Ahead of the London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, we caught up with director Clare Cooney, to spill the blood on new queer slasher Departing Seniors.
Can you tell us how you got involved in Departing Seniors?
My friend Jose Nateras wrote the script. We both live in LA now, but we’d known each other since our theater days in Chicago. He and the producer Dashawna were looking to attach a director, and Jose knew that I had a track record of directing successful short films on a tiny budget. He asked if I might be interested in directing Departing Seniors, and as soon as I read the script, I knew I wanted to do it. It’s a throwback, classic genre story but with a fresh lens. I loved the characters so, so much. The dialogue is so smart and rapid fire, like Gilmore Girls, but with the biting comedic edge of Mean Girls — I knew it would be a fun challenge to direct and that casting would be essential.
How did it feel dipping into the slasher genre?
It was a blast! I’d directed thriller and suspense before, so I felt confident in my ability to make your heart race and your palms sweat a little. But my typical style is very slice-of-life and grounded, and the slasher style tends to be a bit more campy. So I was always trying to balance my natural instincts with the tropes of the genre. In addition, I hadn’t directed much comedy, and this film is very firmly a comedy — but I’d edited comedies before and had a good sense of the timing that would be necessary. Essentially, there were a lot of “firsts” for this project — but that made it all the more exciting.
Is it a hard sub-genre to approach given there are so many different iterations of the slasher film?
I think it’s hard in some ways, because we were juggling a variety of tones and genres— thriller, whodunnit, slasher, dark comedy, coming of age, etc — but that combination of factors is part of what makes our film fresh. It’s not a carbon copy of something you’ve seen before, and yet there are so many elements that make it familiar and nostalgic. Sometimes people try to fit the film into a box and they get frustrated when they can’t — I think that’s really symbolic in a way. It’s a film about people who don’t fit neatly into boxes or stereotypes — so why should our film?
Was it important to you to have a central queer latino character?
I think making room for stories like this, and characters like Javier, is absolutely essential. A lot of this film is inspired by Jose’s experience as a gay, Mexican American teenager in the suburbs of Chicago. I know it was hugely important to him to write a story that had a queer latino lead, because he didn’t see that often when he was growing up.
What was the casting process like, did you always have a clear idea of the characters or did particular actors auditions shape them?
The majority of the film was cast out of Chicago. Paskal Rudnicke casting helped us find our incredible ensemble. Only two actors were cast out of Chicago — Ignacio Diaz Silverio and Yani Gellman. We definitely had a clear idea of what we wanted the characters to sound and feel like, but actors always bring something unexpected to the roles and truly bring the characters to life. Casting is everything. It’s sort of a “when you know, you know” experience, for me. It took us a long time to find our Javier, because that role is so central and so complex, and it demands a lot of an actor. We saw so many talented actors for the role, but ultimately no one felt like the right fit and I was starting to worry. But then we saw a tape from Ignacio and it just “clicked.” Ireon Roach was a shoe-in for Bianca — she just embodied the role in a way that was undeniable. We didn’t get to see a chemistry read or anything between Bianca and Javier. I just knew we’d found our Bianca, and we’d found our Javier, and we’d have to hope that their charisma and chemistry lined up on the first day on set. And thankfully, it did — that friendship is the heart and sole of the film.
What were the early conversations with Jose Nateras like in terms of adapting his script?
I didn’t really adapt the script! For the most part I tried to stay very true to Jose’s words. It’s his imagination, his experience, his perspective, and I did my very best to honor that. We adjusted things here and there just to fit our production needs, and a few lines got tweaked while we were filming, but aside from that, it is very true to Jose’s original script.
How exciting is it to be screening at the upcoming London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival?
It’s such a thrill! We had our world premiere in the fall of 2023 at Fright Fest London, and so it’s a joy to be rounding out our festival run back in London with BFI Flare. Our first audience was a die-hard genre audience, and they truly *GOT* the film, and I know it’s going to be so much fun screening this film at an LGBTQIA+ fest. Because while this film gets big laughs and is enjoyed by all sorts of folks, some of the jokes and themes just hit on a different level with queer folks. This is a story by and for queer people, and I think the story will really resonate with this film festival audience. I can’t wait to meet everyone, see films, and hear what everyone thinks of DEPARTING SENIORS.
Departing Seniors screens as part of London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
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