I am very pleased to bring you the first interview in our Women in Horror series with the incredibly talented writer ~ director Manon de Reeper. Originally from The Netherlands, she is a self- described “global citizen”, currently residing on a boat in the Caribbean, having a huge impact on her writing. Manon is the director of #StartWith8Hollywood, a diversity, equity & inclusion program, created to further the careers for Women of Color. Along with her own work as a writer and director, Manon has dedicated much of her career to opening up doors to Women of Color in the entertainment industry.

Inspired by her efforts to highlight these voices, Manon decided to write and direct her first short film in horror, Uncontrol. I had a wonderful conversation, below, with Manon, on her inspiration for this short film, how being the director of #StartWith8Hollywood has inspired her writing, the love she has for horror, and how her clinical psychology and criminology degrees influenced her choice in genre. We really get into the portrayal of Women of Color in the horror genre and the influence that has had on Manon’s short film. Manon de Reeper is definitely a creator to look out for as she grows in her career.

Conversations with Manon

Where did you grow up and where do you currently reside? Does this have an impact on your career and/ or writing?

I grew up in The Netherlands. After graduating from University, my husband, cat and I moved to Australia and lived in Perth for 5 years. Then, we moved to the US, lived there for 3 years, and we just moved onto a sailboat in the Caribbean, late October 2020.

I’ve always considered myself more of a global citizen, I grew up traveling a lot and knew that I wanted to live abroad. It has certainly impacted my writing as I feel it gives me a very different perspective and understanding of human behavior and cultures. 

You can write from anywhere, but the US is still the place to be for filmmaking. Even though I’ve never lived in LA, I used to fly back and forth a lot, and being there, meeting people, has definitely helped my career. But now, in the middle of the Pandemic, I feel like it matters less than ever where in the world I am, and because everyone is fine taking zoom meetings now, that physical barrier has largely been lifted. We’ll see if that lasts once the world returns to some form of normal.

How did you get involved as the director of #StartWith8Hollywood?

I have been the business development strategist for Women of Color Unite, the non-profit partner of The Bitch Pack behind the program, for about a year now. I saw a huge opportunity in #StartWith8Hollywood, and put all my effort and time behind it, making sure it would make an impact and would be repeatable.

#StartWith8Hollywood has very organically paired women of color creators with industry mentors rather quickly. Were you surprised by how many up and coming horror creators you came across in the initiative?

No, this didn’t surprise me at all. Women of Color are as diverse in their tastes as anyone else – we had many mentees pursuing genre (horror, scifi, fantasy), and even more are pursuing comedy. These are also the two fields where Women of Color are the least visible, and that needs to change.

As we know horror historically puts up false narratives of women, particularly, women of color. Do you see a shift happening in the genre that will allow for more inclusion and put women of color at the forefront?

I’m hoping that will happen. There’s a small trickle of that now, but I would love to see it on a bigger scale, and also in a way that allows Women of Color to not just play the sidekick to the white lead, male or female.

You have dedicated much of your career to ensuring diversity and inclusion, particularly, with women of color, was there a moment in your life that you knew you had to make this your focus?

Moving to the United States, experiencing the inequality and racism rampant in the country firsthand, as well as seeing how conservative Hollywood is behind its veneer of progressiveness changed a lot for me. On top of that, when American white feminists showed their true colors to me, tokenizing me and seeing them treat Black women and other Women of Color like crap, I knew I wanted to put my full force behind dismantling this vicious, oppressive system.

What was your first memory with horror? When did you first realize this is the genre you wanted to work in?

Two memories stand out: first, I watched part of IT when I’d snuck downstairs as my parents were watching the movie. I saw the scene where Pennywise wraps its arms around the kid on the bed, and that SCARRED me. I still have really bad coulrophobia and can’t deal with clowns. Secondly: I grew up devouring the Goosebumps books and a Dutch kids horror writer’s novels (Paul van Loon, de Griezelbus, for my Dutchies out there).

My mom is a huge horror fan and she never steered me away from horror. She let me read Stephen King books as well, which I loved. She would often take me and my brother to castles and ruins and graveyards when we would travel to other European countries, and that really contributed to how fondly I feel about horror and morbid stuff today.

You have degrees in Clinical Psychology and Criminology, how does your knowledge on these subjects influence your horror writing? Were they congruent, or one influenced by the other?

It’s funny. I actually wanted to go to film school after I graduated from high school, but decided against it. But I always loved movies that dealt with some psychological issue (Fight Club, Requiem for a Dream, and Seven, for example were hugely influential). So I ended up studying Clinical Psychology because of that, but that knowledge now, in turn, also influences my writing. Most horror I write is psychological horror or has strong elements of it.

In regards to my master’s in Criminology, I graduated on studying how dystopian sci-fi influences real life policymaking (I did find a way to make all of my studies about movies!). I LOVE science fiction and especially dystopian; it’s one of my main goals to write a dystopian epic someday, but since we’re living in one right now… I’m focusing on horror instead, which I don’t mind at all. I’m still kind of peeved though, I wrote a pilot for TV a couple of years ago called Fortress America that basically predicted everything that happened in 2020 – although granted, I didn’t foresee a pandemic. Alas, as I was even less of a nobody then than I am now, nobody I sent it to cared.

Did you intend on a different career path with your degrees? If so what?

Honestly, I didn’t really know what I was doing – I didn’t have much of a goal. I knew I didn’t want to be a therapist probably by the second year of my clinical psychology major, which is why I shifted to criminology for my master’s. I thought about doing a PhD. But then we moved to Australia and nothing really came of that, so I started pursuing film stuff instead, and I freelanced a lot (I used to be a WordPress developer). Basically my time in Australia reaffirmed that I wanted to be in film, and I took that time to train myself in screenwriting.

What is it about horror that made you want to write & direct your first short in the genre?

That’s a great question. It’s for multiple reasons. First of all, I love horror. Second, I love what you can do in horror on a smaller budget, in a single location; it just allows for such great creativity and I also think that horror makes the best use of all the faculties of film – visuals, audio and music, etc. Third – I saw a bigger possibility of breaking into the industry with horror than any other genre. The horror community is so hugely supportive. Look at Cargill and Derrickson for instance – they wrote Sinister together, Derrickson directed, and they went on to write and direct Doctor Strange. If you are successful at generating buzz with your horror film, it can really take you places.

Tell me a little about your upcoming short film Uncontrol. How was it being a first time director?

Honestly, for me it was as much about seeing whether my dream of directing matched reality. I was fully open to the possibility of hating the experience – I just wanted to know because I always dreamed of directing movies. I’m so happy I did it though because I LOVED it. I had a great time fundraising (we raised $10,000 for the film in only 2 weeks), I loved pre-production, I loved being on set, and I really really enjoyed post as well, and I know I’m going to have a great time with promo and festivals next year.  

I can imagine you didn’t intend for your first film to be in production during COVID. What was that experience like? Did anything come up that was unexpected?

Nothing unexpected happened and no one got sick because we were extremely well prepared. We had a small crew and only one location, it was only a two-day shoot, and we had a dedicated COVID compliance officer on set – he was one of our crew of only 12, including talent. On top of that, I pushed for 10-hour days, and we shot day-for-night, because I wanted to make sure everyone would stay happy and well rested to keep their immune systems up. I don’t believe in the grueling 12-18 hour days they do in Hollywood, I think it’s inhumane and pointless. Maybe I’m a crazy European (wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called that) but I’d much rather have a happy, healthy crew that is ten times as productive in the hours we do work. We had an amazing vibe on set and no one got sick.

You have a very diverse cast & crew on your film, which of course was of the utmost importance to you. Did becoming the program director of #StartWith8Hollywood influence you to make the film? How did you decide this was the time to make this film and bring these voices forward?

What #Startwith8Hollywood made me realize is that now was the time for me to do this, regardless of the pandemic – I need to be able to show industry people something. It made me feel more of a sense of urgency. I knew I was going to move out of the US by November, we started preproduction in July, raised funds mid-August through early September and we shot Uncontrol the first weekend of October.

I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, not just about the pandemic but also with imposter syndrome stuff, and that had held me back for years. For me the biggest step I took was asking Anna Tran to produce – I’d seen her produce and be 1^st AD on my friend Jenny Waldo’s feature, Acid Test, in Houston, and she’d really impressed me. By involving her I finally had someone who could hold me accountable, and she was very excited about the project as well so she was a major driving force – and since it was my very first time I heavily relied on her experience and knowledge.

On top of that, I also knew that I was going to have to direct something because all my attempts to get representation or to get other filmmakers to produce my work had fallen flat. I’d just do it my damn self.

With creators like yourself, as horror finally opens up to women & women of color, do you see more horror in the future of your career? Any features?

Most definitely. I’ve written an amazing psychological horror feature, Detain Me, over the course of the pandemic that I feel takes place in the same universe as Uncontrol. Much like Uncontrol it’s a contained story about one Black woman who is dealing with very serious mental health issues.

Much like the finalists of the Killer Shorts Contest, Manon is a really great example of a writer advancing their career with a horror short film. Manon is a very inspired woman, with a great desire to highlight the voices so often shoved aside in this industry, in particular horror as a genre. It was a joy to speak with her. Manon is definitely one to look out for with the release of her new short, Uncontrol. To be released early next year.

Check out #StartWith8Hollywood, an initiative that pairs Women of Color with industry mentors to further the careers of their mentees. Founded by The Bitch List’s Thuc Nguyen and Cheryl L. Bedford, founder of Women of Color Unite.

For more on screenwriting, visit The Screenwriters Network and join the discord server to network with over 6000 screenwriters.

Featured image: photo from Uncontrol, provided by Manon de Reeper