Now in select theaters, Jethica is a great mix of different genres over its tight 70 minute length. The film is set in New Mexico, where Elena (Callie Hernandez) hides after a freak accident. She bumps into Jessica (Ashley Denise Robinson), an old friend from high school, who has a stalker. And when the stalker suddenly shows up on their doorstep, the two must seek help from beyond the grave to get rid of him for good.
We recently spoke with the two stars and the director of the movie, which premiered at SXSW last year and was also screened at the latest Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Jethica was conceived and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus reflecting themes of isolation, disconnection, death and the unknown. After all, the pandemic itself is becoming a hot topic in film.
With Ashley Denise Robison and Callie Hernandez in Co-Writing
MW: Besides starring in this movie, it looks like both of you have writing credits on this movie.
Ashley-Denise Robinson: Yes, the whole cast and Pete [Ohs the director]we wrote it all together.
MW: How did you come up with the idea? How did it all start?
Robinson: So this is the second such thing that Pete has done. Pete had previously made a feature film called Youngstown, where he had two actor friends go to a city outside of Los Angeles to write a script together and shoot it. And the first one they did in Youngstown, Ohio, and… [Jethica co-star] Andy [Faulkner] was also in it. And the next one, Andy used to live in New Mexico, and he was like, “Hey Pete, New Mexico is really beautiful. Why don’t we look for something there?” So Pete went on Airbnb and found a place and said, “OK, this is where it’s going to be.” So the story really started with him, you know, finding the location. And then, by the time it got through to me at least, he had about half of an outline of what he thought the movie was going to be. And then it was up to the rest of us and the rest of the time we had in New Mexico to write it all down, wash it all out.
Callie Hernandez: Yeah, writing-wise, Pete is the director of the story, you know? So everything else is more or less sculpted around it. And we all had our little, you know, tidbits here and there.
MW: Will Madden, who plays Kevin, seemed like a perfect fit for the character. Did you guys know that Will would play the stalker-ish role all along?
Hernandez: Yes, Pete knew all of us. So really, Pete just got all the employees together. It really is Pete’s movie, and yes, it was pretty natural, to be honest. It wasn’t like, “Well, who’s in charge of what?”
MW: Would you like to do another project like that later, where you all make the film together?
Robinson: Yes, I am always interested in cooperation. I am strong willed, but I also like help with shape and size. So it’s like I’m very much visionary I have an idea of something and then, you know, it’s helpful to have other people wash it down… And just in terms of what we’ve all brought to the character, a lot of like Will [Madden’s] preparation was basically what you saw on screen. So all those letters [his character wrote to Jessica], he just wrote them as character preparation for this character. And then Pete saw them and thought, “Yeah, we’re going to put this in the movie.” And even the videos we see [Kevin] doing that is also character preparation to just get into this guy’s mind [Kevin]… So we all contributed a little bit to the whole idea in that way, which I think is a really fun way to work. It’s a different way.
MW: As for the title of the movie, which is spelled differently than the main character’s name, “Jessica.” Do you happen to know the backstory behind that?
Hernandez: I mean, [Pete] just thought, the tone of the movie ended up being so weird. You know, he just wanted to have fun with it.
Robinson: We were at a Q&A somewhere… I can’t remember who, but one of us emphasized, like, “That’s how I hear my name right from [Kevin] say, whether it’s such a lisp or not. That’s all I hear all the time.’ That’s a very interesting, kind of psychological twist. And that feeling of someone you don’t like or someone you hate, just like the way they say your name, it’s like, “Oh, God.” You know? And I think it fits the tone of our movie, which is dark comedy, horror, thriller, and ghost story.
Director Pete Ohs on Wearing Many Hats
MW: Back to square one, how did it all start in terms of putting together the storyline?
Pete Oh: I’ll think about it Jethica which is kind of fun, because there was very little at stake to make it. I’m a filmmaker who also likes to hear and read stories about filmmakers who figured out a way to make a movie that’s cool that didn’t take a really rich person or studio to give them millions of dollars to make it happen . And Jethica was very much made in the spirit of, “We think it would be fun to make a movie.” Like, that’s the theory. And so it all happened in a way that is very natural, not forced. And there’s just always the intuition of thinking, “This seems interesting. Let’s keep going down this path.”
And the very first thing was just finding that trailer on Airbnb. And not search all the Airbnb locations in the world, but start in New Mexico because Andy, one of the other actors in it, had lived there. And he said, “We should make a movie in New Mexico.” And then I change the settings on Airbnb to only be really cheap places, so just narrow down the options and look within that, is there anything that would be nice? Because if it cost too much, I wouldn’t have the money for it. But when I came across this trailer that was clearly a beautiful location just to take pictures of, I started asking myself questions, like narrative questions like, “What story would be nice to tell there?” And keeping these actor friends in mind and letting them kind of fit into the different characters. And also going through a pandemic, having all the experiences we’ve all had of being isolated, feeling alone, wanting to connect with people and all those themes, you know, trickling into this location… and then wanting to have something fun with it. And what I mean by that is not just making a movie about real life, but making a movie about something that you can only do in a movie. Like robots, like aliens… or like ghosts. And so those are the puzzle pieces that started the whole journey.
MW: What was your favorite moment on set or favorite scene to shoot?
Oh: I have a favorite moment that wasn’t during shooting, but it was just one night when Will [Madden] and I went for a walk. And it was this winter desert, clear skies, and I had never seen so many stars. And I’ve never seen the shape of the stars in the sky like a dome. It was truly breathtaking. It was beautiful. And favorite moment [while] to shoot. It really has to be the scene where we first experience it [Kevin] in all his glory, with the spotlight in the night, and he goes on a rampage. That was a few days after the shoot. We didn’t really know what he was going to do in that scene until we turned on the flashlight. There was no rehearsal for… It was just talks with Will and a big part of his actor prep. And I hit record, and it was dark, and I said, “When the flashlight comes on, it’s time to go.” And that’s exactly what he did. And it was just such a nice surprise that I really cherish it… Kevin’s tirades are completely improvised, completely in the moment. All of Will’s work as an actor preparing for the role just let go. And it’s great. It may be the best stuff.
MW: You wrote, produced and directed, and I saw you were edited as well Jethica. Do you normally like to wear multiple hats when making a movie?
Oh: Yes, I was not a kid who dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. I wasn’t glorifying Spielberg. I loved Jaws and Indiana Jones. I love these movies, but I didn’t think about making movies. I just really enjoyed making videos with my friends. And even now that I’m making these movies, I still think of them as longer videos, with friends. And the way I’ve always made things was, I just do all these different parts. And the benefit of it now has been very much financial, there’s just more work I can do and fewer people I have to pay. And I really enjoy all the different steps and facets of the process that I still see no reason not to do it that way.
And what’s amazing about the world we’re living in now with technology and everything is not that anyone can make a movie that’s going to make money – because making money off these movies is something completely different – but you can make a movie that feels like the movies that you love, and you can have that experience, and then you can share it with the people you love. And it can just be a really enjoyable hobby that isn’t prohibitively expensive, which is cool.
Jethica is now available.