Woods Hole Film Festival Creators Share Their Inspirations

      The Woods Hole Film Festival chose a fitting and multi-dimensional title for a selection of vibrant, entertaining, and creative short films: Summer Camp.

      This block featured films that celebrated camp and whimsy while also hinting at sorrow, reminiscent of a lengthy summer day. After the screening, moderator Steve Young — a festival veteran — spoke with the filmmakers of four of the shorts about their often unexpected inspirations.

      From an ’80s comedian to a Flannery O’Connor story, the filmmakers presented a wide-ranging and surprising array of influences.

      Here’s what they shared.

      Taylor Blackwell on ‘It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story’

      Taylor Blackwell, a New York-based actress, had little knowledge of comedian Judy Tenuta prior to her passing in 2022.

      The ’80s stand-up comic and "love goddess" gained fame with her bold, larger-than-life persona — complete with accordion performances between jokes. Blackwell was drawn to her obituaries partly because she, too, plays the accordion.

      Blackwell wrote, directed, and stars in “It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story,” a simultaneously fantastical and heartfelt tribute to Tenuta.

      “I really learned more about her after she died and read numerous articles about her — that the ‘Aphrodite of the Accordion,’ which she called herself, had passed. And I thought, ‘Who is this person?’” Blackwell expressed. “As a long-time accordion player myself, you don’t often hear about accordionists in the news, especially female ones, and that pushed me to investigate her life. I began to realize, ‘We have so much in common, and we share similar looks, so there’s something worth exploring here.’”

      She captures Tenuta's essence perfectly, even with the comedian's wildly unique vocal range.

      “The high register of her voice came easily for me, but she also has a deeper, gravelly tone that was more difficult to replicate,” Blackwell noted. “That was more of a challenge for me.”

      The film incorporates imaginative elements, such as Tenuta dating the pope, interpreted by Alan Tudyk. Blackwell shared that Tenuta's family gave their enthusiastic approval.

      “They’ve all viewed the film, and they allowed us to use her actual costumes — and accordions,” Blackwell revealed.

      Lisa Dodell on ‘Beetroot’

      “Beetroot” features an outstanding Carrie Jean Henley as a young woman who unexpectedly reconnects with an oddly awkward childhood toy. As she deals with a skin condition — alongside the unpleasant side effects of her mother’s treatment efforts — she becomes haunted by visions of the toy.

      Dynamic and imaginative, the film shifts from surreal to deeply moving as Beetroot embodies the childhood she is slowly moving away from. However, Dodell clarified that the stuffed toy at the film's center is not based on her own childhood.

      “It was a doll I discovered on Etsy,” Dodell explained. “I briefly corresponded with the woman who creates them ... It evoked something familiar, yet I was certain I had never encountered it before. It was like, ‘Whoa, what is that?’”

      Dodell added, “Many find it quite frightening, but to me, it seemed very spiritual. When she encounters it, it’s akin to a spiritual experience.”

      The Millers on ‘A Good Script Is Hard to Find’

      “A Good Script Is Hard to Find,” directed by The Millers, features married couple Jeff and Mary Riche Miller in a meta comedy where the events of an audacious screenplay come to life. Mary Riche Miller wrote and stars in the film, while Jeff Miller oversees writing and cinematography.

      “It’s amusing because people often say, ‘Write what you know,’ and they think, ‘Oh, so you wrote something that only a psychopath would enjoy.’ That’s not precisely accurate — it’s close, but not exact,” Mary Riche Miller quipped.

      The title references Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” which tells of a family killed by a criminal named The Misfit following a car accident.

      “It’s one of my favorite stories by one of my favorite authors,” Mary Riche Miller mentioned.

      She recalled a quote O’Connor borrowed from St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.”

      In “A Good Script Is Hard to Find,” the characters must also make a poor choice — to rob a bank — and face the fallout. Yet the film remains playful throughout.

      The couple finds collaboration to be a natural process.

      “We’ve been creatively collaborating since our teenage years, playing in indie bands together, so our original relationship was built on that collaboration. And now our marriage reflects that,” Mary Riche Miller clarified. “We have distinct areas where our influences overlap,