{"id":45969,"date":"2025-08-05T02:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/45969\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T02:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:04:13","slug":"alice-maio-mackay-has-already-made-6-features-at-age-21-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/45969\/","title":{"rendered":"Alice Maio Mackay Has Already Made 6 Features at Age 21 \u2014\u00a0Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Gen-Z stare<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t have a thing on a long silence spent with the quietly brilliant Alice Maio Mackay<\/a>. At 21, the Australian filmmaker has already made six features \u2014\u00a0in just four years. Her latest just premiered at Fantasia Fest<\/a>, and \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d<\/a> is the beginning of a romantic new era for the dark fantasist,\u00a0who\u2019s reserved in-person but ferocious on film<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maio Mackay\u2019s latest is a demonic lesbian love story that\u2019s inspired by the hazy pop-horniness of \u201cThe L Word\u201d and the director\u2019s favorite episodes of \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer\u201d and \u201cCharmed.\u201d \u201cEveryone\u2019s always telling me, \u2018Oh,\u00a0this is your most personal film,\u2019 and I find that to be such a weird assumption,\u201d Maio Mackay told IndieWire in Montreal. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing if I\u2019ve said that, but I haven\u2019t, and these people don\u2019t know me. It\u2019s really bad with male journalists. No shade to them, but starting when I was 16, with every film, they\u2019re like, \u2018And\u00a0this\u00a0is your most personal film to date!’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BOYS<\/a> \"Alison<\/a> <\/p>\n

The daughter of two academics, Maio Mackay first announced her film career with a stop-motion cartoon she made using Lego as a kid. By 15, the director had entered Stephen King\u2019s beloved Dollar Baby competition and adapted the horror author\u2019s original story, \u201cA Tale of the Laundry Game,\u201d for just $1 U.S. with her writing partner Benjamin Pahl Robinson. That year, Maio Mackay also crowdfunded her dazzling feature debut \u201cSo Vam\u201d \u2014 again with Robinson, who\u2019s co-written all six of her features \u2014\u00a0for $10,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a lot of time, and it was really small, but I knew I had to put everything I loved into that film,\u201d Maio Mackay said. \u201cIt\u2019s got drag queens and these extended drag sequences, and a trans vampire in that one as well. You do everything in your first movie in case you don\u2019t get to make another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A scene from \u201cSo Vam\u201d <\/p>\n

Maio Mackay likes her cinema \u201ccolorful, witty, sexy, and crazy.\u201d You get that impression just watching the pulsing pink credits at the start of \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d \u2014 but \u201cSo Vam\u201d established her as a genre auteur and powerhouse. After submitting her first film to the Salem Horror Festival in 2021, Maio Mackay got a \u201csurreal\u201d call from the acquisitions team at Shudder. The horror streaming service offered her an exclusive distribution deal that still blows the young filmmaker\u2019s mind today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting to do\u00a0anything\u00a0with that movie,\u201d Maio Mackay said. \u201cEven explaining it now, I can\u2019t believe that happened. We shot it in January 2021, and it kicked off a really hectic few years for me. I look back on it and it doesn\u2019t always sound real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having already skipped a few grades in school, Maio Mackay dropped out before shooting \u201cSo Vam.\u201d The emerging director gained production experience working on Australian TV shows, including the drama \u201cFirst Day\u201d about a trans teenager \u2014 but no amount of hands-on learning could have prepared her for a major PR windfall. On August 4, 2021, Maio Mackay turned 17, just as her first film came out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe internet is a really weird place to be,\u201d she said, reflecting on the complicated professional milestone four years later. \u201cI\u2019m definitely using my phone less now. I\u2019m not on TikTok. I don\u2019t really check my message requests. I\u2019ll post stuff, but I try to read more than I use any apps.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"A scene from \u201cT Blockers\u201d<\/p>\n

Maio Mackay celebrated that birthday with her family, amid a torrent of critical feedback, community support, and transphobic death threats on social media. The eventful release changed her life, for good and bad, but even then, she said, \u201cI know I made the right decision.\u201d She continued, \u201cIt was all instinctual. I wasn\u2019t thinking, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ll make this career move with this film to get this where I want to go.\u2019 I just knew that I wanted to make the films that I wanted to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Maio Mackay\u2019s second film, \u201cBad Girl Boogey,\u201d the writer\/director worked with a similar budget \u2014\u00a0this time, paid for by Dark Star Pictures. The indie distributor got Maio Mackay busy making her sophomore feature in January 2022, and they started rolling on her third film, \u201cT Blockers,\u201d that July. The dark vigilante comedy was her most overtly political and self-aware work (if not, as those male journalists might\u2019ve put it, her \u201cmost personal film\u201d) to date.<\/p>\n

\"\"The DVD cover for \u201cBad Girl Boogey\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I made that one, I honestly never thought anyone would watch it,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, it was called \u2018T Blockers.\u2019 It had a trans lead. It was more of a hangout film than a horror film. I just didn\u2019t think it would go anywhere. But it\u2019s definitely my most popular movie, and all the things just felt right when I was doing it. It felt like I had grown up to that point, and I was ready to make it and say what I had to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dark Star has kept the money flowing for Maio Mackay ever since. Her fourth project, \u201cSatranic Panic,\u201d went ahead that December, and the next year, she made her fifth film \u2014\u00a0the holiday horror outing \u201cCarnage for Christmas\u201d \u2014 introducing Vera Drew as her collaborator and editor. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe People\u2019s Joker\u201d<\/a> legend is among Maio Mackay\u2019s best friends in a growing network of trans filmmakers. Drew\u2019s unmissable style helped the 21-year-old wriggle free of her artistic past and start a vibrant new chapter with \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin.\u201d Another friend, filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (\u201cI Saw the TV Glow\u201d) took a summer trip to support the world premiere in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where I feel like my voice has fully formed,\u201d said Maio Mackay. \u201cI feel like my other films were a little more in your face, but this is the direction I want to go in and what I really want to do stylistically. It\u2019s more grounded and it\u2019s more romantic, but it\u2019s less horror in terms of genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A scene from \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d<\/p>\n

Starring the dreamy Alexandra McVicker and electric Avalon Fast<\/a>, the slippery sixth feature from Maio Mackay is a classic two-for-one fantasy romance that\u2019s perfect for the modern pansexual. \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d has scary magical elements in it, but the main relationship triangle \u2014\u00a0between vampires Anna (McVicker) and Gen (Fast), and their unlucky human friend, Danny (Jordan Dulieu) \u2014\u00a0isn\u2019t horrific.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really want to do is more supernatural dramas that are infused with zombies and vampires and things like that,\u201d said Maio Mackay. \u201cThe library was my favorite place to be growing up. I was always picking through the DVD section and trying new books. I liked suspense and I liked love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Written on the heels of a \u201cSense8\u201d rewatch (with several \u201cvery corny\u201d Meatloaf<\/a> songs in mind), \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d indicates a hopeful next chapter for the bright-eyed filmmaker. Producer Louise Weard (\u201cCastration Movie\u201d) found Maio Mackay her two sapphic leads, but the director pushed herself by including a main character who is a man. Masculinity is typically reserved for supporting roles in Maio Mackay\u2019s movies \u2014\u00a0but Danny\u2019s inclusion suggests a bid for a wider queer audience and narrative growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe film is mainly about Anna and Gen\u2019s connection, because that\u2019s where the power comes from,\u201d said Maio Mackay. \u201cBut when Danny and Anna meet, he\u2019s integral to that plot and she winds up loving him in a different way. It\u2019s really sweet, and you don\u2019t often seen trans women hooking up with men in film, let alone casually. I knew that was important to me going into it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A scene from \u201cCarnage for Christmas\u201d <\/p>\n

Embodying the ideal alt-boy heartthrob, Dulieu transformed during pre-production and bulked up for the part significantly. Maio Mackay wanted Danny to look like \u201cthe ultimate 2000s boyfriend,\u201d and in the end, she had more trouble managing the continuity of his fake tattoos than any of her film\u2019s creature effects. \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d was shot last fall and Danny\u2019s unforgettable\u00a0\u201cFUCK TRUMP<\/a>\u201c ink was added as a last-minute attempt to vent about the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t negative energy, but it was definitely out of frustration,\u201d said Maio Mackay. \u201cAlex is from New York and she had to go back to America after filming, so it was just this small thing we could say. In the same way that we hid a pro-Palestine message<\/a> on the wall in our bathroom scene. It\u2019s a little moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the gothic Y2K style that makes \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d so tempting comes with nostalgia for that decade \u2014\u00a0one Maio Mackay and her fellow Gen-Zers were mostly too young to remember \u2014\u00a0she said no. Yes, modern pop stars like Madison Beer and Tate McRae are \u201cthrowing it back to Britney,\u201d and Maio Mackay has the music references to know that. But the director also has friends who outright \u201crefuse\u201d to watch entertainment from the last century, and ultimately, she thinks her peer group\u2019s obsession with the 2000s<\/a> is \u201cmainly aesthetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been adventurous when it comes to my tastes, and I love to fall down rabbit holes with actors and directors. The \u201970s and \u201990s are my favorite eras,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always found it weird when someone says they won\u2019t try any of it at all. It\u2019s not even about quality. It\u2019s just their interests. Why do they feel that way?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A scene from \u201cSatranic Panic\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s equally baffled by the widespread use of artificial intelligence. \u201cI am vehemently against AI,\u201d said Maio Mackay. \u201cIt\u2019s killing the environment, and I feel like people, especially in my generation, are becoming almost brain dead. I never thought in my life I would hear someone at 20 being like, \u2018I needed AI to write an email to my manager.\u2019 It\u2019s like, you\u00a0have\u00a0the job for a reason. You are capable of doing that. I hate every aspect of it in every industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d is rooted as much in Maio Mackay\u2019s lifelong appreciation for Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys as it is the consistent influence of Gregg Araki. (Naturally, she\u2019s a fan of \u201cThe Doom Generation.\u201d) Recently, the director picked up transcendental meditation \u2014\u00a0a famous practice of the late David Lynch<\/a> \u2014\u00a0from her friend, Vera Drew. Maio Mackay tends to connect with more established artists because they know who they are already, and she likes to maintain a strict schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in film is so stressful,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, making a movie is the best, but you\u2019re dealing with so many things at the same time. Having a routine just resets everything every day and it allows you to move forward with your thinking. It\u2019s 20 minutes, twice a day. That drastically changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(Left to right): Avalon Fast, Alice Maio Mackay, and Alexandra McVicker<\/p>\n

Having a plan asserts self-respect as much as maturity. For Maio Mackay, it also harkens back to a girlhood that was punctuated by TV production call times. The artist shared what should have been her high school lunch periods chatting with adult creatives, and you can see that perceptiveness constantly at work in her eyes. Even wondering about the prom she didn\u2019t attend, Maio Mackay prefers the song and dance of the film industry. Again, she\u2019s optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are definitely so many issues, and so many filmmakers who are minorities working really hard to compete with mediocre straight white guys \u2014\u00a0and that\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d the filmmaker said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be surprising, but every time I hear\u00a0about it, I think, \u2018That\u2019s someone\u2019s heart and that\u2019s their life.\u2019 It\u2019s tragic. But at the same time, places like\u00a0Fantasia and companies like Dark Star and Shudder are uplifting filmmakers from different areas and that\u2019s also really great.\u201d <\/p>\n

Maio Mackay sometimes gets flack for being too prolific. She finds that criticism strange, particularly when it\u2019s coupled with the assertion that every movie she makes is her \u201cmost personal.\u201d A kind of \u201cGinger Snaps\u201d for the hornier half of Gen-Z, \u201cThe Serpent\u2019s Skin\u201d heads to FrightFest in the UK later this month.<\/p>\n

For her 21st birthday, Maio Mackay also had a few wishes. She\u2019s dying to work with her favorite actress, Bella Thorne, and the genre lover can\u2019t recommend Janell Shirtcliff\u2019s \u201cHabit\u201d enough. \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite film ever made,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. It\u2019s pulpy. It\u2019s everything. She basically has sex with God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maio Mackay still wants an ALEXA Mini (\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0camera for this genre,\u201d she said), and someday soon she\u2019d like to write and publish comics. Of course, the director is also hoping for more money to make the film she\u2019s writing now. Shooting on location in Italy would be a dream come true for any visionary, but the future of filmmaking<\/a> can be found wherever Maio Mackay is quietly having a fantasy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell the same stories, only bigger,\u201d she said. \u201cSo many men get to do those kinds of films, and I worked so hard to get here already. It\u2019s scary, but as a female filmmaker, I want to outrun those risks and see where it takes me.\u201d\u00a0And we\u2019re guessing that will be personal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Gen-Z stare\u00a0doesn\u2019t have a thing on a long silence spent with the quietly brilliant Alice Maio Mackay. At…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[32151,49,48,75,32152,1554,32153,4150,337,32154],"class_list":["post-45969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-alice-maio-mackay","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-fantasia-festival","tag-film","tag-future-of-filmmaking","tag-interview","tag-movies","tag-the-serpents-skin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}