Maiara Walsh and Cameron Cowperthwaite Break Down the Making of Their Indie Thriller Bight

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page Send by Email

Making any film is a tall order – especially when it’s self-financed and you don’t have a trust fund to draw from. But that’s exactly what filmmakers Maiara Walsh, who plays Charlie, and Cameron Cowperthwaite, who plays Atticus, achieved. Both wrote and star in their erotic thriller Bight, and Walsh directs their film about the emotional pitfalls of open relationships. The duo share their insights into how they got their movie made.

How did Bight come together from concept to the shooting draft?

Maiara: Cameron and I had been wanting to write together for years, but were always too busy with other projects. When lockdown hit in 2020, I seized the opportunity to actually make it happen. I called Cameron up, and said, “Hey, you busy?” knowing full well that he was sitting around like the rest of us wondering if the world was going to end.

Cameron: We didn’t have time to write together till the world shut down. From there we went back and forth talking about character and concept and trying to build something that we could do with the obvious independent budget constraints and knowing what we had to work with.

Maiara Walsh

Maiara: My thought process was, what can we write with four characters in one location that we can control, so that no matter what, we actually make this thing.

A neighbor had told me about the art form of shibari, and living in LA, I had heard countless stories from friends exploring open relationships, most of which hadn’t ended well. Tonally, I was inspired by Closer, Nocturnal Animals, and Gaspar Noe’s Love (minus the ten minute sex scenes haha).

Cameron: This thing we set out to do just grew as more people found interest, and in casting the roles and the rehearsals, it was something that formed organically.

To be honest, I didn’t think we’d ever make this thing. So as that distant horizon line got closer it was nice to actually get to explore this insanely dark and twisted story.

Why is this the story you needed to tell to showcase your talents?

Cameron: I think as actors first, we really wanted to have some scenes to chew on and characters to dive into. Meaty people that aren’t clear villains or heroes. Complicated people. It’s not often you are asked to flex all these emotional muscles so it was something that really gave us a chance to dive in.

Maiara: Yeah, I really hadn’t gotten the chance yet to play a layered character in a more adult script with heavy themes and dialogue that bounced off the page. And it was so fun writing these complex characters for Mark Hapka who plays Sebastian and then watching Maya Stojan bring Naomi to life.

I tend to write dark and gravitate towards darker projects (dark comedy is my favorite tone), so if I wasn’t getting the opportunity to play those roles, then it made sense to create the opportunity rather than wait around for it to show up on my doorstep.

Cameron: To be honest it was a little scary. It felt bigger than anything I had done at the time. And I think juggling all these other jobs pulled me out of my head and asked us to just sort of trust the process. This is like a play on screen and we wanted to ride that wave that the audience is asked to go on.

How did you keep your costs low?

Maiara: We fortunately had a location that we controlled, and after building a really strong community in LA over 10-20 years, we had an incredible amount of support from people/ artists who wanted to join the team, even if we didn’t have the budget each team member deserved. Also, major shout out to our lead producer, Mark Hapka, who performed financial miracles for us throughout the whole process. He saved us an unbelievable amount of money.

Cameron: We knew we didn’t have money for VFX, set pieces, action sequences, or A-list talent. So we got back to basics. We focused on character, story, danger, themes, and all the stuff that comes along with pure storytelling.

At what stage did you start raising finance and how was it pitched to investors?

Cameron: The beauty of this was that the three of us were the investors. It gave us true creative control to really make the movie we wanted to make!

Cameron Cowperthwaite

Maiara: We started off saying, “Let’s make a movie for five grand.” That quickly escalated into more, and as we realized we actually had a movie, we dug deeper into our struggling artist pockets. And I’m sure the whole team will agree that we hope it pays off!

Describe production process.

Maiara: We ended up having three months of rehearsal time, which in this business, almost never happens. It gave me the time to pre-vis with our DP, Petros Antoniadis, build out the sets, and really get grounded within our characters.

Cameron: We were so dialed by the time the cameras were rolling. The filming itself was super intense just given the material and the trust we all had to have with each other. It’s dark and heavy and you really have to commit to the circumstances and it’s like walking a tightrope, just hoping you don’t fall. Every day was like watching a miracle happen with how hard indie filmmaking is. So just grateful to even be having this conversation today!

What were the challenges you faced during the whole process?

Maiara: Literally every step was a challenge. It’s still a challenge today. Ha ha.

Cameron: Challenges. Oh boy. Where to begin. I think it’s always a time and money thing to start. You just never have enough time or enough money to do well… damn near anything. BUT the beauty of that sort of “being up against it” is that it forces you to get clever.

I think sometimes these huge movies don’t have to be clever. They can buy their way out of the problem, but some of the best things in movies are the happy accidents after you just didn’t have the resources and needed to find a way to get the shot or find the moment.

Maiara: There were so many roadblocks, but they usually resulted in an incredible gift. We ended up with some major heavy hitters over post production who had worked on huge studio projects, who invested in us as filmmakers, and they elevated the film in ways we didn’t even think possible. So much gratitude.

What are your marketing and distribution plans for Bight?

Cameron: Bight is out on iTunes and Amazon for rent and for purchase. We are hopeful to find a streamer and some amazing international partners to get this movie out to as many people as possible!

Maiara: We are with a great distro team at Scatena and Rosner, they are no bs and making big moves.
We know that Bight will find the right audience, and we encourage people to allow themselves to be taken on this beautiful nightmare ride. And please, don’t be afraid to laugh! “Take a breath and take a chance…”

What’s next for you?

Cameron: We are always working on countless projects and just hoping the next thing lands! I’ve got some really cool indies coming out this year as well that I hope find an audience just like Bight does!

Maiara: I’m currently in Rio acting in a series based on Ben-Hur, and have multiple projects ready to shoot next in the thriller and action world. I’m also halfway through writing my first crime thriller novel. Can’t wait to see what our whole team does over the coming years! Thanks so much for your time.