Heather Tom – Serenity

By starrymag | August 29, 2016

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

Q) You act, direct, produce and are a mother. How do you balance it all?

A) I like to keep really busy. It is easy to balance time. James [Achor] and I are good at co-parenting and making sure little Zane is taken care of. That is really the most important thing. I cannot complain about that.

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I have been directing a lot on the show. Brad [Bell] has given me a great opportunity to direct on a more regular basis. I just finished a short film over the hiatus. So, I’m getting that done and gearing up for the festival season. It’s been great!

Q) What have you learned from going from directing TV to short film?

A) It was interesting because directing for “The Bold and The Beautiful” is kind of like throwing yourself into the fire because it is so fast. Things you have to be responsible for and be on your game with. I wasn’t sure how it would translate into directing a film, but it really does. I feel so fortunate to kind of have gotten my feet wet in such a high pressure place. It’s given me a lot of information to go forward with films or even day time television.

Q) Is it more challenging going from TV to film?

A) I shadowed Cindy Popp for a good six months on “The Bold and the Beautiful” before they started giving me segments and my first show. I think that was invaluable to be able to follow her, learn how she maps out her scripts, does her shot list and everything you kind of have to be on top of. I’ve been doing this for a very long time and I never dreamed that so much went into the show and how many moving parts there were and how many people had to be on their game just to make the show happen. Even when I was shadowing her, I couldn’t believe what happened every day. It’s just a testament to how people work and how good they are at their job. It’s been a totally invaluable experience to be able to watch and learn.

Q) How open were your coworkers to having you at the helm?

A) I think everyone has been really supportive. I have known most of these people since I was fifteen so I think they are all really proud of me. It is kind of an emotional thing for me because I feel like it’s been a really safe place ot learn. It’s definitely high pressure and not cutting me any slack, but they are also there to support me in any way that they can. So, it feels very safe.

Q) What is the premise of your short film Serenity and how did you get involved?

A) I was looking for something. I got great material from “The Bold and The Beautiful,” but I was looking for something that I could do to kind of show another aspect of my directing. So, I have a writing partner and he brought me a scene from a movie he had worked on that he had cut out that he thought could be made into a short film. It takes place during a narcotics anonymous meeting, but it is unlike any NA meeting that you have ever bene to or seen. Really the premise is that it is about redemption and closure. If redemption is actually possible and how far out of reach it is. We have a main character who tells the story and while he is telling his story he is witnessing kind of in the middle of the circle his brother and what his drug use has done to him and the role it played in his brother’s demise and, ultimately, his own.

Q) Your son is a part of the film. Tell us about it.

A) As the film goes on we see he has a brother in the middle of the circle growing up. So, I have a baby and then I have Zane who plays the toddler. My neighbor actually plays my son as a young boy and AJ plays him as a teenager. So, he is part of the progression, which was definitely a little nerve-wracking.

Q) It is darker subject matter. How did you prepare him for that?

A) Part of the reason I wanted to do this and part of what I talked to my writing partner about when we were fleshing this out was that I feel like we’re all one bad choice away from a wasted life. Every so often I’ll be driving downtown, for whatever reason, and I inevitably go to skid row because it is so prevalent. There are so many people down there and I always think to myself that at some point every single person on that street was a perfect baby. Maybe they were held with love and maybe they weren’t, but we’re all just one choice away from being right here and from having that perfect life be completely demolished. So, when I look at Zane I see that and as a mother it is my worst nightmare because while perfect isn’t the word I’d always use to describe him, in many ways he is. It terrifies me to think that one bad choice could lead to a wasted life when he has so much potential.

Q) Did he have any struggles during filming?

A) He had to stay in the middle of a wide circle so I was just like, “Please God. Just stay in the middle of the circle,” so I could get his one shot. I was bribing him with everything. I had probably a hundred dollars worth of toys in my bag. I was just like, “Five more minutes and you get to have something else that is in my bag!” [laughs] It was completely shameless. I was like throwing all the rules out the window that I should be doing as a mother. Anything to get him to stand still for another two minutes!

Q) How did the casting come together for the film?

A) I cast one of my dear friends in the lead role. It’s just one speaker so it is definitely existential. Then, I called in favors for everyone else. [laughs] He was amazing. I kid you not, it 110 degrees where we were shooting. We were shooting in a warehouse downtown and it was that weekend where all the fires were happening and the sky was red. There was ash falling everywhere. Two blocks over there was another fire. It was 110 degrees and we were kind of in this weird, surreal purgatory place. It was an endurance test, emotionally and physically. I think I got a really good product out of it.

Q) Will you be showing the film at any festivals?

A) I’m in the process now of getting it finished and applying to festivals. It’s going to become a full time job. It was definitely a labor of love and I had such an amazing crew who just soldiered through this brutal weather. They were awesome!

Q) How was the film funded?

A) It was through my production company.

Q) Besides directing, will we be seeing you try your hand at anything else?

A) I’ve got a few other projects in the works and we have an interior design company as well. So, we’re working on a couple other projects. Just trying to keep up at B&B, which is always my first priority. So far so good!

Q) Do you have an idea of when it will be released?

A) I hope to put the movie out there pretty soon.

Q) Everyone is on the edge of their seats for Katie and Bill. Is he going to give up his stock? Will they be having a baby? What might keep them together?

A) I don’t think they are going to stay together for the foreseeable future. I think there may be too much water under the bridge, but I guess we will see. I tis daytime, after all. So, it’s never really over. Hopefully, there are new people on the horizon for Katie. We will see!

Q) Do you feel like the Logan sisters can ever have a relationship again?

A) I think there is definitely some repair work that we need to do. But I think at the end of the day, they are sisters. It’s kind of part of that scene where Katie said, “I want to remember this as one of the best things about you.” No matter what happens, they will always be sisters. And I think they understand each other very well. They definitely have some repair work to do, but they are blood.

Q) Is there anything else you tease to come?

A) I am excited to see what kind of new things they come up with for her. I think Katie will for sure go back to work because ultimately she has always been a worker and certainly not one to sit around and be rich. [laughs] So, I think that yes, definitely somewhere along the line she’ll find where her calling is and I’m excited to see where it is.