Screening as a part of this year’s Vancouver Short Film Festival, Me + Her is a new short film from director Alex Caulfield, and writer, producer, and actress Michelle Addison. Hollywood North was able to enjoy this incredible movie that follows Ellen (Addison), a woman grappling with her traumatic past while trying to connect with her rebellious 13-year-old daughter, Darcie. When Darcie asks to go to her first house party, Ellen is thrust back into her tumultuous and unguided teenage years and struggles to stay grounded in the present as memories of the past bubble to the surface. Me + Her has also secured a Leo Award nomination for Best Performance in a Short Film for actress Charlotte Billing.
In the lead up to its Vancouver premiere, we were able to have a conversation with the film’s creative team.
HNMAG: Have either of you heard the song by the band Bowling for Soup called 1985? The song is about this woman who was wild and crazy, had lots of fun before marrying this boring suburban guy, and having two teenagers who think she’s a loser. She is stuck in the past and can’t understand how everything changed. Her + Me is reminiscent of that, but twenty years later.
Michelle Addison: Women in particular, when they have children, get thrust into the role of “the mother” with all the pressures that society puts on that title, and we sometimes feel that is all we get to be.
HNMAG: Yeah, that’s exactly it. Now you’re a mother, and what happened to my life? Why did you make the film as a short?
Michelle Addison: It’s an easier way to start with a story that I could get off the ground, a personal one. It was a good way to get my feet wet as a writer and a producer, and just kind of figure out how it all works. Alex had done a beautifully shot feature and had worked in the indie filmmaking sector; knew a bunch of crew, and it was just a really great alignment, I guess, with my drive to get to the finish line.
Alex Caulfield: Michelle was amazing as a producer. I had finished shooting my first feature as a writer/director and was on a bit of a break between that and some of the post-production work, so it was great to make something that we could finish on an expedited timeline.
HNMAG: It looks as good as any feature. Everything is there in terms of performance, sound, and overall quality. There’s a lot of production value. Alex, you mentioned that you were working on a feature. Is that What Comes Next?
Alex Caulfield: It is, yes.
HNMAG: Where is that at right now?
Alex Caulfield: We just recently finished post-production on What Comes Next. We are right at the beginning of our festival submissions push, but nothing I can announce yet.
HNMAG: Where did you both meet?
Alex Caulfield: I cast Michelle in Sins in the Family, a Lifetime TV Movie I directed, and we really enjoyed working together. Later on, she sent me the script for Me+Her and when I read it, I thought Wow, we’ve got to make this.
HNMAG: Michelle, you’ve worked as an actor in Vancouver for a long time. When did you decide to start writing?
Michelle Addison: I took a break from acting and became a fashion stylist for a few years, then, just before COVID, I realized I wanted to go back to acting. I don’t have time to wait around for great parts to fall on my lap. I knew I was going to have to take some initiative and create the stories that I want to be a part of.
HNMAG: Now that you are creating something you are passionate about, it’s an opportunity to tell stories that are set in Canada.
Michelle Addison: Absolutely! I have recently written another script with actor Matthew Kevin Anderson who is also from Vancouver.
The entire series is set on the west side of Vancouver. We have to start telling our own stories.
HNMAG: Were you both always interested in working in film and TV?
Alex Caulfield: I always loved stories. Reading books, watching movies and tv, I loved being immersed in other worlds. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I really thought about making a career in film and television.
Michelle Addison: Growing up, I went to Lord Byng High School, which had this amazing theatre program, and everybody seemed to be working in film and TV. If you were artistic at all, that’s where you wanted to be; working in the film industry.
HNMAG: A true Hollywood North experience.
Michelle Addison: Absolutely, and it was just booming at the time. Then I went to theatre school at The University of Victoria, where l earned an acting degree and moved back to Vancouver and started my career.
HNMAG: What is a big takeaway from Me + Her?
Michelle Addison: Me + Her is an expression of a collective experience that a lot of people, a lot of women, felt in the 90’s. A sense of shame about things that happened that were non-consensual or even an unfair power dynamic that was felt and not seen. As moms, we watch our children become teenagers, and we could be triggered by a ton of things. Who we are today and what we know now- versus what happened in the 90s. We didn’t know that people should ask for consent before they have sex. It was a lot of binge drinking and chaos, and a lot of toxic masculinity. We’ve had a lot of people come up to us, especially the cast and crew, telling us their stories or their version of this. It’s been a profound experience to connect and heal our shame through art.
Alex Caulfield: Exactly. As a filmmaker, I’ve been very interested in how it passes down through generations. Maybe you want to shield your kids from certain parts of yourself and your experience as a way to keep them safe from something but in shielding them from it, maybe they end up making some of the same missteps you made.
HNMAG: Any final thoughts?
Michelle Addison: We wanted to make a film that mothers, especially those parenting teenagers, could see themselves in. A story where they’re not just supporting characters in someone else’s journey, but the heroes of their own. It’s also a film about legacy – the things we pass down intentionally, and the things we hope we won’t
Alex Caulfield and Michelle Addison are both experienced and passionate film and television professionals who want to share their vision and work on projects with integrity. They are also both proud of the industry we have here in Vancouver and believe strongly that we have the talent and ability to create Canadian content that the world will embrace.
Me + Her screened at the Vancouver Short film Festival on Saturday, June 14th as a part of the “Let Mama Go” program.
We highly recommend this short film.
