SCAD Film Fest 2025 – Sunday Red Carpet Interviews
Photography by Nicholas Latham
This past Sunday, Film Fest 2025 was filled with exciting and emotionally investing events, with “One Battle After Another” to “Yanuni” screenings, and even a look into “Wicked: For Good” with director John M. Chu.
We at RenderQ had the opportunity to interview the honored guests at Sunday night’s red carpet. Read below to hear insights from the guests, including some filmmaking advice from the crew of “The Lone Piper”, John M. Chu’s experience working with visual effects on “Wicked”, and some heart touching and encouraging personal advice from model Veronica Webb.
Amanda Jabes, Matthew Kravchuk, Connie Huang – “The Lone Piper”
We asked the creators of “The Lone Piper” about their motivations to create their film and the skills behind the scenes that went into it.
Q: “What inspired you to tell this story?”
“It’s important to tell stories that have always been continuously and culturally relevant, and for me I like to use folklore to talk about it”, said director Kravchuck in regards to the film’s inspiration.
Q: “What do you think the best aspect or quality is for someone to have working on set and in a team?”
“Friends”, said producer Jabes, quickly starting off the responses. “It’s all about attitudes. If you’ve got a good crew with a good attitude, who want to be there and show off their talents and do the work that the job calls for, you’re going to have a really great shoot”.
Kravchok backed up Jabes’ response, while cinematographer Huang concluded their responses. “Communication and flexibility”, said Huang, emphasizing the importance of soft skills on set. “… but also friends”.
Richard Ladkani – “Yanuni”
Q: “What drew you to this story, and why did you think it was important to tell?”
“I wanted people to reconnect again with the forest… I felt that we have lost that connection over time,” answered director Ladkani. “I wanted people to feel something, to emotionally connect”.
Q: “If you had one emotion you want people to feel while watching your movie, what would you want them to feel?”
“I want them to feel inspired”, replied Ladkani, building on his previous response of hoping to rekindle a connection with the world around us.
Zoey Deutch – “Nouvelle Vague”
Q: “Did you have any challenges stepping into the role for this film?”
In regards to stepping into the role of representing the legendary Jean Seberg, Deutch replied “The challenge was trying to make sure that I was honoring this person… And wanted to represent it in a correct and positive light. While also not being an impression, but like an interpretation”. She then also spoke about the fact that “The movie is in a language I didn’t know”, and how she had to learn French specifically for this role.
Veronica Webb – “André Leon Talley: Style is Forever”
Here for SCAD-produced documentary about André Leon’s journey through the fashion industry, Veronica Webb’s responses beautifully encapsulated the shared experience of mentorship and learning.
Q: “What do you think we need to do to continue to progress further and move forward in this industry?”
“If you look at André Leon Talley’s life and legacy, it’s about really knowing the past, it’s about really knowing your history, it’s about really understanding all the disciplines that touch on your craft. So that you can communicate, and have clear conversations”, Webb began, before shifting to a more personal note.
“And when you look at Andre’s life, he mentored me, he mentored so many people. That’s the most important thing you can do. Mentor someone. Respect people who want to learn, because not everybody starts at the same place, but, you know, someone who really wants to learn and they really value it, that’s someone who’s really valuable to have in your life.”
Q: “On the topic of being a mentor and learner, is there any other quality you’d love to see in a mentee?”
“Grit”, Webb replied instantly.
“André was 99% grit and 1% glamour. But that 1% glamour, that’s incredibly important. That’s what gets you into the room, that’s the thing that dazzles people… that gets you in the door. But it’s the grit that keeps you there. It’s the grit that gets you up when you don’t feel like it. When you hear ‘no’ over and over again… Because that’s what it is to be a creative.”
John M. Chu – “Wicked: For Good”
Q: “Did you have any troubles visualizing and bringing to life all these magical elements and places, and how did you address that with VFX and production design?”
“Our VFX supervisor Pablo Helman is an artist, artist.” He emphasized
“He doesn’t talk about the technicality of things – I mean he knows it very well, he’s been doing it so long at ILM. And we had great armies. ILM, Framestore…. So everyone had their role in this… It was so fun.”
He then touched more on the artistry behind VFX.
“What I had to learn… It’s like working with an actor. It’s not about telling them ‘oh make more smoke, make less light’. It’s like ‘here’s what I’m trying to feel… What would you do?’ So it was a great collaborative effort. But Pablo being able to understand as an artist what we were trying to express was really really helpful.”
Chu’s words about the artistry behind VFX are a great reminder that it is just as much that—an art—as it is a technology. No matter how technological it gets behind the scenes, at the end of the day we are there to support a story, a message, and a theme.
SCAD Film Fest 2025 continues on, with an exciting array of films and panels throughout the week. Stay updated as we at RenderQ continue to report on these events and red carpets!