Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rachael Quinn & Abigail Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Rachael and Abigail, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
The definition of moonwake is the reflection of moonlight on the water. We felt this fit perfectly with not only the genres we write for, but the themes we explore within them. Despite primarily writing in the dark and dramatic horror/thriller/supernatural spaces, we always find ourselves incorporating moments of levity through comedic relief and heartfelt moments between our characters. In these genres especially, every story explores humanity in the most extreme circumstances, often with the characters’ lives at stake, which allows us to really dig into the best and worst parts of our characters, their relationships, and their world. It’s essentially learning to find a path through the darkness, much like a moonwake is a path of light across a dark ocean. It felt only natural to name our production company “Moonwake.”
Rachael and Abigail, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We’re best friends turned writing partners who are especially drawn to concepts with complex world-building and character development. We love to bend genres and explore stories through different mediums. For example, one of our biggest projects, Hollow’s Bend, includes a TV concept, a dramatic podcast releasing this month, and an upcoming book series.
In addition to Hollow’s Bend: The Radio Play, our recent producing work includes George Sear’s directing debut, Scott, based on the life of Scott Walker, as well as a slate of music videos for the Billboard-charting band, Jukebox the Ghost. We’ve found our specialty is working within each project’s budget to maximize the quality without sacrificing the story or the working conditions for the cast and crew. Our producer brains have definitely informed our writing as well — we are always mindful of ways to keep our concepts cost-effective while still delivering those ensemble-driven “wow” moments you look for in the horror/thriller/supernatural genres.
After ten plus years of friendship, we’re pretty in sync, and we’ve found this is a huge aid to cranking out content. We genuinely write every word of our TV and film projects together — Final Draft up on the projector and one of us typing as we talk through the plot and craft the dialogue, using our directing and acting backgrounds to inform and visualize each scene. Creating is a comfort and a huge passion for us, and especially during times like the pandemic, we turn to it a lot. Not everyone gets to do what they love with their best friend, and that privilege isn’t lost on us. We’re grateful that things like those projector writing sessions, discussing plot points over dinner, and establishing world rules while walking our dogs are all just part of our normal routine.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Anyone who’s worked on a film set knows that pivoting is a huge part of the job, but we’re especially proud of our producing work on the videos for Jukebox the Ghost in Gainesville, FL, last year. Not only were we juggling a 25 person crew and a cast of over 75 people, including circus performers, a full blown marching band, and a horse, but we also had to work around Florida’s summer thunderstorms, which infamously pop up out of nowhere. A lot of pivoting happened within the three short days of filming, but we ended up walking away with two awesome music videos and a documentary.
We also find our ability to pivot is a huge asset in writing. There have been times when producer requests have required us to comb back through our scripts, sometimes even cutting down the number of characters or adding a huge element to the world, depending on what they’re looking for on their slate. In the beginning those kinds of changes seemed really daunting, but nowadays, instead of viewing it as a roadblock, we look at each pivot as an opportunity to further develop and improve our story. We also had to do a lot of pivoting to adapt our Hollow’s Bend scripts into the audio space. By changing our POV character for the podcast, we had to really take a step back and determine how to best tell the story from a different perspective. Not only that, but it needed to flow in a way that didn’t require visuals to track the action, even when dealing with seances and possessions.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The concept that we’ve had the most trouble explaining to people outside the entertainment industry is that the milestones are very different. In most careers, you have a clear trajectory that you can share with others the second you climb another rung of the ladder. In this industry, you can have something huge brewing and not be able to share it for quite some time. Even from an acting standpoint, someone can literally get cast as a lead in a major movie franchise, shoot the film, and not be able to talk about it until the trailer drops a year or two later. There aren’t many industries like that.
In our case, we’ve been working on Hollow’s Bend for years, and there are many things we haven’t been able to publicly announce. From an outside standpoint, the concept may have looked a bit paused up until last week (which in some ways it was, due to the strike), but in reality, the world of Hollow’s Bend has expanded in so many ways — it’s weird not always being able to openly talk about it. However, as many people have said before us, this industry is a marathon — not a sprint. We’re in it for the long haul!
On that note, we’re excited to announce that Hollow’s Bend: The Radio Play premieres on all platforms Tuesday, October 17th. Starring James Marsters, George Sear, Paul Johansson, and Jan Luis Castellanos, Hollow’s Bend is a genre-fueled, three-part podcast filled with teenage hijinks, paranormal takeovers, and a plan to stop a powerful spirit from wreaking havoc on a small mining town.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.moonwakepictures.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hollowsbend
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hollowsbend/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollowsBend
- Other: Listen to the trailer for Hollow’s Bend: The Radio Play here: linktr.ee/hollowsbend Watch the music video for “Cheers” by Jukebox the Ghost here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgU4Mwn97Ko Watch the music video for “Brass Band” by Jukebox The Ghost here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abu40ttwHp4
Image Credits
Main photo: David Harmony Photo (Instagram: @davidxharmony) Brass Band and Cheers BTS photos: Katrina Lee (Instagram: @katrina_lee8)