Wellington-based filmmaker Conan McKegg tells us all about short film Out With Mum.
Conan McKegg
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Tell us about "Out With Mum", what's the film about?
When closeted Nate and his out and proud boyfriend Rory cross paths with Nate's eccentric mother on the way to Out in the Park, Nate is faced with the choice of revealing his relationship or staying in the closet.
This short film
is part of Oneshot Collective's feature film "Encounters", can you
tell us a bit about the project?
Encounters is a feature film consisting of twelve
short films about chance encounters and how theycanchange the
trajectories of people's lives.Eachshort iswritten and
directed by a different Wellington-based filmmaker who each brings a different
and unique voice to the project. We have a diverse collectivethat have
gathered together to make a film that truly celebrates the multifaceted nature
of modern New Zealand.
What was it
that first made you become interested in filmmaking and writing?
I've had a passion for writing since I could first put two letters
together on paper.I've always enjoyed the creative element
of bringing a story to life and not just looking at a world that we
know, butshowing what the world could be like as well. It's hard to
pinpoint what first made me interested because writing has always been a
central part of my life. When I was about eight or so, my school published a
book I wrote during English class so I know I've wanted to tell stories from an
early age. Filmmaking had always been something I wanted to do, but didn't
think I had the skill or experience for it until about 2005 when I wrote and
shot my first 48 hour film. I was hooked after that.
Are you
passionate about telling stories for a gay audience? Is that important to you,
and if so, why?
I’m extremely passionate about telling stories for a gay audience.
Mainly because we are constantly hammered with heteronormative media every
single day and still cheer when a show has one gay kiss. Not only that, but we
also see gay relationships often presented in the same tones. I want to see
more gay characters and more variety in the relationships they have. I want to
show that beingqueer isn't a group of stereotypes. It's complicated,
diverse and amazing.I want to show gay,lesbian, asexual,
pan,trans and all the diversity of theLGBT community. Not just to
educate straight audiences, but to showgay audiences thatwe
have a fascinating community to be proud of.
Did you have
a similar experience to your characters when you came out or was it quite
different?
Out with Mum is very loosely based on a friend's coming
out story, so my experience was not the same as my characters. My coming out
was surprisingly matter of fact. I was in the car with my Dad and Stepmum
heading home from dinner with some cousins, and mid-conversation Dad says to me
"Conan, are you gay?" My heart stopped for a moment while I had this
two second freak out and then I just said "Yes. Yes I am." Dad
shrugged and said "I thought so. I've pretty much known since you were a
kid. When you were ten you told me 'Dad, I think I'm in love with Noah Hathaway
(the kid who played Atreyu in The
Neverending Story)' That's when I knew." That was pretty much it.
Is there
anything you'd specifically like to change about the way gay characters are
portrayed on screen?
I want to see gay characters as the main protagonists of stories that
aren't about them being gay. Several of my more long-term projects are focused
on creating heroic interesting gay, lesbian and trans characters whose stories
are not about them being gay, lesbian or trans - but about other themes. I hate
the way straight people demand that a character should only be gay if their
sexuality brings something to the story. Straight characters don't have to do
that, why should queer ones?
What's next
for you after this? Are you working on any related or similar feature projects
and can you tell us what those are about?
I'm actually working on a webseries next called Two Naked Gay Guys. It's a comedy about two guys who hook up over Grindr
for a one-off encounter that turns into more. It's already been cast and we're
going straight into rehearsal once Out
with Mum wraps. My other main projects at the moment are a feature film
called Disorientation, which is a
body-swap comedy and another web project, Hollow
Heart. Hollow Heart is my queer
superheroes project, which I'm still tweaking before I can talk more about it.
Those are the ones I can talk about, I’ve got a massive list of projects I’ve
planned into the long term.
You're
fundraising on PledgeMe for "Out With Mum", what do you need the
money for and where can people go to contribute?
We
need the money to pay the cast and crew for their time and effort. They are
basically committing a month of their free time to getting this film made, so I
want to pay them something in respect of that.We also need to pay for
equipment hire, catering, props, make-up and wardrobe. Even a short five minute
film is not cheap to make and every dollar we can raise will be well spent.
For more information about Oneshot Collective, to follow the Facebook page and find out who else is involved visit www.oneshotcollective.co.nz
