Zoje Stage

Hi Zoje, what are you working on at the moment?

My main push for the last year has been to get my feature script "The Machine Who Loved" into production. I've been gradually attracting people to the project, and my co-producer and I hope to shoot it in western New York in spring/summer 2010 on a budget of about $2m. The story is about a woman who is forced into early retirement, who consoles herself by purchasing an artificial life form tailored to her every specification. The science fiction elements are completely secondary: it is really a chance to examine how men and woman communicate (and miscommunicate), and how we define humanity - all through the device of having a character who is not "natural born."

It has been my goal since I was 18 to make thought-provoking yet entertaining art films that could compete on an international level. I'm now 40, and "The Machine Who Loved" will mark my debut as a professional writer/director, so this is really my burning passion. It's been a circuitous path, but everything I've done has been leading to this. I'm also still creating new feature-length scripts, because, in spite of also being a serious writer in other areas (like poetry) I really love the screenplay format. I'm also getting into spreading my little digital films around, via YouTube, etc. - it's instant sharing in a way that the major filmmaking process is not.

CLICK HERE to watch Stage's work on YouTube)

What were some of your early artistic influences?

I am very fortunate in that I grew up in a family that did not relegate children to the stultifying world of children's entertainment. The first film I remember seeing was "The Day the Earth Stood Still" - I couldn't have been older than four. As a child in Pittsburgh there was still a grand Cinemascope theatre, where I saw huge sci-fi films like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." As a teenager I was captivated by Scandinavian films like "The Emigrants" and "Pelle the Conqueror." So, my cinematic influences are rooted both in fantasy and hard-knock reality.

Do you notice any recurring themes in your work?

I've always been attracted to the idea of redemption - of the possibility for a terribly flawed character to reach a better place. I don't think I could ever write a true tragedy. This isn't to say I create rosy endings - self-realization is often incremental.

What place or location have you gained inspiration from?

I always like to have my desk in front of a window. I have seen extraordinary things happen in the parking lot.

What did your family think of your decision to be an artist? What does your family think of your work?

I think my parents are somewhat confused about my profession and my work. We live in a world where most people have either time or money - rarely both. I have chosen time as the infinitely more valuable of the two. I am alive when I am creating. Someday, I hope to own a couch. Until then, my sister is endlessly supportive of me and my work... and, unlike other family members, she has never asked why I haven't written a "summer blockbuster."

What is your favorite thing that anyone has said or written about your work?

When I was 17 I took a college writing class (one of the only college classes I have ever taken). The instructor, a professional writer, commented on an essay that I had "sensibilities that are entirely your own". I got an A+ on the paper, and in the class. In reality, my "sensibilities" have butted heads with the greater, money-driven world - but it meant a lot that this teacher saw something in me.

How do you feel about the industry in which your work operates? Anything you would you change?

My work operates in an industry that exists in a world in which women have never been truly valued. The great (and small) contributions of women throughout history have been erased from the collective conscience. What would a building look like, how would a government be run, how would we tell a story if the history of humanity had evolved with true gender equality?

How has the Fellowship affected you?

It gave me validation at a point in my efforts when I really needed it. Long-term rejection is hard core. I have been incredibly focused since winning the Fellowship. I have made concrete decisions about who I am as an artist and what I want to achieve.

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