Sometimes, the ticket to making your first feature is thinking outside the box or expanding it. Say, into 9x16? Emily Elizabeth Thomas is a genre filmmaker whose work explores womanhood, trauma, and resiliency. Through a unique blend of "girl and grit" and a punk rock sensibility, she challenges traditional notions of femininity and seeks to empower women and girls to recognize their own strength and magic.I was excited to sit down with her to talk about her feature film debut, Keily: Homecoming Dweeb, as well as her past web series. Let's dive in. No Film School: Congratulations on your feature film debut! I’d love to hear more about your previous work as writer and director on the 33-episode web series Keily that your feature is based on.Emily Elizabeth Thomas: Thank you! Making movies is the joy of my life—it's been my dream since I was old enough to realize that film wasn't magic, but the result of human minds and hands working in tandem to build entire worlds. This moment marks an exciting new chapter in the ongoing story of my career.In June 2024, I was approached by CandyJar—the studio behind the original Keily web series and now the feature film Keily: Homecoming Dweeb. They had built an impressive track record in the YA romance space through vertical narrative content. Which is, essentially, episodic storytelling in the 9:16 aspect ratio, created to be consumed on a phone. I’ll be honest—I had never even heard the term “vertical narrative” before that...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Tuesday, 10 June, 2025