'It was wonderful working with Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart': interview with director Craig William Macneill

Craig William Macneill is the director of movie Lizze, with Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jeff Perry. Eh worked also ti TV series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Channel Zero and The Twilight Zone. Lizzie film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Q. How was born the idea of the movie “Lizzie"? 

A. Chloë developed the screenplay several years ago. Originally it was even set up to be a miniseries at HBO, but for one reason on another the project never moved forward. Coincidentally, I had always wanted to make a film about Lizzie Borden. I grew up near Fall River MA (where Lizzie lived) and, much like all other kids in the area, I was haunted by tales of Lizzie Borden throughout my childhood. So, when my reps sent me the script to read, I jumped at the opportunity.
Chloë was attached to play Lizzie from the very beginning, and Kristen Stewart came on board as Bridgette early in the development process. Fiona Shaw and I had worked together on a TV series in 2016 and quickly became friends; I’m grateful she agreed to do our film. And, fortunately, the rest of our great cast came together with relative ease. 

Look at the Gallery: Kristen Stewart

Q. In your opinion, was the Lizzie Borden trial right?

A. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I have my doubts on the verdict. The story takes place in New England, but for financial reasons we shot the film in Savannah GA. Savannah, does not look much like New England, much less 1890’s New England, and, given our limited resources in terms of time and budget, we were forced to mostly imply rather than show the outside world - which was complicated. As a result, we had to carefully design the shots and blocking of the characters in order to embrace our limited, and mostly interior, spaces; and craft shots in order to avoid any modern architectural elements inside.

Q. Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart are the protagonists. How was it working with their?

A. It was wonderful working with Chloë and Kristen. They’re both so talented and brought so much to their characters.
All our shots were shotlisted in advance in order to save time on our tight 23 day shooting schedule. This preparation was imperative for planning our days, but nothing was ever set in stone. All the preparation we did allowed us the freedom to improvise both in front of the camera and behind.

Q. On the filming, was there a funny episode you want to tell?

A. A few of us spent one terrifying night in Lizzie Borden’s actual home in Fall River, MA shortly before we began production of our film. I woke up in the middle of the night and was not able to fall back asleep — sleeping in that home is an unsettling experience. I spent the next hour or so wandering the house, taking in the unique details of the home, and thinking about the film. Eventually, I sat down in the room where Andrew Borden’s body was discovered. And it was there, in that dark eerie room, that I suddenly realized exactly how I wanted to film the murder sequences. 

Q. You worked in tv serie horrir “Channel Zero”. Can you tell us about this experience?

A- The creator of the show, Nick Antosca, had seen my film THE BOY (2015) and thought of me for the series. He wanted the series to have a cinematic feel to it and for there to be one director for all six episodes. Up to this point, I hadn’t directed anything for TV, but fortunately, that is precisely what Nick had wanted. This show is interesting in its plan and execution because each season is approached the same way you’d film a movie. They’re six episodes long, so it’s about roughly five hours of screen time, and we block shot the series and filmed the entire season in 42 days — which is a tight schedule. We had to be creative and maximize the resources we had, which meant frequently not shooting traditional coverage. Ultimately, my experience working on low budget indie films was great preparation. It was an amazing experience, and both the studio and network were very supportive throughout. 

Q. What is your favorite movie? 

A. That’s a tough one, I have too many. Jonathan Glazer’s BIRTH jumps to mind. The tone and atmosphere continue to linger in my imagination, heavily inspiring much of my work. 

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