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FILM DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER
MADELAINE
TURNER
BY ANA TREVIÑO
A Late Bloomer
To call Madelaine Turner a multi-talented persona seems too little of a description, for someone taking on the roles of an entire Hollywood production company. As a filmmaker, writer, director, prop-maker, set-designer Maddie is giving the Marc by Marc Jacobs gag a run for its money.
Maddie hasn't shied away from sharing the hardships she faced while growing up. However, these struggles did not stop her from turning the internet into the ultimate power tool, gaining the knowledge she needed to create and edit films. The latter, paired with a cultural and creative environment that she was brought up in, and a global pandemic has given Maddie direction towards La La Land. Ultimately, carving out her own door leading to her dreams.
From the point of creative conception to execution, what does the process in creating a Madelaine Turner Short Film look like?
My process is something I woefully seem to be one project away from having complete creative domain over. I’m an untouchable cinematic genius every time I begin; and by the time I wrap, I’ve inevitably taken an axe to my work desk, now to be repurposed as kindling for the bonfire I’ll use to destroy every word I have ever transcribed onto paper. A mild embellishment.
In the grand scheme of my life, I haven’t spent much time with the identity (and professional moniker) of an artist. With each project, there is a learning curve that’s both exciting and defeating. I’m sure that duality is par-for-the-course with any artistic pursuit, but there is the added pressure (and, of course, benefit) of many eyes being on me while I figure out what exactly it is I’m doing.
I love the times where an idea just introduces itself to me. I don’t have to pry it apart or reason with it. And throughout the filming process, there’s this feeling of security in just knowing it’s a pretty good one. I transcend ego and time and move into an other-worldly plane of existence where I compete in hand-to-hand combat with Ingmar Bergman and emerge the victor. This -of course- rarely happens. And even when it does, the come down after returning to my status as a mere mortal leaves a considerable resistance in wanting to create again.
How long does it take on average to create an original short film?
Somewhere between an endless eternity and roughly 6-8 hours.
What are your favorite parts about production and what do you procrastinate the most on?
Getting to bring people along the ride with me has been a real joy and privilege. From the more aspirational collaborations with creative colleagues and artists I admire, to spending an afternoon with my mom chopping up magazines for this short, it’s something I value immensely.
What do I procrastinate on? I navigate a minefield of “I’ll do it tomorrow’s” as a means of existing. Ideas materializing into tangible work is a delightful surprise each time.
What is something you wish your audience could grasp the reality of that is commonly overlooked?
I honestly feel like my audience gives me way more credit than I deserve. They are perfect angels. They do not grasp the reality of how thankful I am that they continue to indulge my half-baked musings and colorful whimsy.
What impact (if any) has the metaphor of “Late Bloomer” had on the early stages of your directorial career and creative process?
Yeah, time (or the supposed perception of it) is my number one enemy. I think we are so fixated on time as a finite resource because it calibrates our lives in bite-sized chunks. Achieving X by X age allows you to “move onto” the next phase of your life, and (in a small way) eliminates the insurmountable fear of being alive.
But in order to create anything, you have to at least try to disable that fear. Disable time. Disable reason, etc. You have to move on your own timeline and create at your own pace. I don’t think I’d be making the work I’m making now, if I hadn’t had a dormant period.
Even as I answer these questions, I’m in a fairly dormant place in terms of producing art. It’s been a difficult transition after a more inspired season. But, I believe that this part of the creative process is just as important as being behind the camera. I’m sitting with it. Trying to love it. Check in with me in a couple months and see if I’m still as Zen about it, haha.
"You have to move on your own timeline and create at your own pace."
TikTok, Magical Realism & Turner Originals
A lot of people pin point “The Anderson Guide To Surviving A Global Pandemic” as her Magnum Opus, and pastiche being a signature style with recurring themes of escapism, existentialism and magic realism (the best of the -isms in my humble opinion). However, after 2 years from its debut, you can definitely start to see Maddie’s work where the line starts to blur beyond pastiche. Where her voice, and the experiences that have shaped it, visually resonate on screen: A true Turner Original.
How has the comparison to Wes Anderson, positively or negatively, affected your personal journey in developing your own cinematic style and voice?
I think there’s always the impulse to jump to the defensive when you find your work held next to a more established creator. In the beginning, I found it impossibly cruel that every single person on the internet couldn’t see the nuanced differences between the way I leaned into color, symmetry, narration, production design, etc. to tell stories, and the way Mr. Anderson does.
Now, I am incredibly grateful to even have my work held up in the same category. I think it’s shorthand for a filmmaking style, and if -in order to make movies- I have to live as “Wes Anderson Girl”, I won’t be complaining. There are way worse things to be compared to.
I honestly feel like my audience gives me way more credit than I deserve. They are perfect angels. They do not grasp the reality of how thankful I am that they continue to indulge my half-baked musings and colorful whimsy.
What is something you wish your audience could grasp the reality of that is commonly overlooked?
What space do you think platforms such as TikTok occupy in the emergence of future film directors, specifically female ones?
I think we’re seeing a huge shift in where emerging creative voices are being lifted from. The internet is an incredible equalizer in terms of getting eyes on content being made. The unconventional media platform will always lend itself to the artist. Especially one where the barriers for entry are much less rigid and hierarchical, like TikTok.
What resources or power have you garnished from your exposure in order to level the playing field as a female director and writer?
Being able to “have fun” on an app while simultaneously creating a portfolio has been such an asset in the beginnings of my career. You have way more autonomy in what you decide to put out there, and a much more unfiltered version of your unique perspective. You can be anyone. Anything. The work then becomes refining that creative vision, and learning how to involve others in the projects you pursue.
You mentioned you’re in the midst of a production. Can you give us an insight into what you are currently working on?
I can’t give away too many details, but it’s a large-scale commercial campaign! Of course, narrative work is always my North Star, but I have a true appreciation for the world of advertising and really enjoy getting to flex that creative muscle.
"There’s so much that this industry
(this world) is capable of taking away from you, but they can’t take away how you
interpret reality."
Painting The Turner Future
In the short time span of launching her own career, Maddie has already garnered creative partnerships with the likes of Prada, Play Station, Samsung, Mango… the list goes on and on. All you need to do is hop on her TikTok page to see the myriad of colourful ads and short films commissioned for a multitude of versatile brands. So it seems that we are just witnessing the prologue of what will be a very long and entertaining biopic that is the life of Madelaine Turner.
What sort of impact do you wish to have on the film industry and future filmmakers?
I believe the creative process is just as important and valuable as the product. I’d love to cut my teeth on some wacky little films and build a team of people that I love working with, and who love working with me. Filmmaking is such a collaborative artform, and I think it’s such a privilege to have others want to pour their time and effort into something that essentially just came from my brain. I want the work I do to be exciting, engaging and meaningful. Not just to me, not just to those who help me make it, but (fingers crossed) mostly to the audience who gets to see it.
Your perspective is the most valuable thing you have. If you can find a way to translate that onto the screen, you are a filmmaker. Refine your unique perspective. Work with others who elevate and challenge that perspective. An audience is there. I guarantee it. There’s so much that this industry (this world) is capable of taking away from you, but they can’t take away how you interpret reality. That’s pretty cool, I think.
