Laurel Parmet is a director and writer who has been nominated and awarded for her shorts, Kira Burning and Spring. Kara Durrett is a producer who works in both independent film and television, producing films such as Save Yourselves! and Topside. We were honored to speak to both of them about their recent film, The Starling Girl, which made its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. 

In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins, director Laurel Parmet, and producer Kara Durrett discuss:

The surreal, emotional feeling of premiering at Sundance

What the film, The Starling Girl, is about

Why Laurel believes going to film school was invaluable for her

Getting fully financed and then losing it all when the pandemic started

Pitching a film - how to do it and why it’s so amazing

What the remote editing experience was like

Plotting out each scene to encourage certain audience emotions

Feeling fortunate from the positive response after premiering at Sundance

The process of bringing a film to the screen

How to maintain stamina on projects that take years to make

What you need to do before deciding to become a producer



Memorable Quotes

“Eventually it all fell apart and we didn’t know how we were going to make the film, and it was pretty dark for me.” [19:33]

“Everytime you pitch, you are honing in on what is the most important part of the story.” [24:46]

“Make sure you realize you are running a marathon, not a sprint, because it’s a long road.” [34:38]

“Pick the people you adore and then make something together.” [55:07]



Mentioned Resources:
The Starling Girl


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