William R.A. Rush

Can you tell us a bit about your film and how the idea came about?
Xxena (my wife and producer) and I were watching a movie that I won’t name. There are enough of them. And inevitably something happens, the witness is clearly terrified, and no one believes them. The jump scares start and it was like “here we go again”. I wanted to make a film where we didn’t use any tropes or rely on jump scares and where all the characters acted like regular people might in a crazy situation. And “Immersion” followed.

What was your main goal in making this film?
I wanted realistic and relatable female characters who showed strength and skill in the face of adversity while still presenting a scary narrative. I believe we succeeded.

How would you describe your filmmaking style?
Realism accomplished primarily with long takes of character expression and realistic dialogue to place the viewer inside of the world of the film to the greatest extent possible. In a word; immersive.

Who are some of your cinematic influences?
I said this exact thing before, but David Lynch is singularly powerful. Werner Herzog and Agnes Varda can do anything and make it beautiful. Michael Haneke is brilliant and unflinching. Yorgos Lanthimos is unique and singularly artistic. Pedro Almodovar touches on so many important themes in such a brilliant and honest way that each of his films are visual literature. Bergman, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, the Coen Brothers, Guillermo del Toro, Gaspar Noe, Tarantino, Chantel Ackerman, John Carpenter, Julia Ducournau. There are just so many incredible filmmakers that I admire that it’s impossible to narrow them down.

I will say, the works of Haneke sticks to my soul more than anyone else’s.

What does it mean to you to participate in a festival focused on independent filmmakers?
It’s an honor, a beautiful community of like-minded and supremely talented creatives. What could be better than that? To be around artists who care and support each other.

What do you hope the audience will take away from your film after seeing it at the festival?
I hope they appreciate the honesty of the picture and I hope each one takes away their own personal meaning from viewing it.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working on this project?
By far, it’s been the audience reaction. I set out with the goals set forth above, and to see the audience respond the way I had hoped. No manipulation or shortcuts or cheating. I wrote a screenplay that I hoped would resonate with audiences, and mean different things to different people. To see that achieved has been wonderful.

We screened it privately with the Pod Mortem podcast hosts (a podcast I highly recommend!) with some friends, T.J., Jason, Scott, Kent, Jugs, Cookie, Erica and several other friends who support our work. Everyone understood the film, which was great, but each took something different away from it. It was special.

What are some of your all-time favorite films?
The Godfather, Godfather II, Casablanca, No Country for Old Men, The Exorcist, The Lives of Others, The White Ribbon, Persona…there are just so many. I love cinema and there are too many to list.

Do you have a favorite film genre in particular?
Horror is definitely my favorite genre, but I love the individual film more than any particular genre. For example, there are only two horror films in my top-ten all-time favorites. But that said, I love what horror can achieve, the empathetic core inside each of us that gets triggered by a film that taps into some visceral fear. When done well, horror is magnificent. And of course I love writing horror.

What do you think is the role of independent cinema in today's film industry?
Honestly, I think the role of independent cinema at this point in time is to provide the original ideas, new voices, new stories that aren’t swallowed up by the existing I.P. assembly line of the studio system. If you attend a festival showcasing independent films with a rigid screening process you will get a higher percentage of quality films than from whatever the biggest studios are releasing. There’s a care, a passion, a wealth of talent in independent cinema that have to fight tooth and nail to be seen. Independent filmmakers can’t rely on millions of dollars and robust marketing, they just have to make good movies. Many do.

What is your next film project?
It’s called “Fetish”, and I will let your imagination fill in what it might be about.

Any advice for aspiring independent filmmakers?
Make your movie. Show what you can do with what you have. If all you have is a second-hand thirty-year old Sony handheld and two friends, or an iPhone, whatever it is, make the best version of what you can make with that. Just make the work, show what you can do, and make sure people see it. No matter what you’re working on, you will learn and grow and develop and the skill will shine through.