Overlook 2023 Film Festival – David Worthen Brooks, founder and head of 20^th Digital Studio, spoke to us about one of the two films he’s presenting at the festival, Clock. The Hulu original, written and directed by Alexis Jacknow and based on her short, is a woman’s nightmare. It stars Dianna Agron as Ella Patel, a woman desperate to “fix” her broken biological clock on the eve of her 38^th birthday. After agreeing to a fertility experiment run by Dr. Simmons (Melora Hardin), things go very, very wrong and the film edges some serious body horror territory. After premiering at Overlook, Clock will be released as a Hulu Original in the U.S. and on Disney+ International on April 28^th. Brooks also worked as an executive producer on the film.

This interview was slightly edited for clarity.

You’ve been involved in the film industry for a good while, working as a consultant and then founding 20^th  Digital Studio. Why do you think horror is having such a moment right now?

It feels like there are several creatives out there who should be credited with it, Jordan Peele, Jason Blum, to name a few. Horror can convey dramatic themes that used to exist just within dramas. I think that these creatives have led the way. We were lucky to be sort of moving into that area and realized that there was a lot of benefits that we could gain from it.

The first season of “Bite Size Horror” was in 2017. We wanted to solve a problem for the network. Network TV was not as great of an experience, if you could have Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu ad-free. Tony Sella and I came up with an idea for these two-minute horror films. I really wasn’t a horror fan beforehand. When I saw how these shorts turned out and how they were microcosms of what the feature films could be, I thought we were onto something.

During that first season, the shorts played during season premieres of network shows and playoffs of baseball games. It was extraordinary. The thing that excited me was that a huge audience had the chance to connect with these new voices. After I witnessed that, we asked, how far can we take this?

Tell me what drew you to Clock and made you want to support it?

I think at the heart of the attraction is Alexis Jacknow and what she brings as a new voice to filmmaking. She had already done a couple of very interesting shorts. We were really impressed by her exciting work, and then she came in and pitched the short of Clock. It had this twisted appeal inside of a very sterile environment. It was seeing this character trapped inside of the thoughtless presumptions of what she’s meant to be doing with her life and her body. We were then keen to hear what the feature would be. Alexis is very talented and an incredibly hard worker. In a very short amount of time, she came back to us with a pitch for the feature. She wrote the script, and the first draft that she handed in was about 90 percent there, which is also pretty extraordinary. Alexis is a director who has very firm control of her art and where she wants to go with it. She is very definite about what she wants each element to be. That’s one of many qualities, but maybe one of the primary qualities, we look for in an emerging director.

When Alexis pitched the feature from the short, did you give any advice? How much did you interact with that creative process?

We are involved in a very deep way, both in the production side and the creative side. On the production side, Jenna Cavelle runs the team that really monitors very closely the production process. On the creative side, Arbi Pedrossian runs that team. With the shorts, once an idea has been locked, we tend to say, “Go ahead and do it, and here’s the money.” With the features, we have very tight dialogue with the respective teams.

Why do you feel Hulu is the right platform for a film like Clock? Why is it a good fit?

Emily Upton-Davis, who we work with, loved the script and got it. The extended team, who she’s the liaison for, felt the same way. It was a natural fit. In terms of the breakdown of the Hulu audience, they’re older millennials and slightly female-leaning. Given that this is a film about reproductive rights and having one’s bodily autonomy co-opted, I would imagine that’s why it thematically is a good match for them. We looked at it on its merits and then brought it to Hulu. They concurred. That’s why it’s a good fit.

You mentioned how the film deals with bodily autonomy, which is so relevant right now, considering what happened to Roe last summer. Do you think we’ll continue to see films that deal with issues of choice and bodily autonomy?

When I first started working in the film business, all of the directors that I worked with were men. This is going back to the 1970s. We’ve come a long way since then. These are themes important to the filmmaker. What we look for is passion and a vision to express that passion, as well as personal connection to the themes. If I’m feeling that from a filmmaker, I want to know more. In terms of actually predicting where society is going, I’m sure there’s a wide spectrum of ways that this particular theme could be addressed as well. I think with the right passion and the right conceptualization of that passion, we’d be just as likely to make a different version of this film. As long as it taps into the horror that the author is feeling in a way that moves us, I think we’ll support it.

Both Appendage and Clock are playing at the Overlook Film Festival. What makes this film festival unique compared to some of the others, other than the fact it primarily focuses on horror?

This is really superficial, but it’s genesis. It was a great idea, and now, to be in New Orleans is fantastic.

Appendage features Emily Hampshire from “Schitt’s Creek,” while Clock features Melora Hardin from “The Office.” Do you want to comment on the casting? We’re used to seeing these women in comedies, but they’re both rather villainous in these films and terrifying in their own way.

We love comedians. During the early years of Fox Digital Studio, we made primarily comedies. What’s great about comedians is their ability to improvise and to see a fresh take on the scene we’re entering into. That happened with both films. They’re awesome.

Will there be another season of Hulu’s “Bite Size Halloween?”

Yes. We’re working on it right now. This is the time of the year that we start meeting a new crop of filmmakers.

David, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us!