Jillian Clare on making her directorial indie teen debut hit ‘To The Beat’

Jillian Clare has appeared on both the big and small screen in numerous projects including her double award winning portrayal of pre-teen ‘Abby Deveraux’ o n NBC’s Days Of Our Lives and recent guest appearances on ABC’s Castle and Suburgatory, plus Victorious on Nickelodeon.

Jillian was cast in Ladies of The Lake which tells the story of four wealthy wives living in the exclusive gated community of Avalon. When their abusive husbands begin to turn up dead, Detective Shawn Daniels launches an investigation, only to discover the many secrets hidden beneath the glossy veneers of Avalon. Jillian plays Cassidy Montgomery, the Queen Bee of the Ladies of the Lake children. The film is a live action version of the novel of the same name written by Ken Corday (Days of Our Lives, executive producer).

Jillian is a big supporter of Farm Sanctuary. Their mission is to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.

indieactivity: Introduce your film briefly (the name of the film, premise, tone, style and the festival circuit)
Jillian: “To The Beat!” is a teen dance film that centers on twins Mackie and Mia and their rival Avery as they all compete to be in their favorite pop-stars new music video. It’s currently for sale on all VOD sites and on Amazon DVD. It’s Camp Rock meets Step Up for the new generation.

To The Beat! Vision Films’ New Teen Dance Hit Now Available on DVD/VOD

indieactivity: Did you start writing with a cast (You or any) in mind?
Jillian: We had most of the cast already set before writing it which made the writing process so much fun! It’s awesome to create characters for people you know. There were a couple characters we didn’t have cast, including Avery played by Jayden Bartels, so we wrote her how we wanted her and then our casting directors found the perfect actress.

indieactiivty: How long did you take to complete the script? (Do you have a writing process?)
Jillian: Susan Bernhardt and I came up with the outline together which took about two days. We shut off our phones and just got to the core of the story and the characters. From there, she wrote the entirety of the script in about a month!

indieactivity: Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
Jillian: I think every indie filmmaker struggles with financing. I’m not sure that will ever not be a struggle in indie productions!

indieactivity: How long was your pre-production?
Jillian: Pre-Production was about a month and a half long! We were very lucky with our locations, actors, crew, equipment, etc.. I always say that when something is meant to be made, it falls into place exactly as it should.

indieactivity: What was your rehearsal process and period?
Jillian: As far as rehearsals go, we really only had three days for that and they were dedicated to choreography. We needed to make sure that the dances were well rehearsed before getting onto set as their wouldn’t be a ton of time for multiple takes. You also don’t want to do the dances too much, since it takes a lot out of the girls.

indieactivity: You shot the film in days. How long were your days?
Jillian: We shot the film in fifteen days. The days for crew and the adult actors were typical feature shooting days, ten-twelve hours. There are obviously very strict rules for children and the amount of hours they can be worked. We were very careful when scheduling the days as to make sure we never went over.

Jayden Bartels in To The Beat! (2018)

indieactivity: Did the tight shooting schedule make it harder or easier? How did it affect performances?
Jillian: All the actors had a very good grasp on who their characters were so I don’t feel like our schedule affected the performances at all. If we had more days to shoot, I would have taken more time with the dancing scenes. I love how they turned out in the film, but I think if we would have had more time, I would have dedicated it to that.

indieactivity: How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
Jillian: With a film like ours, marketing was key. Most of our younger stars have pretty massive social media followings so that’s been a great help! I’ve learned a lot about the attention spans of children these days and how to get them interested in a movie.

indieactivity: What was the experience like of working with such a small shooting crew (?)?
Jillian: I’m quite used to shooting with a smaller crew. Most super indie production don’t have a budget for a big crew. In some ways, I prefer it. Everyone is putting in their all and there’s no one ever just looking for something to do!

indieactivity: The film looks stunning. How did you get such a good look when shooting so fast?
Jillian: Our cinematographer Broderick Englehard is amazing. We spent a good amount of time shot-listing after location scouts so we knew how we wanted it to look. He and his team brought it to life perfectly. We also had a great camera and lenses!

indieactivity: What else have you got in the works?
Jillian: A film called “Pretty Broken” that I produced and starred in is set to premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival! We’ve been working on it for four and a half years and we’re so excited to finally release it to the world! I have a film in pre-production called “Roasted” that I’m producing and starring in and a pilot in development!