“Girl in the Hallway” is the name of a harrowing animated short that is a finalist in TheWrap’s 2020 ShortList Film Festival. And for director and animator Valerie Barnhart, it’s also a big case of “I told you so” for a lot of people who discouraged her along the way.
“When I was in art school, I thought about going into the animation program or the film program,” said the Canadian visual artist-turned-filmmaker. “But everyone, including my teachers, said, ‘You’re not a good enough artist. No one will be interested in your stories. You’ll never make it.’ It took me quite some time, until I was in my 30s, before I thought, ‘I am gonna make a movie. I don’t need these people.'”
She paused. “The joke’s on them, I guess.”
Barnhart is right, though that’s the only context in which you could use the word joke in relation to “Girl in the Hallway.” The film is based on a monologue by San Francisco slam poet Jamie DeWolf, who describes living in a run-down apartment complex in the Bay Area town of Vallejo where he often encountered a 7-year-old girl, Xiana Fairchild, who was later abducted and murdered by serial killer Curtis Dean Anderson.
Barnhart was on YouTube when she ran across DeWolf’s emotional monologue, in which he shares his guilt over not doing more to help Fairchild when he saw her in the hallways. Although she’d never made a movie, she immediately thought that DeWolf’s work had to be turned into a film.
“I think it’s his honesty and accountability,” she said. “The story was really applicable to how a lot of silence is perpetuated in communities – people are just minding their own business and seeing something wrong and not doing or saying anything. That’s really what made me want to make a movie. I just felt like this needed to be said, and I could present it in a completely different iteration of the story.”
She emailed DeWolf had asked if she could turn his monologue into a film, and he agreed. (“He thought I was making a fan video,” she said.) Barnhart initially figured the animation would take her a couple of months, but the process stretched to three years as she had to start from scratch learning how to make a movie.
“I was limited by my learning curve and my budget,” she said. “I would break every sequence down to four-, five-second phrases, and then think, ‘What imagery would fit these phrases perfectly?’ And then I’d have to solve how to create that imagery, because I didn’t know.”
Because she didn’t have the budget to re-record the narration, Barnhart used the original recording of DeWolf’s monologue, which he performed in front of a live audience; it gives the narration a more heightened, theatrical feel than you find in most films, but one whose passion fits the material. “I like the rawness,” she said. “People shouldn’t be unemotional about this.”
To create the film’s rich, dark and haunted look, she used a variety of techniques, including 2D stop motion, chalkboard-style animation and cutouts. Her technique got better along the way, but she followed Tim Burton’s advice after he made “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” animating chronologically so that the film would also improve as it went along. “The first 30 seconds make me cringe,” she said, “but then it’s like watching a timeline of my growth as an artist.”
The subject matter, she said, was the toughest thing about sticking with the project for three years. “Animation is incredibly straightforward,” she said. “The material itself is what was difficult. And at the end of the day, it’s a true story – I couldn’t be comforted by the fact that it was fiction.” Now, she said, she has been bitten by the film bug and has a couple of other projects in development:”It’s been fun working with lighter topics and coming up with jokes. Now I can have fun with animation.”
And does she ever run into any of those people who told her she wasn’t talented enough to be a filmmaker?
“No,” she said. “They’re sort of gone. They’re in my past.”
The Scene at ShortList 2019: TheWrap's 8th Annual Short Film Festival (Photos)
In the top row, ShortList 2019 filmmakers, from left to right: "Hula Girl" directors Amy Hill and Chris Reiss, "Cat Days" director Jon Frickey, "Green" director Suzanne Andrews Correa, "Sister" director Siqi Song, "How Does It Start" director Amber Sealey and "Enforcement Hours" director Paloma Martinez.
In the lower row, TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman, ShortList host Harvey Guillen, "One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" director A.M. Lukas, "No Sanctuary" producer Moriah Hall, "Departing Gestures" co-directors Brian Bolster and Jonathan Napolitano and TheWrap writer Steve Pond.
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ShortList filmmakers attended the ShortList opening night dinner, presented by Amazon Alexa, on Wednesday, August 21 at Eveleigh West Hollywood.
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TheWrap awards editor Steve Pond, "One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" director A.M. Lukas and TheWrap head of operations Claude Memmi at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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Guests enjoyed an intimate evening of dinner and conversation at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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We're Magnetic global director of consumer research and insights Rachel Krautkremer, "How Does it Start" director Amber Sealey, Amazon head of entertainment & culture, XCM Andrew Saunders and Endeavor (WME-IMG) senior global marketing manager Alexandra Stabler at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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"Enforcement Hours" director Paloma Martinez, "Green" director Suzanne Andrews Correa and "Cat Days" director Jon Frickey at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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"One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" director A.M. Lukas speaks at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman speaks with ShortList filmmakers and jurors at the ShortList opening night dinner.
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"What We Do in the Shadows" star and ShortList host Harvey Guillen poses with TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman.
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"Departing Gesture" producers Thomas Harrington, Brian Bolster, Jonathan Napolitano and Kayleigh Napolitano.
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ShortList jurors Landon Zakheim, Todd Berger, Wendy Guerrero, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Steve Pond, Gena Konstantinakos, Orlando von Einsiedel, Sharon Waxman and Tristen Tuckfield.
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Host Harvey Guillen and jury member and actress Marsha Stephanie Blake.
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"Cat Days" director Jon Frickey, "How Does it Start" director Amber Sealey and "Departing Gesture" co-director Brian Bolster.
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"One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" composer Britta Phillips, director A.M. Lukas, and cinematographer Meena Singh.
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"Sister" director Siqi Song.
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"What We Do in the Shadows" star Harvey Guillen, while hosting at the ShortList ceremony.
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The ShortList 2019 jury panel.
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Jurors Tristen Tuckfield, Gena Konstantinakos and Todd Berger.
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Director & co-founder of Grain Media Orlando von Einsiedel speaks during the jury panel.
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Jurors Wendy Guerrero, executive vice president of 30West Tristen Tuckfield, and Gena Konstantinakos.
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Gena Konstantinakos, vice president of Development & Video Programing of Topic.
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Jurors Gena Konstantinakos, Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Wendy Guerrero.
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Guests mingle with food and drinks at the W Hotel Hollywood.
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ShortList film curator Landon Zakheim.
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Guests chat with wine in hand at the W Hotel Hollywood.
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Steve Pond introduces ShortList finalists during the filmmakers panel
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"Sister" director Siqi Sing, "Cat Days" director Jon Frickey, and "How Does It Start" director Amber Sealey
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(L-R), "Departing Gesture" co-directors Jonathan Napolitano and Brian Bolster, Siqi Song
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"Green" director Suzanne Andrews Correa
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"One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" director A.M. Lukas
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Senior Vice President Original Programming of Starz Karen Bailey announces the finalists for Telling Our Stories, a new film competition by Starz and WrapWomen
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"No Sanctuary" takes the student prize, accepted by producer Moriah Hall
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"Departing Gesture" takes the audience prize, accepted by the co-directors Jonathan Napolitano and Brian Bolster
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"Enforcement Hours" takes the industry prize, accepted by director Paloma Martinez
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Guests mingle at the W Hotel Hollywood
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Guests pose for pictures after the awards ceremony
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(L-R) Senior Vice President Original Programming of Starz Karen Bailey, "No Sanctuary" producer Moriah Hall and Sharon Waxman
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Sharon Waxman and "Enforcement Hours" director Paloma Martinez
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"Departing Gesture" directors Brian Bolster and Jonathan Napolitano
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Finalists and jurors come together to celebrate this year’s finalists
In the top row, ShortList 2019 filmmakers, from left to right: "Hula Girl" directors Amy Hill and Chris Reiss, "Cat Days" director Jon Frickey, "Green" director Suzanne Andrews Correa, "Sister" director Siqi Song, "How Does It Start" director Amber Sealey and "Enforcement Hours" director Paloma Martinez.
In the lower row, TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman, ShortList host Harvey Guillen, "One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure" director A.M. Lukas, "No Sanctuary" producer Moriah Hall, "Departing Gestures" co-directors Brian Bolster and Jonathan Napolitano and TheWrap writer Steve Pond.