I first began my filmmaking journey through my acting career. From a young age I had fully committed myself to my passion of becoming an actor, and after years of doing so, I discovered I had a passion to create my own stories as well. What should have been an obvious tell of my future in film was the obsession I had as a kid with creative writing and making childhood home videos with my siblings. It wasn’t until my directorial debut for a film I wrote called, SUNNY during the COVID pandemic, that I truly realized I am a filmmaker.
After completing my first short film and participating in film festivals across the world, I jumped into more experimental filmmaking, and collaborations with talented artists all over Indiana. One thing I have discovered is that there is truly something special about the passion of filmmakers in Indy. Every project that I have produced thus far has been a film with no budget. The selflessness of talented creatives right here in my home town surprises me every time. The community is the reason I am able to produce ambitious projects. Any film I have made was done with only the limited equipment at me and my team’s disposal. With each unique project I have learned something new, and ultimately it has led me to writing my first passion project with a budget, and my most ambitious short film yet, “HOWL”.
Howl is a short film heavily inspired by true events. It follows a young woman named Sam, living in the midwest. This character finds herself in a situation on her commute from work that makes her not only question her safety, but her sanity as well. She has to determine if she is just paranoid or if she truly is being stalked by a stranger. This film focuses around themes such as human trafficking, public harassment, and social power dynamics. Ultimately it is a film about intuition. Howl is not just a creative endeavor. It is an attempt to break the silence around the hundreds of thousands of real haunting experiences that people live through every day across the nation.
Even though being stalked and harassed is not an experience exclusive to only one gender, there is a gross population of women who experience these harmful behaviors and feel powerless against them. If you were to ask any woman in your life if they have experienced a situation like this, nearly every single one of them would have at least one, if not a handful of stories when they were put in an unsafe situation. According to the NSVRC “Nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime.”
What is just as alarming as the offense itself, is the lack of accountability that these offenders receive. How is it possible that we have such a high percentage of these occurrences, yet there is an outstanding amount of people who get away with these offenses? What can be done to create a safer environment for everyone? I wrote HOWL , not only around my own personal experiences, but around the stories of many others. Hearing countless friends, family, and even strangers share their own experiences with me, has inspired me to make something that could speak for those who need a voice.
I have made it a point to document the entire process of HOWL, starting from creating my costumes by hand, to deconstructing exactly how a scene will be shot and executed . Showing the good, bad, and ugly parts of producing is not easy, but I believe it is necessary to bring awareness to this project and message. The raw and rugged nature of the process is not always exposed, but with intentionality and including others into that aspect of the project I hope that it will find the people that it is meant for.
Creating a film can be so overglorified and made to look easy. I think with a story like this, it is important that I bring the viewers on a journey with me and include them in the whole process. The amount of people I have talked to and who have already messaged me on social media saying that they feel seen – the personal stories they have shared with me, reminds me exactly why this film is important. It amazes me. And we haven’t even completed filming yet.
In my eyes, If this film could empower one person to take action, that would be enough to make the film worth creating. If it could plant a seed of accountability or destigmatize the conversation around harassment, that would be the dream. My passion is to create films that truly challenge and change people for the better. Strength comes in numbers and with a community passionate about keeping people safe , I am confident that there is hope for the future. If you would like to follow the journey, see behind the scenes of Howl, or even get involved with the community around this project, you can follow me and my crew on socials @katiemarieeaker. If you feel so inclined to share your own personal story anonymously or otherwise, Please message me or send an email to howlshortfilm24@gmail.com. Let’s rise together. Let’s create change.
Katie Marie Eaker is an Indianapolis born and raised writer, filmmaker, and actor. She loves telling stories over the backdrop of the midwest any chance she can get. Follow her on instagram @katiemarieeaker.
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