Carys Glynne got her start in film while living in Starkville. She wrote, produced and played the lead in the Mississippi-made 2024 short film Io’s Lament, a project supported by the Mississippi Film Alliance’s Emerging Filmmaker Grant which won Best Home Grown Mississippi Film at the 2024 Magnolia Film Festival. She is now set for her first lead role in a feature film, Washed Up, which she also co-wrote and produced.
What’s your background, and what’s the path that led you to be a filmmaker?
I’m originally from D.C. and I moved to Starkville when I was 13. I grew up acting and drawing and writing. I was doing a lot of theater. But it wasn’t until I saw indie film happening around me in north Mississippi that I realized that filmmaking was a good combination of all those interests. I went to Columbia in New York for college and then have been on and off back to Mississippi since graduation.
My first on set experiences as an actor were working with Michael Williams. I was an extra on his short films in Mississippi when I was in high school and an extra on some independent features that were shooting in the area. And now, in the last couple of years while working in England, I had the chance to do some bigger commercials. I did an Amazon commercial. And I got to work with Idris Elba for a Sky Mobile spot and be strapped to a bus seat hanging in the air off a crane. That was pretty cool. This feature of mine is the first big lead acting role that I was essentially able to give to myself. (laughs)
And then on the production side of things, I worked on student films in college and then Robbie Fisher got me onto a feature set. It was Thrasher Road, to day play as a production assistant. And then I eventually connected with Travis Mills for a feature in 2020, and then my first bigger on set role was Clark Richey’s Mysterious Circumstance, which I production designed.
What are some of your current and recent projects?
I wrapped production in November on Tallahatchie with Clark Richey’s Six Shooter Studios. I was a co-producer on that, and we’re still working through post-production. It’s an eight-part documentary series that covers the history of the Tallahatchie River region. It touches on all the counties that it flows through and all of the different characters and events that have passed through those regions. It goes all the way from prehistory, the Mississippi mounds, all the way through the Civil War, civil rights era, and spotlights the incredible people, musicians, artists and actors who’ve lived in that region. It’s hosted by Amye Gousett, and it’s interspersed with interviews with some of the famous figures themselves, or historians, scholars, or other local people who know a lot about the subjects.
I’m also a co-producer on an Atlanta feature called Othermor that’s been in development. And then the biggest thing lately was my first feature as a producer with my production company called Washed Up, which is premiering at BFI Flare Festival in London.
The film was made with my friends from college. We formed a writing group after graduation. We teamed up and the three of us wrote the script together and we crowdfunded the project and shot it all the way in Cornwall, which is a very remote part of England, in late 2024. The festival it’s premiering at is run by the British Film Institute, which is a pretty big deal for us. I think it’s screening to 450 seats.
The movie is about an artist who’s trying to make ends meet to stay in her hometown of Cornwall. And she accidentally falls in love with a selkie, which is a mythical creature from Celtic mythology that shifts from human to seal and back again by taking on and off their fur coats. And ultimately, it’s just a story about learning to let the people and places that you love go and learning that love is worth it, even when it ends. And while it may seem like a very distant story to Mississippi, I think a lot of the themes pertaining to the region have a lot of parallels to our state. Cornwall is a very historically rich place. It’s got a lot of culture, but it’s also very rural. It’s very poor. It struggles with its relationship with tourism. I think a lot of young artists living anywhere, in Mississippi or any other small town or place, can relate to the feeling of being tied to where you’re from, struggling with when it’s time to leave or not, and what you owe to the place or what the place owes to you.
What’s the plan for the film after the premiere?
Next, it will play at the London Independent Film Festival. And after that we’ll be looking for a place for its North American premiere. Most likely that won’t happen till later summer or fall. And then distribution-wise, we’re starting those conversations now and we’ll continue them throughout the summer. The distribution landscape is really, really messy and difficult right now, so we’re trying to proceed with the utmost caution. But I think there’s a lot of great avenues for this film. I think because it was so low budget, self-distribution is totally viable and there’s a possibility we would put it out on a VOD platform and do our own screenings. But of course, we’re still going to try our best with the mainstream distributors and see if they’re interested, see what they have to offer. We’re definitely trying to think a little bit outside the box because of our low budget. We don’t have to wait until we have the biggest possible deal. We just need the right deal.
You mentioned crowdfunding, which is certainly a viable path for a lot of indie filmmakers. What did you glean from the experience?
Crowdfunding is extremely difficult and time-consuming. If you have another option – anyone who might invest, personal savings, a grant – go there first. If crowdfunding is your only option, make sure the project is worth “your one ask” to the people in your life. Make your case personally and directly. The platform we used, Seed & Spark, will tell you that only 1-2% of people who see your social media post asking for donations will follow through, whereas something like 25% of people you email directly will.
Much of the creative team and crew of Washed Up are women. Is that something you set out to achieve?
It was an organic thing. Like I said, it was a group of three female friends that took this on. But it definitely is something that we were excited about, especially to have so many women in the technical departments. We had a female DP and there’s not so many of those out there.
Is there anyone you consider a mentor?
Michael Williams. Both by just watching his example of being able to create high concept genre films on a scrappy budget and proving that it was possible in the Golden Triangle area. I’ve worked with him a lot since. He’s a great friend. Robbie Fisher has also been super helpful. And I’d also say Colby Leopard, who’s an indie producer from Birmingham. It’s very hard to find a mentor in the indie producing space. Knowing him has been very, very valuable because it’s such a minefield to navigate. When I started stepping into feature producing, I’ve made it a point that if I figure any of this out then I need to turn around and try and help my other indie friends figure it out too. I don’t think I’ve figured out half as much as I wanted to, but that’s definitely an open invitation for anyone who has any questions about that.
What advice would you give to a fellow filmmaker trying to get started?
It’s a weird time for the industry right now, between streaming, union strikes, AI, and the overall political landscape. Use that uncertainty to your advantage and understand that even the established players are completely rethinking their creative and business strategy right now. Follow your instincts, be resourceful, and make things you want to see, not what you think the industry wants.
Why would you say Mississippi is a great place for filmmaking?
First, there’s the natural beauty and the rich history of the area. And the people – like, people keep things in Mississippi. There’s a lot of people who have great treasure troves of old furniture or antiques or whatever, that can be a boon for production design. I think, especially in the age of AI where you question whether something is real or not, there’s starting to be a swing towards feeling the raw edges again and an appreciation for handcrafted films, knowing that it all happened in camera and wasn’t all done on a computer. Mississippi has a lot of great environments to film in that can provide that quality.
Also, the artistic heritage in Mississippi is incredible – so many internationally recognized artists, musicians, and writers have come from this state. It only makes sense that film artists would thrive here too. There’s a kind of resourcefulness and creating against all odds that comes from a place like Mississippi and gives our crew and storytellers an incredible drive and groundedness.
What are your hopes for the future of the film industry in Mississippi?
I’d like to see two things happen. One is continuing what you guys are already doing, which is bringing more outside productions in, and that growing bigger and bigger. I think Hollywood really likes to talk about Mississippi. They really like to set films here. But far too often those Mississippi-set productions aren’t actually filmed in Mississippi. I think it’s on those filmmakers to try as hard as possible to actually shoot in Mississippi and if they can’t, to make sure that they’re at least involving Mississippians in the conversation somehow.
The second thing is developing the infrastructure for more above-the-line talent to grow and stay in the state. The same goes for the great crew we have, and they need the opportunities to progress in their departments instead of productions bringing in their own people for higher-level jobs. Programs like the Mississippi Film Alliance grant are really great for allowing independent directors or independent producers inside the state to scale up. I’d love to see more things like that.
