We recently connected with Rosalie Alspach and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Rosalie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My debut short film, “The Hostess,” of course, was a very special project with it being my first, and the theme being important to me, but I’m going to say, the one I’m actively working on, “If We Be Friends.”

“If We Be Friends” is a drama/dark comedy about a group of friends who come together for a weekend to pay tribute to their former theatre teacher who passed away. I love this style of movie—a small group of people in one location who love each other but are dealing with old conflicts and feelings. I’m a dialogue person, so this setup is a perfect combination for me to lean into that.

I started writing “If We Be Friends” during the pandemic. It was an isolating time for everyone, but I noticed that within those first couple of months, old friends—my old high school theatre friends—were checking in on each other and Facetiming after years of not connecting, and it brought up a lot of memories and reminded me of how connected we still were after all that time.

High school, without a doubt, is a formative experience, whether it be good or bad. For me, I spent that time doing a lot of ensemble-building work in theatre, an invaluable skill. Our casts and crews learned to come together—whether people liked each other or not—to put the production first and, above all, serve the story. Those people and experiences will always hold a place in my heart, and that’s what “If We Be Friends” speaks to. The characters have all of this baggage but they are able to recognize that there is something greater and more important than their individual issues. I hope that people will take that message away when they see it because, let’s be real, we, as a general population, really need to have the ability to do that. I’m so excited for this one to come to life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Rosalie Alspach, and I’m an LA based writer, director, and actor. I’m from Ashland, Oregon, a very theatre-centric town, being the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Growing up there played a big part in my theatre education and passion for storytelling. I got my BA in Theatre from Illinois Wesleyan University and after graduation I promptly moved to LA, where, ironically, there isn’t much theatre. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but it was a gut feeling and I usually trust those. After a few years of living and auditioning in LA, I started writing. I had found myself not excited about much of what I was auditioning for or booking, so I felt compelled to try writing the type of movie that I would find interesting, and creating characters that when actors read their sides, they’d be excited to get to play them for even a few minutes. As soon as I started the ideas kept coming, so I kept writing—I fell in love with it and it felt right. I was lucky to have a friend who worked in creative development for a production company who helped me learn how to develop a solid script that someone would want to make. I’ve always enjoyed directing for theatre, so that passion transitioned pretty naturally to directing my own work in film. I also like throwing myself in as an actor—I’ve found that doing all three (when it’s possible) is when I’m happiest. Aside from filmmaking, I’m also a singer, a pianist, and an aerialist!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are so many rewarding parts, but I’m going to say, hearing the words you wrote being brought to life for the first time. I recently had a table read of my new feature project, “If We Be Friends”; I got together with some actors and the producers and we sat around a table in my living room and just read the script. Well, they didn’t just read the script. I was absolutely floored by their performances, enthusiasm, and commitment. They all understood the characters and really brought them to life. It was something I did not expect from a first-time casual table read. What was even more impressive was how they were able to flawlessly deliver the jokes—they landed perfectly and left the whole group laughing out loud. It was such an amazing, and honestly surprising experience. But now they’ve set the bar so high for future table reads! But truly, I think that’s definitely one of the top two most rewarding moments. Even if it has ruined all future table reads for me.

Overall though, I love the whole process of nothing becoming something. The feeling of working together to create something has a purity and magic in it to me, and it’s even better when you get to do it with friends. I’ve discovered that one should always make movies with friends. I don’t think I’ve ever made anything artistic without friends, going all the way back to my first theatre days, and I don’t think I ever will.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Money. Films need money to be made, so if you want to support filmmakers/creatives, the way to do that is by funding their work. Invest in independent films. They aren’t a bad investment, and they aren’t more of a risk than the big-budget ones—films are always a risk whether they’re big or small. For just one example, one of my favorite big-budget films of the year has yet to recoup its costs—I really hope it does because I loved that movie and I’d like to see more like it—so it’s just always going to be a gamble. On the other side, there are many low-budget indie films that succeed and turn a great profit. Regardless it will always be a risk of loss and the potential of profit. So why not invest more in independent films?

Money’s not the most fun thing to talk about—I know I’d rather talk about my characters and inspiration, but unless I want to let my writing exist solely in my mind, then many straightforward conversations about money must take place. One of the more difficult things about funding is the accessibility (unless you know very wealthy people in your inner circle willing to invest, of course). I recently learned that “Furiosa” was largely funded by the Australian government, and the British Film Commission funds movies using a lottery system (the lottery system to avoid bias). It’s like they recognize that the film industry (high budget and low budget) is an essential part of the economy and society!

I don’t know that this would fix everything, but I do know that the route to funding needs to be more accessible. I know that there are states that provide tax incentives—it’s highly promoted as a way to help filmmakers—but lowering the cost of making a film is not remotely the same thing as getting the money in the bank to fund the film.

So, since we know that there is no shortage of people creating great work, my observation is that the key piece in this artistic ecosystem that is lacking, is funding. And as we all know from studying ecosystems back in elementary school, it’s a delicate balance, and when you take one thing away, every part of the ecosystem suffers—and remember, our creative ecosystem is also a crucial part of the cultural, social, and economic ecosystems. So, invest in independent films, because those big budget films are not sustainable—we need the smaller budget indie films to keep the industry and the art form alive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rosaliealspach.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosaliealspach/