Zepstone – Synastry: The Witch of Wander Lane

We had the opportunity to interview Alicia Oberle Farmer and Lauren Holdt at Zepstone about the screenplay Synastry: The Witch of Wander Lane. Synastry: The Witch of Wander Lane is an official section at the 12th Annual Utah Film Festival. 

After the death of her estranged grandmother, Zora inherits a home in the mysterious town of Bellmare, a land full of superstition, latent powers, and secrets.

What was the inspiration for coming up with Synastry: The Witch of Wander Lane?

Alicia: Every once in a while, I have what are called “funnels” or “downloads” of inspiration. After our first dark fantasy short Polygamy Gone Wrong, I wanted to continue with otherworldly black and white fairytales and begin to build an anthology. I had a vision out of nowhere about the entire story, which would combine voodoo folk magic, romanticism, and the prohibition era. In particular, I envisioned the last scene, which would be very much in the vein and aesthetic of Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” Once I got the download, I knew I had to immediately write it down.

How long did it take you to write this screenplay?

Alicia: That is somewhat of a long story! The short version took a few weeks to write. And then we began casting. Little did we know that we’d receive over 15,000 submissions through breakdown services (since we planned on the film being SAG signatory). We knew then that this was bigger than a short. So we began planning to expand into a series. All in all, once we’d settled on the series pilot writer (a young talented student named Lauren Holdt), it took two years to get to this point. There was a lot of world building and character development to do, and Lauren was juggling all of this while being accepted into the very prestigious USC John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television (the same program that produced legends such as George Lucas). Lauren was also the lead actress for our first feature-film City of Salt, so we’d worked with her before and loved her!

Lauren: It took me about a thirty hours to write the first draft of episode one, but then the series went through a major rework and I had to start all over. That draft only took about five hours or so.

What was the biggest challenge in writing Synastry: The Witch of Wander Lane?

Alicia: The biggest challenge for us was settling on a writer that was a good fit for our style. But once we did, she took it to the next level. Additionally, we knew we wanted to work with students. As an educator, mentorship is very important to me. Once the pilot was finished, Lauren recruited 3 other USC students to assist with the second and third episodes, as well as the treatments for the remaining episodes for Season 1. And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to those talented writers/USC students: Julie Tran, Hayden Price, and Corey Gifft.

Lauren: The entire world in this series was carefully crafted from scratch. Although some elements were inspired by the real life, we created an entirely different world. As someone who focuses immensely on logistics, the biggest challenge was building a world that actually made sense. Even the smallest details were hammered out. And it wasn’t like we were creating any old historical fictional world, this world had its own magic system we developed and perfected. Incorporating that into the series in a way that wouldn’t confuse the audience was very challenging.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Alicia: My favorite scene to write (in the short was the end). It gave me chills how everything came together, and the twists were revealed.

Lauren: My favorite scene to write in episode one was actually a collection of scenes at the end. It was absolutely so much fun merging three different scenes occurring at the same time together. I feel like the moments between Zora and Maggie are so intense, then paired with the power Adele holds as she struts through the tunnels, with Florence alone at her desk… It encompasses the entirety of what the show is about and it kicks off such a fun season.

What was your favorite character to create?

Alicia: Florence! She seems like such a tyrant on the outside, but she has so much more complexities going on under the surface, and she’s very protective of her legacy.

Lauren: Marcel is my absolute favorite character to write! He is such a complex man with so many secrets that he is meticulous about uncovering. The way he speaks is very eloquent, so it was a challenge to make him sound mature and powerful, but I had a blast doing it. Especially given that my second favorite character to write was Adele, the best scenes were the ones that had any interaction between the two.

How/When do you plan to make it into a film?

Alicia: Because of the high budget, we anticipate production in 2024 or 2025, realistically.

What do you have next in the works?

Alicia: Zepstone is currently writing and collaborating on multiple screenplays, including a psychological thriller called The Emerald Stone (inspired by my life), a heartwarming drama called Becoming Milo (half would be filmed in Utah and half in Kenya), a grind house horror called Little Hammer, and an atmospheric haunted house horror called The Hidden.

How can we learn more about you and your projects?

Our website www.zepstonemedia.com Or Google Zepstone Media