Interview: Jennifer Morrison Discuss “Warning Labels” & the Road to Tribeca Film Festival

When creative minds come together with the passion and desire to collaborate nearly anything is possible. That’s what happened when playwright Jenelle Riley took a step back from her day job as Features Editor at Variety to write a screenplay for a short film while enlisting the help of her equally talented friends Jennifer Morrison who rose to the challenge of first-time director along with seasoned producer Andrew Carlberg.

Their labor of love started as an idea from a 24 hour event at a local LA theater company which later blossomed into WARNING LABELS, a quirky nontraditional romantic comedy about a couple of employees from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and their misguided views about love.

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenelle, Andrew and Jennifer to discuss their short film and the exciting road to Tribeca. WARNING LABELS is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival Saturday, April 18th in New York.

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What was it that drew you to this project?

Jennifer Morrison: I am a fan of Jenelle Riley’s writing. She is a good friend and I have seen several of her plays. She has a great combo of big catchy ideas with honest heart and meaning running underneath them. I felt like WARNING LABELS was a story of self-discovery and the difficulties of human connection. I was intrigued by exploring these ideas within a stylized world.

You have an impressive group of incredibly talented people connected with the film (Karen Gillian, Rose McIver, Eric Christian Olsen, Josh Lawson).

How did everyone become involved with the project?

JMo: Karen (Gillian) and Rose (McIver) are both very close friends of mine. I met both of them through previous projects as an actor. They are the real deal those two. I have so much respect for both those ladies. Tamara Notcott (the casting director) was hugely instrumental in securing Josh Lawson. He was the only cast member I had never met before. He officially said yes to doing the film on my birthday. So technically, he was my birthday present.

Eric Christian Olsen was the only guy I could imagine playing Thad. I needed Thad to be lovable despite the things he is saying and doing in the film. Eric has this insatiable charm and impeccable comic timing. He and Josh riffing off of each other was magical. Eric is a close friend of Andrew Carlberg, and he and I met years ago playing poker at a FOX event.

As with any passion project, we were very lucky that so many people willingly did us favors. The crew was incredible, both camera teams were incredible. The DP, Djordje Arambasic, came to me through the co-producer Ashley Lent. She used to work for SUNDANCE and she was blown away by a film that he worked on in 2013. She put us in touch and it was an immediate an obvious fit.

Short films are built on passion, personal relationships, and kind favors.

What were some of the challenges in getting this film made?

JMo: An early obstacle that we faced on WARNING LABELS was finding the diner location that we needed for filming. We discovered that diners are always open which makes them very expensive to buy out for filming. We also needed to have a specific geography to the tables in the diner because of the tackle that happens in the blocking. We scouted countless diners in the LA area. We drove as far as we possibly could within the technical filming limits that are considered Los Angeles. We could not afford to buy the spaces that were cinematically suited for the style of the film. Overcoming this problem involved bringing on an additional producer (Andrew Kelly).

Initially his main task was extensively scouting diners. In the end, he contributed in every area and was a priceless addition to the team. With his help and previous location scouting experience, we found a very simple diner that allowed us to prep the space while the drive through was still open, and since they only serve breakfast on Sundays, they closed at 2pm on the day we filmed. We were allowed in the space for only 14 hours total including loading in and out. So we had 12 hours of actual filming time for 9 pages with 4 actors

We painted walls and hung all new light fixtures in the space. (The owners liked the new lights so were able to leave those). Since we only had 12 hours to shoot 9 pages, I had a rehearsal the day before with the actors. We rearranged my kitchen to block and run the scene. The actors were completely memorized and had a strong sense of the blocking and the choices they were aiming for by the end of rehearsal so that the 12 filming hours we had were used entirely for set ups and filming. In addition to the small window of time we were allowed in the diner, we also had to shoot out one of the actors by 11pm.

Therefore we had to split a night shoot across half day-half night, and schedule his parts of the scene first. This meant initially blacking out all the windows of the diner and shooting the reverse master first in order to shoot away from the windows as much as possible until the sun went down. An obsessively detailed shot list that was shared with every department, combined with the actors’ preparedness, made it possible to over come the restrictions of the space.

What was your reaction when the film was completed and you got to see a final cut?

JMo: It is a long journey from filming to seeing a final cut. I was the most nervous before seeing the first editors cut. I was so relieved when I saw it. It was absolutely the foundation that I wanted to start from editorially. I also knew immediately that Joe Hall was my guy. I honestly cannot imagine ever doing a film without him. We have such similar sensibilities and he directs as well, so he thinks like a director. I feel like we can communicate through grunts and sighs at this point.

You’re one of the leads of an ensemble cast in a successful series. Between shooting schedules, appearances to promote the show and other industry events, how did you find the time to not only make a movie let alone direct one?

JMo: When passion drives a project, somehow it all seems possible. I spent every spare second of Season 3 of ONCE researching directors that I love and building a list of references and inspiration for WARNING LABELS. I ended up doing most of my real prep while I was working on the film LOCKED IN as an actor. I took a lot of meetings at my cast chair. Thank God for iPhones. Lots of FaceTime, Skype, email, texting, shared Dropbox folders. I also had a very specific directors statement from the beginning that helped point everyone in the right direction. This was crucial since my face-to-face time with everyone was so limited. Andrew Carlberg and Andrew Kelly were also crucial through excellent producing. They totally understood and protected my vision when I was and wasn’t physically present.

Will directing become a more frequent visitor to your resume?

JMo: I absolutely love directing. I will always act, but from this point on, I will always direct as well. I felt like my life suddenly made sense

Jennifer you’ve been acting since you were a kid. It’s a very different playing field today. In your opinion how do you see the landscape changing especially with emerging technology more specifically social media seemingly taking such a prominent place in everything from creating, casting and marketing television and film?

JMo: As much as the landscape of things is changing quickly and constantly because of technology, one fact remains the same: Quality speaks for itself. Many fads come and go. YouTube videos get millions of hits one day and die the next. The one thing that stands the test of time is quality. People always ask my advice about how to make it in the business and the best answer I can give is this: be good. Be really good at what you do and actually do it. Don’t talk about it. Don’t think about it theoretically. Fucking do it. Make a film. Write a play. Shoot a movie on your iPhone if you need an outlet to stretch your acting skills. Do, do, do. And be good at what you do

WARNING LABELS is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Can you talk about the process going from screenplay to hearing the film made it in? Will you attend the premiere in New York?

JMo: I was thrilled to hear that the film was invited to premiere at Tribeca. I live in NYC. I love NYC. I feel the most alive in NYC. To have the film premier there means a lot to me. I will absolutely be at the festival. I am looking forward to seeing the film on a big screen, and I am looking forward to seeing other films at the festival.

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