Ollie used to sell health drugs and she would cross the border to Canada to get them. Then Ollie got caught and now she is on probation. Ollie’s probation is almost over and she is trying to pull her life together, while at the same time help her sister, Deb. Ollie plans to leave the life she had behind and make a fresh new start for herself with a good job, but first she must collect money to pay back the mortgage for her late mother’s house. That way Deb and her son, Johnny, will have a roof over their heads. Both Ollie and Deb have one week to get the money.
Blaine: Nia DaCosta was curious to know what life is like for a woman in rural America because their lives are different from others. She loved movies like “Winter’s Bone” and “Frozen River” and she wanted to make her own film that takes place in rural America.
Nia lived in London for a little while after she got her degree. She took a job at directed stage plays in London. Her favorite part about directing plays was working with actors and doing rehearsals with them. Nia DaCosta also attended the Sundance Institute, where she met actress Tessa Thompson at the director’s lab. Nia and Tessa got along very well and Nia already was developing the story for “Little Woods” when she met Tessa. Nia thought Tessa should play one of the two main characters. Nia would rewrite the script for “Little Woods” as the years passed until she was 100% positive on how it should go. Tessa Thompson has a half sister, who is white, and people they would meet had no idea they were related. That gave Nia an idea to have the main characters be sisters. It was huge for Tessa that Nia would write a piece of her life in the script. Nia DaCosta and Tessa Thompson became partners on this project. Tessa Thompson was getting a lot of attention and was being offered a lot of parts in movies and television shows, like “Westworld”, so her schedule was getting very busy. Nia had to arrange a schedule to shoot “Little Woods” whenever Tessa was free to do it. Nia couldn’t do “Little Woods” without Tessa because again, they were partners on this project. Tessa pointed out something for a scene that didn’t make that much sense. Nia was glad Tessa said something because she wouldn’t have recognized that, so she rewrote the scene and made it better than it was before.
Nia didn’t know where the story would take place. It was important for Nia to get the right location to shoot the film. The Sundance Institute was kind enough to help Nia by paying for her travel arrangements in order to scout locations to shoot “Little Woods”. Nia and her producer would travel to certain locations to figure out which one would be perfect for the project. They drove down North Dakota and Nia loved the wide sky there. It was so beautiful to look at for her. A lot of people in North Dakota were kind to give Nia a tour around the place and they would talk about their community. Nia would explain the story for “Little Woods” to them and they thought the characters had things more rough compared to them. Nia wanted the whole film to be shot in North Dakota.
There wasn’t going to be enough money to make “Little Woods”, but that didn’t matter to everyone who was involved in making it. They just wanted to make something unique and they believed in “Little Woods”. They also supported Nia and she made it through because of them. Nia was having a blast making her first feature from shooting, to the editing process.
Nia saw a lot of Lily James’ stage work while she was living in London. Nia was curious to know if Lily James would do a low budget movie. Nia approached Lily to offer her the role of Deb and Lily was all for being involved with “Little Woods” after Nia explained what it was about. Lily also wanted to work with a female director. Making a movie with a team of women was very inspiring for Lily James and Nia and Tessa felt very lucky to have Lily James involved with the project.
Lily’s character, Deb, wants to be someone who is responsible and independent like Ollie, but it’s not easy for her.
Deb wants to try though. Deb works a minimum waged job and she lives in a trailer that is parked where it’s not supposed to be. Deb even has to make a few sacrifices like trading family jewelry in order for her and her son, Johnny, to survive.
Ollie is always there for Deb when she needs it. They’re family and families stick together. Ollie helps look after Johnny as if she is his second mother. Deb is pregnant with a second child, but she doesn’t want it because one mouth is enough to feed, not to mention the cost of taking care of a child and Deb is already having money issues. Deb wants an abortion. With time running out to pay the mortgage, Ollie has no other choice but to sell drugs again because people pay a lot for them.
You want everything to go well for these characters and hoping things don’t get worse for them than they already are. There’s a lot of things that happen that’ll concern you. Good news is these characters successfully make it in the end. Ollie gets a job that will help her succeed and she is able to pay the mortgage so Deb and Johnny have a home. Deb gets the abortion and also we learn she is attending college to get a degree. Both girls are going to make it.
Filmmakers who are just getting started can learn a lot about making films from their own experience in making one themselves. Nia would learn something new everyday while making “Little Woods”.
A lot of things Nia DaCosta has experienced from the theater to making “Little Woods” has been an inspiration and great experience. Nia has worked her way up to become a filmmaker and she is proud for what she has accomplished in making “Little Woods”. Nia looks forward to making other films in the future.
My Rating on “Little Woods” is five out of fives stars
From left to right: Tessa Thompson and Nia DaCosta
