article by RCR’s Entertainment Writer, Laura Sirikul
Follow her on Twitter @lsirikul
In the award-winning film Ingrid Goes West, director and co-writer Matt Spicer and co- writer David Branson Smith explore the uncomfortable reality of our obsession with social media.
In a conversation with BACKSTORY’s Jeff Goldsmith at the Los Angeles Film School, Spicer and Smith described the process it took to create and finish Ingrid Goes West with just 25 days, a small budget, and in time to submit for the Sundance Film Festival.
The idea came to both Spicer and Smith during a lunch gathering discussing social media and came up with a Talented Mr. Ripley-esque film using a female and social media, in this case, Instagram. “It happened very organically. Just a conversation we were having,” said Spicer.
Using Google Docs, Spicer and Smith tossed ideas on each character. They met up every day in Culver City to go over their script.
“We had a pretty regimen schedule,” Smith told the audience. “We kept having to check ourselves because we were like let’s make this on a million dollars. A lot of scenes were written to be shot at friends’ houses. All the scenes in Joshua Trees were at my sister’s place. I think those parameters helped us in the writing process in five months, which is pretty fast.”
The writing duo went on to talk about creating the characters and having to take out several scenes as they began the filming progress.
In terms of writing the female characters, Spicer and Smith attributed their success to their significant others who helped flesh out the two females.
“We are really lucky that we have such smart and talented women,” said Spicer. “They let us know if we were on track.”
As for the cut scenes, they initially had the main character, Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), a sister, but found it ruined Ingrid’s focus and loneliness.
“We cut it for a number of reasons,” said Spicer. “From a script standpoint, it was kind of very flawed because I think once we started screening it for people, we thought wait, the whole movie is about loneliness and in the beginning of the film, we’re giving her this sister character that she’s living with and you’re not feeling her loneliness. It was a little bit confusing on why she’s going on this journey going out west.”
Spicer and Smith continued to discuss more of the film and their future endeavors on the podcast. For more on the podcast, check it out here Ingrid Goes West – Jeff Goldsmith podcast.
Ingrid Goes West is Playing in Theaters
About this Event
The Los Angeles Film School hosted Screening of “Ingrid Goes West” followed by a Q&A with David Branson Smith and Matt Spicer. Smith and Spicer shared their experiences in co-writing/directing the winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance Film Festival.
SYNOPSIS: Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an unhinged social media stalker with a history of confusing “likes” for meaningful relationships. Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) is an Instagram-famous “influencer” whose perfected curated, boho-chic lifestyle becomes Ingrid’s latest obsession. When Ingrid moves to LA and manages to insinuate herself into the social media star’s life, their relationship quickly goes from #BFF to #WTF. See more at ingridgoeswestfilm.com
Built around a brilliantly disarming performance from Aubrey Plaza, Ingrid Goes West (winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance) is a savagely hilarious dark comedy that satirizes the modern world of social media and proves that being #perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
