Breakup Season
Breakup Season (2024 Winner: Waco Indie Best Feature Film and Best Performance in a Feature). A young man (Chandler Riggs - The Walking Dead) brings his girlfriend (Samantha Isler - Molly’s Game) to his rural Oregon hometown for the holidays to introduce her to his family, only for things to go terribly wrong upon arrival.
Director, H. Nelson Tracy and star, Chandler Riggs at the 2024 Waco Indie awards.
It’s Christmas in May! We’re joined today by H. Nelson Tracy, the writer/director of Breakup Season. This film was one of our favorites of the year, and won 2 awards at the 2024 fest. Nelson, thank you for chatting with us, how’s everything with you?
NT: Wonderful! After touring film festivals last year with my debut feature, 2025 is a nice change of pace. I'm busy editing a documentary and also writing a screenplay for my second feature. I love the cycle of filmmaking: introverted time writing, extroverted time shooting, introverted time editing, extroverted time publicizing. Rest, rinse, repeat. Love it all.
We’re feeling nostalgic. Tell us what you remember of your time at the fest.
NT: An immediate feeling of elation from the very first email! That feeling stayed into the arrivals, all the way through the long weekend. First off Waco Indie lives up to its stance as a "filmmaker festival," bringing in over 100 filmmakers of shorts and features and treating them to very fun parties and events. The game night is particularly memorable - that's when I felt like the ice was broken and suddenly the festival more closely resembled a summer camp. Secondly, it's rare to have a festival where the local community is so plugged in - at the events I met so many people involved in the Waco arts scene, all of whom were passionate fans of the festival and after my film had screened were enthusiastic supporters. This is the kind of festival you hope to be a part of for the experience it creates and the quality of people it brings out. My only regret is I didn't have time to check out the water park (yes, it exists, bring your swimsuit) - but it's always good to have a reason to come back!
How does this film fit in with your body of work?
NT: [This is] my debut feature. I've spent a lifetime preparing to make this film. It represents the culmination of that film education and the kickoff of the next stage in my directing career.
What was your biggest success story (or biggest failure) in the production of this film? Favorite scenes?
NT: We shot the entire film in a rural location 4 hours from the nearest major city, in the middle of winter, with only 16 days! The fact that we even accomplished this and landed on our feet is the biggest success of them all. What I'm most proud of is how many people feel a sense of ownership of this movie: cast, crew, donors, local community members - dozens of people contributed to make this movie, and they all love the final result. This is indie film at its finest. Like a film festival, a successful movie builds community. The Breakup Season community is alive and well and I'm grateful to be a part of it to this day.
Favorite Scene? So many, but I find myself coming back to a scene where Ben (Chandler Riggs) recounts a favorite memory of his relationship. It's midway through the film. For me it represents all the elements of the film dialing at once. I loved his performance and his scene work with Jacob Wysocki. Shooting the flashback was something that took a major swing but ended up perfect. And the music by David Stal could not be better. It tees up one of the most memorable scenes in the entire movie that follows it right after. This for me is where the movie is firing on all cylinders and where I feel the most proud.
What’s something you wish you knew when you started out?
NT: When you finish the movie, you are only on the 50 yard line. Promoting and releasing the movie is just as much work as making it, and nobody else will do it for you. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
What was the most difficult choice you had to make when making this film?
NT: I expected editing to be the easiest part of the project (I worked as an editor prior to this), but it may have been the hardest. I shot some amazing scenes that had to be completely rethought or cut out during the edit. The opening credits (showing the couple happily living in LA) were originally way more epic, spanning 5 minutes. Everyone said it took too long to get going. We cut them out entirely and audiences said they felt like they didn't know them well enough. I was ready to tear my hair out! But this feedback got me to find the perfect happy medium. The final result is a 1 minute montage, way more efficient and elegant than what I envisioned, the best of both worlds. Listening to feedback from trusted sources, while sticking true to your film.
Similarly, I cut the coolest shot of the movie out. It's toward the end of the movie and a big reveal in the end (no way to describe without spoilers, but it was heavily inspired by The Wizard of Oz's transition into color). It came out perfectly when we shot it. But it gave the scene an unintentional meaning completely the opposite of what I intended. Without that shot, I was able to convey the message I wanted to. So I killed the darling there. It will live on in the DVD bonus features. A tough but necessary shot to cut.
And cutting the trailer was harder than cutting the movie, don't ask me why, but it was!
Well, the trailer was great! We’ll post that in the blog. And now, to wrap the interview, what’s your favorite movie theater snack?
NT: A cold beer - preferably a pale ale or a hazy IPA - that's the good stuff.
You heard him folks, grab a pale ale and watch Breakup Season on Amazon, Tubi and other streaming channels.
Want more stories like this? Follow the Waco Independent Film Festival for updates on Texas filmmakers, indie film news, and everything happening at our July film festival in Waco.