Staff Choose premiere: "West by God" by Scott Lazer |

After locking eyes at the local waterpark, the two meet up for a date at the nearby Dairy Queen. Dane has a habit of being the boss, has to pay for their meal, decides where they go as well as what they do and the music they listen to. Even though Dane may have been in charge, Nelly's presence as well as her brilliant usage of the 2000's rap song reveal a vulnerability in Dane which begins to crack his armor of machismo. Lazer is able to bring this town's tale to life through a keen attention to detail via setting, situations and characters.

The specificity of the film is vital to delineate and then break both the strong male and feminine archetypes that "West by God" explores. The two actors, Kyle Riggs and Aphrodite Armstrong are the stars of the show and even won an award from the jurors for outstanding performances during this year's SXSW Film Festival.

 Prior to the movie's announcement, we talked to Director Scott Lazer about how the film came together, what challenges along the way, and what's next.

The film's inspiration

"I'd thought of filming something in West Virginia - where I was born and where I spent most of my youth over a period of time. One of my favourite things to do there is bring acquaintances who've never been to see it through their eyes for the first time, that's something I believed that I could accomplish through film. When author Juli Blachowiak and me first discussed collaborating on this together the idea was originally developed by her in Hawaii - her home where she was born as well as raised, but I saw the film fitting in West Virginia with specific locations that I had in my mind. I started sharing images from there with her - ones I'd captured, others taken from Google. This helped us shape the characters, adjusting the story to a world I knew intimately ."

On crafting characters:

"Nelly and Dane kind of cross the two ends of young adulthood. Nelly would like to grow into an adult while Dane is not able to get to that point as fast as he did. I have many Nellys and Danes as a child that influenced these characters and an important aspect of how we brought them to life was via their wardrobe styling, which Juli myself and I put together ourselves. ."

About the actors:

"My friend Cat was finishing her MFA in the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in North Carolina, which is just three hours away from where I wanted to shoot in West Virginia. I inquired if she was accepted into the acting class at the university that I'm aware of as a prestigious conservatory. Cat was always a natural with an ability to perform, and when I gave the playscript to her, she informed me that she  knew Nelly, one of our leads. "I'll request a tape from her", she added.

A two weeks later Aphrodite's audition was sent to her, that absolutely shook me. Michael (Fiona) is also from UNCSA as did Kyle (Dane) was an actor Cat was familiar with from the North Carolina acting community. I was fortunate enough to get to work with such talented actors and I was so happy to see Aphrodite as well as Kyle to win a Special Jury Award for their outstanding performances at SXSW earlier this year ."

On casting Aphrodite:

"I did not know she was trans when she auditioned. I was just sure she was extremely capable and the right choice to play the part. However, when I discovered she was a proud transwoman, I had to take a beat to consider the implications of me (cis white man) directing her. Aphrodite and I talked about the issue. I also asked other people on the subject. I researched and came across an article that quoted a trans actor identified as Harrison Knights who said "It it isn't until trans peoplehave been hired in roles of a major cis due to the fact that we're the ideal actors for the role, rather than because we tick a box, when we've truly made it to the top."

Cis actors have played trans people for years Why is it that the reverse is so rarely the case? I obviously ultimately decided to make Aphrodite and it was just the best creative choice and helped to give the movie a reason to exist. As she put it to me after we filmed, just the presence of her body rendered something distinctive for the character ."

On writing and performing the last line "I am aware."

"There's an energy dynamic among Nelly and Dane that is the main tension in the movie. He's free to go wherever he'd like and he's paid, which means he's in control. When he opens up an aspect of him that is vulnerable to Nelly that she never expected to see, she is aware of the power she wields in being the one who listens to him - something she could possibly exploit. When she says that final line, she affirms that shift between the two. This has happened and both are aware. ."

What's your top point of advice for budding filmmakers?

"Even if you don't intend to be an editor Learn how to edit so that you're able to communicate with editors. Editing is where a film comes together or disintegrates, which is why editing is a crucial part of the process to understand thoroughly ."

If you are playing a song in honor of someone you care about:

"Early in my relationship with my girl friend I sang her the Melody Gardot song called 'Our Love Is Easy', which I thought was a perfect description of how I felt about the emergence of our romance. The two of us were so in love it seemed to me that our relationship was effortless  like water flowing over stones,' Gardot sings. The track didn't go down the way I had hoped. 'Easy?' she asked me incredulously. "If things get complicated, are you gonna lose interest?' I haven't lost interest. It's easy ."

What's next? Do you have any future projects?

"We're not finished exploring the 'West by God. I'm convinced there's a lot to discover in this world. Other than that I'm working on a couple of other shorts I'm making along with the projects I commission in advertising and music ."