Elisabeth Steen-Nokleberg on starring in and producing ‘Heart of the Home’ a true horror movie

Elisabeth Steen-Nokleberg is a Norwegian actress (half Norwegian, half Indian). Elisabeth grew up in an artistic home and ventured to NYC at a young age, where she fell in love with the acting profession. “I later relocated to LA where I now just completed and am about to release Heart of the Home my first feature film”, says Elisabeth.

indieactivity: Introduce your film?
Elisabeth Steen-Nokleberg (ESN): Heart of the Home is horror with lots of comedic undertones. It is very dialogue-driven, as it is based on a true story. The killings are obviously fictional as well as other elements.

Tell us why you chose to write, produce, direct, shoot, cut/edit the movie? Was it financial, chance, or no-budget reason?
Elisabeth Steen-Nokleberg (ESN): I had many industry friends and acquaintances who went down the same path. Many films that I acted in were the same type of indie projects some bigger some smaller. It is the new way to get your work seen and out there. Because there are so many creative people out there eager to work it is fairly easy to find people to collaborate with. Because I am starting out and am the typical struggling artist I wanted to make a project that was realistic for me to complete a low budget film. It’s not my style to ask for help regardless, and especially since i did not have much experience other than acting. This roommate story happened in my early LA days. I could not stand at the same time as I was entertained. When we got rid of her I told myself this right here was the perfect experience for low-budget quirky horror. So basically it was for artistic purposes and financial reasons that this story came about as a starter.

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Introduce your crew?
ESN: This movie had very few people on board but it was a beautiful little team. First and foremost Sami Sonnesso wrote my story. I did the rewrites and the original story is mine. Two brains are better than one sometimes. We collaborated perfectly. David Palmieri co-produced, directed, and did cinematography and lighting. He is very experienced in shooting film both low-budget horrors as well as doing lighting on big network tv shows. Because of his skills we were able to shoot the film in 6 days!!! It was insane but we did it. He helped me in pre-production with call sheets, prop lists got the camera and equipment for light and connected with the sound guy, Kevin Tierney. I did the casting, rehearsing and blocking, location, set and production design, wardrobe, and food, etc. We did have to makeup and hair, Reba Vera as well as SFX make-up artist John Gill Pearson and a part-time production assistant Lisa Nagai. They were all wonderful and helped me changeset while I was being filmed and did their job with makeup perfectly. Matthew Ryan Anderson who was a part of the cast did our stunt work which actually was added very last minute!

What are your personal experiences putting on all these hats/responsibilities (simultaneously)? Tell us about the story, writing, and production?
ESN: It was very challenging, however, I was in a creative zone almost a high I cannot explain. The more I did pre-production the more ideas came to me and the script was ever-changing. We shot the film on three weekends so I did have some recovery time in between and that helped the onset pressure and long hours. After the movie wrapped I could not walk I felt paralyzed by exhaustion. But I came to find out that I am much more capable and creative than I had ever thought of myself. Also, I was obsessed with this project while in the midst of it so naturally, it did not feel like work. The only thing I would have added if I could have turned back time is a script supervisor. Thinking of continuity with everything else was SO hard.

The official trailer for Heart of the Home co-written and starred in by Elisabeth Steen-Nokleberg

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What is the source of the idea? How did the story develop from the idea? And how did the story evolve into a screenplay? Why do this story? Do you have a writing process?
ESN: I spent 3 months in pre-production. While casting I would work from 10 am till 4 am. As soon as someone got cast I started rehearsing with them as well as doing acting coaching. I worked with my own coach and we broke down the other characters so I could work with them. I knew we only had 6 days to shoot so I wanted to make sure everyone was not only prepared but also good.

Let’s talk pre-production: take us through a timeline of how you started and ended it?
ESN: We shot in 6 days. 12 hour days. I worked on prepping uncounted hours before the day started. It worked cause I was in a zone and I had rehearsed and blocked the actors prior.

During the film production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot? And why?
ESN: The hardest scenes were the scenes where I had to got to deep emotional places. It was already so much to do but in those moments I just had to put anything and anyone aside.

What were the advantages and disadvantages of the way you worked?
ESN: I work very intensely so did David therefore we were able to do this in such a few days and still get a great quality. I am very intuition driven which can be both good and bad but in this case, I think it helped the movie get better even though it is always confusing to change a script.

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When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
ESN: The movie s production LLC name is Pisces Rising which my best friend suggested. I am a Pisces astrological sign and I have been rising.

What was the first project out of the gate?
ESN: This is the first film out the door

Where do you think your strengths lie as a filmmaker?
ESN: My strength is my creativity, imagination, and strong theatrical training background.

Let’s talk about finance, How did you finance the film?
ESN: I financed as mentioned this film myself. It was tough especially since post-production expenses kept increasing however now I look back and can say I did this. No one came to save me and help me. And I wanted it that way for this movie as it was my first. I went 20k over budget and worked very day. 6-7 days a week sometimes overtime holidays included.

How important is marketing? Talk about the festival tour? Do you think a project can make a dent without it nowadays?
ESN: Marketing is important because if people down know who you are they don’t know who you are Marketing works and there are so many various ways to go about it. Festivals are great, however, I focused more on distribution. Also, I am very selective about what festival. these days so many actors make their own festival so they can award themselves!! If it’s not a recognized festival it makes no difference and is pointless to me, especially now with cover where festivals are not in person anymore. Social media and reviews are the best ways for me to market myself right now.

What do you hope audiences will get from the presentation of your film?
ESN: I hope that the audience will think twice before getting their next roommate haha no seriously I want to entertain people, for them to enjoy their cinematic ride for 80 mins 🙂

What else have you got in the works?
ESN: I am currently writing a dramatic feature and have rewrites to do on a horror feature collaboration with Sami again.

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