Brea Grant for Women in Horror Month
1. Introduce yourself. What do you want people to know about you and your work?
My name is Brea Grant and I’m a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. I’ve worked as a director, writer, producer, and actor. I love genre films and hope to make them forever.
2. Who or what were your earliest horror influences?
I was lucky enough to be raised during an era of dark children’s fantasy movies like Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz. As I got older, I loved Are You Afraid of the Dark and all of the early 90s horror renaissance films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. As a kid, one of my favorite horror movies was Tremors. Because of the horror influences I grew up on, my work tends to be a little more surreal and a little bit funny.
3. I've been following your work and career for almost 20 years now. You're an actor, a writer, a filmmaker, a podcaster. One thing I admire about your work is the role collaboration plays in all your projects, and the versatility of the creative projects you take on. If you could sum up your career in three words, what would they be and why?
Learning and growing.
I spend a lot of time reflecting and learning from the work I’ve done. More journaling than any person should! I don’t always get it right but I make a big effort to learn and change for the next time around. I always want to be doing something new, challenging myself, and taking on something I’ve never tried before.
4. Take us through a day-in-the-life of Brea Grant.
Every day is pretty different (which is the way I like it)!
I get up and walk my dog first thing every day. Then I write or create for the first part of the morning—the earlier the better as I like to get a lot done before I start getting bogged down by answering emails. I work out and then either answer all those emails, have meetings, or podcast (I do multiple podcasts now). I try to leave the afternoons free for work around my house, catch up on life stuff, or a hike or coffee meet up. Occasionally, I slip some work in there when I’m balancing multiple projects (which is pretty usual). At night, I usually order take out and hang out with my husband and pets to catch up on whatever show we are watching.
5. Imagine you're standing in front of a crowd of every horror creative—authors, filmmakers, podcasters, journalists, etc. What would you want them to know about your experience as a woman in the genre?
First, I hate speaking to crowds so I would prefer not to be there! I would send some brilliant theater actor in my place.
I would say that you have to give women a shot. In the last few years, I’ve watched basically all of my female filmmaker friends sit at the same budget levels while their male counterparts skyrocket from indie to massive budgets. I never hear “Do you think this male director can handle a big budget?” but that's what I hear about female directors. She can do it. Trust me. If she can make a movie look great for a small budget, think of what she can do on a big budget. As a woman who did my own hair for 20-plus years and still rarely buys new clothes, trust me when I say I know how to make a budget stretch.
Brea Grant is the writer and director behind 12 Hour Shift. She directed Torn Hearts starring Katey Sagal. She co-hosts Reading Glasses Podcast with author Mallory O’Meara, the podcast designed to help you read better.