Interview with Welcome to Celibacy Club's Director
Welcome to Celibacy Club-Emmy is a normal teenage girl, but unlike seemingly everyone around her, she has no desire to stick her tongue down anyone’s throat, since she’s asexual. Seeking a community she can better relate to, Emmy ends up joining her school's most sex-negative club – Celibacy Club.
Ace LA’s Social Media Director Gina interviewed the director of this student film, Campbell Moore, about making the film.
How did you get involved in this project?
Campbell Moore: I got involved in June 2022 with the project. At that point it was myself, the three other producers, and our writers. I met with all of them and discussed my vision for the project. I’m not sure how I heard about it, I think one of my friends sent me their crew call over Instagram. It all just kind of went from there. It’s crazy to think I worked on this film from June 2022 all the way until it finished post-production in January 2023, and then getting to see it screen during its festival run before we released it on Vimeo in November 2023.
What was your favorite scene to watch?
CM: I think my favorite scene to watch in the theater for the first time with people was the dance scene. I had been so entrenched in the film, it was so rewarding to hear people laugh at the jokes, and in that scene there’s a moment that starts almost as a background joke. I didn’t know if the audience would pay much attention to it until we really shouted it out, but I was surprised to see and hear that it got one of the biggest laughs. So to hear people laugh at that point is always a joy. It continues to be one of my favorite scenes to watch and see where people pick up on the background silliness that I was certain no one would even pick up on. But honestly, I know the film by heart (including the songs), so I can’t help but smile along to every piece of it.
What was your favorite scene to direct?
CM: Gosh, the film was shot over four days, two weekends. It honestly felt like such a blur, and I was just so happy we’d done it, it felt hard to stop and enjoy the moment. I’d have to say the celibacy club meeting was particularly fun for me because I really loved playing with Luke Allen’s monologue there. It was also the first scene we shot, and it had people on set laughing and smiling already, so I knew we definitely had something special and got me out of my head on that.
What was the process of finding the actors? Did you have to explain to them what asexuality was?
CM: The actors were somewhat easy, since the film was a student short we really just used our resources as student filmmakers to spread the word about casting. I believe everyone in the cast besides Tyler, who plays Luke Allen, was (or still is!) a USC student. It was helpful that the other producers as well as our writers all knew some people who were involved in acting and were able to spread the word, so we had a pretty good pool of people to pull from. Honestly, no! I didn’t have to explain asexuality because I think the script does a great job of that already, and we had resources gesturing to what it was up on our Instagram page as well. I think the main cast of actors were really understanding. Everyone knew that asexuality desperately needed
representation and were passionate about helping a project like this provide some of that representation.
I did have some conversations with Abitha Nunis who plays Emmy, about our own experiences with asexuality and what that spectrum looks like, and what we found was true for Emmy’s experience.
How was the editing process like?
CM: The editing process was great! I am also an editor but this time I really wanted to focus solely on my directing, and I’d taken up responsibility as a co-producer as development of the film went on, so I worked with my friend and peer Charlotte Despard to edit the film. I believe we went through four or five cuts, which seems small, but it was over the course of a few months. Then it was about getting sound design in, music, and color, which took another month or so. I also worked with my twin sister to create the opening credits of the film, while I did the end credits.
What do you hope anyone that watches this film takes away from it?
CM: I think there are a few messages to take away. The simplest being that celibacy and asexuality are not the same thing. It’s a big myth and misconception surrounding asexuality, and one that I think many people don’t often feel the need to investigate further. That’s why it’s so easy for our asexual character to confuse them, or at least feel she might find a community in a celibacy club rather than a queer space. I hope that we open the door for people who may not have known much about asexuality to really investigate the topic and identity, because it can be so nuanced and confusing when there are so many misconceptions like the one I hope is ultimately dispelled by watching the film.
Understanding that celibacy isn’t the same as asexuality, I think there’s also an importance to me for this film to show just how much asexuals also crave community and connection. There’s also a big misconception that asexuals must be cold, robotic, or even sociopaths, but this just isn’t true. Emmy’s whole journey is about wanting a community she can really connect with, and while she struggles to find exactly what she was looking for, she starts to build relationships and connections that support her. So, I think the story of someone who wants community and connection is so important to the asexual story, because just because that connection may not be sexual (or romantic if we’re bringing aromanticism in, which isn’t explicit in WTCC but I think can’t wholly be separated from Emmy as a character, but her romantic attraction stays vague because that wasn’t hyper relevant to the story) doesn’t mean it’s not as meaningful.
Any plans to make this into a feature one day?
CM: At the moment, sadly not. I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I think at this point, to do it right would involve bringing back our writers, producers, and actors to reprise and add to the story we’ve built, which I think would just be logistically hard at this point. I do hope to continue
working on stories that center on and represent the breadth of the asexual experience as well as the aromantic experience. I believe both are important, together, separate, etc. All are truly lacking and needed in the larger media landscape.
Were there any other asexual members in the cast or crew?
CM: Yes! Our core team at the very beginning made it a priority to have asexual, queer, women, and people of color on the cast and crew as much as possible. And since we really pulled from our collective networks at USC, I feel like we found most of the asexuals who were at USC at the time. Of our main crew, myself, my co-producer, our writers, our lead actress, and many other crew all identify as asexual or on the asexual spectrum. The majority of our crew was queer and all (save one) of our department heads were women.
What direction did you ask the songwriter for the theme song? Or did you find the song?
CM: I had a playlist I made for myself and to share with the actors that gave the vibe and set the mood for the scene. It was all very similar to what you hear in the film, the pop, indie, coming of age soundtrack. I talked with Tiffany Curesuama, our composer, singer, and lyricist, about the playlist, and she took that and ran with it. Tiffany comes from a classical background and also does EDM music, so when I gave her pop she was a little hesitant that she could do it, but I still listen to the songs she wrote. She wrote all the songs and lyrics (except Amazing Grace, of course, and I believe that may have been written in the script or an idea by Tiffany).
For the songs with lyrics, I also talked Tiffany through some of the ideas I had about the films’ message and what Emmy’s experience is throughout the film. I believe she came back with a draft, and we went through one round of notes on the lyrics, they so perfectly captured all that the film was saying. Honestly, I think those songs are some of my own personal asexual anthems. And I have to plug here now that you can go listen to the soundtrack on Spotify!
The link I believe is in Welcome to Celibacy Club’s Linktree, and it’s under Tiffany Curesuma on Spotify.
What is your favorite story from filming?
CM: It honestly was just such a blur for me, and over a year ago now, so there’s not one specific example I can think of. I think I was just so focused on the work and getting us through our days that I didn’t stop to take it all in. I will say, though, one of my favorite parts was seeing the set and actors work together. It’s always the most magical part of being on a set, seeing the vision really come to life. It was even more special because it was something I’d been working towards for so long.
How did the marketing plan come about?
CM: The marketing plan was really all about trying to get the community we’d made this for to know about and be able to watch the film. While we mainly focused on the festivals it showed at, when we were able to set a date for the film’s release publicly, we focused on trying to reach as many asexual community spaces as we could.
As a USC film that was made in Los Angeles, how does it feel to have an impact on the ace community with this film?
CM: It’s so rewarding to see that our work and passion for this story has been received by the community we were able to reach. Truly, if just one asexual person said they were moved by the film or felt represented, it would have been enough for me. But we’ve gotten a good few people to see it. I'm still trying to get as many in the asexual community and beyond to see it, because I really believe in the message of this story.
What was the hardest scene to film and/or direct?
CM: I think the biggest scene, the dance. There were a lot of moving parts and we were definitely in a time crunch. It also took the longest to set up, and really had everyone so involved in making the set look good, and the actors and the camera really getting the blocking down. It was a really fun scene, but definitely took a lot of thought about making sure it all turned out the way I could
visualize it in my head and getting everyone on the same page.
Any last thoughts?
CM: I hope that this film is able to bring a little more to the small drop in the ocean that is the much needed asexual representation. I hope that whoever is reading this, you can see yourself in Emmy, and find some of the humor in her experience. I think that’s one of the biggest things this film taught me, was the real meaning of finding humor in a situation or experience. And above all, hope you can enjoy the short!
Find more info and watch the film at https://linktr.ee/welcometocelibacyclub