virginia film Archives

Welcome To The Show: A Conversation With Filmmaker Dorie Barton

R. Anthony Harris | March 3, 2022

Topics: Acting for the camera, dorie barton, filmmaker, girl flu, james river, richmond, richmond film, Richmond International Film Festival, RVA, RVA filmmakers, VCU arts, video, virginia film, welcome to the show

Independent filmmaker Dorie Barton has only been in Richmond for a couple of years, but she’s definitely made an impact. Her latest movie, Welcome To The Show, is the first she’s made since arriving in RVA. It features a group of college kids stuck in an immersive game with shifting rules while lost in and around the city.

Dorie already had a pretty significant career in Hollywood before she moved to Richmond in order to teach in VCU’s theatre program. She not only acted in everything from classic soap opera One Life To Live to indie movies like Bobcat Goldthwait’s underrated transgressive film, God Bless America, but also found time to write and direct a feature film called Girl Flu. But when she got to Richmond and started making her new movie, she quickly fell in love with all the city has to offer.

Welcome to Richmond, Dorie Barton! Welcome to your show.

Dorie Barton: I am a multi-disciplinary artist. First I was an actor, and I worked on stage since I was quite little. I studied at CalArts to be an actor, and then I spent 25 years in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, as an actor on stage, film, television, and voiceover.

And then I’ve dabbled in a lot of other things in the industry — I’ve been a script consultant for 15 years, I worked in development for a while, then I became a screenwriter and then, finally, a filmmaker. I’ve written and directed two feature films now.

R. Anthony Harris: What do you enjoy about acting specifically?

DB: That’s changed over the years, but I’m also teaching now and other things at VCU. And it’s really very sweet for me to encounter the young actors — reminds me of how I felt, with that really raw passion for the storytelling. So it’s very inspiring to be around the young people. I think that that is ultimately what most of us that do this like the best, because we get to tell stories in all kinds of forms.

But I also think that what I love about acting, and has really been true ever since I was little, is getting to become somebody else. [Laughs] Getting to become a different person, spend some time not being myself, and really feeling like I’ve lived a different life, or are part of a different life. I think it’s fun. Actually, I didn’t know that I would feel this way, but becoming a filmmaker, I realized [that] by being a writer and director, you kind of get to be everybody. You get to have that experience of playing all the parts, as when you have a dream and everyone in the dream really is kind of some version of you. So even though as a filmmaker I’m not literally being the actor — in that situation, it still feels the same. So I get to feel like I’ve lived this whole other multilayered life.

RAH: That’s amazing. You have a couple of films, Girl Flu from a few years ago and your newest, Welcome To The Show, which you wrote, acted in, and directed. Is there a part of the process you enjoy more? Or is it like you had mentioned just before, being able to set up your own fantasy and work within that.

DB: I love all the different phases of it. And all the phases of making a film are really different. I do love prepping for it, and at that stage where it’s just pure imagination. I really like organizing and prepping and planning, preparing for the shoot. Doing all the shot lists. I actually enjoy scheduling as well, because it really helps me visualize how to create all the pieces of the film.

I recently picked up quilting again and it reminds me why I like both forms so much. Filmmaking is like quilting. You chop up fabric into all these little pieces, and you take all these little pieces and rearrange them in different patterns over and over, and you keep moving them around.

That feels so much like with filmmaking. You gather all of these assets, all these little pieces, all these little scenes and pieces of scenes, and then you you edit it. You edit your film by deciding where the pieces all go and then at some point, you just have to make a decision that it is done.

But yeah, I really like the prep. I think everyone likes production the most. The actual shooting is kind of the most universally loved, and of course, yes, I’m absolutely like “Any day on set is my favorite day.” [Laughs] But I also co-edited this film [Welcome To The Show], and I was deeply involved with the editing process of Girl Flu as well. And I love editing. I absolutely love that part of it. It’s really so much more isolated than being in production. I really love how painstaking and patient [it is], without making perfect the goal, because it’s art and there’s nothing that’s perfect in art! But yeah, really finding out what’s going to make make the story, down to the frame.

RAH: Where did the idea for Welcome To The Show come from?

DB: The first idea when it started cooking in my mind was literally the first day I was ever in Richmond. When I came here, it was in May, and it was absolutely beautiful here. Even though I had grown up in Northern Virginia, I had never been to Richmond before. I came here to find an apartment and I drove in past the Main Street Train Station and drove into Manchester — and I was like, oh my god! It’s beautiful! I must make a movie here. [Laughs]

And I was just so taken with the look and the feel of the city and how beautiful I think it is. All of its contradictions are really, really interesting to me, and really that day, ideas started cooking in my mind about — how can we get people out into this city? What kind of story would take people out into the city, into parts of it that they would never normally go? I’m not quite sure how this entered my brain, but the idea of doing a piece of immersive theater about exploring Richmond.

RAH: I saw the movie a few weeks ago and saw so much of Richmond in it. You actually answered my next question, which was: how important was the city to the film?

DB: I mean, you could make this film, or a film, in a lot of different cities. It’s sort of like a form for exploration. But there were definitely specific things about Richmond that I find especially inspiring.

One of them is part of the story: the challenge of having to cross the river. When you get up on a tall building, and you look down at the James River, this big, beautiful river is just tearing through the middle of town. There’s 25 ways to cross it, but in this film, because of the rules of the show, they can’t cross it over a place that either trains or cars can use, so they have to find, like, the hard way.

And Belle Isle is the answer, with the pedestrian bridges, and then the rocks. And so, in some ways it very much has to be Richmond. I think it’s a introduction to this beautiful place that I would like people to know about, and to see and to admire.

RAH: The film is mixed in with the city, and it just ends up ends up being such a big part of it.

What was it like working with, I would assume, first time actors? In your role as a teacher, you probably deal with young actors all the time, but trying to direct them in a film — was that an easy experience? Or did you find it really challenging?

DB: I mean, I wrote this script for them. Even though I wrote a script for a movie that I wanted to see, I wrote it for these specific actors. I knew going in that I wanted to write something that I felt like we could all really succeed at. We would have the highest chance of hitting a home run with. So I wrote the script to match the story and the city that we were shooting in. I think that they’re all kind of playing… not themselves, but sort of a version of themselves that are not quite as good as humans as they are in real life. They are much better humans in real life. [Laughs] But I wrote their parts to be what I thought they would be just amazing at playing. So I tried to give everybody the best chance of doing great work.

And then, because I was their teacher, when I met the main cast, I was just starting to teach them in an Acting For the Camera class. So from when I met them to when we went into production was like three months, but because I was in class with them twice a week, that time ended up… not intentionally, but it ended up being practice for how it was going to be on on a set. Where we had a lot of shorthand built in from class, and just knew how we worked.

I’m really grateful for rehearsals for the scenes that I knew would be the hardest on the day. We couldn’t afford to shoot anything too many times — you’ve got to keep moving. There were a lot of things that we actually got in a single take, because we had rehearsed so thoroughly.

RAH: I thought you got a couple of really good performances out of this group.

DB: Proud of them. They’re all wonderful in it and I feel like they all took a leap of faith to work together.

dorie barton by kimberly frost — *photo by Kimberly Frost*

RAH: After you spend so much time planning, writing, shooting and everything else — how does it feel when you get done with a feature film? You are like, “Okay, we’re finally done.” Is there a sort of separation anxiety? Or is it relief? [Laughs]

DB: Have you felt that way before? [Laughs]

RAH: Oh yeah! I’ve worked on projects where I was intensely involved for so long and then it’s finally done. And then there is this period of “What do I do now?”

DB: Well, because the film was immediately at the Richmond International Film Festival, and I love film festivals. It was fun to go to a film festival where the film was shot, and have it open the festival. It was really inspiring just to be around other filmmakers and see other people’s films. I would like to be more part of a community, and not just a maker.

[Laughs] Oh! Immediately after the film festival, I sat down and wrote a screenplay. I can’t have any downtime. Yeah, separation anxiety is a good way to word that.

But yeah as an artist, we’re always going to be doing gig work. Basically, it’s like: you’re in a play, the play ends. You read a script, that part is over. You shoot a film, that comes out, and it’s over. It’s always this cycle, and I’ll probably always cry when something is over. Like, I don’t want to ever get to a place where I’m not that sad about it ending.

RAH: Now that you are in Richmond, and having had your experience in Hollywood, what do you think the city needs in terms of production of films to support independent filmmaking here?

DB: I guess it’s a little hard, because of the timing, and the pandemic stopped so many things — so it’s not always easy to identify, like, who is Richmond-based. When you’re in Los Angeles, pretty much everyone around you is somehow, even tangentially, employed in the film, television, or theater industries, or the music industry. Pretty much everybody in Los Angeles is an artist of some kind, and it’s very easy to pick a conversation up with just about anybody. It’s very easy to, like, crew up in LA. If you have an idea for a weekend, you just get on the phone and, “Let’s find a crew!”

I have a team of people that I work with here that I absolutely love, and I’m super grateful for all the people that worked on Welcome To The Show with me. [They] are phenomenal. And of course, they’re the first people I’m going to call. But I’d like to get to a more expanded view of more people in production and producing. People making things happen.

I really need a community of artists to feel like I’m fully thriving because it is easy to get like trapped in your own echo chamber. I am still in community with my friends from Los Angeles, but it’s not the same.

And so yeah, I would like to see more filmmakers getting together, maybe in writers’ workshops. Like, I would totally do a writers’ workshop right now. Or just a way for us to support each other’s goals. I feel like it would look like a salon. A filmmakers’ salon, to get together and talk about what we’re working on. Or to watch a movie once a month and get together and discuss.

RAH: Last question: for this year, what are you working on, and what are you looking forward to? What are you working on now?

DB: I am working on developing my next film to write and direct. I’m also writing a film, just to write it. I have a really good feeling about 2022. There’s been a lot of ideas marinating during the past couple of years, and we’re moving into a time to take action. To take positive action and think about [how] a lot of us have changed to some extent, and learning things.

RAH: I love that, Dorie, and I also have a feel really good about this year.

DB: Even today, I feel that way.

RAH: That’s awesome. Thank you. I just really appreciate the time.

DB: Thank you so much. It has been so lovely to talk with you again. I really am quite serious, but I think it’s I feel like it’s going to take some like formalization of film people. A plan where people get together and provide support and encouragement and empowerment and feedback. I think that that would be great.

RAH: No, no, I completely agree. Well, that’s it. Thank you, Dorie.

DB: Thank you so much.

Find out more about Dorie Barton HERE
Follow her on Instagram HERE

Photos by Kimberly Frost

From The Church To Film Festivals, Storyteller Ron Dillard Jr Is A One Man Creative Army

R. Anthony Harris | March 2, 2022

Topics: A Player's Last Play, film, filmmaking, I Deserve Better, Kelli Lemon, richmond, ron dilliard, Ron Winston Entertainment, RVA, RVA film, rva filmmaker, Shirod Green, Unbrotherly Love, virginia film, When We Prey On Them

Ron Dillard Jr. does it all. He writes his own plays and screenplays. He has television shows in his head ready to go out into the world. A storyteller has to have stories to tell, and Ron is ready to tell his. Finding his way through the business of filmmaking and finding an audience hasn’t been easy, but to hear him tell it, this is all part of the plan.

Ron Dillard Jr: I am a writer, director, producer, actor, I was born in Petersburg, Virginia, moved to Richmond, Virginia in 2004. I have a background in theatre and started off doing church plays and in high school. When I went to college, I went into acting, producing and directing plays then starting Ron Winston Entertainment.

I knew there was a lot of theatre being done in Richmond. There were a lot of stories being told, but from the 1800s perspective. I had these ideas for stories about today, and how we treat each other. Stories that I really wanted to dive into and to give myself an opportunity to play characters that I don’t think other people would have cast me in.

So that’s how I got started to where we are now.

ron dilliard by kimberly frost — *photo by Kimberly Frost*

Richard Anthony Harris: And what was your first short film? Or play?

RDJ: The first play that I did with my company was in 2008. It was called I Deserve Better and it was about domestic violence. This isn’t a new topic, but I don’t want to do a production unless I can bring something different to it.

In I Deserve Better, we saw the abused [person’s] perspective as to why she stays, and the abuser as to why he does it. Not so much to give him a pass — there’s no excuse for it — but to understand why someone does something can give you a key to hopefully help them. In this story, we see the father aspect, because 70% of men who abuse women have seen [abuse] in their childhood. He saw it growing up.

In this production, the father is now reformed and trying to discipline his son. His son is like, “How dare you? You taught me to be how I am right now.” So that was an interesting dynamic that we showcased to some really good results.

RAH: How difficult is it taking a play and making it into a film?

RDJ: I have yet to take one of my plays and make it into a film, but what I wanted to do with that play is turn it into a mini-series. I want to basically do it where we tell three generations of stories within two episodes, so it’s not difficult when you have a perspective of it.

When you start thinking about exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it, the outline is the writer’s best friend. To be able to sit down, think about what you want to do, and most importantly, why do you want to do it? And then, how can you do it to do it in an effective way to tell a story?

RAH: When you started to get into film, did you have a lot of support? What was the process of “I’m gonna start doing some films”? How difficult was that to do in Richmond?

RDJ: For me, I have a great, great crew that has been working with me since I was doing my theatre productions. It really wasn’t until I met a young man named Shirod Green and partnered with him. I needed someone to be the director of photography, to deal with the lighting and the shots, someone to edit the films, since that is something that I don’t specialize in.

I found out about Shirod through Kelli Lemon. She did a post about The Art Of Noise and she tagged Shirod Green. I checked out his Instagram, I looked up his website, and I reached out to see if he’d meet with me. Fortunately, he took a meeting with me, and I told him about these short films that I want to do. I told him the plan of how I wanted to have them premiered — I want to take them into film festivals — and where I wanted to go. After that meeting, we kept in contact, and he ultimately said he would come on and work on it.

Once I had that in place, I had the confidence that we can go and do these now four films. I felt like we could be very successful with them.

RAH: What is the biggest obstacle to getting your films out in a town like Richmond, and finding an audience?

RDJ: When I did my second, A Player’s Last Play, I did these three commercials to promote them. The three commercials were everything that happened before the play, and I put them on television.

I remember a woman gave me feedback, since she saw the commercials. She loved the commercials but didn’t know anyone in the play, so she didn’t come. Having a name attached to the project is something I understood as an issue. That is the biggest detractor in the Richmond market.

RAH: Well, it seems to me like you’re getting them out there. I want to say congratulations on having three of your films showing in film festivals all over the world.

RDJ: Thank you, yes. We’re very, very fortunate to have all three films in the same film festivals multiple times. We have been fortunate to win now over 30 awards. We have won awards domestically and internationally. These films have been screened in Europe and places like India, Brazil. All over the United States. We’ve been really, really fortunate with the reception of these films.

RAH: I am really curious, what is it like talking to organizers of a film festival in Turkey? In places that don’t speak English, do you feel your ideas come across?

RDJ: You know, it’s interesting that after we got into our first 15 or so festivals, we started to have other film festivals from like India, from Turkey, from Hong Kong, from Japan, who were actually asking us to enter into their festivals, which was so overwhelming.

And the way that we’ve been able to communicate even in different languages has been astonishing, because some of the film festivals that we have won, they are in another language. The good thing is that we have films that really communicate very well, when you’re watching it — whether you can follow it in English, or if you have to have a translator.

RAH: That’s amazing, Ron, I think, you know, just following your story, it is amazing that you are all over the world. Does it ever pop in your mind, as a as a Black filmmaker, that maybe you’re opening doors for other Black filmmakers in this local market?

RDJ: I’ve never thought about it like that as a Black man, from a Black perspective only, because I look at Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, I look at directors who are very good at what they do.

My favorite director is Ridley Scott, and I never looked at him saying, “Hey, he’s a proficient Englishman!” I’m looking at him as a director who has taught me a lot, and if I see his films, I’m going to get a great story. I know that he’s a master of the craft, and that’s what I look to do.

I’m a director. First, I’m a good storyteller. And that’s how I want my brand to be known, when Ronald Dillard, Jr. does a film or tells a story, it’s going to be good. It’s gonna be something interesting. That’s what I work towards, to ensure that’s what people expect from me.

RAH: You are a storyteller.

RDJ: Absolutely. When you think about When We Prey On Them, it deals with one of the worst issues dealing with a lot of Black men, being slayed by police officers. That’s something very, very specific in the film that I couldn’t turn away from anymore. I had to find a way to do it. And we were able to get it done. Again, it’s all about the story. It is wrong to be taking lives when you don’t have to, or just taking life so irresponsibly.

So that’s the overall point for that film, is hoping that it brings humanity back to people when they’re thinking about life. At least, that’s what I hope it does.

RAH: What themes do you come back to in your films and what are you trying to figure out?

RDJ: I see a common theme in all of my films. A lot of times people who are pushed around or ignored, or a lot of times may take the high road, they have their say. [I hope] for my audience to really think about how they’re treating their fellow man. And I’m hoping that in my plays, or my films, to stop for a moment, hopefully generate some conversation and say, “Hey, am I like this? Do I portray this?” A lot of times, unless it hits them personally, most people don’t care. But to be able to sit back and let this fictional character give us an opportunity to think about ourselves and what we could do better, how we can be better — what is better than that?

RAH: As an independent filmmaker in Richmond, do you feel like you you get enough support here? Are there enough crew, actors, and professionals to help you?

RDJ: There was a time where I didn’t feel like that there was a lot of support but now, I look at it as that is my fault. The way I approach it now is that, number one, I have to get out to meet people. I have to get out here and make sure I’m meeting people, being active, and knowing who’s available.

RAH: My last question for you is, in regards to your career, what are you excited about this year?

RDJ: This year I have three television shows that I have created, and I’m starting to have meetings to pitch. I’m looking to transition into television show-running.

You can tell amazing stories over several seasons, and that’s really appealing to me. One of the reasons I made those films was to be able to tell different stories, and if you are going to go into television, you’re going to have to be able to have those chops.

It was a chance to do some great films and to hopefully draw conversation, but then to show my talent to tell more than one story — be more than a one-trick pony. Meaning you can put stories together time and time again, because that’s one of the elements you’re gonna need to go into doing television.

RAH: You have another movie coming up?

RDJ: We just finished a film called Unbrotherly Love, scored out of Ireland. So we review that and hopefully start putting that into some film festivals. And that is going to be another film we’re looking to get out into distribution, along with It’s The Color In Your Eyes, A Monster, and When We Prey On Them.

RAH: Ron, that’s amazing. I just want to say thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

RDJ: Thank you so much for asking.

Follow Ron Dillard Jr on Instagram HERE

photos by Kimberly Frost