Laurel Parmet is a director and writer who has been nominated and awarded for her shorts, Kira Burning and Spring. Kara Durrett is a producer who works in both independent film and television, producing films such as Save Yourselves! and Topside. We were honored to speak to both of them about their recent film, The Starling Girl, which made its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins, director Laurel Parmet, and producer Kara Durrett discuss:

The surreal, emotional feeling of premiering at Sundance
What the film, The Starling Girl, is about
Why Laurel believes going to film school was invaluable for her
Getting fully financed and then losing it all when the pandemic started
Pitching a film - how to do it and why it’s so amazing
What the remote editing experience was like
Plotting out each scene to encourage certain audience emotions
Feeling fortunate from the positive response after premiering at Sundance
The process of bringing a film to the screen
How to maintain stamina on projects that take years to make
What you need to do before deciding to become a producer

Memorable Quotes

“Eventually it all fell apart and we didn’t know how we were going to make the film, and it was pretty dark for me.” [19:33]
“Everytime you pitch, you are honing in on what is the most important part of the story.” [24:46]
“Make sure you realize you are running a marathon, not a sprint, because it’s a long road.” [34:38]
“Pick the people you adore and then make something together.” [55:07]

Mentioned Resources:

The Starling Girl

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S8 E10: 2020 In The Rearview