of who I am. And I found a great healing and that process to be so honest and be so open with your intimate feelings and history and background. And it's been a beautiful process to just come from the place of your heart and this movie making journey.
00:06:55
Speaker
But yeah, I'm originally from Republic of Moldova. I go there often. I go to visit my family. I just came back a couple of weeks ago. Some of my family lives in Germany, though. So I go off to Europe. And yeah, I love it. I still keep very close to my family.
00:07:13
Speaker
So Europe has got quite a long history compared to say the United States and certainly in Eastern Europe and there's even more of a deep history of paranormal witches, that kind of thing. So you mentioned that your paternal grandmother was a witch.
00:07:39
Speaker
How did you find that out? What impact did that have?
Childhood Experiences and Family Legacy
00:07:44
Speaker
I know you said it split your parents up and she took credit for that. But how do you find out that your grandmother's a witch? I've always known. So I grew up on my maternal grandmother's side. So we moved away from my paternal side. And growing up in this new village,
00:08:08
Speaker
I remember being told by my family, by people around me that my grandmother on my dad's side was a ferocious witch, how they would call her. She was powerful and she could create things. And part of me was terrified that part of me was curious, like, what do you mean a witch? What does she do?
00:08:35
Speaker
And I was always kind of shushed around it. There was always this topic, we don't talk about it. We don't mention it out there. And I was about five or six years old, maybe less, maybe more. I don't know the exact timeframe. But my sister took me to my aunt to visit, which lives in the same village with my paternal grandmother. And I was there
00:09:02
Speaker
briefly and my grandmother said come to my house I want to do a spell for protection for you because you're going back on the road and I want to make sure that you have protection on your side and I had no idea what could that be and just very gullible and believing in the adults that's supposed to be taking care of you and be trustworthy I went with her and
00:09:27
Speaker
And she sat me, I don't remember just now, she sat me in her living room, she gave me a chair, she sat me down, and she took this ball. There was a metal ball. And I don't know, I was just sitting there, just thinking about little things as a little girl could, I don't know what I was thinking, maybe just my road trip, my playtime. And then all of a sudden, I hear this whispers. And it was terrifying. The things she was saying,
00:09:57
Speaker
that takes the blood of animals to smear me and to do things to me and may I act like a certain animal and may I show up as the spirits. And I was terrified. And I remember in my little mind of a child, I was thinking, Victorita, just don't listen to this. As long as you don't listen to it and don't let it
00:10:25
Speaker
Penetrate your mind and your existence. It will not have an effect on you and as much as I try I close my eyes and I try to not listen to her and her whisper like spearing through my head of the things you would say so she then took this She took I don't know what it was because I couldn't see but she took liquids and she poured it in that hand
00:10:48
Speaker
It was like a metal pan and she poured liquids and then she poured like some metals and different objects, different textures out here. And she started spinning it and she started doing things that were just, they're not being able to see what she was doing there on top of my head. It was more horrific than probably what she was doing in fact, but just as a little child at the moment, just wanting to run away. But that inability, just think about us as children when we're exposed and very,
00:11:18
Speaker
unsafe environments and as children not being able to actually speak up, we know something's wrong. But having that trust and looking up to the adults around you and saying, you know, I'm supposed to trust this person. I'm supposed to be safe here by knowing you're not safe. And I feel this deep anxiety and fear inside me that I had to leave, but couldn't because she had this authority around me.
00:11:45
Speaker
And my sister walked in and when she saw what happened, she grabbed my hand and we left. And I never went back there. I never visited that side of the family. I never kept in touch with them. I don't talk. We don't keep in touch. We don't talk. I wish everyone the best. I do not hold anything against them. And I don't want to put the whole side of the family in, you know, bad apple, like I'm sure.
00:12:11
Speaker
There are a lot of good people in that side of the family. We just don't keep in touch. And more so than anything, I found within me the compassion to understand and forgive my grandmother. Because for the longest time, I was trying to understand why would my grandmother, who I was the fruit of her family, why would she inflict pain into us? And to us as a little child,
00:12:40
Speaker
that I could have not done anything wrong to her or done anything against her, why would she want to inflict that pain and that fear? And I had to find the compassion to understand that when she probably inherited this curse or this gift that she accepted it, she was probably very young and she was facing some challenging times. Like this is the times where
00:13:07
Speaker
There was famine in my country where we're talking about people eating our people, cannibalism being a matter of being a survival skill. People are afraid to leave their homes because they may not come back home and facing the war and facing extreme condition. So in that situation, what would a human do? They would
00:13:35
Speaker
in desperate condition, they will go to desperate sources. And maybe that was her only way to survive that timeframe. And maybe it was transferred to her from her, excuse me, from her mother. And she had no choice in it. Or maybe she chose it herself. I do not know the actual history behind it. But what I did find in myself,
00:14:04
Speaker
ability to forgive her and release that pain. Because from what I'm understanding, before she passed away, she had many years she was battling, she was on her death bed, and she could not die. Because she had to transmit, she had to share and give that curse, that gift to someone else in the family. And they had to be aware of it and accept it. And nobody wanted to accept it.
00:14:37
Speaker
That journey of her soul separating from this earth and it couldn't leave until it was releasing that trap that was captured in and the dark spirits. And until this day, we do not know who she passed on that curse. We do not know what happened. We do know she did pass away eventually. And I hope she's resting in peace and I hope she
00:15:04
Speaker
I hope she found peace in her soul ultimately. So you mentioned obviously this
00:15:12
Speaker
quite a dark sort of part of your growing up and also your grandmother's life to sort of get to that point, like you mentioned, through famine and cannibalism, which I didn't realize that was something that happened. So if I give my ignorance on all of that, considering we're sort of European neighbors,
00:15:42
Speaker
Do you think when she was doing these things to you with the liquids and the metal, that she was maybe trying to induct you into her life, her spirit, to try and start initiating you to be the one who took over? Oh, I'm not saying that!
00:16:09
Speaker
I hope not because who knows probably because afterwards, like I mentioned, um, I felt that presence around me. And maybe if part of me was curious about it, I would have accepted it. I don't know what would have happened, but I knew, and I felt it deep into my body and my heart. This is wrong. I do not want it around me. I do not want it in my life and I do not want to have anything to do with it.
00:16:38
Speaker
And I rebuked it. I said, you're no longer welcome here. I am protected. I am highly protected. And I cleansed myself and my soul and my heart and my home. And I went straight to prayer. And I know this might be controversial with this topic and the movie and everything else, but to me personally, what it did is it created a very clear line.
00:17:05
Speaker
my connection to direct the source and God. Because to me, it explained very deeply and straightforward. There is a battle between good and bad. There is a difference between the good energy and bad energy between light and darkness. And as long as you're aware what you choose, you may know what the consequences are. And to me, what it did for me is it created a very direct and personal relationship with God.
00:17:33
Speaker
And I'm very grateful for that because without this challenging times of feeling, truly feeling the dark spirits around me, like it was heavy, it was present. It was like omnipresent everywhere and only direct call to protection to God. It would rebuke it from my room and it left and I'm
00:18:02
Speaker
I'm respectful of all energies out there, but I want to connect with light. That's what my choice is. And we as human and we as creators, we are powerful creators. Don't forget that we all have that power within us to create things with our speech, with our words, with our actions, with our intention. So if you choose to concentrate on good, more good will come out of it. And I respect
00:18:29
Speaker
all people and all energies and entities, but choose the energy you're aligned with properly, whatever will make best choices for yourself. And yeah, that's what it worked for me. And I'm really grateful because throughout, actually throughout making this movie was such a healing process for me. Because even though I remove that energy and feel at peace and I feel good, I mean, I always face challenges, don't think,
00:19:00
Speaker
I have my own life and difficulties as every human does. But in the midst of the biggest chaos, I always find peace. And that peace is within me and that peace is with me and it cannot be taken away. And even when I face difficulties that could potentially be big challenges, I remind myself right here in my heart,
00:19:29
Speaker
is all good as long as I keep my own strength. Like an oak tree, you have to be anchored in your strength and know who you are as a human, where you come from, your source, have your path in life that you know who you are, that no outside forces or energy can waver you because you're strong within your own energy and your own power. And writing and directing this movie was such a powerful
00:19:59
Speaker
catalyst for me because I not only acknowledge this, the long journey that I've been through, but also it was such a healing process because I realized once again, my power, my strength as a human, as a creator, and to be able to share that message of the world. But our choices is upon us. We can make choices every day.
00:20:28
Speaker
are powerful to impact the world of our choices. So very wise words there. Yeah, definitely. So you mentioned that the creative process of the film was also part of something that helped your anxiety and moving on with this.
Art as Therapy and Connection
00:20:50
Speaker
So
00:20:51
Speaker
You mentioned right at the start that you had kept a lot of it to yourself. So do you feel like this, I know you said there's some extra bits that you've put in there, but do you feel like this was the coming out story to friends and family about how you've grown up with these fears and these anxieties of your grandmother? Yes, and it's kind of a secret and a pain. I've been hidden in it. I've been hiding it.
00:21:22
Speaker
Yes, it's been kind of my way of sharing the pain, the wound, that I've been hiding it all my life. And now that the world knows, it's no longer a shame. That's the beautiful thing about sharing what's something that hurts. Excuse me. If you encounter anybody who's been through a tragic event, and if they find the strength,
00:21:50
Speaker
to share that with you in a safe environment and share that with someone they trust. You will see that somehow they gain strength from that because it's no longer a hidden wound. You're okay to stand above it and to speak up and say, this happened to me, but I'm no longer captured by this event.
00:22:16
Speaker
And by sharing that with you and by inviting you in my life and sharing my story with you, I share to the world and to myself that I'm stronger than this and I overcome this because shame has no room in the same place of vulnerability. Being vulnerable, and that's what exactly I've done, I put my heart and my soul in this movie. And I've been the deepest part of me vulnerable
00:22:47
Speaker
And even on set, when we would make the scenes that were so difficult and challenging, I had to share with my team and explain this was real. This is not just some fiction story. Yes, there is a lot of it. It's fiction, but a lot of it, it's strong, powerful, intense truth. So do you feel like you
00:23:15
Speaker
You unburdened a lot of this shame and do you feel sort of empowered and lightened? What's the correct word really? Do you feel lighter for having unburdened a lot of this? So it's almost like a therapy. It was and it's like art is very therapeutic if you let it. That's why
00:23:43
Speaker
I think the hit movies and songs and paintings and drawings and art, it's you share a piece of your soul. And only when you completely let part of you be on that project, on that art piece, people will see it. And in that process, you cannot release this part of you that hurt, that part of you that burned,
00:24:10
Speaker
It's like imagine like this huge stone that's like metal and it's heavy and you carry it in your soul from generation, it's heavy. And you just slowly unpack it and then you release it and realize that, oh my God, I'm so much lighter now and it's so much better on the other side because that huge metal stone just became a butterfly and I'm okay with it. And you look at it from the other side of it
00:24:41
Speaker
And you're grateful. I'm so grateful for all the challenges and the hardships and the painful moments I've been through. Because on the other side, I can realize what a complex human I am as we all are. And pain is part of this journey. And as sad as it in heart it is for so many of us humans to go through such challenging moments. And I hear you and I feel you if you're going through a hard moment right now.
00:25:08
Speaker
But it's all part of this journey. We all agree to this on this earth to share this experience together and to let the pain to shape us, just feel like a sculptor uses this to chisel a sculpture. And that's what pain does for us. That's what love does for us. All these emotions, if we let it, but also recognize your own power and your own strength into creating your own story as well.
00:25:39
Speaker
i think it's it's about taking ownership isn't it like say sort of hiding letting the shame take over and affecting that way once you take ownership of something it no longer has that power over you i think like saying to have the strength to do that in the first place and then obviously that then lets you build as a person and then obviously helping other people on the way you mentioned earlier about your family weren't too let's say too happy about you making the film and opening up
00:26:06
Speaker
these sort of old old stuff from the family have they seen the finished products and if so what spin their thoughts on it so no my family have not seen the movie yet but they did see the trailer and I was very cautious when I showed them the trailer I was just home recently about a month ago and we're all at dinner and I said
00:26:29
Speaker
OK, family. I mean, they know about the journey. They've been asking me about the details. They know the storyline and general lines. And I said, you know, I want to show you the trailer. It's going to be out. It's going to be published soon. Then I want you all to see it. And I was at the edge of my seat, literally, waiting to see everyone's faces and see what are the responses going to be. And I was surprised. I was actually very supported.
00:26:59
Speaker
Because they saw the hard work that I put in it, and they see the part of where I am a creator. This is also my business. This is also my path and career. It's not just a passion project. This is a lot of money and hard work that I put in this movie. It's been three years in the making. And if I don't absolutely love it, I will have a bend in it long ago. But this is my life creation, a life long path.
00:27:30
Speaker
dedicated to this, to my filmmaking career. So they supported me from that perspective, that point of view. Like we see the work, we see the quality in your movie. This is no cheesy movie. This is actual good quality movie. They all said it. You know, the trailer looks really good, which I was so grateful to hear. And then everyone individually said, I'm glad that you found the strength in you.
00:27:57
Speaker
to overcome that and come to this place to actually share the story and we can't wait to see it. And I'm gonna have to let them wait until the release of the movie to see when I'm not around. But no, I mean, they're exciting and they're very much supportive of it now. It was just in the beginning was a shock. How dare you talk about this, about our family. But now they see it for what it is.
00:28:27
Speaker
It doesn't make or change who we are as human. You know, just because my grandmother chose differently in her life, her actions and her choices does not define me as a person just because we're blood related. I can respect and forgive her, but that does not reflect on me as a human. And that was my mistake to let her actions reflect on me because we think that
00:28:56
Speaker
If it's family related, if it's a parent or a sibling that somehow that's our fault, or you reflect on who we are as people and it doesn't, we can break that cycle. We can actually break the generational cycle that if certain family members showed up a certain way and you see those traits in yourself, then have the courage to acknowledge that, to have the awareness if
00:29:26
Speaker
father or mother used to have certain maybe there was some type of abuse or there is secrets or there's stuff that you see it in the family and I'm not saying that that happens in my family I'm just saying generally if you see that pattern be the breaker of the cycle break that cycle change choose differently and it starts with awareness it starts with awareness that well if my
00:29:56
Speaker
family did that I'm going to choose differently to move the next generations. Some powerful stuff that you're saying and I think it does resonate with a lot of people you do see certainly in the UK as well there's generations of people their parents done a certain thing so they're they kind of feel like they're destined to do it whether it's good or bad
00:30:24
Speaker
And then their children would do the same thing. But like you say, sometimes you just need to empower yourself and say, look, this is the line in the sand. I'm choosing life. I'm not choosing that life. And art can do that for you. Art is absolutely beautiful. It's like a fire.
00:30:48
Speaker
It burns and it purifies you and you see it. If you don't show up with truth and honesty and there's so many, like in the writing process, when I wrote the script, I forgot about everything in the world except that story. I lived it, breathed it, feel it. And I went down to Anna's birth time when she was being born and
00:31:14
Speaker
her parents and what happened. And so you, by going so deep into understanding human kind and human connections and pain and what drives whoever, because everybody in the script and in the story has a reason and a purpose why they're in the story. And every character in my stories have such a long backstory that I've read there in my writing process. I've read their biography, like 30 pages. It can be sometimes it's just
00:31:43
Speaker
What ticks them? What moves them? And there's no such thing as, and that's why I found the compassion and the wit in the movie. What was the reason that she was haunting Anna so much and tormenting her and just destroying everything in her path? And yes, she's the bad guy, the wit in the movie. But when I spoke about this process and the character too,
00:32:11
Speaker
After Lorraine DeLuca, who she is portraying the witch, I made sure she doesn't hate her character. There is no such thing as hating a character. You have to understand the reason behind it. And I told her, I think, and I encourage her to create her own story behind her, but I encourage her to believe that the witch was trying to protect her granddaughter.
00:32:40
Speaker
by destroying and killing everything around her with her way of protecting her so she can finally inherit this curse so she can be better protected even though it's
00:32:53
Speaker
bad, you know, a parent can sometimes instill from things for you to do because they think that's the right thing to do. Like, no, you do have to go to business school because that's what I did or that's what I couldn't do. I'm not saying that's a totally different correlation, but so to speak, the way the witch in her mind and her wicked mindset, she thought that that's the path for her granddaughter and she tried to protect her. So in my writing process, I find
00:33:22
Speaker
the deepest pain of everybody included in the story. And through that process, I find my own healing and that's what art does for you. It burns everything that's not authentic. And you face yourself and you realize that, wait a minute, maybe there's something I need to work on it personally. And then you expose that and you write about it and you share it.
00:33:51
Speaker
You'd be amazed how many people connect with that because we're all human and we all have the same needs and the same fears and generally speaking. And that's what art is supposed to do, to connect with people, to inspire them, to move them, to scare them, to terrify them, and more than anything, to take them on a journey that is different than reality.
00:34:16
Speaker
that it takes you on a different world and you're so absorbed in it. And if everybody's doing their job, from writing, directing, acting, producing, all departments does their job, then the main reason someone's watching a movie is to be so disconnected from reality that they're completely immersed in that story. And that's what an artist's job is to do, to completely immerse the audience in that movie where
00:34:45
Speaker
Nothing else matters. This is you on the story, on that journey with the characters and you feel everyone's pain and desires and you hate them and love them and you are there with them throughout the journey. Your passion for it clearly comes true. Is filmmaking something you've always wanted to do?
Journey and Challenges in Filmmaking
00:35:09
Speaker
So I have been in love with film and acting and theater all my life since I was a little child. I remember I went on a field trip with my school to a theater and I watched this play and I was, my mouth must have been dropped open the whole time because I was just staring at that theater and that play and the actors just poured their heart on that play.
00:35:38
Speaker
I walked away from it and I was thinking, what a beautiful thing to do to just devote yourself to something so powerful that I felt everyone's story in that play. And I even went home and I went to my own school and we had a matinee for Christmas and I redid that play in my own different take and I made it a little funny and cute and I was so moved by that play and I was like,
00:36:09
Speaker
Only people who are so blessed from this world can they really truly live in brief art. I didn't even feel worthy of such a high, respectful magic. I can't even explain it. I was so in love with it and terrified of it. And I've always wanted to be in film or theater and I
00:36:36
Speaker
didn't get to be bold about my choices or choose what I wanted to do until life faced me with the biggest challenge of my life when I was in a very emotional place. It was very difficult for me. I was questioning everything in my life. And this was about 12 years ago. And this was the moment when I asked truly asked myself, Victoria, is there anything that you want to do in life that you're not doing? Why are you so
00:37:06
Speaker
deeply unhappy and unsatisfied. What is wrong? And I realized that I wasn't walking on the path that I was meant to be. And I asked myself, what is it that you would like to do? What is it that your heart desires? And it was film. It was the world of filmmaking. And I had no idea, no clue how to start, what to do, where to go, how even somebody gets into films. It always felt like such a dream and
00:37:35
Speaker
And essentially just only lucky people get to do what they love, right? That's what I felt. And then I said, well, why don't I just try? You never know. Maybe I might get lucky too. And there's no such thing with luck. There is no lucky thing. It's a lot of hard work and dedication and persistence and showing up and faith. Have faith even when all the odds against you.
00:38:04
Speaker
still show up for what you love and have a lot of perseverance in your goal. So I took a class. It was a Meisner class. It was like up in Michigan. It was a tiny little class. I remember I went to this teacher. It was her living room. We were like six students. And I was so excited just to be in a room full of other people who want to create
00:38:32
Speaker
art and magic and it started slow. I started to work on student films and I was just asking everybody, do you need help? I will be your slight girl. I'll be your production assistant. I'll just volunteer. I'll just be there to help because being on set on a film, it's worth every moment of my life. I'd rather be on film than
00:38:56
Speaker
be working on the bank. I was working on banking back then and it was great money in banking but my happiness was zapped. I had no satisfaction in doing mortgage banking for people and it was a big take it back because I do respect the process and I respect I did a lot of hard work and studying to be in that job but my purpose wasn't in it. So I slowly
00:39:25
Speaker
Excuse me, I slowly embodied more my desire, my passion for film. And I started to make my own short films. I will put together a team and I'll hire the director of photography. And so I started to make short films. I will put together a team. And that after about a dozen short films, I said, I'm ready to make a feature film. I'm ready to create a masterpiece.
00:39:54
Speaker
And I'm going to dive in, full in. I have no idea how I'm going to do it. I didn't have a producer. I didn't have a budget. I didn't have the money. I didn't have the experience. I didn't even have the knowledge. What I did have was a strong desire in my heart, the dedication, the commitment, and the knowledge that I will show up for this no matter what.
00:40:20
Speaker
And I was, I encountered so many challenges. As soon as I announced I'm making a movie, the COVID-19 happened. The whole world shut down. Everybody I was talking to, they were like, I think it's the end of the world. What are you talking about? You want to make movies? Like, do you see what's happening out there? And it was hard to,
00:40:46
Speaker
It was hard to keep that faith and that hope that I can still make this movie. But I never wavered. When I talked about being an oak tree and your knowledge and who you are, I knew I can do it, even though I had no idea how. I knew I would figure it out. And I Googled every single question. And I took so many classes on writing, on screenwriting, on directing, on filming, on producing, on budgeting, on marketing. I have so much knowledge that I think
00:41:16
Speaker
And the last three years, the knowledge I acquired on filmmaking, it's worth three PhDs. Because it's just so much out there. There's so much to filmmaking. It's not just the creative part. That's beautiful when you can show up and write and go out there and make a movie. But my God, there was so much work in making a movie, the business part of it, the getting a deal of distribution.
00:41:43
Speaker
of making sure that you put your money on the screen, that you have all the departments, that your makeup is on point, that your locations or the set design, that the music, the sound, the color grading, everything. There's so much work and it never stops. Like you just, I sit in front of my computer and I work all day long and by five o'clock I realize I didn't eat today.
00:42:10
Speaker
And I have to grab something real quick to give back to my calls and my meetings and my work to do so that I get as much done during the day so that at night I can do the creative parts where it's quiet and nobody's around and I can just dive into that world of magic. But yes, it was very challenging for me and I knew that I knew it wouldn't be easy. But everything that's worth fighting for,
00:42:42
Speaker
it's going to come with challenges. It's kind of like the world and the universe says, well, I want to see you really want this. Do you really want this? I'm going to throw so many challenges at you. Oh, the world pandemic is not enough. Well, let's see if I'm going to change here and I'm going to make some people in the team not show up or that this thing happened. So there were a lot of things that were happening that unforeseen. You didn't, you didn't expect that. You can plan for it. And when it happens, you have to,
00:43:09
Speaker
have a smile on your face and said, OK, bring it on. I'm going to put on my hat as a director, my hat as a producer, as a filmmaker, as a business person, because every moment on set costs a lot of money. You cannot waste moments on set. You have to think, how can I change the script so fast, so quick to accommodate today's challenges?
00:43:38
Speaker
with the actors I have on set, with the team I have on set, and still not caught away from the quality and the story of the movie. There are so many things that happen, like weather. We had a big storm coming through one of our big scenes, and we only had the location that day, that afternoon. And the storm came in, and everything on the tables and the set design that took hours to do, it just literally blew in the air. It was like a storm.
00:44:08
Speaker
of balloons. And I thought, I told my director of photography, and I said, just roll the cameras. Just keep on rolling. Let everybody run. And I even told everybody, everybody grab your stuff and run in the house. Go inside for safety reasons. You cannot have anybody on set. Once there is rain or thunder, you have to. So I said, just roll the camera. Let it just capture some of this footage. And we did. And we had to change things around in the set, in the script.
00:44:37
Speaker
But you know what happened? By embracing that challenge, it actually looks better on the movie because it looks like everything is against Anna. Even her own birthday party cannot be celebrated. Even the nature, Mother Nature just breaks everything and just destroys everything. And you have to embrace that. You have to embrace the challenges that a movie set will present to you in life. As a filmmaker, as an art person, as a creator, you'll always have challenges.
00:45:08
Speaker
The biggest challenge, I think, as a creator is your own doubt, your self-doubt. Because you think you're not good enough. You think you're not worthy. Your story doesn't matter. Your voice is not powerful enough. But who are you not to share your story? There is always room for more stories and powerful stories and show up even when you don't know what you're doing with trampling hands, with shaking voice. Show up and speak up and share your story and
00:45:37
Speaker
tell stories because it's our duty to be storytellers. I did something else that, Pete, my interest was the production team on the movie that's made up of the majority of them are women.
00:45:56
Speaker
So how did that come about? And do you think the movie maker, I mean, I don't really know the industry at all. I won't lie. Is it a very heavily male dominated environment? It is. And I think we need to encourage and inspire more women to show up and tell stories.
00:46:25
Speaker
both in front and behind the camera. I have encouraged, I have so many women in my set that were the first time gig ever in a film. And they came to me and they said, I will be honest, I don't have experience, but I have the desire and I will show up. And I said, I trust you, I have faith in you. I know we can do it together, we'll get this done. And they showed up because they knew
00:46:52
Speaker
the dedication, the commitment, the sacrifices we all made to make this movie. And now they went on to make so many more movies and make a CV and have a resume on filmmaking. And they come to me to Victoria because you believed in me and hired me to be in this department or this department. I am now able to work on different productions and it's now my day-to-day job.
00:47:20
Speaker
Some of them actually became SAG after or DGA approved and they're doing this like their passion, their work, their careers. And that to me is so powerful and so rewarding that if I was able to move one person and inspire one person to go and tell your story and create something that makes you happy, then I've done part of my job as a human on this earth.
Future Perspectives and Film Release
00:47:49
Speaker
And I've had many of the actresses on my movie that created their own projects. They came to me as a Victoria. I looked at you and I see that you did it. And I went there and I did it myself. And I'm so happy about it. I'm so inspired. You can do it. And I'm here if you need any help, any advice, any I'm here for you. But you can do it on your own. Like you're powerful and strong and smart.
00:48:18
Speaker
and powerful to create your own story because women have so many powerful story to be told. And we have to encourage, we have to provide a platform. It is my lifelong commitment, dedication and desire to create a path for more women in the film industry or art industry and to inspire them and to
00:48:43
Speaker
help them understand that they have so much power and strength in their hearts to give to this world and create powerful stories. And I want to start young teenagers and just let them believe in themselves. Like it's another part of my goal is to create actual communities where I inspire teenager women because I think that's the time when so many I have my niece who she's living here with me for the summer and she's 16 and it breaks my heart to see how much
00:49:13
Speaker
doubt she has in her heart sometimes and I want to scream from the mountains to tell her you're so beautiful and you're powerful and you're a true angel and I do tell her that every day and I want her to believe it but it takes so much time because she sees the social media and she compares herself to the standards of beauty out there that it's not real and I want her to and she's so talented like she's a
00:49:42
Speaker
She's an illustrator, she's illustrating children's book and she's so talented and I just want her to believe that and keep on keeping on with her art and keeping on believing in herself because women are the foundation of the world. We all come from a woman and as long as we support and power and give them a room to grow, they will create a home, they will create a place of safety.
00:50:12
Speaker
and love for everyone. Amazing. So air the witch throughout a couple of weeks. How does it feel? So it's your film, it's your story, it's your years of emotion and hard work and perseverance. It's going to finally be hitting that publish button available for the world to see. How does that feel? So ready. I'm so ready.
00:50:42
Speaker
It's been so much work. And that's another thing I want to encourage all storyteller, just make sure you love the story and you're truly dedicated to it. Because it's going to be a long time of dedication and work and endless nights and days in the studio and editing and tweaking and sound editing and coming back with more edits. And then you think you're done and complete and then you go to the distributor and then they come with quality report of
00:51:11
Speaker
All these things need to be changed. It's just a never-ending process, truly. It's so much work that finally, to be here, it feels like, oh, I've had three years of darkness, nighttime, and it's finally, the sun is gonna come out one day, and I'm gonna see it, and I can't wait for the world to see it. I mean, it's a beautiful journey, don't take me wrong. It's been a very beautiful and exciting and rewarding journey that I'm so grateful, and I'll do it again in a heartbeat.
00:51:40
Speaker
There's just a lot of work and you have to be ready and prepared for it. And it's not a joke, like it's truly hard work. And as long as you know what to sign up for, then I know in my next movie, I know where I need to spend my most time into it and how to attack the project next that it's faster and more impactful.
00:52:06
Speaker
But now the movie that's going to come up, Air of the Witch on August 4th on all platforms is going to be on iTunes, on Amazon, on all platforms. Just search Air of the Witch. And I can't wait for the world to actually see it, feel it and tell me their opinions and feedback. And I'm open to all feedback. Please reach out to me.
00:52:27
Speaker
You can either come on the website, airofthewitch.com, or on my Instagram, airofthewitch, or actually my personal Instagram, it's Victoria underscore filmmaker.
00:52:38
Speaker
Reach out to me. I want to hear your thoughts as a film lover, as a human, as a creative, as a director. Or just generally, I want to connect with you and hear your thoughts. And I'm so, so ready for this movie to be out. It's finally like this little baby. I've been raising a home for the last three years. And I think it's perfect. I think it's a beautiful child. But I want to know what the world thinks. And I'm ready for the world to either praise it
00:53:08
Speaker
or chop it down and say, oh, we're gonna take it to, I don't know, it's the audience choice. And it's their right to have their own feedback and thoughts on it. So far, all the feedback I've gotten, it's really, really good. But I understand there's all kinds of opinions and thoughts out there and I want to hear it all. And I'm open to it. It's not my business and not my job to worry
00:53:36
Speaker
how the audience will receive it. My job is to put my whole heart and soul into a movie and release it. And then after that, it's the audience job to do what they wish with it. And as long as I show up and I do the best I can, I know I've done the best I can. And I can't wait to hear the world's thoughts and ideas on this masterpiece that we all worked so hard to put together.
00:54:02
Speaker
Amazing flats air the witch out on august 4th across like you say all streaming platforms. Thank you Victoria bell So much for coming on telling your story Congratulations on everything you've done and I wish you every success in the film's been released. I can't wait to watch it as well Thank you for having me here and thank you for your time and providing a platform for indie filmmakers it's always so hard as an indie filmmaker to to just have that
00:54:29
Speaker
keep on going belief and when things are really all the challenges stacked up against you. It's hard to keep on going but it's so rewarding at the end, excuse me, at the end when you see this done and I completed and we did it. The whole team
00:54:46
Speaker
My Air of the Witch family is so excited and it's done. It's out there and I can't wait for the world to see. So thank you all for providing this space for us to talk about it and to share the world how it all came about. Absolutely. Our pleasure. Thank you very much. Pursuit of the paranormal with Ash and Greg.
00:55:14
Speaker
you