Shannyn Sossamon and The Maude Room: Recreating the Magic of Moving Pictures
If you’re a millennial, you know the name Shannyn Sossamon. The star of films like A Knight’s Tale and 40 Days and 40 Nights was easy to root for, given her likability and mystique. Also a former member of indie group Warpaint (of which her sister Jenny Lee Lindberg is a bassist and singer for), it seemed like Sossamon was popping up everywhere. As a presence on Instagram, Sossamon remained connected to her audiences.
Through this connection, she ventured forth into new territory with The Maude Room: her latest project that is completely her own, through and through. A “little picture show theater” (as stated on the project’s official Kickstarter), The Maude Room is an upcoming series of various short videos that Sossamon and her friends put together, bringing back the magic that many aspiring filmmakers and performers cling onto in a difficult industry. As a part of an upcoming device application called Picture Show City (a hosting of channels like The Maude Room), there is hope for connecting film lovers and creative minds in an innocent way that is often lost in the business side of Hollywood.
Today, we’re grateful to present our interview with Shannyn Sossamon about The Maude Room, Picture Show City, and her experience in film. We’re honoured to be able to share her story. To find out more about The Maude Room and Picture Show City, you can go to the official Kickstarter page here. Shannyn Sossamon’s official Instagram can be followed here, and her IMDb page can be found here.
Films Fatale: Congratulations with the Kickstarter success! Where did The Maude Room start? Was it an idea you've always had, or a sudden realization that you had to bring to fruition?
Shannyn Sossamon: Well, I’d always been very passionate about making short experimental videos and little movies. Nothing had been a strong narrative, but in my free time from Hollywood jobs, I would always spend probably too much of my personal money in gathering creative friends and trying to make these worlds come alive. It originated, because I was creatively frustrated. A lot of my work in Hollywood has always been work to pay the bills. When I don’t feel a connection to the material or a connection to the filmmakers, I tend to be a very bad actress. And I think really great actors are able to elevate all kinds of material. I think I just realized over the years that maybe [acting is] more of a hobby. I do love it. But I love it when I love it: when I love the material, and the director, the person in charge. That means it’s a hobby, and you can’t make a living off of a hobby.
To more specifically answer your question, in 2018, I received a terrible script, maybe one of the worst I’d ever received. It was an offer. I really needed the yearly funds as I was kind of stuck in this hamster wheel where I needed to book one or two jobs to keep the family afloat. This one was really bad. I couldn’t do it. So I had to make the decision to start slowly turning my life in a different direction, which is very difficult to do when you’re older; I’m going to be forty two. At the time, I was forty. It can be very scary to pivot when you’re older. I was also deeply confused for a long time because I didn’t know what else to do. I love moving pictures. I love arts and entertainment. I love playing pretend. What else am I supposed to do? I think if I had interest in other areas: architecture, fashion, cooking, or something that was in a completely different realm, it would have been easier to just pick up and leave. But because arts and entertainment — particularly moving pictures — have my heart, it was difficult to quit.
So I started planting the seeds. I came to realize it was the system that was incompatible with my spirit. I actually had to create a new system. We’re living in a time where you can make anything and you can be in charge. We all have this incredible access to tools, and to make things; to be creative. With YouTube — you can do anything. For me, it was Instagram that I first fell in love with. I loved Instagram. I think that’s where the idea for The Maude Room and the Picture Show City app was born. In its early days it reminded me of a little moving picture theatre. You could tell these little stories in fifteen seconds or less. It’s obviously changed a lot, but that was where I first came to realize that you don’t need a big budget or a lot of money. Anyone can make anything they want at any time. I think I answered a little bit of all your questions (laughs) except [the last one]. I can’t help it! Once I go, I kind of keep going. Writer’s note: we send a template of questions to our guests ahead of time for approval.
A teaser image for The Maude Room on the official Kickstarter campaign page.
FF: There’s nothing wrong with that! That’s a difficult thing to have to process. You love what this industry gives, but you might not love your experience with said industry. Something like Instagram, which I know you’re a frequent user of even to this day, is a godsend. It’s exactly what you said: you’re in control of your content and these little mini movies you make as often as you want. You have your own little audience. That is a great seedling for what The Maude Room is. Which is very much your creation.
SS: Oh yeah! I’ll kind of zoom in on The Maude Room a little bit. I’ve always loved the name Maude. Everyone always asks “What’s with the name ‘Maude’?”, and I don’t have an answer. It’s just this name that’s kind of haunted me so I let her have her own room, a safe space. One way I have described it, which may not be the best way to describe it on Kickstarter, is that it’s almost like film school. A little film school where there’s this permission and freedom to create short little movies, to completely dream. That’s what I love about it. It’s very wide open on purpose. If there’s something dramatic, it can be dramatic and live there. If there’s something funny, it can live there too. If it’s music, it can live there. If it’s a conversation, it can live there. The “Variety Show” as a genre name is truly just because people seem to like labels. So, I felt “that label works.” It will be a variety of show (laughs).
Picture Show City, the app, was born because one of the things I would talk about a lot when I was talking about The Maude Room was that I was really passionate about how the content was delivered. I love Instagram, but so many times when I put something up there, it doesn’t actually fit. It doesn’t belong. It feels like the video is mad at me, like it doesn’t want to be there. So it needed its own app. So, I’m gonna try it. Who knows? I’m sure eventually one day the app will have a life of its own. I’d like to control it as long as I can, but it’s a major aspect I’m really passionate about: the delivery system. I’m craving a new delivery system and I think alot of creative people are. A system that is less focused on comments/likes/shares/views and more focused on feeling that cozy feeling we all feel when we go to the movie theater.
The logo for Picture Show City, found on The Maude Room’s official Kickstarter campaign.
FF: I think it’s good. We come from a different generation where we love going to the cinema, but a lot of people of this newer generation are used to streaming stuff off their phones. Why not give them that experience if they’re going to be on their phone anyway? I also completely agree with the social media thing. I find Facebook reacts so toxic. I’m all for this idea of your app where it’s accessible to a lot of people, but also shunning this toxicity that can be brought onto your platform. Who needs that in 2020 anymore?
SS: I feel like there’s a lot of creative spirits out there that want to make moving pictures, who genuinely feel in their heart of hearts that that’s what they want to do, but the Hollywood system is not very friendly to that spirit. If you are wide-eyed to start, forget it. To succeed, you must sell a bit of your soul. You have to lose a bit of your innocence to win. I think that’s what I've always disliked about the system. You have to really just shut your mouth and play by the rules. The rules are very dark and they’re very subtle. But follow them and then and only then can you honour that sweet sincere spirit that actually just wanted to make moving pictures because they helped you get through life when you were little!
Shannyn Sossamon.
FF: It’s tough because I love movies, but the industry is dark. I feel like innovators like yourself are making strides to try and turn this dark ship around and send it down an optimistic, rainbow filled river, where things are nicer and the industry is healthier. Part of that is female representation. There’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to female and other marginalized voices. What work still needs to be done in your opinion?
SS: There is more work that needs to be done. People are still holding on. I don’t know why! (laughs) It’s such a miserable system! If everyone were to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves if they loved this system, I can’t imagine anybody would say “yes”, unless you were a tyrant. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.
FF: Right.
SS: That’s my answer there. I’m really proud of all my answers hitting your questions! I only read them once, and I’m like “Wow, I’m actually giving all the answers.” You asked really good questions!
FF: Thank you! I certainly try. I always try my best, and I don’t know if I always succeed.
FF: We like to send interviews off with the most basic question, based on why we are all cinephiles. What are your top five films of all time, and why?
SS: My favourite films of all time are… I can name them very quickly.
The Parent Trap (1961 version)
SS: I love The Parent Trap. The original with Hayley Mills.
Mary Poppins
SS: Mary Poppins, with Julie Andrews.
Let the Right One In
SS: Let the Right One In: a Swedish vampire horror film.
Amadeus
SS: Amadeus by Miloš Forman.
Phantom Thread
SS: Phantom Thread by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.