Episode 90: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with ‘The Last Time You Had Fun’ Director Mo Perkins

Episode 90

25th July 2019

Mo Perkins earned an MFA in directing from UCLA’s School of Film and Television. Her master’s thesis film, Piss Hat, was nominated for a student academy award. Her writer/directorial debut feature was an independent film called A Quiet Little Marriage starring Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Cy Carter, Jimmi Simpson, Michael O’Neill, Charlie Day and Melanie Lynskey. On the festival circuit, it won many awards including the grand jury prize at Slamdance, and it was distributed by IFC. Her second feature film was a comedy called The Last Time You Had Fun starring Demetri Martin, Eliza Coupe, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlene Yi and Kyle Bornheimer. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was distributed by Gravitas Ventures. Most recently Mo directed the second season, six episodes, of a romantic musical comedy called I Ship It for the CW. On the writing side Mo is currently working on a Witch show with co-writer Amber Benson and shopping a drama series based on the commune where she grew up.
The movie that Mo has chosen is just a delight – 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors. Mo discusses how this movie meant so much to her personally, as it was one of the first films she saw after leaving her commune. April and she talk about the two different endings of the film and how the original was roundly rejected by preview audiences. Mo also elaborates on being flexible during shoots, working on low budget films, and facing the scenes that she was scared to direct.

Episode notes

Little Shop of Horrors

Mo Perkins earned an MFA in directing from UCLA’s School of Film and Television. Her master’s thesis film, Piss Hat, was nominated for a student Academy Award. Her writer/directorial debut feature was an independent film called A Quiet Little Marriage starring Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Cy Carter, Jimmi Simpson, Michael O’Neill, Charlie Day and Melanie Lynskey. On the festival circuit, it won many awards including the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance, and it was distributed by IFC. Her second feature film was a comedy called The Last Time You Had Fun starring Demetri Martin, Eliza Coupe, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlene Yi and Kyle Bornheimer. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was distributed by Gravitas Ventures. Most recently Mo directed the second season, six episodes, of a romantic musical comedy called I Ship It for the CW.

The movie that Mo has chosen is just a delight – 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors. Mo discusses how this movie meant so much to her personally, as it was one of the first films she saw after leaving her commune. April and she talk about the two different endings of the film and how the original was roundly rejected by preview audiences. Mo also elaborates on being flexible during shoots, working on low budget films, and facing the scenes that she was scared to direct.

You can see I Ship It on the CW.

And if you haven’t seen Little Shop of Horrors yet, go watch it!

With April Wolfe and Mo Perkins.

You can let us know what you think of Switchblade Sisters on Twitter or Facebook.

Or email us at switchbladesisters@maximumfun.org.

Produced by Casey O’Brien and Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org.

In this episode...

Guests

  • Mo Perkins

About the show

Switchblade Sisters is a podcast providing deep cuts on genre flicks from a female perspective. Every week, screenwriter and former film critic April Wolfe sits down with a phenomenal female film-maker to slice-and-dice a classic genre movie – horror, exploitation, sci-fi and many others! Along the way, they cover craft, the state of the industry, how films get made, and more. Mothers, lock up your sons, the Switchblade Sisters are coming!

Follow @SwitchbladePod on Twitter and join the Switchblade Sisters Facebook group. Email them at switchbladesisters@maximumfun.org.

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