WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:01.230
- It's Isaiah Colbert,

2
00:00:01.230 --> 00:00:03.630
and I'm here to interview Carolina Ravassa

3
00:00:03.630 --> 00:00:06.090
who you may have heard
as Sombra in "Overwatch",

4
00:00:06.090 --> 00:00:07.410
among other video games,

5
00:00:07.410 --> 00:00:10.230
to talk about her upcoming
film, "Morgan's Mask".

6
00:00:10.230 --> 00:00:11.940
Last year, around September,

7
00:00:11.940 --> 00:00:12.990
I actually ended up speaking

8
00:00:12.990 --> 00:00:15.480
with your fellow "Overwatch" cast mate,

9
00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:16.770
and a woman I mistakenly thought

10
00:00:16.770 --> 00:00:19.980
you were getting engaged
with, Anjali Bhimani,

11
00:00:19.980 --> 00:00:22.980
about her self-help book, "I Am Fun Size".

12
00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:24.900
And she told me she made the book

13
00:00:24.900 --> 00:00:26.640
to sort of help teach fans

14
00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.500
how to be confident in themselves.

15
00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.200
So speaking with you
today, I wanted to ask you

16
00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:34.140
what motivated you to
make "Morgan's Mask"?

17
00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:35.733
- It was a mix of things.

18
00:00:37.590 --> 00:00:41.040
This was like nine or 10
months into the pandemic,

19
00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:45.000
and so there was a lot
of sitting around at home

20
00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.100
trying to make things happen.

21
00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.710
And a script came across my email,

22
00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:52.710
and I just connected to it in many ways

23
00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:55.980
because it reminded me of
a lot of stories I'd heard

24
00:00:55.980 --> 00:00:58.770
from gamers at conventions.

25
00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:02.160
It connected, personally, to
everything we were living.

26
00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:06.630
Having to connect to people
on Zoom and social media

27
00:01:06.630 --> 00:01:10.350
and all the difficulties
we were dealing with.

28
00:01:10.350 --> 00:01:14.160
So I felt compelled to tell the story

29
00:01:14.160 --> 00:01:16.170
of a cosplayer and a gamer
going through the pandemic

30
00:01:16.170 --> 00:01:17.550
and dealing with mental health issues

31
00:01:17.550 --> 00:01:19.680
because I felt like it was very relatable,

32
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.500
and I wanted to have gamers
see themselves in a film.

33
00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.140
- So I wanted to ask you, would
you say that "Morgan's Mask"

34
00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:28.020
is an autobiographical
kind of time capsule

35
00:01:28.020 --> 00:01:29.670
for the pandemic lockdown for you?

36
00:01:29.670 --> 00:01:32.370
Or does its message sort of
extend further than that?

37
00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:34.410
- I mean, I didn't write the script.

38
00:01:34.410 --> 00:01:35.730
It was the director, Trevor Rigby.

39
00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:39.450
So it's actually kind
of part of his story.

40
00:01:39.450 --> 00:01:41.760
But I think we all connected
to different parts of it.

41
00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.190
So I put a lot of me into Morgan

42
00:01:44.190 --> 00:01:46.800
and I could connect easily because

43
00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:48.270
I have a social media following,

44
00:01:48.270 --> 00:01:51.393
or I would talk to fans
online during the pandemic.

45
00:01:52.380 --> 00:01:55.650
We all dealt with trying
to connect with family

46
00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:58.830
but maybe also getting
angry at them over FaceTime.

47
00:01:58.830 --> 00:02:00.840
I think there's just a lot of parallels

48
00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:04.290
separate to my life, just
anybody can relate to them.

49
00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:07.140
So I would say a lot of me is in the film,

50
00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:10.233
but it wasn't my personal
story through and through.

51
00:02:11.070 --> 00:02:13.507
But I do think a lot of the
gamers that have seen it go,

52
00:02:13.507 --> 00:02:17.580
"Oh my God, this is
hitting too close to home."

53
00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.077
Same with cosplayers, you all kind of go,

54
00:02:20.077 --> 00:02:21.930
"I remember that time in the pandemic.

55
00:02:21.930 --> 00:02:22.763
Yep."

56
00:02:22.763 --> 00:02:25.020
- So what would you say
was the most difficult part

57
00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:28.350
about getting the film
from the Kickstarter

58
00:02:28.350 --> 00:02:30.930
to having it be a movie
that people can see?

59
00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:33.570
- My gosh, all of it. (laughs)

60
00:02:33.570 --> 00:02:35.940
Jokes, but sort of real.

61
00:02:35.940 --> 00:02:37.620
The Kickstarter was hard.

62
00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.200
Even though I have a decent following,

63
00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:42.390
it was trying to let fans know

64
00:02:42.390 --> 00:02:44.400
that this could be a
story they'd relate to.

65
00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.620
So, that was very stressful

66
00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.500
'cause if you don't get funding
you can't make it happen.

67
00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:50.850
The shooting was my favorite part.

68
00:02:50.850 --> 00:02:53.760
I think that's what I love
the most is being on set.

69
00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:57.210
But post-production and
getting into distribution

70
00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:58.260
is really hard.

71
00:02:58.260 --> 00:02:59.093
We got it.

72
00:02:59.093 --> 00:03:00.510
We got it done.

73
00:03:00.510 --> 00:03:01.860
- So I noticed in the trailer,

74
00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:04.350
or I guess I couldn't help
but notice in the trailer,

75
00:03:04.350 --> 00:03:07.380
one Troy Baker does make an
appearance in the trailer.

76
00:03:07.380 --> 00:03:08.880
So I was wondering,

77
00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:12.210
what was it like sort of
getting into contact with him,

78
00:03:12.210 --> 00:03:13.830
reaching out about the project?

79
00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:15.450
What was kind of his thoughts about it?

80
00:03:15.450 --> 00:03:16.283
- Yeah.

81
00:03:16.283 --> 00:03:18.630
Well, I had met Troy at conventions before

82
00:03:18.630 --> 00:03:20.010
and we have a lot of mutual friends

83
00:03:20.010 --> 00:03:22.023
in the gaming industry, obviously.

84
00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:27.720
So, I wasn't reaching out out of the blue.

85
00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:31.290
We had great conversations
in the Green Room at Cons,

86
00:03:31.290 --> 00:03:34.687
so I just gave him a call and I said,

87
00:03:34.687 --> 00:03:36.060
"Hey, I have this project

88
00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:39.090
and I think you'd do a
great job as this character.

89
00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:39.923
Are you interested?"

90
00:03:39.923 --> 00:03:41.010
And so we hopped on the phone

91
00:03:41.010 --> 00:03:43.080
and I gave him the rundown of what it was,

92
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.600
and I think at that point too

93
00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:47.550
he was dealing with the
pandemic in his own ways.

94
00:03:47.550 --> 00:03:50.280
So, I think we could
all relate to something

95
00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:51.540
like this story.

96
00:03:51.540 --> 00:03:53.280
I think he was down because

97
00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.620
he also has heard a lot of gamer stories

98
00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:58.740
and he understood that this
could be an important story

99
00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:03.000
to share with Comic-Con goers
and cosplayers, et cetera.

100
00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.380
- Speaking of gamers stories,

101
00:04:04.380 --> 00:04:05.370
I noticed in the trailer

102
00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:08.070
there's a brief snippet of you
playing a bit of "Overwatch".

103
00:04:08.070 --> 00:04:11.100
So I was wondering if there's something,

104
00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:12.600
I'm sure a lot of players were doing

105
00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:14.850
during the pandemic as
well, myself included.

106
00:04:15.930 --> 00:04:17.700
What other kind of Easter eggs

107
00:04:17.700 --> 00:04:20.040
should fans of your video game work

108
00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.020
keep an eye out for in "Morgan's Mask"?

109
00:04:22.020 --> 00:04:25.350
- Well, I didn't wanna
involve Sombra too much

110
00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:26.910
'cause I just felt like that was too meta.

111
00:04:26.910 --> 00:04:30.990
But, there's art on the
walls that is gonna be fun.

112
00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:34.920
We shot in my apartment, so
anything you see there, I own.

113
00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:38.400
So all the books I own, and
any stuff that we put around.

114
00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:41.010
Some of it is game related.

115
00:04:41.010 --> 00:04:42.150
There's a voice in there

116
00:04:42.150 --> 00:04:44.970
that we have not listed in the credits.

117
00:04:44.970 --> 00:04:46.860
It's, you know, two lines.

118
00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:48.727
But I'd be curious if somebody goes,

119
00:04:48.727 --> 00:04:50.610
"Oh, I know who that is.

120
00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:51.873
That's a cool Easter egg.

121
00:04:53.070 --> 00:04:54.870
Trying to think what else.

122
00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:56.460
You know, there's cosplay stuff

123
00:04:56.460 --> 00:05:00.120
that I was trying to make
mention to certain things.

124
00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:01.830
So I hope fans enjoy that.

125
00:05:01.830 --> 00:05:03.510
Like, "Oh, she did this for five seconds."

126
00:05:03.510 --> 00:05:06.330
Or, "We noticed that mask there."

127
00:05:06.330 --> 00:05:09.510
It's a Comic-Con filled story,

128
00:05:09.510 --> 00:05:11.193
or anything comic book related.

129
00:05:12.210 --> 00:05:13.200
I wish there had been more,

130
00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:15.810
but we did what we could
with our budget, you know?

131
00:05:15.810 --> 00:05:16.643
- Yeah.

132
00:05:16.643 --> 00:05:17.476
Respect, respect.

133
00:05:17.476 --> 00:05:20.130
So, definitely another thing
I wanted to ask you is,

134
00:05:20.130 --> 00:05:22.620
so what makes 2023 the right time

135
00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.260
to sort of bring "Morgan's
Mask" into the world?

136
00:05:25.260 --> 00:05:26.250
- Oh, it makes it the right time

137
00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:29.293
'cause that's when we
finished it. (laughs)

138
00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:31.433
I don't know.

139
00:05:31.433 --> 00:05:33.450
Some people still think it's
too close to the pandemic

140
00:05:33.450 --> 00:05:34.620
to watch a movie like that

141
00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:36.780
where it takes them back to dark times.

142
00:05:36.780 --> 00:05:41.780
But I think that it is a story of hope.

143
00:05:41.910 --> 00:05:44.160
So even though Morgan goes
through some really tough stuff,

144
00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.500
she has to kind of reconnect with family

145
00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:51.500
and dig deep and find
out who she really is

146
00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:53.970
and forget all the social media noise,

147
00:05:53.970 --> 00:05:56.700
and try to focus on what brings her joy,

148
00:05:56.700 --> 00:05:58.770
which is is costume building.

149
00:05:58.770 --> 00:06:01.680
And so I wanted to be
inspiring in that sense.

150
00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.980
And the ending was a
little bit more fantastical

151
00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:07.290
and I wanted to keep it real

152
00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:09.420
because it's not like we
just go through this process

153
00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:11.130
and find ourselves, and
now everything's great

154
00:06:11.130 --> 00:06:12.810
and we have a job and
we're making a ton of money

155
00:06:12.810 --> 00:06:14.550
and everything's perfect.

156
00:06:14.550 --> 00:06:17.730
It was like, now she's
building her life back slowly.

157
00:06:17.730 --> 00:06:20.340
And so the ending isn't
like everything's in place,

158
00:06:20.340 --> 00:06:22.710
it's just the beginning
of what it looks like

159
00:06:22.710 --> 00:06:24.870
to start putting it back together.

160
00:06:24.870 --> 00:06:26.550
And I thought that was important because

161
00:06:26.550 --> 00:06:28.620
I've been an artist since I was born

162
00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:31.320
and I struggled a lot in
New York City to pay bills.

163
00:06:31.320 --> 00:06:33.210
And even when you think
something's going well,

164
00:06:33.210 --> 00:06:34.800
then you still gotta keep hustling.

165
00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.950
So I wanted to remind artists and creators

166
00:06:37.950 --> 00:06:40.890
that that's kind of how it goes.

167
00:06:40.890 --> 00:06:43.080
You don't just hit it
big and then you're set,

168
00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:45.356
you still have to take care of
your mental health, you know?

169
00:06:45.356 --> 00:06:47.939
(upbeat music)