Review Fix Exclusive Queens World Film Festival Coverage: Christina Raia Talks ‘We Had Plans’

Review Fix chats with filmmaker Christina Raia who discusses her film, “We Had Plans,” set for at a run at this year’s summer screening session of the Queens World Film Festival.

For more on the film and the festival, click here.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Christina Raia: Inspired by a real life conversation with Writer Kelsey Rauber’s own sister, what I found resonated with me was the broader thematic elements of choice and expectation. With this film, I wanted to tell a story in a limited space, with limited time, with limited distraction from the core of the story; just two women having an intimate & heated discussion, the magnitude of which is bigger than the film it exists within.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Raia: We shot the film in my apartment, and I live across the street from a park where meet-ups and events often happen. On Sunday’s in particular, a Native American chanting circle meets and dances throughout most of the day. I’ve since grown to love hearing it through my windows; but during the shoot, when I wasn’t expecting it and sound was everything in this dialogue-driven film, it was quite a challenge to work around for my production team.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Raia: The idea of choice, or lack thereof, is something so key to being a contemporary woman, but something so rarely explored in film, especially in this unique, subversive context. I hope the film and the characters stay with people. I would love for the film to be remembered as a piece that personifies a complex issue and leaves the audience feeling.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Raia: It feels wonderful to be part of this festival. I live in Queens, Woodside specifically, and I love how community driven and considerate the festival is. Queens is so full of talented artists and rich with stories not often represented in media. I’m proud to be part of a festival that works to showcase this.


Review Fix: What’s next?

Raia: The writer of “We Had Plans,” Kelsey Rauber, and I are in pre-production for our feature film “About a Donkey.” It is slated for production in March 2017. We, of course, hope to submit and screen it at Queens World Film Festival the following year.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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