Ep. 34 Indie Filmmaking with Isabelle Barbier

putting your pen to paper & letting ideas blossom

Jessica Altchiler

and

Isabelle Barbier

Jun 10, 2025

Today we take a behind-the-scenes look at indie filmmaking, have a conversation about sugar-coating challenging topics to help the medicine go down, and preview the demonic-comedy Rip Her to Shreds.

Below, you’ll find 1. an introduction to our guest, Isabelle Barbier, 2. chapters and topics from the interview, and 3. clips previewing episode 34.

💌 Isabelle’s Story

Isabelle Barbier is an NYC-based writer-performer who’s obsessed with women talking. Her work tells very silly and very serious stories of everyday feminine rebellion.

Isabelle starred in the feature film CRSHD (Tribeca Film Festival) and has also appeared as an actor in The Other Two (HBO Max) and Actual People (Mubi).

She wrote and starred in the independent short film GRRL Guts and her recent screenplays have been finalists for the Academy Nicholls Fellowship, Blacklist X WIF fellowship, and winners at SF Indie Fest.

For playwriting, she received The Judith Campion Launch commission from Atlantic Theater company, and after a sold-out workshop at Ars Nova ANT Fest, she’s developing her new show Rip Her To Shreds for an off-broadway run in the 2025/26 season.

"The world on stage is very quotidian and witchcraft just so happens to creep in through the corners. A crystal ball is really just a laptop sitting in a dingy dorm, potions are drugs consumed at pre-game parties, and voodoo is whispering rumors in the girls bathroom. The lines between real magic and symbols of female power are often blurred.Vocal gasps, inflections, tones, screams, sighs are a secret language. Rapid shifts in emotions and tactics are spells. A girl telling her friend she’s pretty, or fun or special is like an incantation, and telling her she’s fat is a curse.In a culture saturated with special effects and fancy technology how do we create enchantment on stage. The original magic tricks were made from just a slight of hand in real time, so we can do it too! For the next phases of rehearsals we’ll be devising bewitching and other-wordly physicality/blocking with a movement director. Growing up, live theater was church for me. It’s a ceremony of shared attention. That’s MAGIC, I tell you! Shows are social events that can offer up new conversations and big feelings. In this expensive and scary post-pandemic world live performance should not only be easily accessible, it should be FUN!"

💝 Inside the Episode

In today’s episode, Isabelle Barbier dives into her creative process & artistic experience, discussing topics such as:

her journey from improv to scripted projects
where all of her ideas live
turning an idea → into a full fledged film
the impact of professional training (acting school!) on creativity
the importance of community and collaboration
the ins and outs of indie filmmaking
the role of humor in addressing sensitive topics, such as sexual trauma

This episode is for you if you’ve ever been curious about making your own work, have a story you’ve been wanting to tell, and are curious to engage in everyday feminine rebellion.