Miriam El Abbasi | Arts Editor
Featured Image: Marlee Druker’s love for telling stories started when she was a child attending summer camp. | Marlee Druker
Marlee Druker, a third-year film production student, uses the skills she’s learned throughout her academic journey, as well as personal experiences, to enhance the stories she chooses to share.
Looking back, Druker could identify that her love for telling stories started when she was a child attending summer camp: “I think when I was around nine or 10, I would put on shows with the other kids in my cabin, which then turned in to ‘Marlee’s Radio Show.’ It was my show, and I was the host. It was kind of like a Mad TV type sketch show, but we just stole stuff we had seen or heard from actual Mad TV episodes.”
This passion for storytelling eventually led Druker to start exploring even further, once it came time to solidify her career path at the end high school. Taking film production courses in college, as per the suggestion of her guidance counselor, helped her to discover a new interest within the world of film. This is what ultimately led Druker to the film production program at York.
Currently, Druker is developing a short film, of which she is the director, called Nora Likes Girls. It follows a lost and confused graduate, named Nora, as she struggles with figuring out what she wants to do with the music degree she has just earned. Facing pressure from her parents to find a real job, she ultimately decides to work for them. Nora is also dealing with pressure from her partner to commit to their relationship. This is something Nora is uncomfortable with doing as she is still in the closet. Throughout this, we follow the process of Nora trying to sort out her relationship, as well as trying to please her family, all while also trying to figure out what it is she really wants.
When asked about the inspiration behind Nora Likes Girls, Druker replied: “It’s very loosely based on things I’ve felt, as well as snippets of things I’ve experienced, fictionally stitched together.”
According to script supervisor, Sara Waisglass, Nora Likes Girls is more likely an elevated projection of Druker’s life, as well as any insecurities she may have felt growing up, to which Druker wholeheartedly agreed.
With any project of this magnitude, there are bound to be some bumps along the road. Druker describes the tight deadlines she was under to complete her script, but by going back to her childhood home, it helped her channel some of the feelings Nora may have been experiencing, making it easier to write a story that felt true to her.
As the writer and director of Nora Likes Girls, Druker describes what her duties have been thus far, “I started compiling a crew full of my classmates, which included the production manager, cinematographer, as well as all the roles that go into making a film. Now we’re in pre-production, locking our locations, booking our equipment, and holding auditions.”
After spending three years in the film production program, Druker details how that has affected her overall creative process: “It forces me to be creative 100 per cent of the time, and I need that pressure to put out good work. Having the pressure of ‘you need to meet this deadline or you’re going to fail’ has helped me to be motivated and excited to make films.”
The advice Druker offers to aspiring filmmakers is to simply attend film school: “The professors know what they’re talking about because they’re real industry people, and the process of learning from your peers isn’t something you can get on a set. On a set, you get an old guy yelling at you about why you don’t know how to do things.”
