Interview with Filmmaker and Author Amy Leigh McCorkle: “The Other Side,” “Traveler,” and The Guardian (2023)
Director, screenwriter, producer, documentarian, memoirist, novelist—I hope you’re getting the idea—Amy Leigh McCorkle found some time for an interview about a recent streak of supernatural substance in her genre-spanning work. We discuss her two short films “The Other Side” and “Traveler” as well as her feature screenplay The Guardian.
“The Other Side”
A woman must come to terms with the death of her mentor and move on.
“Traveler”
A time traveling witch seeks out her vampire soulmate.
The Guardian
In a dystopic world on the brink of self-destruction, Nala Washington must embrace her destiny and come to terms with her past. Hunted by a corrupt government for having a mental illness that also gives her supernatural abilities, she must decide to save the world and others like her or watch it all burn to the ground. She can’t run forever.
The Interview
(1) The Dark Side. Although you’ve written other scripts with supernatural elements, these two short films are unusual among your actual productions. Do they reflect a turn toward a darker—or at least more speculative—emphasis in your work? Why or why not?
ALM: I think my supernatural work can be bittersweet and tends to offer hope for a better tomorrow. My therapist instructed me to do “The Other Side” as a grief exercise. Del [the mentor whose death is the subject of the film] was such a huge force in my life, I still cry at the end. Bitter. But my heroine moves on and is at peace. And after two years, so am I. “Traveler” grew out of my fandom of A Discovery of Witches, and I love a good star-crossed, destined-to-be romance. Oh yeah, and Matthew Goode is just delicious to watch.
(2) The Personal Side. While the turn toward the ostensibly supernatural in “The Other Side” moves you further from the more realistic drama that characterizes most of the films you’ve produced, you also retain strong ties to the autobiographical. How do you stay true to your own story while expressing it in combination with supernatural fantasy?
ALM: Who doesn’t want more time with loved ones who have left indelible marks on them? Right now, so many good things are happening, the chance to tell “Del” one last time about my life face to face served to heal me even if it was make believe.
(3) Art Therapy. Might others find help when they need to “come to terms” with loss through contact with your film “The Other Side?”
ALM: I don’t know. The film has garnered mixed reactions from audiences. It makes them uncomfortable, and often they laugh. But when I share how personal it is, they do a 180.
(4) Traveling Genres. “Travelers” uses the supernatural in a very different way from “The Other Side.” What made you decide to combine a vampire and a witch, staples from the horror genre, with time travel, which is more sci-fi, in what is basically a love story? What should viewers expect from the mash-up?
ALM: I’m not a fan of horror for horror’s sake. But I love vampires and witches and romance sub-genre novels. I tend to be a fan of horror’s cousin, suspense. It’s a love story. Yes, there’s a horrific twist at the end, but it’s basically about two soulmates finally triumphing over evil.
(5) Compact Travel. “Travelers” covers a lot of emotional and historical ground between the two main characters within a very short runtime. Why did you decide to tell so much story in so few minutes? What might the future hold for your witch and her vampire soulmate?
ALM: It was just something that flew out fast. A friend called it a three-minute song of longing. I’m itching to write a novel or series and spend more time with the characters.
(6) Guarding against the Future. The Guardian is set in what seems like a near-future dystopia, where corrupt government figures are free to hunt down “undesirables,” such as people with mental illnesses. While it’s not a horror script per se, the scenario is scary. Why write about such a future? Do you think such extreme circumstances could actually come to pass? Why or why not?
ALM: I wrote it out of a reaction to the Trump election and presidency. I was and am terrified that as a woman, a mentally ill woman, eventually I’ll be stripped of all my legal rights. I wrote it to manage those fears and give myself a catharsis. Now I am more scared than ever. The world seems like a really dark place now and in need of a hero. Writing is my way of fighting back.
(7) Powerful Stigma. The Guardian’s protagonist, Nala Washington, is a government target not only because she has bipolar disorder but also because her condition gives her supernatural abilities, such as a healing touch. How does your connection of Nala’s illness to supernatural abilities reflect on and challenge the real-life stigma surrounding bipolar disorder?
ALM: It’s like taking a perceived weakness and turning it into your most powerful weapon. You might not win at the end of the day, but there is the chance you can change lives or even change who’s in charge of the world.
(8) Reversing Stigma. Your other work, including the critically praised feature film you co-wrote, directed, and produced, Letters to Daniel, which is grounded in autobiographical realism, also raises awareness about bipolar disorder. How does The Guardian fit in with your larger goals related to mental health activism?
ALM: I always say The Guardian is Letters to Daniel’s fictional legacy. Letters to Daniel allowed me to tell my story and find my power and voice. I fought those themes for a long time because I didn’t want to be known as “the mental health writer.” But I, like Nala, had to stop running and embrace my purpose and help people like me realize those with mental health issues are just regular people trying to live their lives.
(9) The Guardian for the Future. What can you share about The Guardian’s path to production? Where is it on its journey toward the screen, and how did you get it there?
ALM: I can’t say much about it other than I’ve inked a two-picture contract with Fish4Him Entertainment. And meetings will be underway soon.
(10) Access! How can readers learn more about you and purchase your works (please provide any links you want to share)?
Amy McCorkle (@AmyLMcCorkle) / X (twitter.com)
Letters To Daniel (DVD) – Walmart.com
Amy Leigh McCorkle (@letterstodaniel) • Instagram photos and videos
amyleighmccorkle (@amyleighmccorkle) | TikTok
About the Artist
Amy Leigh McCorkle is one half of Healing Hands Entertainment. She is the author of the international #1 Amazon Bestseller Letters to Daniel and is a fifteen-time Amazon top-100 bestseller. She has been published more than thirty times and has directed forty films, including the breakout hit Letters to Daniel, which has over one hundred film festival awards, notably Best Original Song at the Twelfth Annual Indie Series Awards. Amy currently has six projects in various stages of development, pre-production, and production, including a limited anthology series spin-off of Letters to Daniel. Other honors include being named Writer of the Year in 2021 at AOF’s No Risk Fee Fest and the Imadjinn Awards in 2020 for both Non-Fiction and Paranormal Romance.