Telling a Nuanced School-Shooting Story #LIFF2018

This is the first part of my coverage for Louisiana International Film Festival 2018, which happens in Baton Rouge from April 19-22. In this episode, I talk to director Vincent Grashaw about his film And Then I Go. His film tells the story of two young people who contemplate a potential school shooting against their classmates as retaliation for the slights they've endured. Unfortunately, the Parkland shooting and other recent events have made And Then I Go all too topical, but unlike certain outspoken figures who have argued the issue, the film doesn't point fingers or offer easy answers. Instead it explores a difficult issue in a thoughtful, nuanced way. It's the kind of contemplative approach that could serve us well to emulate, whether in discussing school shootings or in broaching similarly polarizing issues. After all, the answers to the troubling problems that plague our society, if any answers are to be found, probably won't come from more heated vitriol. They seem more likely to emerge from the quiet determination in enough hearts to stop searching for someone else to blame and to start taking responsibility for making things better. Vincent's film subtly asks us all to consider what that might look like, and he expands on that in his interview with me. If that's not the ultimate solution to a vexing issue that has sadly become all familiar, then it's at least a step in the right direction, and even a small step forward is a welcome one at this point. In addition to how Vincent's film wrestles school-shooting issue, we also discuss How Vincent prepared his young actors to explore a challenging issue The way the cinematography and music in the film helped him tell the story Why he likes to bring the composer early in the development process How he partnered with The Orchard to get the word out about his film My podcast coverage of #LIFF2018 begins below with director Vincent Grashaw discussing his film And Then I Go: [spp-player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/nsavides/Gothic-Tropic-nsavides-podcast-inteview-at-sxsw-T2.mp3"] Vincent will be attending LIFF 2018, so if you plan to attend then you can continue the conversation there. And Then I Go will be playing on Saturday, April 21 at 2:15 - 4:00 PM and on Sunday, April 22 at 4:15 - 6:00 PM, and he will be participating in a filmmaking discussion on that Sunday from 12:30 - 1:15 PM. Tickets are available through LIFF's website. Want to learn more about The Orchard, the distributor behind And Then I Go? Then check out this interview I did with Richard Matson, The Orchard's VP of distribution:   Sponsor for this Episode nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here! # My short film Mixed Signals  premieres at LIFF 2018 on April 21.   # Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com # Related Things LIFF 2018 Vincent Grashaw On IMDb, Twitter And Then I Go The Orchard, the film's distributor Katrina Wan PR, doing traditional publicity for And Then I Go Picture Motion, doing grassroots-related events for the film   Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow. # Films Mentioned And Then I Go Coldwater  Elephant He Got Game I’ll See You in My Dreams It Follows He Got Game Rich Hill We Need to Talk About Kevin  # Book Mentioned Project X # If You Liked the Show Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter. Subscribe or leave an honest review: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Say hello on Twitter:  @nsavidesPRO Thank you for visiting!