Grace Pritchard
She is the filmmaker of All That You Love Will Be Carried Away Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: Could you start with telling us a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Grace Pritchard: I’m a recent SCAD graduate from the Film & TV program. I do lots of freelance producing country-wide, but specifically Savannah and New York.
SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?
Grace Pritchard: I knew I wanted to be a writer first, back when I was writing Thanksgiving plays and forcing my mom and sister to act them out. I was always obsessed with how plays and movies were made, which eventually translated to high school theatre and then evolved into a craving for making cinema. I love the excitement of collaboration and the perfectionism in repetition those two mediums require.
SKSM: When did you make All That You Love Will Be Carried Away? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?
Grace Pritchard: I made All That You Love Will Be Carried Away my freshman year for a class assignment at SCAD. It was my first ever production and I headed it as the writer, director, and producer. The production cost around $350, my smallest and most impressive budget to date. It took in total 3 days to film I believe.
SKSM: What do you think it is about the story that attracts people so much?
Grace Pritchard: I think that anyone’s that’s struggled with mental health can relate, whether it’s to the same extreme as the main character or a lesser degree. I tried to incorporate the escalating signs of dissociation, distancing, fantasizing, and more into the storyline.
SKSM: Can you tell us about your experience on this film? Was everything planned ahead or did some things change during filming?
Grace Pritchard: As my first film, everything was a quick learning experience. I remember going to every hotel in the county to find someone that would let me film in one of their rooms and in the parking lot. But as for the filming we made it work and it more or less went according to plan.
SKSM: You are the director, the scriptwriter and the producer, how did you experience that?
Grace Pritchard: The experience was a great learning opportunity on all the moving parts that go into making a film. What I love about filmmaking is that there is no classroom quite like the real experience of making a movie with your collaborators in real time. Every time you will learn how to do it better the next time, so of course the first time was filled with many instances of “Oh, next time I need to do this or that before this and that.”
SKSM: Did you make any changes from the original story? How do you think (or would you like) the audience to react about this?
Grace Pritchard: In King’s original short story, there was a lot of inner monologue, not a lot of visual storytelling going on. So I did my best to condense the inner monologue and show what the main character was feeling rather than tell. I think the end product came off abstract, and of course King’s subject matter is rather dark; but I hope the audience understands what might go on in another’s head when feeling mentally ill. Everyone’s experience is different, but I hope the end result helps us be more compassionate on each person’s inner world.
SKSM: Were any movie fragments cut out that you now miss?
Grace Pritchard: The only thing I miss really is getting more time to go a little more abstract in the dream sequence. A lot of the things I miss just comes with the gaining of skills through each project.
SKSM: Can you share with us any significant moment or memories that happened on set?
Grace Pritchard: I remember when we were filming the dream sequence, the idea of putting a body bag in the corner as a sense of foreboding came to me. The support and openness to ideas on set from everyone allowed out of the box thinking and experimentation, which I really appreciate to this day as it was most everyone’s first time on a set. It was my first time directing and the patience and excitement from everyone is something I carry with me to this day.
SKSM: Where was it premiered?
Grace Pritchard: The official premier actually took place in my house for my first ever production company fundraiser and mixer. We debuted a lot of local films, a lot I had small parts working on. But the first festival premier was for Chicago Indie Shorts which was very exciting, as it was my first selection into the film festival circuit.
SKSM: What experience has All That You Love Will Be Carried Away left on you?
Grace Pritchard: The experience was invigorating. It’s exhausting to make any film, but each part of the process has big rewards. The reward for development is being able to fantasize about your idea with others, then for pre-production is getting to flesh out concepts and actualize how the vision will happen, in production it’s seeing your vision from usually so long ago come to life at the hands of yourself and so many other, and finally throughout post-production it’s getting to play with and finish what you’ve been working on for so long. Filmmaking is a labor of love, and the trick I’ve learned is to just have the end goal of making yourself proud. That leads to the biggest satisfaction.
SKSM: How do you like to describe yourself as a director?
Grace Pritchard: I like to be a very collaborative director. I come from a theatre background, where I learned that people buy into your concepts and ideas the most when they feel they can truly have an artistic say in it. The fine line to that is making sure your vision is clear, translatable, and most importantly thought-out and not so fragile that having to pivot or think of something else destroys the whole thing. Many hands come in to mold a film across departments, so being able to keep the vision cohesive throughout all departments is key. Another pillar of my directing style is attention to detail; not that everything need be so precious, but having a clear enough vision that you do know what is important and what will haunt you in the editing room for months to come.
SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?
Grace Pritchard: I found out in my camera class where this was assigned. Professor Jorg Schodel had a big book of Stephen King short stories and we raised our hand randomly based on title. I felt pulled to this one because of the melodrama in the name.
SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?
Grace Pritchard: I like Stephen King, more so for his writing philosophy and not so much as my mom. Shawshank Redemption and The Shining are adaptations I’ve been obsessed with at one time or another.
SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King during the making of the movie? Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)?
Grace Pritchard: I have not had contact. I have a feeling lots of film schools and blossoming students utilize his $1 rights. Maybe one day I will find his email and send him a copy, but until then I think it’s fun to imagine how many works in the ether he seems blissfully unaware of.
SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?
Grace Pritchard: I just finished my senior thesis, Holy Rollers–a stoner comedy about growing up queer in the religious south, and am now finishing another horror I wrote and directed– The Self, a doppleganger thriller about obsession with self-improvement.
SKSM: What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Grace Pritchard: Everything I do (financially), I do for my cats… And that I aspire to be a showrunner!
SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)
Grace Pritchard: Live in The Netherlands or Messopotamian area; own and maintain a beautiful, serene garden a la The Secret Garden; have a sailboat summer; do an artist’s retreat somewhere far away; and retire early!
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Grace Pritchard: Thank you so much for reading! And thank you mom for your support of my dreams. And that I hope you all will follow along as my filmmaking progresses. Filming All That You Love Will Be Carried Away feels like so long ago and I am so proud of all the lessons I’ve learned in this artform from this project and onward. Never give up, because as someone very wise and probably very renowned once said (paraphrasing), “If at first your art does not match the vision you had in your head, keep going, because that means you have good taste and your skill level hasn’t caught up with your taste yet.”
