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SnagFilm’s Exclusive Interview w/ Angela Shelton

What do you think about the fact that your doc is still discovered daily by new people years later? 

That little documentary certainly has a life of its own.  I had a whole plan for it to simply be my directing debut and go right into the next film.  But that little movie created a grassroots movement and wiggled out of any box I tried to put it in.  So I simply let it be, road the rollercoaster and now it is out there in the world to watch anytime on SnagFilms.  I love Snag by the way.  It is also used in classrooms so new students discover it each year.  And, yes it has been seen by millions already and is still discovered daily which kind of blows my mind.  But then again, the subject it brings up of sexual and domestic violence is sadly not going away.  I wish it would and there would be no need for anyone to discover that film.  The sad truth is that sexual violence is so prevalent and still remains so silent, especially child sexual abuse, that I assume that little movie will continue to be passed around for quite a while.  I love it when new people discover it and contact me.  It’s pretty amazing.  The only odd thing is when some people relate to me as if I am still the survivor raging against her abuser.  I am so not that person anymore.  I have moved long past that phase and am happily in the living a whole healthy life phase.  But I have come to realize that when some people reach out to me as if I am still there it is usually because they are.  When the movie helps new people, especially survivors in pain, it makes me very proud of what that little film continues to do in the world.   In fact, it’s not so little, it has caused some very big changes in many lives, including mine.  Apparently, it is going to continue to do so.

What did your documentary teach you?

I learned a lot on so many levels.  I learned the ins and outs of indie filmmaking and how to keep the train rolling that’s for sure.  I learned what not to do next time.  As an artist I learned to stay true to my original vision and write down my dreams.  Going “Searching for Angela Shelton” had a profound affect on me as a survivor of abuse too.  Not only did I reveal much of my personal life in the film, but making it propelled me into stopping the abusive patterns and choices in my life I had been making.  It made me see the problem and go through the hard work to fix it.  I definitely moved from survivor to thriver after making it.  Now I don’t even talk about the old story anymore and I credit making the doc for that growth. It was the catalyst.  I also learned a lot about people and how to pinpoint survivors and perpetrators, especially after traveling with the film and speaking to thousands of survivors.  But the whole process taught me to have a lot more compassion for people in general.  People are not just crazy; they are crazy for a reason.  But the most important thing it taught me was that you can’t save everyone and you don’t have to try and fix every crazy person whether they are a victim or a perp.  I was the wanna be savior and I learned that you have to save yourself.  You can provide roadmaps and sign posts, which I hopefully did with the film, my book and the workbook I wrote afterwards.  I think people have a choice to live a happy life or not, no matter what they’ve been through.  I am certainly grateful I made the choice to move on.  

What is the workbook you wrote?  Does that go along with your documentary?

It is very much the next step after those survivors who are very moved by the doc.  It’s called Be Your Own Hero Warrior Workbook. You can get it on Amazon or my website.  (cheaper on Amazon) Many therapists use it now.  Quite a few of them thought I wrote it with a therapist, but nope, I am an artist and I simply put my process down on paper.  I am very visual.  That’s one of the reasons why I was so adamant about the documentary being so beautiful to watch and listen to.  After talking to so many survivors and traveling with the film I saw a visual of all the various traumas I was hearing as an image people being pierced by a sword.  It’s hard to cuddle and it’s hard to edit a movie with a sword in you.  That was the picture I had in my head.  I hired an artist to draw out my vision and I wrote out the process of removing the sword and using it.  It really follows the process I personally went through to move on.  It was hard work but it is so worth it and it ironically applies to filmmaking too.  It doesn’t have to be trauma.  Sometimes you are in that dark place in the editing room thinking you failed and no one is going to ever see this.  That’s when you have to pick your self up, or remove the sword, and get to work as a warrior, not a victim.  We have enough victims in the world and enough people not following their dreams.  I love seeing my fellow warriors out there creating new things instead of destroying anything, especially themselves.

Do you plan on making another documentary?

Ah, the D word.  Documentaries…  No, I do not plan on doing another doc.  But then again you never know what I’ll do next.  It depends on what inspires me.  If I do make one, it will be on Snag!  But most of the subjects I feel strongly about like food have already been done with Food Inc and the Future of Food.   There is no reason to reinvent the wheel.  Go see those great documentaries!  Plus, most people don’t realize how long the process of making a film takes and documentaries can take double that time.   I have a long list of things I want to do in my life. I get a lot done and am certainly a hard worker but there is only so much time in life. 

What are you working on now?

I have a stack of screenplays and manuscripts on my desk in various stages of development.  Most of them are comedies or satires, which I love. I do have a few hard hitting dramas and one semi-thriller.  I’ve been hired to write some and some I’m writing to hopefully direct myself or produce. So while I wait on notes for one, I start another one and vice versa.  One has a star attached and is looking for funding, while the other is a huge budget and may take years.  It’s hard for me to sit and wait. I just keep creating. Like I said before, it’s amazing how long it takes to make a film. When we made Tumbleweeds, it took five years.  Searching for Angela Shelton took three years to get it edited and out there and then ten years of traveling with it until I decided to just let it continue on its own, which as you know it has.  You have to wait much longer on some projects while others take off on this wild momentum that you have to ride.

But aside from writing movies and teleplays I have a great passion for books.  One of my life goals is to live in a barn house with a great view and write children’s books.  You can take the Southern girl out of the South but you can’t take the love of barn houses or biscuits out of her. I just finished the first two in a series of books that I’m writing for young readers.   It has been absolutely delightful and one of my all time favorite projects to date.   But of course it’s one of those that I can’t tell you a beep about yet.  Miss big mouth here has to keep her mouth shut for a moment.  Let’s just say I’m always writing and the next time I pick up my camera to document a new story I’ll contact Snag first.  

Now check out Angela’s Reel Spotlight

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