Myrna the Monster, a short film starring an adorably awkward and reflective alien (think E.T. but with a valley girl accent) tells Myrna’s American assimilation story and search for her home away from her homeland [the moon]. Myrna is charming, lovable and infinitely relatable—a dream leading lady. We spoke to writer-director Ian Samuels, a Project Involve Fellow, about the making of Myrna, how she came to be (did we mention she’s a puppet?), and where he sees her flourishing.

Did you create Myrna for the project specifically, or did you build the story around the pre-existing puppet she already created?
Myrna is basically an autobiography.  I moved to LA, made a lot of mistakes, and handed off some of my baggage to Myrna.  The character came first and then the puppet was inevitable: like anyone in their twenties, she’s an alien from the moon trying to fit in, and figure it all out.

What was the inspiration and collaborative process for her look?
There are so many creatures all over Los Angeles… going through trashcans, getting new faces, from all corners.  I figured if you dropped an alien on the sidewalk here probably nobody would notice.  People are nice in Los Angeles too;  They’d say hi to her.  I wanted Myrna to be sympathetic, but also, physically, embody that outsider feeling. For Myrna, the internal is the external. I originally built a crude version of her years ago, then worked with a concept artist, Dan Krall, and builder David Monzingo to create that final look.

 Myrna’s face doesn’t move, yet she’s so expressive—what is it about her face that makes that possible? 
Victor Yerrid really brought her to life.  He’s an incredible performer.  There’s also that magical quality inherent to puppetry. It inspires our repressed pretend play, uninhibited, and we project so much onto her.  She’s expressive partly because of the context of the scene and the camera and the lighting and Victor’s heartfelt movement but also (when it works best) because we project ourselves onto her.  Visually, the image of the puppet also asks us to suspend our disbelief right away, so in a way, emotionally, a puppet is very forgiving.

 Did you have punk rocker Kathleen Hanna in mind from the start to voice Myrna? What do you think about the combo of voice and body that make them such a perfect pairing?
Kathleen came later in the process but she was an ideal match.  I played a youtube interview with Kathleen in my apartment and had Myrna lip sync and it just made me laugh.  If I knew that Kathleen was going to say yes when I was writing, Myrna definitely would have had her moment at a mic.  Kathleen comes with this punk feminist background that fits right in line with Myrna’s point of view.  She also has this quality to her voice that’s a great mix of youthfulness with life experience.  Myrna may be new to things but she’s been through some serious emotional stuff like getting kidnapped from the arms of her moon lover by a jerk jock astronaut.

What has the general reaction been to Myrna’s appearance? 
People tag their friends on Myrna’s instragams with emojis and “this is so you!” or “this is me!”

What’s the biggest challenge directing the live action and puppetry?
My intention with Myrna was to shoot puppets in a more modern way than I’ve seen.  I wanted to give Myrna an earnest voice, and let her run free in LA in active locations with natural lighting and an unhinged camera.  That’s my challenge to myself.

Tell us about your experience with Project Involve like? How did it help your work or career?
Project Involve is a great motivator to keep pushing forward and it opens some doors.  It’s also a community of amazing collaborators.

How did you get involved with MTV Other?  Are you making more work for them?
I screened my lobster/fisherman romance, Caterwaul, [the short film Ian made during Project Involve]  at Slamdance and a producer from MTV asked if I had anything else. I gave him the script to Myrna.  There was some back and forth and rewrites, and at some point I sent photos of the puppet being built and said, “so we’re doing this, right?”  It took a year but we made it.  I hope we do more in some form; we’re talking about it.  The experience with MTV was great and once the budget was approved they really left me to go make what I wanted to make.

Any advice for directors who are interested in working with puppets – the secrets to success?
Treat your puppets with dignity. They’ll last longer and you’ll make a movie I want to see.

Are you creating more shorts for Myrna?
We’ll see… We’re trying to figure out the next step for her.  After the success of this short and the community we found at MTV and online through Myrna’s social media I’d like to do something bigger and better.  Anyone want to take me up?

Myrna the Monster is playing in the Shorts Program 6 at the LA Film Fest on June 11 at 5:45 pm.

Jade Estrada / Film Independent Blogger