This week HC UBC reached out to Emily Bandel, who is starring in the Vancouver-based production She Sees Beyond, a horror/mystery by writer/director J.S. Oliver with a good dose of thrills thrown in for good measure. Join us as we see beyond the surface and delve into what’s going on behind the scenes, what it’s like on-set of an independent production, and what to anticipate from the show.
Year: 1st
Faculty: Arts
Hometown: born in LA, raised in Portland
Plans for the Future: Film industry
HC UBC: How would you describe the story, without giving too much away of course?
Emily: The storyline follows two different characters. One of the characters is my character, Lianne Clarke — the ‘She’ in ‘She Sees Beyond’ — who gets in a car crash and comes out of it with super powers. The other storyline follows Detectives Crenshaw and Flanagan, who are trying to figure out why all these kids are disappearing. Their stories overlap and things get intense.
HC UBC: How did you get involved with She Sees Beyond?
Emily: I found the project on Vancouver Actor’s Guide, which where most of the independent productions post their casting calls. They wanted to call me in for an audition, but I was like “Sorry, I’m kind of sick. I can’t come in and audition”. They auditioned close to a hundred people for the role, and then I got an email. They said “We really didn’t like anyone that auditioned for the role. We really liked your demo reel, do you want the role? Let’s meet up for coffee”. So I met up with the director and talked character and plot and stuff.
HC UBC: What has been your favourite part of production so far?
Emily: Definitely helping out with casting, for sure. I got to do chemistry reads with the people auditioning. I got to read through with these people and after the director would ask me about how I felt about reading with them. Casting is so fun.
HC UBC: Do you have any particular inspirations for Lianne as a character?
Emily: Nancy Thompson from Nightmare on Elm Street. The director gave her as homework, like “watch the movie, study her reactions”, because we want to have that 80s vibe in the character as well as the aesthetic.
HC UBC: What makes this production unique?
Emily: I’d say, besides the female protagonist lead, that it is set in present day, is more straight horror, and isn’t nostalgic about 1980s horror but instead it is itself a critique of nostalgia. One of the main themes (Crenshaw’s story) is that by trying to make the present day fit into what happened in the past, you miss the point entirely. At the end of the day it’s more of a progression from the 80s and not just a throwback.
HC UBC: Has anything about your participation in this production defied your expectations?
Emily: I definitely wasn’t expecting to be involved in finding makeup artists and crew members and hunting down people for casting choices. I’ve taken on a lot in terms of emailing, which I wasn’t expecting. I was expecting to be just the lead actress in the show, but I’ve taken on a more producer-like position, because it’s very independent and there’s not to many people involved.
HC UBC: Have you enjoyed being a semi-producer?
Emily: I like it, and I’m definitely learning a lot. It makes me want to consider doing that in the future.
HC UBC: So I understand that you’ll be trying to get SSB on Netflix?
Emily: It would be cool, definitely. Netflix doesn’t actually accept submissions, they have to find you. So you have to go submit a pilot episode to film festivals that are just meant for TV pilots, and then representatives from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, different broadcast companies go to those festivals, and then if they’re interested, they contact you. So, it’s hard, it’s really hard.
HC UBC: If SSB does get picked up by a broadcasting company, where will the story end up going?
Emily: The one season is pretty full-circle. The director has a second season that he’s started writing, but it doesn’t follow the same characters, it’s a different storyline. It’s the same world, but you’re following different people.
You can follow She Sees Beyond on facebook and instagram for filming updates and cool behind-the-scenes glimpses. Thanks to Emily for taking the time to speak with us, and good luck from us at HCUBC to the whole crew working on this production.
Photo credits: Karolina Turek, facebook.com/ssbfilm,