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Women in Film Feature Focus
Heather Ayres
Heather Ayres, on set of My Time with Betty
Photo by Jamie Friddle
All photos courtesy of Piperland Pictures
Writer-director-producer Heather Ayres wrapped production on her 35mm short film, My Time with Betty, in February. Just shy of two years in the making, Betty has garnered significant support, including an IFP/Seattle Spotlight Award, a CityArtists project grant, and recently a 4Culture Special Projects Award. She is waiting to hear if the project will be awarded a finishing funds grant from the Women in Film Foundation. “I have never asked for so much support for a film project before,” says Heather, “a lot of people have put their belief in Betty, and in me. It's intense and beautiful.”
Heather on the Betty set with actress Davie-Blue and DP Sean Porter.
Photo by Matt Daniels
Still from “My Time with Betty,” courtesy of Piperland Pictures.
Much of that belief has come from Heather's producing partner, New York Women in Film and Television member Annie Flocco (Super Troopers, Acts of Worship). “Annie's breadth of experience has pushed me forward as a filmmaker,” says Heather, “I was ready to make a short that moved like a feature, she has challenged me to treat this film like a feature project from beginning to end.”
Heather and co-writer Ixaac Paul Ackley spent nearly a year developing the script with Annie, digging deep into the material and discovering Betty from the inside out. “A character drama, crunched into 15 minutes, demands that every scene be potent. You have to be willing to follow the material wherever it takes you,” says Heather. They shot the film in four days with a nearly 40-person crew and a wonderful ensemble of Northwest talent, including Seattle actress Davie-Blue as Betty.
Still from “My Time with Betty,” courtesy of Piperland Pictures.
“There are a lot of beautiful filmmakers making films about mental illness. My vision for Betty is to share a story of this one woman…the confusion, the beauty, the pain, the isolation, the chase for freedom within one's self. It's not a film to find answers or comfort. I want people to care about Betty. If we let go of trying to define her as crazy, we'll discover she's powerful, bold, and at times, even funny. The crazy part conceals the truth. And the truth is she lives with a great deal of pain.”
Still from “My Time with Betty,” courtesy of Piperland Pictures.
Often drawn to painful subjects, Heather has resurrected a documentary project that she began before her son, Aiden, was born. The film explores people's relationships with their beds. From tragic to delightful to surreal, bedstories engages the dynamic intersection of one the most significant objects in our lives through a series of bed imagery and interviews, including author Jane Orleman, Telling Secrets: An Artist's Journey Through Childhood Trauma. Heather says, “Jane's bed paintings are devastating. She spent years painting her way through the pain of sexual abuse. I had no idea the film would break open so much intense material, but once I found myself on that path, I had to follow.”
Healing through storytelling is perhaps what Heather's current body of work reflects the most. In addition to her film projects, she has spent the last two years writing the feature length screenplay, “In Clover,” a magical family drama about a pregnant woman's search for home. Ixaac Paul Ackley is co-writer and Annie Flocco is attached as producer.
Heather and partner/co-writer Ixaac
Heather graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in history and social sciences, earning two scholarships and a history fellowship. Always slipping in filmmaking classes on the side, and drawn to poetry and short stories since childhood, she began writing screenplays in 2001. Her short script, 101 Days, won the Flicks on 66 (now Digifest Southwest) screenplay competition and she was flown to New Mexico to direct the late Angelina Torres (All the Pretty Horses). Heather went on to 911 Media Art Center's New Voices Documentary Producers Program, a mentorship collaboration with KCTS/The Public Network, where she found the seed for bedstories. Years later, she served on the board of 911. In 2004, Heather directed the SIFF Fly Film, Lipstick Men, which was distributed by Typecast Films last year on the Seattle Women in Film DVD anthology.
Heather and son Aiden hiking
Heather culled a film education over many years, including UCLA extension courses and directing workshops with Judith Weston and Atom Egoyan. She spent several years working on television, short and feature film productions, including Boy Culture and The Meaning of Food, before giving birth to her son in 2005. Filmmaking took a backseat, and she began co-writing short screenplays with her partner Ixaac, including Anybuddy Home? (directed by Joe Shapiro and winner of the 2005 Seattle 48 Hour Film Project Audience Award for Best Film) and The Delivery (directed by WIF/S President Virginia Bogert, and winner of the 2006 SIFF Fly Screenwriting Competition). The Delivery won Best Short Film Narrative at the Port Townsend International Film Festival.
Heather hiking in snowy Heather Meadows, WA.
In 2007, both My Time with Betty and “In Clover” were born, in addition to her production company Piperland Pictures. “It was a turning point for me personally. I believe in the power of story to heal, and I've wanted to be a voice that participated in that, for our world, and for myself. As a child, writing and stories were good friends. I would scribble poems about everything and was inspired by magical journeys, great explorers, and powerful women. Still, I think I've always cared too much about what people think of me and my work, and my voice suffered. Maybe it was becoming a mother, or approaching 40, but something inside of me started caring more about taking the risk to explore the truth and the work I'm creating now reflects that.”
In addition to full-time motherhood, screenwriting, and filmmaking, Heather works part-time as membership manager for Three Dollar Bill Cinema, a nonprofit queer film arts organization. She has always held a “day job” in addition to her creative endeavors. With over 15 years experience as a professional writer, she was Editorial Director of a trade magazine at the age of 21 and spent nearly 10 years writing multi-million-dollar proposals for the architectural and engineering industry before moving into nonprofit work, including grantwriting. Heather didn't realize how much motherhood would challenge her ambition though. She says, “It's kind of like trying to leave the house with toddler in toe…if you want to maintain happiness, you better get used to being late. I know my films will get done, scripts will get made. Watching my son grow is magic of its own and I'm lucky enough to have the chance to try to do it all. I go through long stretches of working into the wee hours of the night, then let it go for a while and concentrate on being a mom and engaging more with everything else important in my life. When I feel like I can't balance it all, I go to the woods.” Or Peru. Heather loves to travel and counts climbing Huayana Picchu in Peru as one of the greatest moments of her life.
Heather in Peru
Starting in July, Heather will be contributing writing for the new artist community blog, The Revolving Floor. To learn more about My Time with Betty, visit www.bettythemovie.com.
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