THE INTERVIEW
September, 2025
SHELDON WOODSON
DIRECTORS OF The Model, The Mannequin, and Me
HONORABLE MENTION
Sheldon, tell us a bit more about yourself. Where does your desire to be a director come from?
I’m a storyteller above all things filmmaking, and since I’m a storyteller who likes telling certain stories, directing the stories I write is the next best thing. I’ve read several interviews where the writer of a story was disappointed with the direction of the story because of the directors vision. A director is also a storyteller in his or her own way, they often times tell the story from an angle that does not match what the writer intended. Despite an Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA or any other accolades that are garnered for the film. If the person conquering up the story isn’t happy with the final results. That writer may be eternally unhappy or disappointed despite the money made from it. I direct to tell the story how I wrote it.
What is your background?
I served in the United States Military, via the US Navy, for 24 years. During that time, in my spare time, I wrote novels that are sold at major book sellers today. I’ve always dreamed of seeing my books become movies, and I aspired to become a screenplay writer. My books are “Destination, Spiritual Eyes, and Darkness in the Light.” My writings came close to making it to the big screen, but at the last minute, something went wrong that prevented it from happening. So like Thanos, I decided to do it myself. In 2021, I wrote, filmed, and starred in a couple of shorts that won accolades from multiple film festivals, and in 2023, I decided to tackle a feature. My first feature, “Come Outside,” which is now streaming on TubiTV, Amazon Prime, and PLEX. My second feature, “VESSEL,” is due to be released on TubiTV, Amazon Prime Video, and Future Today. “The Model, The Mannequin, and Me” is my three-feature film.
What were your references for The Model, The Mannequin, and Me?
“The Model, The Mannequin, and Me” is a work of pure fiction and imagination, though it speaks to the “what ifs” of AI and the hidden possibilities of tech. Everyday we’re hearing stories about our phones listening to us and sharing that information to either a govenmental entity or some corporation trying to sell us someting. Since we, as Americans, buy most of our products from China and sell them here in America, how do we know the items we have aren’t detrimental in some way? The most covert listening or killing device can be put in something we do not see as a threat, e.g. a pair of unmoving, unseeing mannequins, so we think.
Sheldon you won an Honorable Mention at the RED Movie Awards, what does that mean to you?
As a writer, I highly appreciate accolades that praise my writing or original concepts. I try to write stories that have never been told or in a way that has never been expressed. An Honorable Mention, to me are, the judges saying, “This was good, very good. So good, we can’t let this go away without giving it something.” So, I highly appreciate the acknowledgment.
The film is described as a “designer’s nightmare.” How important was visual style and design in creating the unsettling atmosphere?
The film is a psychological thriller with elements of horror and suspense, and I wanted it to reflect that mainly in the tone of the film. I tried making the atmosphere and the mannequins the stars of the film. The characters were fillers. When I write, I try to make the environment (i.e. the atmosphere) the main focus of the movie, rather than the characters. The mannequins simply wanted respect despite being another living thing, deemed an item or a thing to be manipulated for personal use. Eventually, conciousness will be deemed a soul. Once AI or anything humankind create is given autonomy it’ll want rights, fairness, and to be treated as well as the so called elite.
Your film presents a chilling idea: military-issue mannequins with killer programming invading everyday life. What inspired this concept?
The inspiration came mainly from AI, and the things the tech folks can do now with technology. Who says this is not our current reality?
We’re at a stage in our lives where anything can be used as a weapon or a thing to invade our privacy. Drones are now our weapons of choice. What’s next? Maybe mannequins. We’re all programmed to be, to do, to act, and to think a certain way. Television shows, Podcast, Music, and number of other things are made to program us into doing something or to think something for someone else agenda. Computers do exactly what they’re programmed to do. Political parties and religious groups do exactly what they’re programmed to do. The only thing stopping them from jumping off the deep end is having to suffer the consequences of their actions. The mannequins in the film are following their program, but also trying to hid there actions by cleaning up and shipping the bodies off.
Independent filmmaking often requires resourcefulness and determination. Can you share a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it?
Having to be in front of the camera and behind it I use apps and the use of a remote to record the scenes. I have time restraints working with people I can’t pay overtime too so a lot of the times I can’t check the footage to see if it’s all there. There were some great scenes that were not recorded or they came out horrible. During the process of editing I had to recreate the scenes in a way that would make sense or rewrite them to leave the scene out. A lot of times it worked out well, but some scenes, I wish I would of got or maybe waited to get on the screen.
You wear many hats—writer, director, producer, actor, even financier. What do you find most rewarding about being so deeply involved in every aspect of your films?
I heard too many stories about projects being stuck in production hell. I refuse to let that happen to me. So, I learned everything it takes to get a film made and step into those roles as a necessary. I’m a “I can” person, I’m emphatic to cast and crew when there are problems or issues that seem unresolvable because I’ve been there and done it. Getting things done is very important. Sometimes giving up perfection when the means of getting it there isn’t readily available. Perfection is subjective though the fundamentals are not. I believe, if you can, at the very least deliver the basics in the less important parts of the film and focus on perfecting the theme and message. You’ll get there. I believe I at the very least do that in my films.
Do you have an anecdote to share with us in particular?
Yes, what ever you want to do, learn it and do it. Udemy, Youtube, Stage 32, and several indie filmmakers need your help. Indie filmamkers will give you a free eduction for a little sweat equity.
What is your next project?
My film, “The Model, The Mannequin, and Me,” was featured in The Hollywood Reporter with a few other films during the Cannes Film Festival. I attended the Tribeca Film Festval and participated in the storytellers conference. The lessons I’ve learned there earned me a seat at the table to pitch a couple of my films at AFM (American Film Market), and The Austin Film Festival. I’m not sure which film I’ll do but right now, “A Clean Past”, and “The Creaks” two psychological socially concious films about Karma and revenge will be pitched for funding. I have eight scripts ready for production, so I may change my mind and work on one of them. The one thing I’m not doing is waiting on the hollywood greenlight. That may never come.
