An Interview with Writer and Director Tara Johnson-Medinger

Tara Johnson-Medinger gives us the 411 on her well-received teen dramedy My Summer as a Goth, which releases this week on digital.
 
Why movies? What is about them that had you beating down doors to be a part of the industry?
 
Tara Johnson-Medinger: I’ve always been a lover of story, especially through the mechanism of theater and films. When I went to college I chose film and art as my focus because I knew it was an extension of my love of doing the technical side of theater. After I graduated I found a job at the local tv station in master control. Eventually I ended up in LA working in network television but always knew that I wanted to take my career in the direction of film and in particular, film producing. I found that I had a real knack for bringing people together to make a project happen. I produced a couple of short films in LA but my producing career really took off when I returned to Portland. Directing is new to me and My Summer as a Goth is my directorial debut and directing is a natural progression in my career and compliments my producing skills nicely.
 
And did you grow up shooting your own b/w films in the backyard like most of us?
 
TJM: Not really. My dad was a Radio DJ/Newscaster and I actually thought I wanted to be a TV news anchor. I spent a lot of time talking to the trees in our yard reporting on the day’s “news”! Back then, access to film equipment was difficult and expensive so I explored my storytelling through art, photography and theater in high school. I didn’t even touch a film camera until college.
 
Do you remember the first script you ever wrote?
 
TJM: Sure! It was a vampire story that I wrote for one of my college screenwriting classes called Frere Jacques. I think I still have it!
 
What was the first produced one?
 
TJM: Another college film called Meatloaf Surprise about a deranged housewife who murders her husband with, you guessed it, meatloaf!
 
How easy a sell was My Summer as a Goth on the money-men and film distributors? Did they only need to see a few storyboards or the script to win them over?
 
TJM: My Summer as a Goth was completely independently produced. We had a couple of meetings with potential investors that didn’t go anywhere so we just decided to do it on our own. We did crowd-sourced fundraising for a lot of the budget and put our own money into making it happen. I was also completely supported by the Portland film community and many of my friends who helped with making this film happen by giving us deals on gear and equipment, lending their skills and houses for us to film in - it really truly took a village to pull this film off!
 
I wasn’t worried too much about getting a distribution deal, but I wanted to get the right deal. I took my time in evaluating the offers that I received. I’m very protective of this movie and I wanted to make sure that the distributor that I was going to work with understood and supported my vision on how this film should be released.
 
How important was the chemistry in the movie between the two leads?
 
TJM: The chemistry between the characters of Joey and Victor is incredibly important. We had the privilege of working with Natalie Shershow (who plays Joey) a good six months prior to casting

the other characters so we got to know her really well. In casting the rest of the cast, we were able to bring Natalie into those sessions to read with the other actors. When Jack Levis auditioned we knew immediately that we had found our Victor.
 
Did the actors have much time to rehearse before filming started?
 
TJM: Yes - we set aside a good amount of time to work with all of the actors. This was pretty unusual, but all of the actors were agreeable and wanted as much time as possible. Sometimes you don’t get any time to rehearse before you roll the camera!
 
The wardrobe is another star of the film. How hard was it to find all those cool clothes?
 
TJM: The head of our wardrobe department, Heather Meinert is amazing! We actually pulled clothing from all of our personal collections and Heather put together some amazing ensembles. We had a few custom made outfits by designer Kambriel for Victor and another character, Pandora. We also received a donation from Dr Martens of footwear for all our young cast. I know Heather spent a lot of time digging through the bins at Goodwill to find some fantastic pieces!
 
Were the crew dressed up in goth attire too? Ha!
 
TJM: Sometimes yes! I would say that a lot of our crew identified as goth or alternative so there was a lot of black outfits, eyeliner and lipstick going on behind the scenes.
 
This is entertainment, first and foremost, but there’s also some messages in the movie. What do you consider the most important ones?
 
TJM: I would say friendship and acceptance are huge themes in the film.

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