By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

New 32 Productions is a small, woman and queer-owned independent film company based in North Carolina. The company bases its decisions on values and is hell-bent on creating better conditions for creators in indie film. 

With New 32 Productions, they focus on developing small crews of people who are treated well and are good at what they do. And their team is stacked.

Raven Angeline Whisnant wears a lot of hats. She leads the team, films, produces, directs, edits, writes, and constantly needs to be ready to deal with whatever the day calls for. Co-founder Charlie Monroe is another woman of many talents. Monroe is even starring as the title character in the upcoming comedy Bernard Gets Famous. Additionally, she wrote their new short film debut, Biters & Bleeders.

Next, there’s Stan Monroe, co-founder, entrepreneur, writer, and musician, whose life is defined by doing things others believe impossible. Stan also created and now runs the New 32 Productions writer’s table. 

The final co-founder is Peter Zale, a screenwriter, a renowned cartoonist, and, as Raven puts it, the Ally Sheedy of any breakfast club. Other valuable team members include producer and sound supervisor Cecilia Kierstead and Molly Stein-Seroussi, brand manager extraordinaire.

Beyond the few folks mentioned above, a large host of freelance creators are considered a part of the New 32 family; but that’s it. They’re a small crew of talented creatives working together to make a big difference and prove there’s a kinder way to make movies.

“We believe that in a day when content is mass-produced, sanitized through a corporate lens, and workers on mega multi-million dollar budget franchises are being denied bathroom breaks and water breaks (even with unions in place), there just has to be a better way to make movies,” explained Raven.

In her eyes, films are art and the best art is made when artists are safe, supported, and enjoy their craft. We spoke with Raven about New 32 Productions and their exciting future.

Catcall: Tell us about New 32. How did it start? Where’s it going?

Raven Angeline Whisnant: The four of us—Raven, Charlie, Peter, and Stan—founded the company in 2021 because we were all frustrated with the opportunities available in the film industry, and we felt like there had to be a better way to make movies; a way that centered on safety, respect, fun, and good art.

It started out of necessity. I was sick and tired of having negative experiences on set, of being disregarded because I was a young woman, of being taken advantage of. It was also a necessity because I was struggling to find good people to work with, who were not only talented artists but were also reliable and kind. 

My hope is that New 32 can grow to support its own content, so we can continue to tell stories that are important, and create opportunities for underrepresented creators in film. I also hope that we can grow our online community, so we can spread our message of better workplace conditions on set, and radically supportive filmmaking.

Most of the projects New 32 takes on are fully crewed by two women, you and Cecilia. When projects require more hands you’ve focused on hiring mostly women and non-binary individuals. Tell us more about this!

As a woman in the film industry, I’ve had countless experiences where my input is undervalued or my voice wasn’t heard at all. I felt lonely, hopeless, and like I would be given the chance to make movies at all if I couldn’t be in the boys club. (Believe me, I tried. Don’t get me started on my forced “film bro” stage. It just wasn’t me, and it didn’t work anyways, haha!)

I think a lot of people of marginalized genders have been put in situations where they have to work with disrespectful or even dangerous people in order to work in the industry. When we started the company we did so with an eye towards creating a safe, affirming space for people who have been burned -before.

We of course have plenty of cis men work with us, and we really value those colleagues, but we have also found that most of the people who are really excited about working with us are those who aren’t used to being valued and included in the same way in the industry. For that reason we end up being a really attractive company for women and non-binary people.

Is filming with a crew of only two pretty challenging? How do you get the job done?

Absolutely, it’s SO challenging! When we have a shoot, we usually come home, order take out, and just completely pass out.

Cecilia and I have both worked on sets that are huge with teams of hundreds of people, tiny projects that only have a small handful of crew members, all the way down to our absolutely microscopic feature length film that’s basically just the two of us. They’re all fun and exciting in their own ways, and I think fair to say that they’re all challenging in their own ways. 

I can’t speak for Cecilia, but in my opinion, I’d rather be challenged with Cecilia than with a huge crew any day. I just have the most fun with her. When we are putting our heads together, problem solving, getting things done, and making art together. 

How do you create an inclusive and accepting environment that the cast and crew want to be a part of? What advice do you have for other indie film companies trying to do the same?

I think this process really begins before you even get to set. When we interview job candidates, we make sure that in addition to being awesome at what they do, they share our passion for ethical, inclusive filmmaking. We try to set a tone immediately for what our expectations of them would be, but also what they should expect from us as leaders, and they know they can hold us to that.

Everyone at the management level really values people and is invested in creating an environment where people feel safe to be their most authentic, creative selves. Our sets focus on safety, consent, fun, and of course paying people what they’re worth. This takes more time, money, and effort than a lot of companies are willing or able to put into their process, and we know we’re privileged in that way. We also know this is a better way to make movies, and we think our model would be possible (if not easy) for others to replicate. 

My biggest advice is just to come at every problem looking for people-focused solutions. Think about how you can have the most fun on set, how you can keep your cast and crew the safest, how you can make people feel the most valued. Trust that those ingredients will create great art. You don’t have to have a million dollar film budget to do those things; we certainly didn’t, but we get great feedback from the folks we’ve worked with on set, and to us that’s extremely valuable!

Tell us about your new film Biters & Bleeders. 

We’re so excited for this project. It’s written and directed by our very own Charlie Monroe, who is an amazing trans horror writer in addition to being a New 32 co-founder. She breathes so much life into these characters, and has created a visually stunning if horrifying world. 

Horror is a medium that has long been a playground for women and queer people, and we’re excited to take our stab (get it?) at it. Feminism in horror is a big topic around here—I could talk about it forever—but all I’ll say for now is that this film has a lot to say about both abuse and agency, and I’m so honored that Charlie trusted me to play Penelope, one of the lead characters.

How can readers get involved and support New 32?

Firstly I want to say that as a start up in an extremely challenging industry, help of any kind is deeply appreciated. We so want the opportunity to continue what we are doing, and if we are lucky enough, to expand it. There’s a few things folks can do if they want to get involved!

One of the top things is online engagement. We’re pretty active over on Instagram! This could look like sharing our reels, liking our pictures, and even just reading our blog posts. Our biggest challenge right now is finding our audience, and demonstrating to investors that people are interested in our content and our mission.

We also love it when people reach out, through our contact form or through DMs. As we just discussed, we’re a micro crew, so although we don’t hire often, we’re always down to make connections with other artists. It’s so great to meet other people in the community and build lasting relationships with fellow creators. So drop us a line if you want to chat!

Lastly, we have a Patreon. It’s still new, but we’d love to build a community there and get folks connected with meaningful perks and resources. Every penny counts towards making our company and ethical filmmaking model sustainable long-term, so we’d love to see you over there if you’re a filmmaker who thinks they could benefit from what we have to offer!

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