Is it normal to eat salad for breakfast? Or is that against the breakfast laws as God intended them?
This is the question director Roe Moore seeks to confront in her short comedy film “Breakfast Salad,” which is premiering at the Georgia Comedy Film Festival on Aug. 28 at Landmark Midtown’s Art Cinema. Written by Andrew Mena and Inspired by mockumentary comedies like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” “Breakfast Salad” follows a breakfast between friends that goes awry when one friend decides to order a salad.
Hailing from Denver and based out of Los Angeles, Moore is a graduate of Second City’s Conservatory Program and brings that comic sensibility to much of her work. Ahead of the film’s premiere, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke to Moore about her career.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you get started as a filmmaker? I know you’re a graduate of Second City.
Roe Moore: I got involved in the entertainment industry through theater and my love for dance. I grew up being a dancer … and then when it came time after high school, when they were like, what do you want to do with your life? What are you going to do? I decided to do nursing, and it just didn’t fit.
The blessings that I’ve had by choosing to be in the entertainment industry, and the life lessons that I’ve learned, everything like that has been worth it. Because you learn so much about yourself, and how to handle rejection, and how to handle different personalities and conflict and creativity. It’s been a beautiful journey so far.
When you say that, what do you think you’ve learned about yourself that’s been surprising?
Moore: Everything from understanding my family dynamic and how it wasn’t healthy … I had to leave Denver. I couldn’t stay in Denver, there was no industry. So it gave me an opportunity to understand that I could stand on my own, and to be able to have the confidence to set up shop and be like, alright – I don’t know anybody here. I’m gonna figure out how to know people here, and figure out how to pursue and be part of the community. It was very eye opening of what value I had to offer and where my creativity actually lives. Because a lot of people say this industry sorts you. You can come in wanting to do something – like I came in wanting to be on camera, and now I’m directing. I’m behind the scenes, and I, for a long time, lived as a script supervisor in that career. But the industry kind of has a way of putting you where you need to be.
Going back to the Second City of it all, obviously that’s kind of front facing – how did that prepare you for the industry and what does it add to your style as a director?
Moore: Second City was awesome, because with improv, you have to think on your feet. You have to know a little bit of a lot of things, because you might have a partner that brings up something about baseball … and you’re like, okay, what in the world does that mean to me? This is where personal growth happened, because I was like, alright – you may say this about baseball, but that interpreted to me is something completely different. And that’s what allows the comedy to happen. That’s what allows for that miscommunication and the chaos to occur.
You might think of something – I like to use the word comfort – you might think comfort is a nice warm bed. And me, I’m gonna be over here like, no look at this lake behind me, or this beach, and that’s comfort to me. When those two ideas collide, that’s where you get comedy.
It’s funny you bring that up, because I think there’s a lot of that in “Breakfast Salad,” with breakfast and brunch, and the salad to begin with. Where did this particular idea come from?
Moore: I partnered with a sketch comedy group called Whoops!, and Andrew Mena who’s the writer of it. They brought over, like, 45 scripts to the table read. [Laughs] This happened to be one of 45, and I was like alright, let’s make this one. I thought it was funny. Each character brought their own kind of vibe. They brought their own idea of what they thought breakfast was going to be that morning. I kind of related to [the idea of], everybody wakes up not expecting to have to – in a drama sense – be in a car accident.
It was a lot of fun for Andrew, because he wanted to just write something for himself, similar to what most actors do now, that showcased him at his best, which is his comedy, wit, and being that absurdist character … That was perfect for him. And for me, when we initially read the script, it didn’t have the little interview vignettes where the characters were talking. I kind of pushed in that direction. I was like, it would be funny! I suggested that, and he was like, “Oh, that could be like ‘The Office,’ or “Abbott Elementary.’” The collaboration was just amazing.
What do you like about that particular style, mockumentary? What does it add to something like this?
Moore: From my perspective, it allows the audience to feel like the back door has been peeled open. Like, that little vignette of [someone saying], “Yeah, he’s crazy” – it’s an instant connection. That’s something that I think [comedians] struggle with a lot with audiences, because either they’re afraid to offend or they’re afraid to go too clean. When you have the opportunity to do those little vignettes and vérité interviews, that allows the audience to go, “Okay, I’m not crazy. I’m totally thinking the same thing.” Somebody said it! Even in regular, everyday life, when you’re sitting there being like, this is ridiculous, and finally somebody says it, you have that release of adrenaline and emotion. You’re just like, yes! Finally!
Do you have any strong stances on breakfast yourself? Is there one character that you agree with 100%, or do you have another hot breakfast take?
Moore: Oh, I’m totally on Andrew’s side. Like, I don’t eat lettuce for breakfast.
This film is playing here at the Georgia Comedy Film Festival. Is this the first time its premiering anywhere?
Moore: It is the world premiere for this one, which is very exciting.
What was the process of getting into the festival like? Will you guys be down here for the screening?
Moore: Me and Andrew are planning to be down there, so we will be in person. It was actually kind of funny, because I have three other films that are going through the film festival circuit, and seeing the performance of those, I kind of held this one back a little bit. I was like, it needs to have a little bit of a special festival trip. I did a lot of research on different festivals, and was like, okay – we definitely need to go comedy. Which ones are going to be the strongest that we can be seen?. I found the Georgia Comedy Festival through filmfestivalcircuit.com. Everybody usually goes to FilmFreeway. This one is kind of a different submission platform, and I really liked it because … you get feedback on your submission whether you get selected or not. This will kind of give me that barometer of where we are with this short. Because for the other shorts, we went straight through FilmFreeway, and we got zero feedback other than accepted or rejected.
Especially for one of them that I love, “Undercover Wrestler,” that’s now finally on its avalanche of yeses, I got a lot of nos for a while. I was just like, I don’t understand! This short is really funny. But with “Breakfast Salad,” this is the first [festival] we submitted to, and the first one we got a yes. The feedback was like, the ensemble knows each other, this is really funny. It made me feel like I was in “The Office.” That felt so good to hear. That’s why I’m glad we chose this one to be our world premiere.
Obviously, you’ve got a lot going on with the film festival stuff coming up, but what’s next for you once all of this calms down?
Moore: We are looking to turn “Undercover Wrestler,” as I mentioned, into a feature. I have done a lot of short film content. I think in the past 12 months, I’ve done 12 shorts – one short a month-ish, is kind of the pace I’ve set. And I have two more shorts that I’m doing towards the end of this year. I’m ready to kind of jump into that feature film, longer duration content, to really see what that challenge is. I’m also trying to get into TV directing, because my background is heavily in TV.
Tickets for the Georgia Comedy Film Festival, which takes place on Aug. 28 at Landmark’s Midtown Arts Cinema, can be purchased online.