Here’s a fun dark comedy short film for you to watch titled Body of Work. The story is set ten years after murdering their uncle, and it follows twins Teddy and Izzy who get caught in a web of lies and murder when a detective knocks on their door.
The short film is written and directed by Andrea and Sophie Téllez, and it’s shared in collaboration with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we are looking to expose some of the radical indie genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating.
I’ve also included an interview with the filmmakers below. Enjoy the short film!
What was the inspiration for your film? How did you come up with the idea?
The idea is based off a concept Andrea had about 10 years ago. Over that time it developed into what it is now which is essentially a gory comedy of errors.
Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a filmmaker?
We are sisters from Utah who just started our journey as directors. We’ve both spent time on small sets in various roles over the last 7 years, and Body of Work is our directorial debut.
What inspires you to work within genre cinema and tell these kind of stories?
We love mixing genres and the idea of complex relationships playing out in heightened settings.
What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?
Being on set and playing with the blood. Followed closely by sound mixing.
What are you most proud of with this film?
We’re most proud of the fact that we were able to execute our original vision successfully, especially with it being our first time.
What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film you’d like to share?
The last shot of our first day is where Izzy gets here “blood wings”. It was one of our earlier shot ideas and it was executed so beautifully in a single take that we both almost burst into tears.
What was your most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?
We didn’t have a ton of guidance as far as producing and how to talk with our actors. A lot of it was very instinctual and baptism by fire. In the end we’re very happy with how it all turned out and the relationships we were able to make.
If it did, how did your film change or differ from its original concept during pre-production, production, and/or post-production? How has this changed how you’ll approach future projects as a result?
The overall telenovela feel wasn’t something we’d planned or considered until we started working on music. When the composer suggested the mariachis sound, we recorded the telenovela opening (voiced by our parents) and then dove deeper into the aesthetic with the title design.
With our next project we’re taking more care to consider ever aspect of the film so we can, from the start, better implement how we want those to manifest in the end product.
Who were some of your collaborators and actors on the film? How did you start working with each other?
One of us met Beth May (the detective) briefly on a set. She’s a huge fan favorite in the D&D actual play podcast sphere. We’ve both been fans for a while and when the opportunity presented itself, we pitched the idea of the role to her.
She loved it and is now set to work with us again on our next project. We also had the pleasure of working with Jess Parks as our sound designer. We connected with her via our post supervisor and hit it off immediately.
She’s done incredible work on the new Jumaji films, Spiderman No Way Home, and more. We’ll also be collaborating with her again on sound design as well as brining her in as a producer.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?
In our first meeting with our DP we apologized profusely for not being versed in how exactly to communicate and plan with her. The best thing she said to us was that she knew we’d be good directors because we had a very clear vision and communicated it directly to her. So the best advice we can give right now is to trust your gut and vision and do what it takes to achieve exactly what you want.
What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for it? What kind of stories would you like to tell moving forward?
Our end goal, like many others, is to make feature films and be able to survive off it. We want to keep telling stories that platform diverse people and backgrounds and explore complex relationships in as many genres as we can.
What is your next project and when can we expect to see it?
Our next project is a bureaucratic thriller short set in a 90s call center. We should be shooting early to mid 2025 and hope to have it ready later that same year.
Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel? Social media handles?
Our YouTube channel and official instagram are both @Puchicaproductions Sophie can be found @sooo_sophie and Andrea @andretortelleze on instagram
Bonus Question #1: What is your all-time favorite film?
Sophie’s is Dan in Real Life and Andrea’s is Moonstruck. But if we had to choose one together, it would be Mad Max: Fury Road.
Bonus Question #2: What is the film that most inspired you to become a filmmaker and/or had the most influence on your work?
Sophie wanted to make movies after watching The Iron Giant. Andrea’s was Inglorious Bastards.
