Leah McKendrick returns to Chapman with ‘Scrambled’ screening, Q&A
Following a screening of her film “Scrambled,” Chapman alumna Leah McKendrick stuck around for a Q&A moderated by theater professor John Benitz, which covered the process of telling personal stories and McKendrick’s tips for navigating the industry. Photo courtesy of Connor Bogenreif
While one scene from Leah McKendrick’s “Scrambled” heightens her own real-life experience to a comedic level (the filmmaker hearing about an actress’ struggles getting pregnant turned into a scene where her character, Nellie, gets slapped), other moments in the film are seriously personal to the filmmaker.
Those personal moments stemmed from the filmmaker’s real-life experience freezing her eggs, the journey that protagonist Nellie Robinson (McKendrick) undergoes in “Scrambled.” McKendrick emphasized that young filmmakers should lean into their personal moments instead of trying to capture something relatable.
“Too personal is where the magic lives. You want the space where you’ll feel the most alone, the most love, the most scared, the most lonely. That’s where humanity becomes universal, your super isolated, personal experience becomes universal. Don’t ever try to make something that is universal. Always try to make something deeply personal and it will be universal.” ”
On Feb. 8, McKendrick, who graduated in 2008, participated in a Q&A session with Benitz, Chapman students and other audience members. The Q&A began after a screening of “Scrambled.”
The desire to create films is constant for McKendrick — it’s what drove the creative to become a multihyphenate. The theater performance alumna embarked into film production in order to produce her own scripts. It’s a process the filmmaker advised current Chapman students to do to ensure that their scripts are developed.
“I would advise you to not wait for anyone to take your script and turn it into a movie,” McKendrick said. “I would take your script and turn it into a movie.”
The filmmaker stressed her desire to make films, no matter the budget. McKendrick felt that her ability to disregard industry guidelines when developing the script for “Scrambled” was freeing. In addition to penning the story, McKendrick served as the film’s director and lead actor.
McKendrick worked on the script while freezing her eggs. Her work on the script lay within capturing “one true sentence.” Lifted from a quote by Ernest Hemingway — “All you have to do is write one true sentence, the truest sentence you know” — McKendrick captured the film’s “one true sentence” when Nellie, discussing her feelings during her journey, remarks, “I’ve never felt so alone.”
The line verbalized some of McKendrick’s feelings when going through the journey she’d recreate for the film. The necessity to be personal in one’s work was a point the filmmaker repeatedly mentioned when answering questions. A personal touch and insight is not restricted to the script-writing stage, according to McKendrick, but should extend to pitching a project.
Having experience in working with studios, such as with an unrealized “Grease” prequel project, McKendrick emphasized the importance of having an individualistic touch. Using the “Grease” project as an example, McKendrick recalled how she would sing aspects of the pitch. A goal for her in pitching is that studio executives know a little bit more about her personally by the end.
Freshman film and media studies major Benjamin Price found McKendrick’s discussion inspiring. Price enjoyed hearing the alumna's experiences navigating both the indie and studio systems.
“I was super fascinated hearing from someone who’s worked on both sides and hearing the keys to both of those kingdoms, which is ultimately, ‘Just stay hungry and stay working, keep making movies. And as someone who’s been through it and has found success and also came from where we are at right now, it’s super inspiring.”
Freshman public relations, advertising and entertainment marketing major Rachel Ning also appreciated McKendrick’s discussion.
“Hearing from someone that basically worked from the ground up to get to where she is, and also hearing from a woman in the industry, I think was just really inspiring. She’s very knowledgeable. I think she’s been through a lot at such a young age, and so hearing her advice is definitely something that will stick with me. ”
