Even before its release, Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs had become the stuff of legend, anointed by tastemakers as “nightmare fuel” of the highest order. And by the time the public had their fill, Longlegs was not only the most successful release in NEON’s history, but also the most successful independent film of 2024.
In this lively VIFF Talk, Perkins shares his methods for depicting madness and delves into the dark secrets of Longlegs’ success. Expect some welcome candour as he discusses borrowing liberally from his influences to create familiar narrative constructs, while also retaining enough freedom to explore the themes that fascinate him as storyteller. This deep dive will illustrate his creative process of amassing narrative connections, establishing thematic underpinnings, and assembling a group of collaborators who can make it all a nightmarish reality.
Presented by
Talks Supported by
 |
 |
Community Broadcast Partner
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins most recently wrote and directed Longlegs, starring Nicolas Cage with Range and Oddfellows producing. Released wide by Neon, Longlegs grossed over $100 million, becoming Neon’s highest-grossing film to-date. He is also currently in post on The Monkey, which he adapted and directed based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, with Peter Safran and Atomic Monster producing and Theo James starring, as well as on Keeper, his original idea that he directed with Tatiana Maslany starring. Both projects sold to Neon in competitive bidding wars, making them the second and third films Neon bought from Osgood this past year.
Osgood made his directorial debut with The Blackcoat’s Daughter. The film stars Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka and premiered at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews before going on to release through A24. He also directed Gretel & Hansel, which was released theatrically in 2020 by MGM / Orion and stars Sophia Lillis. Additionally, he wrote and directed I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, and is currently streaming as an original on Netflix.
In 2020, Osgood directed his first episode of TV as part of the CBS All Access reboot of The Twilight Zone. His episode was unlike most as he was able to write and direct his own anthological episode, an idea and process that was supported by producer Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw team.
Kier-La Janisse, Moderator
Kier-La Janisse is a film writer, producer and acquisitions executive for Severin Films. She is the author of House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films (2012/2022) and A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi (2007). She has also been an editor on numerous books including Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive (2021) and Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (2015). She wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021), and produced the acclaimed blu-ray box sets All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror (2021) and The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle (2023). She is currently in development on several book and film projects. For more see kierlajanisse.com
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Fireflies in the Dark
Three interwoven stories explore survival, resilience, and the human cost of civil conflict against the ethnic violence that erupted in 2023 in Manipur, Northeast India. Yogesh Lohan offers an intimate portrait of lives caught in the strife.
Dear Future Self
Prompting their students to write a letter to their future selves, two friends find themselves questioning the intertwined trajectory of their own lives. Dear Future Self is a sharply tender story about friendship, dreams, and the desire for agency.
A Place of Absence
A Place of Absence follows the Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants along migration routes through Mexico and toward the United States, while tracing the disappearance that shaped the filmmaker’s own family history.
The Diary of a Chambermaid
Radu Jude adapts Octave Mirbeau’s classic (and much-filmed) novel in a uniquely Jude fashion, with our oppressed chambermaid prodded by her smug employers to star in a production of... Diary of a Chambermaid. This is a sly and subversive satire.
