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Indie filmmaker Kelli Herd discusses her debut feature comedy, It's in the Water Go to the PQ Online Cinema and watch the trailer for It's in the Water in streaming QuickTime and RealVideo. The South may rise again -- in cinema anyway -- with help from Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) and Matthew McConaughey (A Time To Kill). But wait, where is the humor in all of this Southern discomfort? First time director Kelli Herd steps forward with It's in the Water, an hilarious look at life in the small, fictional Texas town of Azalea Springs. When the locals think that the town gays and lesbians are "that way because of the water," all hell breaks loose. Texas native Herd admits that her actual hometown never had such a "crisis," but there were enough other lesbians and gays there to inspire her film. "There were about 18 homos from my neighborhood and once we all moved to Dallas we would see each other and say "Oh my God, girl, it must be in the water," laughs Herd. "And there was a creek running through the back of our neighborhood." Despite having a sexy cast, a great story line, a feel good title song from Sara Hickman, and the blessings of Academy Award-winning producer Martin Jurow (of Terms of Endearment and Breakfast at Tiffany's fame), Herd is still looking for a distributor for It's in the Water. "I keep getting from distributors that they don't think that the gay and lesbian community can carry a picture. And my response is, who do you think watched that 'Ellen' episode, not my mother." That's for sure, especially if her real life mom is anything like the Southern matron homophobe who starts to buy bottled water. From her Dallas office, Herd shares her feelings on box office potential for films with queer subject matters, the advantages of looking like Cybill Shepherd, and doing the film festival circuit. PopcornQ: So how did you meet Martin Jurow? Kelli Herd: I was a disc jockey at an easy listening radio station when I met [him]. At first, he was just a guy who would come in from time to time and record a show for the station. Then we began to talk, and he was just delightful. He took me under his wing and said, "You should be in the film business" and I was like yeah, right. Later, I was approached to produce a TV show called "Campus Tours" and I thought this would be a good time to get into this industry. PQ: Like a lot of women filmmakers, you financed your own film. Why do you think funding is so hard to obtain? KH: I bit the dust and sold my house and my car to fund this film. It is still such a speculative market, so studios are reluctant sometimes to take risks. Now, I have always been a risk taker. If you don't risk anything, you won't gain anything. Plus the market is a great deal different than it was five years ago when there were about 200 independents made a year. Last year at Sundance, there were over 1100 entrants. PQ: And the budget for an indie has changed... KH: Exactly. So [studios] are going to be choosey about who they give their money to. Ten million at the box office isn't good enough for a distribution company anymore, they want $25 million. PQ: Despite having to self fund your own project, you got a really talented cast and good production quality. How did you find your cast and crew? KH: We were going to have open casting, but we decided to send the script to talent agents instead. Given the content, we weren't sure if they would send their talent, but when they read the script they were like, 'Oh my god, this is the best script that we have received in ten years. Of course we are sending our best talent.' So Austin, Houston, Dallas and LA agencies sent us people. We auditioned hundreds and hundreds of people. PQ: That's pretty amazing. When the Wachowski brothers were casting for Bound, they said that they got so many cancellations from actresses. Why do you think your response was different? KH: I think that [actors] saw that it was funny and has box office potential. PQ: Speaking of Bound, what do you think about male directors' images of lesbians and bisexual women? KH: I thought that it was a great movie, but it was not a lesbian film. It was a straight film with a couple of hot chicks. PQ: I've noticed women directors approach scenes differently. It's in the Water has a lot of chemistry between Alex (Keri Jo Chapman) and Grace (Teresa Miller), but it is not sexually risque like, say, Showgirls. KH: I didn't want a love scene that had a bunch of gratuitous tongues, and what a straight fellow would perceive that two lesbians would look like in bed. I wanted it to look like when I fell in love. PQ: Speaking of looks, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Cybill Shepherd and you. And there is the whole Southern background thing happening as well. KH: I wish that I did look like Cybill Shepherd. I'm more of a big bone gal [laughs]. PQ: You've been doing the film festival circuit recently. You did OutFest here in LA and your picture was sold out. Has the response been like that everywhere? KH: The response has been pretty much the same wherever I have gone-- they have laughed, been touched and really enjoyed it. It's been a fabulous opportunity to meet people. I was nervous -- since the movie is so Southern -- about the response that would we get in a place like Boston, since it is a very highbrow town. The audience [at the Boston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival] absolutely loved it. What I have discovered is that there are Azalea Springs all over the world. People will come up to me and say 'How did you capture my mother minus the Southern accent?' Or 'I grew up in a town like that.' I have been doing the festival route to get the picture out there. So it is a grass roots campaign. I know that It's in the Water has box office potential and it deserves a theatrical release. For more info check out the It's in the Water Web site. PQ MOVIE NEWS: PQ Video Hot List | Interviews | Advance Guide to Queer Film | Movie News Archive | PQ Video Hot Lists Galore MORE NEWS ON PLANETOUT: PlanetOut News & Politics | PlanetOutRadio | Entertainment
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