The Throwaways local action actress lands in 'Dancing Spider Film Festival.'

Films from all over the world will be shown in Luverne Minnesota this weekend.

Desire Jansen will see her hard work, determination, and dream chasing hit the big screen this weekend as part of the 'Dancing Spider Film Festival'.

The 2nd Annual Dancing Spider Film Festival will be this weekend at the Drive-In Theater in Luverne Minnesota. Several filmmakers from the area will be joining us. We also have a couple films from the UK screening. 

Tickets are $5 per person and available at the gate. Cash and cards are accepted.

Movies will begin just after sundown, approx. 8-815pm.

When The Throwaways made it into the Sioux Empire Film Festival I got a chance to catch up with the action actress.

I asked Desire about how the pursuit of her dream unfolded, and what the process was like for her.

What are your credits in The Throwaways? Did you act and write?
I produced, co-wrote, and starred in The Throwaways.

Have you always wanted to write a script?

Yes! I've always wanted to write a script.  After working on a film with cinematographer/editor/all-things-movie extraordinaire, Shaun O'Connell of Labyrinth Films, back in 2011 and again in a few other film projects throughout the years since, we've had numerous conversations about filming a project together. I just needed to sit down and start dreaming...and finally I did!  That's how The Throwaways came to fruition.

Is this the first film you've been apart of?

I've acted since the age of 11, but this was the first time producing and writing.

Was the process of writing and acting what you expected?

That's funny. Great question. No! The answer is absolutely no. The writing was not what I expected.  I came up with the first draft of the script in a matter of hours.  It's a 9 minute short film, which equates to roughly a 9 page script.  I thought I had a pretty great thing going in the first draft.  I sent it to Shaun and he gave me some great things to consider to add more momentum to the story.  I asked him to come on as a co-writer with me at that point.  9 EDITS later, we had our final script.

The acting part was awesome! I wrote The Throwaways because I always wanted to play a kick-ass action star...who doesn't, right?  But there weren't many people in this area making action movies. So, I decided to take it into my own hands. After the script was written, we found a stunt team and fight choreographers out of Minneapolis (two of the other actors of the movie, Terra Michelot and Dan Larson-Fine), hired them and had stunt training the day before we shot the big action sequence. It was as awesome as it sounds.

How long was the writing process?

The writing process took a few months probably.  The initial first draft of the script was done in a few hours, but all the rewrites took probably 2 months.

How long did it take you to film?

Two days.  We hammered out a lot of action and a lot of comedy in one weekend.

Would you like to do any more film projects?

Yes! We're in the early stages of writing the sequel to The Throwaways. I also love character-driven dramas, so I'm always thinking about writing a script for something in that genre.  As far as acting goes,  I'll be starring in Carlos De'Leon's next horror film titled, "For We Are Many."  We start filming that next weekend in Minneapolis. Any time I get the chance to work with Carlos, I jump because he loves a strong female lead role. He writes roles that demand boldness, an edge to the character, and fierce confidence in a woman.  Those are the roles I want to sink my teeth into.  Any chance I get to encourage or empower another woman to step out boldly, be courageous, and believe in herself, I take! That's what strong female lead characters in movies do so well. That's why I want to continue writing, producing, and acting.


See Also

More From Hot 104.7 - KKLS-FM