-Who is Gala Avary?
Gala Avary is a writer, producer, film critic, and podcaster. She is best known for her producing and on air work on The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary. She started working at fifteen years old in writers rooms up in Canada, and over the last fifteen years has produced movies like Lucky Day (2019) and the upcoming indie drama Sicklerville. She’s curated for Arrow Streaming, been featured in Fangoria, and spoken at establishments like Snap Inc, Creator Camp, Runway, and Soho House. Currently, Gala is COO of General Cinema Dynamics: an AI company that aims to elevate entertainment and make production more available in the independent sphere.
-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
I’ve always loved cinema. I’ve been lucky enough to grow up on sets like The Rules of Attraction, or visiting my father’s filmmaker friends (like Gaspar Noe, Abel Ferrara, Christophe Gans, and Tarsem Singh) while they were in production. I’ve known from a very young age that I had to do something in the creative field, and at ten years old my dad gifted me Final Draft to write an idea that I had. I’ve been hooked ever since.
-Tell us about your projects.
I’ve just wrapped production on an ultra-low-budget independent feature titled Sicklerville, directed by Jason-Christopher Mayer & Gage Golightly and starring James Paxton, Ruby Modine, and Cody Saintgnue. It’s a punchy, gritty, independent movie that takes place in South Jersey. The film deals with the “will they, won’t they” surrounding the 2000’s opioid epidemic. I’m really proud of how hard the crew worked, and I can’t wait for audiences to see it.
I’m on to producing a few more traditional projects for 2026 and 2027, and I’m excited to share more about them when I’m able to. On the AI side, I’m working at General Cinema Dynamics and aiding Roger in his adaptation of Paradise Lost with producer Marco Webber. For my personal project, I’ve been compiling a written compendium for The Video Archives Podcast. It includes dozens of interviews with industry professionals regarding their movies, and I plan on self publishing the book later this year.
-Which Director inspires you the most?
The director that inspires me most would have to be Ken Russell. Altered States was the movie that made me fall back in love with filmmaking. I love his use of color. Russell is inspired by artists, and I love how he was a provocateur and always pushed the boundary of what was acceptable to audiences.
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
The world is actually a pretty amazing place, and when you focus on the positive sides of things you see a lot more greatness around you. My hope for the world is that people continue to be kind to each other, and try to see where people are coming from. Conversation is one of the most powerful tools we have, and it’s what makes cinema so important.
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
Cinema will still be here in one hundred years. In what form, I don’t know. What I do know is that people still sit around the campfire and tell stories, so I don’t imagine that that will ever go away.
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
Wild Filmmaker’s modus operandi: “Cinema has the right to exist freely” … it interests me. The acknowledgement that art evolves is an important one. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
