Discussion with Isabelle Mosbarger

TR: All right. So, Isabelle, if you don't mind sharing, what initially drew you to writing and storytelling?

IM: I've always liked to write, even when I was a kid or as long as I can remember, I would always write stories and it was initially in the form of short stories always. And, you know, I remember my mom making dinner and I would come up to her and try to read her these things. And she was always very, very helpful and tended to inspire me and help me out. I could never really finish the short stories that I wrote though, like I could never finish them. And so I asked myself, "Am I even good at writing if I can't finish a fucking story?" And then slowly, my writing capabilities and interests kind of went into poetry. I did a lot of poetry for a while. And I also liked to sing, so I was always writing songs. Writing just kept coming up in my life in different ways, but it never stuck in the same form for very long until I got to college where I started kind of finding my true medium. And that was initially playwriting. I started writing these plays, and it was really the dialogue that moved me most. It really was the dialogue that was able to take me to the end of the story instead of leaving it at some point unfinished.

I think that's when I truly started to figure out that I really did want to write with my life, that's when it felt more real and less like some kind of imposter syndrome, you know. And then my interest filmmaking, that came about very recently, just like about a few years ago or so. Now, I've always loved to photograph things and being a photographer. And so I think that really was where the two lines started to blend together and really came to film. I found that with photography I loved the idea of being able to show some subjective truth to the viewer, but if I couldn't say anything about it, I was still at a loss, I felt. So I think that's where I started to slowly find that by putting the two together, by taking the writing aspect and actually being able to show it in a visual form as well, it allowed me to feel the most satisfied creating something and sharing it with other people. At least the idea of sharing it, because I haven't I haven't yet made a film to share with other people. You know, we're still in the midst of it (post-production), but that's where it all kind of came together. It was very slow and gradual throughout my life, and now it feels very right in this form.

TR: So on that note, you mentioned how you found the medium of playwriting as your first complete method of storytelling, and I know that you recently completed your first short film, SUBJECT TO CHANGE. In terms of getting the script together and project together, what was that process like switching from playwriting to then feature film writing and short film writing? And do you have any advice around that process for people maybe trying to get more into the narrative structure of feature film writing or short film writing?

IM: So it's interesting that you say that because SUBJECT TO CHANGE started out as a play. It was initially written in the form of a play in 2017. And because of that, it was very different in how the entire story was told, in the tropes that you could actually use, because the mechanics are different from play to screen. But it was with this story, it was SUBJECT TO CHANGE, where I was able to find that transition between playwriting and screenwriting. And I think it really came about because of the fact that with SUBJECT TO CHANGE as a play, while I was able to tell the story that I wanted and while I really, really liked that story and gained some recognition and got to do a stage reading at my school, it still didn't feel completely right. We shouldn't just write in a certain medium just for the sake of it. There should be some kind of pertinence to that story being told in this exact form, I feel. And I kind of realized that with SUBJECT TO CHANGE luckily, and through that I was able to realize I was more highly attuned, I guess, to writing for film. That's still, I guess, my idea. 

Who knows if that will actually show itself to be the truth, but that's at least how it completely felt absolutely and right away. But in terms of any advice that I would give to people trying to either find a medium in screenwriting or somebody transitioning from theater to screen is to know why you want to tell your story in this specific way through this form, because, again, if you don't have that reason, then maybe it's not the correct form. Maybe it really should be told in some other way, whether you like writing poetry, for instance, or writing a song. That would be the main aspect, because every time that I've tried to force myself to write something in the medium that isn't right, it always crashed and burned or it always ended up not being genuinely what I meant to say or what I wanted to come across with. The second thing that I would say about that is don't be afraid to do something without any formal training. I studied playwriting in college when I realized that I loved dialogue and I was happy to study playwriting.

It was an interdisciplinary study. I created the major on my own because we didn't have it at my school. So for that reason, it was very intimidating because then I was coming into the field of all the theater buffs and they they all knew their stuff. They were all like Stanislavski, let's talk about this. I was just like, huh, I don't know these names or what are you talking about? And it was really, really hard at first. I felt that imposter syndrome. I felt that hard core, and it almost kept me from really getting into screenwriting. But luckily through support that I had from the people around me, I was able to keep myself uplifted, to persevere through it, even despite there being those people that kind of looked at me like I didn't know what I was doing or talking about. Then here I am today. And so with screenwriting, who knows if I will go back to school for any formal training with it, but because of my slightly different formal training in terms of theater, I feel as though that has really kind of given me a good kind of backing.

You know, if you're receiving the same kind of training that everyone else receives, that's not necessarily going to be the best thing that you can that you can do. And here I am going now against school. I'm saying, yeah, you don't need to be trained. No, you still should. But what I'm thinking of is actually. For instance, Charlie Kaufman, one of my absolute favorite writers and directors of all time, anytime that he gives any kind of lecture or speech or talks to people about writing and his successes, he never tells you how you're supposed to structure a story or about certain rules and guides and how it all needs to play out. He talks about what you genuinely need to be attuned to. And it's just your own voice and what you want to tell. If you have something that you need to say, then say it. Don't let any anything really hold you back because at the end of the day all you have to offer is you.

TR: I think those are some great words of advice, not only regarding Kaufman, but also not being afraid to take that risk, like you going toe to toe with the theater buffs, inserting yourself and saying, "hey, I'm going to give this a go because this is what I want to do."

I have a question for you now about the actual making of SUBJECT TO CHANGE. You wrote it, you also starred in it. What were some of the biggest takeaways or learning lessons you had from being involved with your first short film and the process of making it? Do you think it was easier or harder than expected? What went right, what didn't go right? What were some of your takeaways or advice for people out there trying to make their first short film?

IM: Yeah, everything was completely novel, so with everything you're saying I'm just sitting here smiling because everything was just so exciting as I was breaking into the business with these new people. It was so exciting because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how to necessarily do it. I didn't know the ins and outs, but I kind of just let it take me, and things went pretty well for the most part.

So the acting portion, I guess I'll kind of start with. I've always liked to act, but it's never something that I really wanted to do. I just ended up acting because, as you know, the story was something that was personal to me. It was something that happened in my life. And we didn't know who else could really play the part other than me. We didn't really end up finding someone, so I ended up taking that opportunity. I'm really happy that I did though because I know that from developing this script I learned a lot about it, but then I got to learn it in a different perspective from acting. Even though me, as a writer, I'm Isabelle Mosbarger, and me, that person that I wrote in the play, is Isabelle Mosbarger, it was like I was viewing the story then from a different perspective, because I was actually then the character that I had written rather than just me as the writer who could control it. It was different. It felt different. And I was losing my control. There was a director who could change lines. There was a DP saying, well, this part of the story should change because I don't really understand it. So all those aspects were just different for me to be able to find my comfort within. But it was really fun, I really liked it.

Probably one of the most important takeaways that I had from it was learning about the story that I thought I knew so much about. It was like I knew SUBJECT TO CHANGE really, really well. I knew what I wanted to say. I knew what I wanted people to feel and walk away with, and I hoped that would happen. But as I acted in it and was alongside the director throughout the process, as I started editing it and breaking it down into pieces, I learned things that I hadn't even comprehended about the story I had written. Which is super weird. Things that were unintended then became more intention driven and important as I went into other aspects of the production. So that was super interesting. That made me realize that you never know everything about your craft. You never know everything about even what you wrote. And so that was really interesting. I thought I knew SUBJECT TO CHANGE, but I'm even talking to you now, expecting that I'm going to learn something else about the goddamn story from just speaking about it.

TR: It's capable of being molded almost as the project goes on.

IM: Definitely. And having all those people with their hands on it, even though I was terrified of what would maybe come of that, ended up showing me way more about the story as well. The story became more fine tuned. Things that I hadn't really understood about it, other people understood and knew how to take in a certain direction. Like the production designer saw how Mary Cassidy was as a character and then how she was in her room. And to go along with that, the other biggest take away is that you can't do it alone, which is ironic because it's literally the message of SUBJECT TO CHANGE. You can't expect yourself to be able to do it alone and nor should you. Why would you even if you can have other people? So in the beginning of trying to make this film last August, I first was like, "You know what? Let's make a film, and let's make SUBJECT TO CHANGE the film."

I thought I was going to do it all by myself, and I was ready for that. I was like, "I'm going to do this. It's going to be great. I can play the part. I can be the DP, I can be the director." All these things that I'm so lucky to have been taken off my hands. Like with you my producer. Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you. All of these portions of the project that I wasn't necessarily an expert in, that I was able to give away to somebody else. It really just made the message of the story that much stronger because we wouldn't even be having this discussion today if I had made this all on my own. The fact that I was able to do it with all these people, it was really something and taught me a lot.

TR: Yeah, collaboration is really king in film, as they say. We can sort of wrap up then with one last one question. I've been asking most people I've interviewed this. There's a lot of trends that go on in entertainment or filmmaking, whether it's the content that's being made or how it's being consumed. I'm curious if there's any trends that are interesting to you as you move forward in your career as a screenwriter or playwright? Anything that you're watching, any next projects you have in mind, feel free to share.

IM: This isn't exactly an answer to your question, but I guess it is in a way. When I first read that question all I could think about was a certain all too real trend that needs to leave film for good. That needs to stop ruining film before before we've completely saturated the craft. And that is the fact that there's so much to watch these days, there's so much everywhere. Film wasn't meant to be a distraction, but in so many ways it's become a distraction to us. You come home at the end of the day, and to relieve yourself from work or from that hard day, you're watching a show to laugh it off or forget about the struggles of life. And that isn't what I think film was ever intended to be. And if it was, we should try to go against the grain there because that over distraction, it makes it hard to watch a film. Whenever I want to watch something and ask myself what should I watch, I'm always holding myself back. Sometimes I find it so difficult to decide on a film because it's a great deal of my life and a good two hours to give away. I want to walk away with something. I don't want it to just have distracted me in some way.

All that we can really do as people, because we're not in control of the media and the industry that is film, all we can do as writers or as creators in this field is stay true to our own voices and make sure that we're not sacrificing what we intended to say, who we intended to be as writers or creators just to find some kind of success. I know for a fact it's probably easier to find success in this industry by playing the game.

TR: I agree. I think it's so important not just having mindless content, but also having films that actually mean something. They're not just used for an escape, but rather they tell a story.

IM: Yeah, film should be an opportunity for the viewer to find something about themselves or see the world from a different perspective that they haven't before. And whatever it might be, just make sure you're staying true to what you want to say and what you want to be heard.

TR: Well, awesome. I really appreciate you taking the time, and thank you for all of your very thoughtful answers. I think it's going to be great for everybody to hear the perspective of somebody who's a little newer to the filmmaking circuit. I really appreciate it, and it was a pleasure working with you on SUBJECT TO CHANGE, and it still is as we work through post.

IM: Yeah, I had such a wonderful time working with you and getting the chance to meet you in January. Can't wait until you're here again for the next one.