Acting Alum’s Short Film ‘Scutly’ To Take Chicago Film Circuit

“The monocled man full of insight: Scutly,” the voiceover says as bright green, whimsical text drips over a pastel background in the newly released trailer for Scutly, written and directed by Layne Marie Williams BFA ’13 (Acting). A private screening of Williams’ film took place on Thursday, Nov. 21 at Chicago’s Indie Co-lab; the proceeds from non-crew members’ contributions to the screening will go toward the film’s anticipated festival run. Scutly follows the “pastel girls,” a group of pop stars who are a force of barrettes, metallic tops and bright lipstick in direct contrast to the elderly, monocled film’s namesake, Scutly. The three girls are volunteering at a senior home, The Matour, when they encounter Scutly. What follows is described as “a film about the power of friendship and its ability to bridge our many differences.” 

Scutly - Official Trailer from Layne Marie Williams on Vimeo.

Scutly is a woman-centered narrative and Williams has a strong history of supporting women in the industry. She is the co-founder of The Women’s Film Festival in Philadelphia—which is currently in its 6th consecutive year running—and the founder of Women of the Now, a womanist film collective focusing on intersectionality in the industry. Women of the Now aims to “support all our sisters, not just our cis-ters.” The organization puts this mission into action with events such as the upcoming Rise & Shine: Uniting Chicago's Womxn Filmmakers brunch to promote community between women filmmakers in the Chicago area.  

Although Williams earned her BFA in acting, she found herself drawn to directing and chased her passion all the way to Chicago. She has created short films with women-driven plotlines such as GALgorithm which follows a group of tweens with superpowers, and a music video for Gracie Martin BFA ’14 (Acting) & The So Beautiful’s called 10%. Williams also worked on a recent short film, Veiled Tractate, starring Campbell O'Hare BFA ’14 (Acting) which premiered at the Adirondack Film Festival in upstate New York. Williams says that she “believes in truth, grit and that art can change the world.”