JESSICA IN SHORTS

ONE OF THE MORE INTRIGUING PROGRAMS ON OFFER AT THIS YEAR’S TRAVELLING FLICKERFEST SIDESHOW IS THE COLLECTION OF SHORT FILMS MADE BY AND STARRING CELEBRITIES. JESSICA BIEL TALKS TO BAZ McALISTER ABOUT HER FIRST FORAY INTO PRODUCTION, THE 30-MINUTE HOLE IN THE PAPER SKY.

Here’s something that will make all budding screenwriters take heart – you never know when your script’s going to speak to someone. When actress Jessica Biel went searching for a passion project, she never imagined just how deeply her passion for Hole In The Paper Sky would run. She and her producing partner at Iron Ocean Films, Michelle Purple, first discovered the short film script by Howard Kingkade on a writers’ website named inktip.com.
“We’d been looking to produce a short film and this leapt off the page at us,” Biel says. “After developing the story with the film's director, Bill Purple, for a few weeks we decided to write in the part of Karen, that I ultimately portrayed. I loved the story so much I wanted to be part of it as well.”
Hole In The Paper Sky revolves around Howard Ferp (Jason Clarke), a brilliant, misanthropic maths academic who’s forced by budget cuts to take a filing job in his university’s psychology department where he encounters two kindred spirits – his supervisor Karen and a doomed laboratory dog. Biel, herself the owner of a bull terrier named Tina who goes everywhere with her, says she couldn’t resist the screenplay.
“Being a dog lover and an advocate and supporter of many animal rights organizations, I immediately responded to the material,” Biel goes on. “I felt it was a moving fable and a terrific character piece. That even the smallest gesture of goodwill can profoundly affect the life of another is a wonderful moral for any story. Filmmaking has the power to inspire and uplift. So much of our culture is filled with cynicism so it was really important to me to tell a positive story. Positive stories inspire.”
Biel, used to playing glamourous characters and action heroes, stepped outside her comfort zone to play science nerd Karen, with her thick specs, conservative bob, chunky knit sweater, allergies, and lab coat. If she’s frumped up to the point of being near-unrecognizable, it’s entirely on purpose, she says.
“My part, though integral, does not have a lot of screen time so I wanted to try and disappear in the role so that it wasn’t distracting. I often find when a recognizable actor walks into a film briefly it is hard to get past their persona, so it’s beneficial to wear a mask of sorts. Being a short film, we had very little time, and even less money, to prep the film than you would for a normal feature. We threw the concept around pretty quickly. I was in the middle of shooting another film so I couldn’t alter my appearance irrevocably so I used a pair of glasses I had laying around from a previous film and borrowed a wig from our hairstylist.”
Biel’s production company has been chugging along for three years now, with many films in development that Biel is actively producing. She says that the idea to break into short films was a way of testing the waters and fast-tracking the development process, and is enjoying the creative freedom her producing role brings.
“As a producer, yes, I can have a lot more input on the development of the overall project as well as the characters I would play in the films. More than anything, though, it allows me to find and create the roles I am passionate about performing myself. Great female roles are hard to come by in our industry and there is always a lot of political jockeying to get them. By developing the films I want to do, I make the roles I want do. I do enjoy writing, developing scripts, photography, the whole process. Directing might also interest me in the future. I never count anything out; I always want to be pushing myself creatively. For me, that’s what makes life interesting.”

WHAT: Hole In The Paper Sky
WHERE & WHEN: Part of Flickerfest Celebrity Shorts program. Flickerfest is at Dendy Portside from Thursday Feb 26 until Sunday Mar 01.