Pairing protagonists with entirely different attitudes towards life often creates the most engaging buddy movies. The main characters must learn to overcome their unique perspectives and trust each other in order to overcome the conflicts they’re forced to face together. That’s certainly true for the two half-sisters in the dramady, ‘No Right Way.’ The film revels in the organic struggles and triumphs of family dynamics as the sisters see the same people in their lives in a different way, due to their own personal experiences.
The movie was written and edited by one of its lead actresses, Chelsea Bo. She loosely based the dramady’s story on the experiences she has shared with her real-life sister. The filmmaker also encouraged the cast to improvise many of their lines, in order to help make the story feel authentic.
Bo also made her feature film directorial debut on the project. She produced the movie alongside her husband, Sean Drummond, as well.
‘No Right Way’ follows Georgie (Ava Acres), a spirited 13-year-old living with her loving yet neglectful mother, Tiffany (Eliza Coupe) in Las Vegas. Georgie’s older half-sister, Harper (Bo), is a sunny and self-disciplined career woman living in Hollywood.
Until now, the sisters’ lives have rarely intersected. That changes when Georgie is removed from her mother’s home by child protective services. As a result, Harper steps in to act as her sister’s temporary guardian.
As the duo adjust to their new living situation, they grow closer, and Harper takes an increased interest in her younger sister’s well-being. But her best attempts at helping may only end up making a tricky situation all the more complicated.
The feature played during the Virtual Festival Program of the 39th edition of the Boston Film Festival (BFF), which ran from September 22-30, 2023, during which she won the Emerging Filmmaker Award. In honor of ‘No Right Way’ screening during BFF’s virtual program, Bo generously took the time last fall to talk about scribing, helming, starring in, producing and editing the project during an exclusive interview over Zoom.
Film Factual (FF): You wrote the script for the dramedy, ‘No Right Way.’ What was the inspiration in penning the screenplay for the film? How did you approach scribing the script?
Chelsea Bo (CB): This story was loosely inspired by experiences that my half-sister and I shared. The first version of the script was probably the closest to reality, and then three years later, it looked very different. (Bo laughed.)
What was important to me was to tell a story about supporting someone in the way that they need, and not in the way you think is right. This film is also a story about compassion and releasing judgment. It follows two young women who have very little control over a situation, and how they each handle it, based off of their reaction to their own childhood trauma.
FF: Besides writing the screenplay, you also made your feature film directorial debut on the project. How did penning the script influence your helming duties. How did you approach directing the dramedy?
CB: I’ve previously produced other films, which helped me to direct this project.
Also, the dialogue in this film is improvised, so the script was a 45-page outline. So I allowed all the talent to find their own words to help go through each arc of each scene.
I’ve produced two other improvised features prior to this one, and I learned a lot from those. But having this film be my own was very different because it’s my baby. (Bo laughs.) I loved supporting the other directors and help bring their vision to life, but this film was mine and my husband’s project.
I usually direct a lot of commercials, and those have a very quick turnaround. But it’s taken over a year to bring some of the features that I’ve produced to light. When they weren’t my own film, it felt like the project took forever. But when it was my film, I was like, “I can do this forever!” (Bo laughs.) So I felt the energy I was bringing to this film was a little bit different.
FF: Speaking about producing, besides scribing and helming ‘No Right Way,’ you also served as one of its producers. Why did you decide to also produce the movie? How did you balance directing and producing the dramedy throughout the production?
CB: I’m one of those directors who can’t turn their producer brain off. (Bo laughs.) It’s just something that comes pretty naturally to me.
Obviously, I couldn’t have done it without the help of the rest of the incredible team that we had on board. My husband is my producing partner, and we co-founded our production company together. We also had some incredible ladies supporting us behind the scenes…who were working their tails off. Filmmaking is definitely the most collaborative art form.
I think what helps me as a producer-director is when things change and have to shift, as they often do when you’re filmmaking, I can turn that part of my brain on. It helps me problem-solve in an efficient and cost-effective way. (Bo laughs.) So when I work with other producers, they’re very appreciate of that part of my brain.
FF: In addition to writing, directing and producing ‘No Right Way,’ you also play Harper. Why did you decide to also act in the film?
CB: It wasn’t my original intention to act in this film. I’ve done that in the past, and I was like, never will I do this again! It’s just so hard (to act and work behind the camera on a project).
So we looked at other talent for the role. But at the last minute, it wasn’t working out, so I had to pivot. I asked the other talent that I cast in the film if they were okay with switching directions and having me throw myself into the project as an actress. They were extremely supportive and excited about it.
So the next day I chopped my hair off and was in the movie! (Bo laughs.) I wasn’t expecting that, so I kind of went into survival mode and just did it. I think that was good because I didn’t have time to overthink it; I was just in the movie the next day.
So it was kind of a whirlwind, but because it was an improvised movie, it allowed me to be an inside agent. I was able to steer the direction of a scene if the improv was kind of going off the narrative structure and we weren’t hitting the beats. I was able to reel it back in from the inside of the scene. So it ended up working out quite nicely.
FF: Speaking about the rest of the cast, the movie also stars Ava Acres as Georgie. How did you approach casting the dramady, especially for the character of Georgie?
CB: Our casting directors, Michael Donovan and Richie Ferris, were really helpful from the casting side of things. We looked at a lot of people. There were a lot of wonderful young women who I auditioned. We kind of did improv auditions via Zoom, as I wanted to see their improv abilities and their take on the character.
I think we auditioned maybe 15 young women, and there was still something that we were looking for that we hadn’t quite found. Richie found Ava and he said, “I think we should audition her.”
So we brought Ava in for the first audition. She just brought the physicality to the character that I was really looking for, as well as a certain presence that Georgie has.
Then during callbacks, she also nailed her callback audition and blew us all away. So we were like, “I think we found our Georgie.”
It was a dream working with Ava; she’s so professional. She’s been acting since she was three-years-old. She came to set prepared. She was playing the role of my real half-sister, so she took the role with such compassion.
She also became friends with my real sister; she asked her a lot of questions. She also gave the project a lot of love and heart. She’s like my real sister now. (Bo laughs.)
FF: Speaking about the characters’ physicality, how did you and your co-stars, especially Ava, approach creating that aspect of the characters throughout the production?
CB: I spent a good amount of time talking with Ava and Eliza, who plays Tiffany, about the actual people and their backgrounds.
Having my little sister, Alana, on set the entire time, helping as a production assistant and associate producer, helped give guidance to the cast about how we saw the characters. I think Ava just studied Alana and her catchphrases and gestures.
I also told Ava things that I have noticed and observed about Alana, so she worked some of those things into her performance. She also brought her own version of the character to life using pieces of herself, as well.
So a lot of that preparation was done through conversations in pre-production. We walked through the script and its beats. I answered a lot of questions and had a lot of conversations. A lot of that happened in pre-production, and also throughout the shoot.
In between the scenes we would talk about stuff. Ava and I would talk about stuff whenever we got a moment to ourselves, and go through the beats of the scenes. My husband would walk up and wouldn’t know if it was Chelsea and Ava talking or Harper and Georgie talking; he had a hard time telling because we would just be riffing with each other. (Bo laughs.)
FF: Besides talking to Ava and the rest of the actors while developing your characters’ relationships, the film’s music and score also helped amplify the feature’s emotional arc. What was your experience collaborating with the movie’s music supervisor, Lindsey Driscoll, to choose which songs to include in the project?
CB: The music was one of my favorite aspects of this film. I’ve worked on shorts that I’ve also found music for, but this feature was the first time I worked with a composer who composed things for the entirety of the movie.
The husband of my music supervisor, Lindsey Driscoll, Dave, is actually the one who composed the movie, which was cool and a lot of fun. Lindsey helped us lock down Dayglow. We looked at a lot of different bands for the connection between Harper and Georgie; the music is the one thing that connects the sisters.
But Dayglow excited us the most. So we chose a few songs from them for the dancing sequences that we felt hit the tone of the movie right.
Ava was blown away because she and her actual sister listen to Dayglow. So the music struck Ava on a personal level in a deep way, which was cool.
Lindsey was able to reach out to Dayglow. We needed to lock them in prior to shooting because they’re so tied into the story. They actually sent us the vinyls and shirts, and they were down to collaborate, which was really exciting. They were willing to work with us on budget because we didn’t have a ton of money. I feel like it wouldn’t have been possible without their support of indie filmmaking, which was really nice.
FF: In addition to penning, helming, producing and starring in ‘No Right Way,’ you also edited the project. Why did you also decide to edit the dramay? How did you approach putting the final version of the film together?
CB: So I edited the film by myself, and it was the hardest part of the filmmaking, for sure. It’s the most mentally painful! (Bo laughs.)
I would say the most important par about it is who you show it to, at what of the stage you show it and the notes you take. Everyone has an opinion, obviously, but it’s really important to figure out the difference between a good note and an opinion; you have to figure out what notes are driving the core of your story forward, and which notes are someone’s opinion on something.
Some people were like, “Oh, you have to cut out this entire scene.” But in hindsight, some of those scenes are now some of other people’s favorite scenes.
A lot hit the cutting room floor, especially because it’s an improv film. Harper had a whole business story that we cut out, because the first cut of the film was about four hours. So I had to cut the story down, and figure out, what does Harper want, and what is driving that forward?
I think I had too many goals for Harper in the first cut of the film, so I really had to zero in on one. I think that’s what made the film stronger. Balancing the two stories of Harper and Georgie, and making sure the emotionality flowed through every scene, really helped shape the film into what it is today.
The story’s written three times – in the script, in the production and in the editing. With this movie being mainly improvised, a lot happened in the editing room. (Bo laughs.)
FF: There were many women who worked on the movie’s crew behind the camera. The dramady also features women in its main roles. Why do you feel it’s so important for these types of films to have such female-forward casts and crews?
CB: What was interesting is that I heard from the cast that there aren’t a lot of people writing dynamic characters for women. That’s such a bummer because we’re dynamic humans. (Bo laughs.)
I know for Ava, she felt like she had never gotten a story like this in her hands before. I don’t want to put words in her mouth, but this was something that she had expressed to me. I think she was really excited about this project because of the lack of stories like this for women, which don’t revolve around men.
It’s not a movie about a girl going after a guy; there are more female-driven relationships in the movie. It’s not done in a way that hits you over the head; it’s done in a very natural way. I think that was also appreciated. The story’s not hitting you over the head saying “This is a woman’s story;” it’s more of a human way with women experiencing human experiences.
I also love having a female crew around me. I know so many talented women. It’s not necessarily done on purpose, but maybe subconsciously it is. (Bo laughs.) Our DP (Director of Photography) was a man (Peter Soto), but our B camera operator was a female.
I feel like we had females in every single department. That’s something that I tend to do quite a bit, as it’s really refreshing. I feel like women need opportunities in this industry, for sure.
FF: ‘No Right Way’ screened during (last) fall’s Boston Film Festival, where you won the Emerging Filmmaker Award. What does it mean to you that you were honored with the award, and that the movie screened at the festival?
CB: The film’s festival run has been really lovely. We’re actually in Minnesota right now, screening at the Twin Cities Film Festival. But the Boston Film Festival was the only film festival that we agreed to do a virtual screening for, so that was a unique experience.
What I think is cool is that I had a friend who I grew up with in my hometown reach out to me. He lives in Boston now, and he was able to watch the film, as he’s now a local there. So it was really cool to have him reach out and say that he watched the film from where he’s living now.
In general, being able to share the movie with audiences across the country has been really rewarding. Hearing people’s feedback means a lot to me. Hearing how much the film inspires them, how they relate to it and how it moves them is the most rewarding aspect of making a film and sharing it with people.
We’ve also won a few awards; I won the Emerging Filmmaker Award from the Boston Film Festival, and that was really exciting. We also won the (Gray Schwartz) Ultra Indie Award at the Woodstock Film Festival, which was also really exciting. We also won a few awards from the Richmond International Film Festival (including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director and Best Casting). So I feel really excited that people are responding well to the film.
Film Factual 