Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Stacey Tenenbaum – “Scrap”

Stacey Tenenbaum is an award-winning producer and director. In 2014 she founded H2L Productions, a boutique documentary film production company specializing in crafting international character-driven stories. H2L Productions’ first documentary, “Shiners,” premiered at Hot Docs and was broadcast on the documentary Channel, TV5, and PBS. Tenenbaum’s second film, “Pipe Dreams,” also premiered at Hot Docs and was broadcast on the Documentary Channel, NHK, SVT, and PBS. “Scrap” is her third feature documentary.

“Scrap” is screening at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, which is taking place April 28-May 8. Find more information on the fest’s website.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

ST: On its surface, “Scrap” is about what happens to things — and I mean big things like ships, planes, and trains — when they reach their end of life.

More than that, though, it’s about how we value things and how things can hold a lot of meaning, memory, and beauty in places people don’t always look. It’s really a film about nostalgia — the sadness we feel when things are discarded and the joy that can be found when we give them new purpose.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

ST: At first, it was just the beauty of these places and things that I wanted to share with people. I’m attracted to the aesthetics of old things with visible scars that hold so much character and depth. I’ve always thought things, like people, become more interesting with age.

I wanted to explore why people are so drawn to these metal graveyards around the world. What is it about an old, dilapidated 747 in the middle of Bangkok that piques our curiosity? There’s a lot to unpack there.

I believe that the things we use hold our memories and our history and they connect us to each other. I’ve always felt strongly that we need to move away from the idea that things should be quick and disposable. Throw-away culture creates an incredible amount of waste, but I feel it is also leading to a certain alienation.

People just aren’t developing deeper connections with things or with each other. I figured that if I can get people to care about objects, then they might waste less and want to keep these things in their lives longer. So, the film’s environmental message and aesthetics are really tied together.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

ST: I think that there’s a lot of different pieces that I’m hoping will stay with people after seeing this film because there are so many different ideas and feelings it is explores. It touches on the importance of the things we use, the consequences of our disposable culture, and how creativity can be a source of environmental change. I’m imagining it’s just going to sort of percolate with people and, after they see the film, different people might latch onto different parts of the environmental and human messages I am presenting.

The end goal would be to have people more involved in trying to create change. I think the first step is getting people to be like, “Hey, what happens to that phone booth that used to be on my corner, or where does cellphone go when I throw it out?” The next step would be for them to decide they want to change the way they consume and dispose of the things in their lives.

What I wanted to do in the film was to show people – “this is where your stuff ends up.” I think just knowing that can compel some people to behave differently.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

ST: The biggest challenge was COVID. My second shoot for the film was in Spain in March 2020. We flew home the day before they closed the country. After that, I would do a new production schedule each month — assuming every time that the pandemic would be over quickly. After about six months of creating schedules, and trying to keep my crew booked and engaged, I basically gave up.

I fell into a pretty deep depression during COVID, and was not able to do anything other than sit on my sofa and cry most of the time. Not being able to do what I love was absolute torture for me.

Once we could start filming again, I had to do a lot of the directing by Zoom, which wasn’t ideal either. It was a really, long hard slog to get this film done and every part of the production was made more difficult because of COVID.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

ST: I live in Canada, so the funding system is different here than in the USA. All you need to pitch a film here is a good one-page description and a short sizzle video. I put together a sizzle using footage I found on Vimeo. This is my little secret for all my films. It allows me to pitch something while spending very little money on original shooting. The idea is not to claim the footage as my own of course, but rather to use it to show funders the type of movie I want to make. My first job in the industry was as an archives researcher so I know how to find cool footage and I know how to edit things together to tell a good story.

Once I had a one-page and a sizzle, I approached the broadcaster that licensed my last film to see if they would be interested in this one too. When they saw the sizzle, they fell in love with the project and decided to come on board. After that, I applied for a variety of public funds, which we have to support filmmaking in Canada, and to some private international funds as well.

I got rejected by pretty much all of them the first year. I took the next year to do more research, re-write my treatment, and refine my pitch. When I reapplied the following year, I was successful with almost all the Canadian funds I applied for. I also went to markets (Docs Barcelona, Docs Thessaloniki, Doclands) where I pitched the film to international broadcasters to see if they would commission or pre-buy the documentary. I sold the film to Finland (YLE) and Greece (ERT) that way.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

ST: I started working in the industry almost 25 years ago. My first job was as an intern and archives researcher on the TV series “Popular Mechanics for Kids.” From there I went on to do research and to eventually produce various factual TV series. In TV you jump from project to project on relatively short contracts. You never have enough time or enough money to really go deep into the subjects you are working on.

After 16 years in TV, I was starting to find that frustrating and exhausting. I always had ideas for films, but was too busy to spend the time developing and pitching them while I was working in TV.

In 2016, I had a bit of time between contracts and decided to research and pitch my own film idea. I ended up selling that idea, starting my own production company, and making my first film at the age of 45.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

ST: Best advice: “Everything always works out in the end.” After years of stressing about things falling through, or not happening as planned, eventually you just need to accept that things usually work out. They might not work out the way you originally imagined, but they will work out in the end. I don’t stress as much anymore when things don’t go according to plan.

Worst advice: “You should make a few short films first to prove yourself before you tackle a feature.” This condescending bit of advice was from a male broadcaster when I was pitching my first feature film idea. I was 45 years old and had 16 years of experience producing and directing 100s of hours of factual TV at the time. I made the feature, had a great festival run, and sold the film to TV channels around the world.

W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?

ST: Toot your own horn! Women often underestimate their worth and their accomplishments while men do the opposite. I think that’s part of the reason men get more work and more money.

Confidence is important in this industry. You have to act like you deserve it. Fake it till you make it – that’s what the boys do!

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

ST: I love “RBG,” directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. I like their non-linear way of telling stories and really love the playfulness of that film specifically. I also love that at the heart of this film there is this beautiful love story between RBG and her husband. The documentary is such a wonderful, playful, touching portrait of an amazing and brilliant woman. I loved everything about it!

W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?

ST: I spent the first year and a half quite depressed and unable to create. It was a very strange time for me as I had never experienced depression. I am generally a very upbeat, positive, and proactive person. I was also dealing with some terrifying health issues at the time — I lost my voice for five months due to unexplained paralysis of the nerve that operates my vocal cord — and in the Summer of 2020 I suddenly lost my step-mother to a brain aneurysm. It was all of that, piled on top of COVID, that really laid me low. I still managed to do a few international shoots between COVID waves, and was also working on the edit of my documentary, but it was very tough to keep myself motivated through the first year and a half of the plague.

Once my voice came back in the Spring of 2021 it felt like I was completely reborn. It was as if I just woke up from some horrible nightmare and I was myself again. The depression was gone, and I dove back into my film full force. I am exhausted from the past two years, but so grateful to be working again and to have my voice back – both literally and metaphorically.

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?

ST: I don’t know where to begin. A part of my months crying on the couch was devoted to watching the #BlackLivesMatter protests. It was just so heartbreaking and infuriating to see how slow change is to come. Yes, the industry is starting to wake up to the problem, but I wonder how much of those efforts are performative. It feels very much like a one step forward two steps back kind of thing to me.

A big part of the problem is that people hire the people they know, so it is very hard to break into the industry and to get experience doing the job. Without experience, you can’t get work – so it is a vicious circle. Producers and directors and other crew heads need to go out of their way to find, hire, and train people of color and people from other historically disadvantaged groups.

There also needs to be major structural changes in terms of who is making funding decisions at the top. More diverse stories need to become something that is valued and supported from the top down and the bottom up. And when I found myself suddenly disabled, I started to think about how many barriers there are for people with disabilities. People with disabilities are probably the most disadvantaged group in our industry, yet they are barely part of the conversation about historically disadvantaged groups. I think this is the next big thing we need to tackle as an industry because, when you think about it, we are all just waiting to become disabled. I know that’s a depressing thought, but I believe when you frame the issue like that it becomes clear that we all have a stake in addressing this inequity – so hopefully we can all work to be a part of the solution.