Hamish Downie’s Five Questions With Brimo Morales

Editor Note: Hamish has another in his series of Five Questions With…

Hamish came up with this idea because he was accumulating too much material for his Famous News Sushi column and asked if he could do these mini-interviews. Why would we say no?

Thank you Hamish for being such a trooper for us. We really appreciate all for your hard work.

Let us know what you think of these interviews in the comments below.

TGG: Could you please introduce yourself to our readers? I hear you were the runner up at the pitch contest at AFM.

BM: What’s up everybody! I’m Brimo Morales, an award winning lesbian filmmaker from San Antonio, Texas. I’ve loved movies from the first time I saw them as a little kid. I live to tell good stories. In 2020 I was fortunate to win first runner-up at AFM. It was the first time I ever entered a pitch competition, so it was definitely an amazing experience for me.

TGG: Could you tell us about your short film $500K?

BM: $500K was actually inspired by winning AFM and everything that I went through after that. It’s about an aspiring lesbian filmmaker named Taylor, who’s unemployed but hustling to get her fantasy film made, in hopes of helping to provide for her family. One evening after yet another rejection, she gets a strange phone call from her life insurance agent, informing her that in the event of her suicide her spouse Megan, would receive $500,000. So Taylor must decide whether or not she’s going to off herself in hopes of her spouse being financially taken care of. I really like dark comedy and I think it helps to laugh through the pain sometimes. I also really enjoy writing from a place of experience because it can be super cathartic.

TGG: What was the biggest thing you learned while making the film?

BM: I think the biggest thing I learned was to make sure and take care of everyone else on set. I was in pain when we shot. A month previous I was in the ER with a diverticulitis and an ulcer, so my stomach was hurting a lot especially the second day. Everyone there had my back and it showed me how important it was to take care of everyone else as well. All of these amazing people came together to make my vision a success so they needed to be treated well and have their needs taken care of. If I messed up somewhere, I needed to fix it. It’s important to build a good rapport so people want to work with you again. I think that’s the biggest compliment I could get as a director, people wanting to come back.

TGG: What’s next for you? Could you tell us about “God loves Chris”?

BM: Due to my stomach stuff, my main focus is on my health so I can come back better and stronger than ever. That being said I did shoot a short called Cult Lady in January, it’s available on YouTube. In the meantime I’m writing quite a bit and have a handful of features, a tv show and a web series I’m messing around with. One of the features is God Loves Chris. It’s the first feature screenplay I’ve ever finished and it’s what I pitched at AFM. God Loves Chris is the story of a lesbian that grew up in church hearing that it was a sin to be gay her whole life. After being kicked out of church and home for being gay Chris(tina) is going nowhere fast, using drugs, alcohol and one night stands to fill her void. During this process she meets a lesbian pastor and has to figure out if she wants to reconcile her faith and accept herself or just keep going as she is. Again this was inspired by my struggle with growing up gay in a super conservative church and attending Bible college. Seeing a faith based gay film would have made a huge impact on me and it would’ve probably help me accept myself faster. I really hope it impacts others who have been hurt by church. It’s being turned into a graphic novel right now, I hope that’ll help it gain traction so we can finally get the funding going. I’ve got a lot of little seeds planted and I want to see what sprouts. It’s a very exciting time in my life!

TGG: How can we best support you (where can we follow you on social media or watch your movie, listen to your podcast?)

BM: If people could get on Lesflicks or Reel Women’s Network and watch $500K I would really appreciate it! It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten distribution for a film and I want as many people to watch it as possible. You can listen to my film podcast Shutter & Slate, available on most platforms, and I have a Facebook group by the same name. I want to help other filmmakers as much as I can, that’s what Shutter & Slate is for. You can also find me on Instagram/TikTok @brimomorales and Twitter/Facebook @brimothecoolest.

link tree linktr.ee/brimothecolest
YouTube link is YouTube.com/brimothecoolest

Brimo’s new film “Sacred Visions” is crowdfunding now:
https://www.lesflicks.com/community/supporters/sacred-vision-crowdfunding-for-feature-film/

$500K:
https://www.lesflicks.com/film/film-database/500k-2021/