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Zoe Albano-Oritt wrote Intervention! in the middle of a minor quarter-life crisis, watching friends grow up at wildly different speeds β some moving forward, some stuck. That tension powers her first short: an intervention that goes gloriously off the rails when the guest of honor talks her way out of it, leaving her well-meaning older sister to answer for a few things of her own.
The setup is simple and the comedy is fast. Penelope gathers her younger sister Liz's friends to stage an intervention; Liz reminds everyone how fun she is under the influence and wins them straight back. What follows is a reckoning between sisters that keeps refusing to resolve the way anyone expects β right down to a final gag about sobriety being trendy that lands with a stunned, knowing sting.
Key Takeaways
- A debut short born from a real quarter-life crisis about friends growing up unevenly β some moving forward, some stuck.
- Shot in the filmmaker's own apartment, with roughly four pages left on the cutting room floor.
- A comedy that plays, by design, more like an episode of television than a traditional film β and its maker loves that.
Albano-Oritt spoke with us about first-time filmmaking, the mercy of the final cut, and what it means to be recognized by The Reel Champions.
Interview
What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?
I wrote this film when I was in the middle of a minor quarter-life crisis and wondering what was ahead of me, both socially and professionally. Most of my friends and I were growing up, but some of us seemed stuck. Simultaneously, I felt the drive to actually create a fully realized project; I've written many scripts, but had never made a short before. It felt like the perfect opportunity to explore the growing pains I was feeling.
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process, creatively or logistically?
How much there is to figure out in pre-production, and how much the story can change. If you want to do things the traditional way, or like a mini-movie set, there's so much work that has to be done. And then the actual shooting goes by in the blink of an eye. Editing it down was also nuts; we left at least four pages, or minutes, on the cutting room floor. That experience taught me how to get to the meat of a scene quicker, both onscreen and just on the page.
What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?
Well, it was shot in my apartment, so probably the setting!
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?
Deciding when to finally stop tinkering and put it down, both with the script and in the edit. We kept going back and forth on some things for a long, long time.
How does your film fit within, or push the boundaries of, its genre or form?
A lot of people say that Intervention! feels more like an episode of television than a film. As a lover of television, I love this.
What does it mean to have your film selected for The Reel Champions Shorts Fest?
It's incredible! I and everyone else on the team have immense respect for The Reel Champions organization and its mission. Being recognized by a group doing such great work to build a diverse, supportive group of women and non-binary people in the industry is a huge honor.
Where do you see this film going next?
Hopefully into your brain for deeper thought and reflection! And then, expressed by you as laughter when you remember all the funny jokes! At the core of all my work is a desire to laugh.
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