August 7, 2024
Ripe! Creative Team Shares Their Filmmaking Process
Tribeca Film Festival '24
Tusk is an LA-based directing duo made up of Kerry Furrh and Olivia Mitchell. After their first short went to Tribeca and sold to Freeform shortly after graduating, they spent their 20s making a range of short form work for everyone from pop stars to Google, landing them a spot on AdWeek’s 2024 Creative Top 100. Currently, they are developing a feature version of their recent Tribeca-winning short "Ripe!" as well as developing a slate of scripted projects that share a buoyant zest for life and penchant for the “weird" kids.
Cookie Walukas is a producer (narrative, short form, commercial, music video, and photo) originally from Raleigh, North Carolina. They currently work as Senior Producer at Liquid Death. Clients include: Beyoncé, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Mariah Carey, Apple, ABC, Disney, and all of the major record labels. Driven by obsession with cinema, art, photography and pop culture, harking from alma maters University of North Carolina School of the Arts High School & University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts they live, laugh, love and work in Los Angeles and New York City sometimes.
Let’s start at the beginning, how did you all meet? What inspired you to attend USC and pursue filmmaking as a career?
Olivia: Such a loaded question, I love it.
Kerry: Olivia and I met at USC, our freshman year. We met Cookie after USC, but because of USC connections. I always knew I wanted to do film, as I had been making films for most of my childhood. USC was my dream school, so when I was accepted, it was obvious I would be pursuing a degree in film. Olivia was [a student] in the music school, then switched into a film minor.
Olivia: I’m not a real SCA major, just a minor. USC is just the best school for film! Cookie, why did you want to go to USC?
Cookie: I came into filmmaking from an art perspective and art school, and practically grew up without a TV; and my parents always said that Hollywood was evil. I googled best film school, and it said you could go there [USC] or nowhere else, so I applied with my application letter really leaning into how I wanted to make the world a better place and make transgressive and subversive queer films that haven't been seen before. I also wrote about how I wanted to uplift underrepresented voices on screen while also reflecting that in the entire process of filmmaking, and USC felt like the right place to do that. I am happy and so proud to say that I think all of that was accomplished in this film [Ripe!] that were set while applying to USC and SCA.
While attending USC/SCA, were there any classes, professors, or experiences that were most impactful?
Kerry: This is a heated subject in the film school, but I loved Casper. I thought Casper was amazing. We still talk about things that we learned in Casper’s class, putting character first. It’s so easy to get absorbed in style and I feel like that line of substance over style is drilled into us in Casper’s class. Maybe I'm brainwashed, but Casper really taught me. I also had this comedy directing professor, Barnet Kellman, who I felt really seen by. For my thesis I directed his TV course, and he was very impactful for me in terms of getting me out of my head. He knew how to pull out exactly what I wanted to say on screen, which was influential and impactful in my directing, as I was able to effectively communicate better.
Cookie: I was in the first track of the invention of CTPR 450, but I pitched for a CTPR 480 course and was accepted. I must have been smooth because nobody realized I should’ve been in CTPR 450, so I hacked the system and got to produce a CTPR 480 project while taking CTPR 450. It backfired in a way because I was essentially taking 25 credit hours and also had a 25 hour student job. The accidental CTPR 480 project eventually got distribution on PBS nationwide and got critical acclaim, which allowed me to produce a second 480 project. Both of those CTPR 480 experiences defined a lot of how I approach producing at large, as it is about doing and not “faking it until you make it”.
I want to also shout out Sandrine Cassidy, Tom Miller, Brenda Goodman, Mary Posatko, and the Industry Relations office, as these professors, mentors, and employees at the industry relations office were integral for my education, far more than any specific class. Their mentorship meant so much. Sandrine is still a constant supporter of ours and is absolutely incredible!
Olivia: Being a film minor meant that I only took 4 classes in SCA, however I loved Casper’s class so much. Kerry and I took it together, and thought wow this person is on fire. Casper’s class would definitely wake you up and make you think deeply. It was one of the only classes I took at USC that afterwards Kerry and I would be debating the contents of the course. Casper really had the ability to pull you into your most detailed and strongest opinions. I really enjoyed that course.
Kerry: SCA really goes beyond the classroom. For example, I connected with my 310 partner, Manuel Crosby, throughout our careers. We were able to have him take a look at one part of Ripe!, which was great. It was pretty fun to be working with my 310 partner in the real world.
(Cookie) What draws you to certain projects? Is there a common theme and how do you put your own style and input into a project?
Cookie: Kind of harping on my application essay that I applied to USC with that still sees true today, I am specifically very drawn to stories that represent unseen subjects and underrepresented voices, partially queer voices and stories. They don’t have to be happy stories, but in this environment I think it's an added bonus to represent queer joy. I always try to find queer stories that are transgressive, subversive, and something that you haven’t really seen in art, specifically cinema. My approach for producing and adding a real layer of authenticity to these projects is by creating an environment where my creatives and I can really dive into research and be themselves, and have room to play.
(Tusk): How did you start your directing journey together? What do you find to be your biggest inspiration?
Olivia: I feel like our creative journey really started when we were making music videos. I was writing songs and Kerry would make videos for them during our freshman and sophomore years. Then it kind of started to fuse where Kerry had an interest in what songs I was writing while I had an interest in the stories you tell through different mediums. We just started making videos together: prank videos, 24 hour film festival shorts, music videos, BTS docs about our friends, etc. By the end of college, the needle moved for me from music to film. Our first project after graduating was a short called Girl Band which we made with another alum Cailin Lowry. That film was one of my first directing experiences. I also wrote the songs and score. The three of us directed a short film together, and that was the first kind of experience directing. I also wrote the music for the film Girl Band.
Kerry: We really fused our interest. I am inspired by music in my writing. We use music when we are writing scripts, it's very integral in our creative process. We made the short, it went to Tribeca, and eventually became a TV show. That experience really kickstarted our career, so it made sense for Olivia to be in film.
Olivia: For lack of better words, I was getting far less work in music than in film and short form content. In a creative and cutthroat industry, my thought process at the time was “take what you can get work-wise”, and I wanted to continue telling narrative stories, regardless of the medium.
Kerry: We were developing Girl Band with Freeform for about a year and a half, and after that didn’t get picked up, we got hit up to do some commercials. We weren’t Tusk yet, but we were directing together, and thought it was so cool to be working together.
Olivia: Kerry was obsessed with music videos, so while we were getting commercial work, Kerry was insistent on getting into music. Kerry started editing for a couple big creators and then I started editing. Commercials and music videos kind of became our thing.
Kerry: After working together for a while, we decided we needed a name.
Olivia and Kerry: Our directing name is inspired by USC: Tusk. The song Tusk by Fleetwood Mac is played by the USC marching band, and we met at USC, plus it's short, curvy and strong! We had been working for years in different capacities, and people started calling us the Tusk girls; it just feels right.
Cookie: I wish we got to work together during our time at USC. None of us had the bandwidth for that, but I think the relationships that we developed at USC really wet the palette for our mutual language of collaboration and how we could work seamlessly together. Another relationship that came out of the woodworks from USC is our music supervisor for Ripe! Jules Zucker. She currently works at Vice and we know each other from the music scene at USC, and that’s been really awesome.
(For Kerry) Was directing always your passion? Or was there something else you initially expressed interest in?
Kerry: I initially went to USC thinking I was going to be a cinematographer/DP, and then realized that was too much and not at all what I wanted. I quickly learned that as a director I could still work with a DP/cinematographer and get what I was envisioning.
Congratulations on winning best narrative short film at the Tribeca film festival this past June! What was the most challenging part of the short film? Were there any logistics/creative issues? How did you overcome them?
Kerry and Olivia: The most challenging part of the short was…well…everything. Just having the stamina! For better or worse, this short covers a lot of ground - we decided to go all out and shoot this like a mini movie. (Rather than, say, a couple scenes in one contained spot.) We also shot internationally so there were language barriers. Every part of the project was pushing our creative boundaries, from finding each location specific to the color palette and aesthetic, via zoom, without a location manager, to enlisting a fantastic team in Barcelona to work with us for a week in rural Spain on a limited budget for a random lesbian short film, lol. And then, our two lead actors! Their chemistry was sculpted over months of rehearsals, but they only met in person a week before set. It took a lot of effort, patience, and understanding at times to really connect. Oh, last but not least, the film’s about a girl who breaks her arm, and I (Olivia) fell and broke my arm on the last day in Spain. Still can’t move my finger the same. Our car also got stolen and Cookie was an absolute HERO in finding it. Indie film, am I right!!!! The answer to how we overcame things? As a team. With a lot of grit.
What advice would you give to young queer creatives starting their careers? Is there anything you wished you knew when entering the industry?
Kerry and Olivia: We were closeted for a lot of our career. We had a bit of a struggle with that. Ripe! is really the first piece of media we ever shot with a gay storyline. We had previously pitched on music videos and commercials trying to get a queer storyline to zero success. We just decided we have to do it ourselves.
Kerry: My piece of advice is to just do the story you are inspired by, rather than waiting for somebody to help you make it. Just do it!
Olivia: I sometimes struggle with the queer creative thing. People are becoming more accepting of queer stories, which is amazing. It wasn’t like this 10 years ago or when I was in high school! I hope that queer creatives will one day just be creatives. If that means exploring queer identity in depth in a narrative feature, do it. If you want to follow a stray dog on the streets of New York finding food documentary style, do that. Do whatever motivates you, and your queerness doesn't have to define you and it can define you to the degree that you want to. It’s about craft!
What’s next for you all? Any exciting projects in the pipeline?
Olivia: We’re in Spain right now getting re-inspired for the feature version of Ripe!
Kerry: Yes, definitely the feature version of Ripe! Is the current project. We are working to secure financing, however the feature is moving along. We also have a couple other narrative projects in the pipeline, including a TV show we would like to make. We are really excited about bringing a lot of different stories to life.
Cookie: Real quickly, I want to shout out Tusk for winning best narrative short at Tribeca this past June, best queer short at Provincetown International Film Festival, and honorable mention at Frameline International Film Festival. Filmmakers like Tusk really know how to stay authentic and make their stories happen. Now more than ever is a great time for supporters of first time feature directors, specifically queer directors and their teams, to invest in their art and their films.
To learn more about Ripe! and the creators, be sure to follow along at:
Story by Emily Tutnick