Destry Allyn Spielberg Says: “Please Don't Feed the Babies”

As she begins her career as a filmmaker, Destry Allyn Spielberg is ready to shake up the Hollywood system. Long intrigued by the lofty genre space, she is now set to release her debut feature film Please do not feed children at the Sitges International Film Festival on Friday.

The project he manages Downton AbbeyS Michelle Dockery I Bada fracture'S Giancarlo Esposito follows a gang of orphans who travel south in search of a new life after an outbreak of a virus that decimates the nation's adult population, only to find themselves at the mercy of a psychotic woman who harbors a dangerous secret.

When it came to casting this group of young people, Spielberg worked with renowned casting director Anne McCarthy (Summoning) in order to recruit fresh, young actors to the team.

“My goal was to get as many new faces as possible – that's in a sense my goal as a director for the future,” he says. “I want to start my career. I'm tired of watching movies that lack young talent. There are so many young and talented actors who go unseen. I think this whole system is bullshit and I don't understand why this industry is so exclusive. It's stupid.”

Zoë Colletti (Only murders in the building), Dean Scott Vazquez (Transformers: Rise of the Beast), Vernon Davis (Chariot), Emmy Meisel (American Horror Story: 1984), Andrew Liner (Vampire Academy), Reagan Aliyah (Iron Heart) and Joshuaha Melnicka (Saint X) round out the cast of the low-budget indie project from producers Jason Dubin and his Perry Street Films, Josh Kesselman, Michael Hagerty, Bill Kenwright and Daniel Ryniker. Altitude is handling international sales for the title, and WME Independent is representing North American rights.

“We had a great film for the team with new faces, so we were very keen to hire as many people as possible,” he says. “I was lucky to find this cast.”

Working with Dockery was also a positive experience for the director: “Michelle was incredibly humble and willing to try different things – she supports you and really has a voice in the industry when it comes to supporting women.”

We struggle with independent space

When Spielberg first read Paul Bertino's script Please do not feed childrenshe knew this project would be a perfect fit for her directorial debut. She was preparing to win the Best Thriller award at the 2022 City of Angels Women's Film Festival for her short film. Let me go on the right path and had recently signed with WME when she was introduced Please do not feed children.

An emerging director whose father is Bajkownik Director Steven Spielberg was originally expected to make her debut with Ryan Hooper's 2021 The Blacklist script Four Assassins (and a Funeral)a project she is no longer attached to, but has ultimately been drawn to doing something more in the genre space.

“It was the fastest read of all the scripts I've ever seen, very engaging and a great page-turner,” she says of Please do not feed children. “I just had a feeling he was the right one. The title of the script immediately caught my eye, and the fact that the title could make me want to read something was just great.”

She adds: “I really liked psychological movies when I was growing up, and this movie is more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie. It's like Goonie meets Children of men”

Every independent film is full of challenges and Please do not feed children was no exception. The low-budget film faced some financing difficulties, which ultimately meant the project was delayed from April 2023 to October and November 2023, which came in the middle of double strikes by writers and actors. Fortunately, the project received approval to film and filming was eventually completed, which lasted 18 days in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was an experience, Spielberg says, that encouraged her to work in the independent space.

“Making this film was a big challenge, but it was an experience that almost made me not want to leave the indie genre space because I enjoyed the challenge,” Spielberg says. “The feeling of accomplishment is great, and when people believe in you and you meet people that you hopefully want to work with forever, it's amazing.”

He continues: “There were a lot of ups and downs. I think I've mastered every challenge that comes with making an independent film – let alone a film – all rolled into one. And I'm really grateful for that, because if the whole process had been smooth – and by the way, none of the films are, they're all challenging – I wouldn't have been prepared for the next one.”

He admits that working during the strikes was a “very emotional” experience for the cast and crew on set. “It brought us together and made the work environment healthy and enjoyable. We felt that we were all in this together,” he says. “There was no room to blame anyone for this or that. This was very important to me – the kit had to be non-toxic.”

Step management

Spielberg, who has a background in photography, has previously worked as an actress in films such as Licorice Pizza and an episode of the miniseries I know this is very truebut when she directed her short film, she quickly realized that instead of acting, she wanted to pursue directing.

“It made more sense to my brain and how I visually imagine things with colors and scenography,” he says. “I loved being more creative with shots, and I think when you get into the genre space, you get more of that. When you're in a theater space, it's a little more sustainable and has a lot more feng shui.

Growing up, she remembers listening to SirusXM's CineMagic with her father, a now-defunct station that played film scores, source music and dialogue from movie soundtracks. It was at this station that she first got a taste of what would become her favorite movie Shining.

“We were driving along one day and we were listening to it and they had part of it on Shining and I remember listening to it and hearing the classic “Red Rum, Red Rum” and the sound and the soundtrack just blew me away. I was obsessed with it but was too young to watch it.

When she watched it when she was older, so was the documentary Room 237Spielberg says “it completely changed my world.”

“I love that Kubrick liked to fuck with the audience and liked to point out things that had nothing to do with the actual story, all the hidden messages of the movie and all the conspiracies around it,” he says. “I thought that if I was ever going to make a movie, I wanted people to talk about it. So how do I do this?”

He loves this name Please do not feed children and compares it to signs that say “Please don't feed the animals,” which she thinks means viewers will want more when they come to see the film.

Family ties

Spielberg is well aware that having one of the world's most prolific and most lauded directors as her father will bring both benefits and obstacles to her as she begins to make a name for herself in the directing world.

“I think I'm very lucky to have him as a dad,” she says. “The name itself has its advantages – it is a blessing and a curse. But I have to remember that I can make a name for myself. I can prove my talent myself. But at the end of the day, I will always be Spielberg and I have to come to terms with that.”

“Unconsciously, being on a film set when I was a child was my film school, which I am truly grateful for,” she adds. “I think I know what I know and that gives me instinct, so I'm really grateful for how supportive he is.”

She admits that she showed her father the second and rougher version Please do not feed children – less for notes and more for excitement. “I'll never do that again,” he jokes. “I think he was nervous and thought it wasn't going to work, but when he saw the final cut, he gave me a big hug and took a big weight off my shoulders.”

Next, Spielberg is currently in the very early stages of his next directorial project Please do not feed children with actor Melnick, and while he can't reveal much, he tells Deadline it's a murder mystery. “There is probably a third project,” he admits. “I can't say much, but it's going to be great and I'll be busy.”

But when she was ready to reveal, Please do not feed children in front of audiences in Sitges, she is proud of the lessons she learned during her debut feature film. “I tried to cooperate as much as I could and tried to keep everything positive – even on the hardest days, and sometimes it was difficult,” she admits. “You're dealing with a lot of different characters and you have to know how to put your foot down, be the boss and then allow yourself to have those moments. But you also have to forgive and forget and continue to collaborate and face challenges together – the working environment is really important.”

Spielberg adds: “And it must be fun. If I'm the only one having fun and enjoying the process, then I'm doing it wrong.”