Daringly pursuing ambitious new relationships and situations has the potential to not only push you out of your comfort zone and into a bold new journey, but also offers a liberating chance to uncover who you truly are, and enter into the next stage in your life. Fearlessly embarking on that difficult but necessary process everyone must take in order to remain faithful to their ideals is the epitome of the lives of the characters and filmmakers of the new independent crime thriller, ‘The Girl Is in Trouble.’ Writer-director-producer Julius Onah, who was born in Nigeria and now lives in New York City, grippingly pursued his dream of making his first feature film with with the drama, which enthralling reflects aspects of his own life.
‘The Girl Is in Trouble,’ which opened in theaters and on VOD this weekend, follows August (Columbus Short), an unemployed DJ who’s struggling to survive in New York City’s Lower East Side after he was disowned by his Nigerian immigrant parents. While he’s desperately searching for another job, after he was deceitfully replaced by one of his rival DJs at a local bar, and is attempting to find a way to make money to stay in his apartment, he’s contacted by a woman he met at the bar a few weeks earlier. The woman, a Swedish immigrant named Signe (Alicja Bachleda) who moved to New York to pursue her music career, calls August as a last resort for help. After she was turned away by her ex-boyfriend, who she used to live with, as well as several of her friends and acquaintances that she has seemingly misled, he agrees to meet her at the bar.
Seeing her tattered clothing and frazzled personality that night, August agrees to let Signe stay with him. But the next morning he becomes wary of her intentions, as he wakes up to see her taking money from his wallet. As a way to make the struggling musician realize he feels used, he takes her phone, and in the process, accidentally uncovers footage she shot the night before. In the video, he recognizes a local drug dealer, Jesus (Kareem Savinon), as the son of an infamous billionaire, Nicholas (Jesse Spencer), is smothering him to death. Jesus’ revenge-driven brother, Angel (Wilmer Vilderrama), then unexpectedly shows up at August’s apartment, asking the DJ if he knows where his missing brother has gone. As a result, August and Signe must figure out how to not only avoid retaliation from the distraught Angel, who’s determinedly seeking vengeance for his brother, but also the otherwise feeble Nicholas, who’s suddenly unwavering in his mission to stop Signe from turning him into the police.
Onah generously took the time recently to talk about writing, directing and producing ‘The Girl Is in Trouble’ during an exclusive phone interview. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed how he came up with the idea to pen the crime thriller’s script with his co-writer, Mayuran Tiruchelvam, while he was attending grad school at NYU, and how scribing the screenplay helped him in his approach to directing the film, as he put extensive details about how he wanted to approach each scene on the set in the script; and how having Spike Lee serve as an executive producer on the independent crime thriller helped him infuse his own creative freedom he wanted into the movie, particularly when securing the locations he wanted throughout Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and developing the characters with the actors, so that they could naturally showcase the way residents really act in the New York neighborhood.
ShockYa (SY): You made your feature film writing debut with the new crime thriller, ‘The Girl Is in Trouble.’ Were did you come up with the idea for the story, and what was the overall process like once you began penning the script?
Julius Onah (JO): The process was a lot of fun. My co-writer, Mayuran Tiruchelvam, is one of my dearest friends, and we went to college together. We then went to grad school-I went to NYU, and he went to Columbia.
The idea for the story first came when I was standing at a party in Poland, after a screening at a film festival. I was in film school at the time, and unsure what I wanted to do next. I remembered I love film noirs, and how I’ve always gotten excited about that genre of film.
Once I came back to New York, I called Mayuran immediately, and we started breaking the idea down. It really started with a lot of conversations. We talked for at least two to three weeks first about the characters and the story, and outlined it all. From there, we split up writing scenes.
He took scenes he was excited about, and I took scenes I was excited about, and then we wrote independently. Then we’d come together and read through the scenes, and made sure they all flowed as coherently and cohesively as we could get them. It was a blast, because we were laughing and joking as we were writing.
SY: Besides writing the movie, you also directed it. How did working on the script influence the way you approached helming the thriller, especially since this was the first feature film you both wrote and directed?
JO: Well, I had wrote and directed a lot of shorts before ‘The Girl Is in Trouble.’ While I attended grad school at NYU, I also had to write and directed everything I worked on, so I almost don’t know how to make films any other way.
It’s more of a learning process now that I’m directing a few projects that I’m not writing. But it’s hugely beneficial to write the script, because I can write the way I see the story. So as I’m writing, I can put in clues, details and other information that I now I want to remember when I go on the set, whether it’s capturing a certain pause here, or an emotional detail or gesture there. I can also write what I really want to focus on in the frame, in terms of composition of a shot. So all of those things are really helpful when you’re writing and directing.
But there are challenges sometimes, in terms of being able to step back and look at things in terms of a purely director’s point-of-view. You have to take off your writer’s hat, and just put on your director’s hat. But none-the-less, having a unified vision as a writer-director is a really exciting way to make a movie.
SY: What was the casting process like for the main characters in ‘The Girl Is in Trouble,’ particularly the roles played by Columbus Short, Wilmer Valderrama and Alicja Bachleda?
JO: Well, when I wrote the script, I was in film school at the time, and I was being mentored by Spike Lee. He was the artistic chair at NYU, and I interned for him many years ago. Spike really liked the script, and helped us get it into the agency world in Los Agneles.
So at that point, we were having interactions with different agencies, and they were putting actors up in front of us. We were forming ideas of our own as well, as we were working with a casting director in New York. So we had a lot of meetings with a lot of actors, and we were trying to find people who understood the script.
We also needed actors who understood the fact that we were making a very small film, and our budget was not on a level that they may have been used to working with on a Hollywood movie or big TV show. We were also looking for people who were excited about doing something a little bit different from what they’ve done before. So we tried to be as comprehensive as possible, and luckily were able to find a great group of people who brought these characters to life.
SY: What was the process of working with the actors once they were cast, in terms of creating their characters’ backstories and relationships, as well as their physicality, such as in the fight sequences?
JO: That process was a blast. It’s one of my favorite aspects of putting together a film, because I started in theater, in terms of my education. I’ve always known that I wanted to make films, but I actually studies theater for my first degree at Wesleyan University. So the rehearsal process is really important to me, not just in terms of helping the actors find the physicality and behavioral gestures that are part of their characters, but also creating the language in which we’re going to work with while we’re operating on set.
Every actor’s different, in terms of how much, and what kind of, direction they want. Some actors want line readings, while others want to be left alone, so that they can figure it out on their own. Sometimes it’s your job as a director to know when to be quiet, and give the actors space to work.
We were a small film, so we only had about a week of rehearsal. All the key, challenging scenes were the ones that had some action. Sometimes we were able to get to our locations ahead of time and rehearse there.
This was a very different role for Wilmer. There was a specific physicality his character needed, in terms of the way he walked and carried himself, particularly where he carried the tension in his shoulders. Wilmer came to the set so prepared and committed. There were times we hung out in neighborhoods in the Lower East Side, like where I had lived for many years, so that he could study the people there. He gave a really authentic performance, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.
SY: Speaking of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, what was the process of filming in authentic locations in the neighborhoods there? How did shooting on location help the story and the overall movie?
JO: It was absolutely beneficial, as this is a New York movie that features New York aspects in every sense of the word. I lived, and worked in nightlife, DJing and promoting parties, in the Lower East Side for many years. So I was able to utilize relationships I had built in different clubs and lounges, and really worked with the community to make the film. I don’t know how we would have made it otherwise. We didn’t have a lot of money, so we needed good breaks on some of our locations for the club scenes in the movie. We were able to use those locations for next to no money, because we connected to people who were excited about the film I was trying to make, and were supportive of it.
It’s also a New York movie, because we looked through the history and immigration of the Lower East Side, and how these characters would come together. So it was essential that we had this community’s support, as well as the locations we were able to film in, in order to tell this story. Otherwise, I don’t know how we would have made this film.
SY: What was the process of filming ‘The Girl Is in Trouble’ independently-did it pose any challenges on the set, or did it help with the story’s creativity?
JO: Well, the process is great for the film’s creativity, because you have the freedom to make it the way you want to make it. There aren’t a lot of people pushing you in a direction that might not be organic or right for the film. Does that mean there aren’t any challenges in the process? Absolutely not-there are a lot of challenges, because you don’t have a lot of money. So there are certain things you can’t do, or choices you have to make, that are compromises, due to the lack of resources.
This is a very small film, and I was making it as I was finishing my education at NYU. So we had to rely on a lot of favors and support, including from the Tribeca Institute in New York. So we did the best we could with minimal resources, and maximize them the best we could.
I shot the movie on film, as I had a good relationship with Kodak and Fuji at that point. They were helpful in connecting us with camera houses, which gave us cameras for next to nothing. It truly was an independent project.
SY: Speaking of the Tribeca Institute, the crime thriller being a part of was a selection of the Tribeca Film Festival’s All Access program. What was the experience of having the movie play at the festival, particularly since it was shot and set in New York City?
JO: It meant the world to me. As I said, this was a New York movie, and the fine folks at Tribeca are big supporters of New York films. Obviously, the people who founded the festival are true New Yorkers. So they’ve been an influential part of so many seminal New York films, and being a part of that tradition meant the world to us. Having Spike Lee, who’s one of the quintessential New York filmmakers, mentoring and guiding the process was also a huge bonus for us.
I’ll always consider myself to be a New York filmmaker. Even though I’m going to make films outside of the city throughout my career, I’m always hoping to come back regularly and continue to make films in New York. I’m also always going to have a relationship with the community of filmmakers in New York. So this was very much a first step, and I’m glad my first step was making a New York film.
SY: Also speaking of Spike, he executive produced ‘The Girl is in Trouble,’ which you also served as a producer on. What was the process of producing the film with Spike, especially since he serves a mentor to you?
JO: It was amazing to have a world-class filmmaker like Spike giving you guidance on every aspect of your production. From the moment the movie was written, Spike was helping us create better dialogue in certain places, as well as correcting certain things and fixing typos in the script.
Spike started his own career making ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ which was a very small New York film. So he understands what the linguistical challenges are of having only a few actors and resources when it comes to the locations and money, and not a lot of stock, in terms of him shooting that movie on film.
So no one understands the pitfalls you can come across when you’re making a movie like this better than Spike, so he’s able to guide you through some of those things. Certain challenges are just inherent in the process of making a movie like this, but the wisdom he provides us was fantastic. I’m going to owe everything to Spike moving forward, because he really helped me start my career as a filmmaker.
SY: The thriller will be released on VOD and in theaters on Friday. Do you think the On Demand platform is beneficial to independent films like ‘The Girl Is in Trouble?’
JO: Absolutely. There’s nothing I love more than going into a theater to watch a movie, so I’m thrilled that people are going to be able to go into a theater to watch my film.
But at the same time, this isn’t the same world this was 10 or 20 years ago. At that time, there were fewer distractions. People used to just have their TVs and music. But in today’s day and age, we have so many other ways for people to spend their leisure time, whether it’s on social networks like Twitter or Facebook, or portable gaming. So it’s hard to get people to go to the theater now.
So to have the opportunity to watch an independent film at home is a great way to have these movies seen by people who may not have watched them otherwise. So I think those VOD platforms are hugely beneficial. It means that your film really gets to have a life beyond just showing up in theaters for a little while, especially since independent movies don’t have the same advertising that big studio films receive.
Written by: Karen Benardello