Project Spotlight: ‘Pathetic Woman', the Queer Comedy Exploring Codependency with a Laugh
Kz Elizabeth (she/her) is a queer, award winning filmmaker and performer from Chicago. She co-starred in the GLAAD nominated episode of Netflix’s Easy, while her debut short, Ponytail, won Audience’s Choice and Best Female Filmmaker awards at festivals internationally and statewide. She’s the director and producer of TLL’s latest Project Spotlight ‘Pathetic Woman,’ a surreal LGBTQ+ short film that follows Andy and Kathryn, two office co-workers, who find themselves in a sudden and absurd codependent relationship. We see codependency in pop culture — but it’s even more prevalent within the queer community. Andy and Kathryn have to navigate the straining effects of codependency in their relationship and ultimately, whether they’ll grow from it or continue to fall into the same pattern. Keep reading to learn more about Kz and watch her short film premiere as a Project Spotlight on the Light Leaks!
How long did production take for this?
We were in pre-production from January 2019 to July of 2019, when we shot the film. We shot the entire film over two days in July 2019.
Were there any surprises (good/bad) during production?
Surprises are what make filmmaking so terrific. I come from the improv community in Chicago, and for me, it’s always a thrilling surprise working with actors who enjoy improvising. The writers/two leads of the film (E.R. Fightmaster and Katy Fullan) are brilliant improvisors, the cast are all improvisors, and even our DP Hannah Welever was fantastic on her feet in capturing the moment as it happened. We had such a good time finding organic moments that weren’t originally written. The final version of the film is definitely different than the original concept, because we jumped on the moments as they happened and allowed the film to blossom and grow.
Scheduling/Time is always the biggest hurdle and unexpected surprise on productions. I don’t care who you are, how much funding, or how organized you are ahead of time, I believe Time is always the wild card during shooting. And for Pathetic Woman, it didn’t matter how organized we were, we were sprinting to make sure we filmed everything we needed in two days, wheeling around Los Angeles like mad people. And we tried sprinting through post-production to get it out in the spring of 2020, but alas, Time has its own schedule, and there are things you can’t control. Like a pandemic. :)
Can you share more about the collaboration of women and GNC creators on this piece? (Co writers, etc)
The piece itself was written by Katy Fullan (she/her, playing Kathryn) and E.R. Fightmaster (they/them, playing Andy), both are also executive producers as well as the leads of the film, and they both play characters that fit their own pronouns. They are both terrifically creative and a speeding car of joy to work with. The exciting thing about collaborating with women and non-binary folk is that we don’t center our work on what is the “standard,” or how a story “should” be told. We didn’t discuss “why” the characters are a woman and a non-binary person, we didn’t define the relationship as queer or not, we didn’t dwell on “why” the relationship is not romantic in the traditional sense — they just were. They existed. This relationship just existed. We de-centered the film from explaining to people “why” do these people/relationships exist — and we spent more time talking about “how” do they exist.
But it was important to us to discuss the idea of “pathetic,” and how gender and sexuality changed our understanding depending on the gender and queerness of the character. Kathryn being a “pathetic” version of “woman” for needing to be carried at all times, and Andy is a “pathetic” version of “woman” for their gender, needing to carry to feel seen.
It was important to me, as the director, to create an environment in pre-production, production, and post, where both creators felt authentic and true to themselves and their voice. That they felt comfortable to create these idiosyncratic characters, without worrying about representation, allowing us to de-center the story from the trope of “likable women'' and focus on the dynamic and two way street that is codependency.
Our cast and crew is 80% female and GNC, and those stats were a non-negotiable for me when putting a crew together. Hi, hellooooo Hollywood, you listening?
Do you feel it’s important to have spaces dedicated towards these voices?
Absolutely. You can’t be what you can’t see, and I want to see LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and Indigenous voices left, right, and center. The only way we get to see our stories, and expand our empathy, is by deciding we need them. We need to decide we need our own stories, and the stories of people vastly different than us. Plain and simple.
What's Hollywood not getting about LGBTQ+ storylines on screen?
Until I get something fully LGBTQ+ led like a version of The Sopranos and it runs for years and years and years— I’ll be waiting. Watching.
LoL, but for real: LGBTQ+ humans are so much more than our coming out stories or our trauma, and we also don’t need to conform our stories to heterosexual societal standards. We can’t separate ourselves from it, but we have that in the canon already, so I want full and dynamic stories about the dynamic and full lives of these people who fully exist. I don’t need to see queer people trying to fit in and get married and have kids and go to the grocery store or the DMV — I want to see queer people living their colorful lives, not caring if they fit in, they are happy and dynamic with their community, without trauma close in its wake. Those are the queer people I know and love, and I believe they deserve to see themselves in film/TV.
What major relationship themes did you want to play on here?
Codependency. Codependency can feel great inside of it, until you get an outside perspective. We wanted to ask: If something that looks dysfunctional and pathetic, is beautiful inside it, is it actually pathetic and does it lose its meaning?
We wanted to remind ourselves that love, innately, is not pathetic. We are the pathetic ones.
What’s reception been like to your film?
It’s been rad, despite the Pandemmy killing hopes of a live, theater screening. It's been an adjustment, but we were written up in Autostraddle as “Arts/Culture to Follow'' as well as featured in film festivals as far away as Amsterdam, Paris, Melbourne, and Sydney, and as close as Los Angeles, and the Indianapolis LGBTQ+ festival.
What inspires you?
The desires of queer people, women of color, women, and the many shapes these people take to chase their desires. Sisterhood — in all its incarnations and genders. Cooking spicy, rich food for loved ones.
What do you hope to create in the future?
Film/TV/a life that helps people see themselves in other people.
What’s a mantra you live by?
“Let’s get specific” and “disrupt disrupt disrupt.”
Any advice for other creators?
Focus on Creativity over Productivity. Even your downtime, unknown time, your uncertain time, is creative. Hell, doing the dishes can be creative. When I started looking at creativity rather than my productivity, I realized that my creativity, in all its shades, IS productivity. It also helps me be kinder to myself, which in turn helps me be creative.
This was given to me: “Tell other women your dreams, and they’ll always be ones to open the door.”