‘Trigger Happy’ creatives discuss filmmaking, SoCal premiere at Newport Beach Film Festival

The director and cinematographer of the feature, which will screen at the Newport Beach Film Festival on Oct. 18 and 24, shared insights about its creation with The Panther; Stills Courtesy of Bernadette Velasco

For the uninitiated, here’s a slew of things you’ll find within the world of “Trigger Happy:” a “Triceraglock,” a gun barrel encased by a toy Triceratops; a young girl (Bella Johnson) who, seemingly without reason, repeatedly shoots protagonist George Decker (Tyler Poelle) in the knees with BB gun pellets; advertisements for both Republican and Democratic ideals all-in-one; and a dance-party that underlays the closing credits. 

These items and numbers may seem wild and silly — the world of “Trigger Happy” often comes across as such — but the intentions behind them are deep and serious. 

“I have a hard time being vulnerable as a filmmaker,” Tiffany Kim Stevens, the film’s director, executive producer and story co-writer, said, “and in this very candid answer, I can say that being able to hide behind comedy and this visual spectacle makes it easier for me to digest the story I’m trying to tell. I think it takes a certain artist to be so raw on the screen, and that level of vulnerability absolutely still scares me.”  

The film — a sort-of absurdist comedy set in a suburbia just slightly off from our own — follows husband and wife George and Annie Decker (Elsha Kim), who always seem to be at each other’s throats. George begins to plot Annie’s murder, but his plan proves difficult to pull off. 

Stevens’ feature film debut will have its Southern California premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival, screening on Oct. 18 and 24. Both screenings will be accompanied by a Q&A with Stevens. 

The initial idea for Stevens’ first feature came from her parents. Wanting to make the feature about them, the filmmaker took notice of the generational differences regarding gender roles between their generation and her own upbringing. Her intention with “Trigger Happy” was to reverse the roles she saw her parents enacting: Annie represents her father, while George represents her mother.

“In a way, I wanted to give (my parents) both a voice to express — and again, I speak in very binary terms here — their femininity and their masculinity by switching their genders…” Stevens said. “And give them that voice of the other gender that they feel like they don’t have, which they totally do because I think everyone has a masculine and feminine and everything in-between.” 

While the heightened realism was intended to help Stevens approach the story she wanted to tell, the film’s dark comedy also came from a necessity for entertainment.

“In terms of the dark comedy part of it, that was just for sheer entertainment purposes. I took absolute fictional liberties and we’re setting it in a parallel universe and whatnot,” Stevens said. “There had to be spectacle, there had to be entertainment, there had to be a level of visual dynamism that is more of an emotional rollercoaster than my parents, who are — love them to bits — but boring.” 

Throughout the film, a young girl (Bella Johnson) shoots George in the knees with BB gun pellets; Still courtesy of Bernadette Velasco

Stevens was joined in the production by director of photography Seannie Bryan, a Chapman film production alumni. A class of 2017 graduate, Bryan felt like her tenure at Chapman contained an increased focus on gender roles and progression regarding women filmmakers. In her own words, Bryan went from being the only girl in her cinematography classes to now noticing the plethora of talented women cinematographers emerging from our university. 

“It was definitely an interesting time to be there in terms of coming up as a DP and getting to practice also so much,” Bryan told The Panther, “and I still work with a lot of people from Chapman to this day.”  

Bryan and Stevens worked together on a proof-of-concept short film that preceded “Trigger Happy;” for the cinematographer, the short was helpful in learning how to orchestrate the film’s technical elements. With such a small cast in a contained space, it was also beneficial in helping the two analyze one of the core elements of the film — character interactions. 

“The proof-of-concept was really a good opportunity to kind of double as a character study and a lighting practice,” Bryan said, “so that when we came to the feature we were like, ‘We already know the visual language. We kind of know what’s going on with these dynamics, and I do as the DP, and Tiffany and I could already have those conversations.” 

For Stevens, working on her first feature showcased to her the immense work that goes into creating a film — and the word “hard” is an elaborate understatement. 

“You have this idea of, ‘Oh, it’s going to be hard.’ Yeah, it’s going to be blood, sweat and tears, but you don’t know how that translates on a tactile level to what your everyday looks like,” Stevens said. “What you think hard is, triple it, because it’s not only mentally demanding, it’s physically demanding, it’s emotionally demanding, it’s intellectually demanding and it forces you to be able to speak a language that is not only creative, but extremely business-oriented as well.” 

To paraphrase her words, the business-side of filmmaking is a lot. However, her passion for the cinematic art form keeps her going. 

“Cinema is not just pre-production to post. Cinema is development through to acquisitions,” Stevens told The Panther. “It is something that I think we all have in common here, where we wake up every day and we have this insane passion to do what we love, and it is physically debilitating if we are not actively working towards what we love. And that’s why we are filmmakers and that’s why we have decided to embark on this cinematic journey, because we love it.” 

To Bryan, on-set collaboration was a hugely important aspect of production. 

“I think we also had the really huge privilege of having such an incredible on-set experience,” Bryan said, “where I think everyone felt like a really cool bond. Our crew was really incredible, and I return to that over and over and over again.”

The collective passion and collaboration of the crew stood out to Bryan. 

“There are some scenes that we pulled off that would not be possible if it wasn’t for everyone being there and being so invested and so obsessed with our jobs,” Bryan said, “and loving to do them so much, even when it sucks.” 

George plots to murder Annie in “Trigger Happy;” Still courtesy of Bernadette Velasco

The film’s Southern California premiere is its second screening, and both creatives have their own feelings towards pre-screening jitters. To Bryan, they are dependent on how many times you’ve viewed a film. To Stevens, having to view a film for the upteenth time at a screening can be annoying — but that first screening of a first film is, in her own words, a core memory for a filmmaker. Screening the film at Newport Beach’s festival, some of the pressure of anticipating audience reactions is off — after all, she’s in a setting she’s comfortable with. 

“It’s different because it’s sort of home court advantage,” Stevens said. “Our entire network is here, we got the real homies coming through, so it’s not as much of an audience that we don’t know…It’s very different. So now it’s like, ‘Oh, I get to watch this film in a cozy theater with all my friends and family,’ and it’s a warm, comforting hug versus for the first time…”

To Stevens, working with the Newport Beach Film Festival has been an example of how the film industry is centered around passion and connectivity. 

“Overall, it’s just been an incredible festival to work with,” Stevens told The Panther, “and we’re so excited about what’s to come.” 

Students can purchase tickets to the Oct. 24 Newport Beach Film Festival screening of “Trigger Happy” on the festival’s ticketing website. On the same website, they can also view the festival’s schedule and purchase tickets to other screenings.