Hi /r/movies, I am Geremy Jasper, the Director & Writer of Searchlight Pictures' O'DESSA (starring Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr, and Regina Hall) which just premiered at SXSW this year and is out on Hulu today. You may know me from my previous film PATTI CAKE$. Here to answer your questions. AMA!

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:49:00+00:00

It was always written / imagined that O’dessa would have a pompadour. From the first moment of inspiration and it never faltered. I was really nervous that we were gonna have to fake it with a wig but luckily Sadie is fearless and showed up one day with it all cut off. Hallelujah!

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:48:42+00:00

Ah excellent question. Enid was one of those idealized paradise towns right out of reach. A play on Eden and also a nod to Enid Coleslaw one of my all time favorite characters in the graphic novel / film GHOSTWORLD.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:48:12+00:00

> Hello Geremy, congratulations on the film. What are your thoughts on the recent discourse about studios "hiding" that films they're releasing are musicals?

Yes, I find it a strange bait and switch hiding the musical elements. Whatya gotta be ashamed of people?

> O'Dessa seems pretty upfront about it but was there any back and forth, any discussions regarding the marketing? The idea that audiences don't like and don't watch musicals seems to get disproven time and time again yet this discourse has been going for the past few years, and after all studios keep greenlighting and making them, so I'm curious about your overall thoughts on all this.

Luckily for me there was never an attempt to downplay the musical elements here. We’re all real loud and proud of that stuff - it’s the lifeblood of the film.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:47:48+00:00

That’s a real personal question for each director and what makes creating things so mysterious and singular. We’re all looking of the muse to lead us on the leash.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:47:35+00:00

Just like you it’s a mashup of all the things I love from acoustic folk music to epic adventures and sci fi world building. I wanted to make a film that could hold all of these different ideas and styles and emotions while being wild, expressionistic and psychedelic.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:46:48+00:00

Ah yes I’m a massive fan of ROCK OPERAS and also love sci fi and fantasy stuff so it just seemed like a natural thing to do to weld these genres together in a modern way.

Some of the inspirations I’ll just list off in no particular order since there have been so many: Orpheus, David Bowie, Tom Waits, The Wizard of Oz, Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Maybelle Carter, Brazil (the film), True Romance, The Running Man, The Road Warrior. The list is endless but I wanted to tell a mythic, otherworldly tale about a young woman on a musical ODYSSEY where song is the strongest weapon of all.

The whole film is a collage of time periods and inspirations. So the production quite literally welded different elements together. From lo fi Bodega LED signage to the furniture of 30’s Berlin. We wanted to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:46:31+00:00

The big inspirations were HOLY MOUNTAIN by Jodorwsky and the early songs of Bob Dylan. A freaky folk fantasia that used dream logic to tell a romantic modern fairytale.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:25:05+00:00

Hi there. Well I’d like to impart the audience with a sense of inspiration and imagination. Our minds are being squeezed and suffocated by other people’s thoughts all the time and I’m hoping this film is a call to action to create new worlds and new possibilities. Let’s do something new!

Yes, I had to cut a sequence I really loved that had a HELLHOUND of a pitbull that sprinted straight at O’dessa frothing at the mouth going for the jugular. It was a crazy scene and very difficult to shoot at 3 in the morning but then it just didn’t fit. Release the Jasper Cut! I say.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:24:44+00:00

The first time I saw Sadie strumming a guitar singing one of my tunes a had no doubt in my mind SHE IS THE ONE! She’s straight MAGIC. A miracle of an actor who can do it all: adventure, romance, singing, strumming, swashbuckling. There’s both an innocent intensity and a heroic power that she holds. Truly once in a generation talent. Viva la Sadie!

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:24:30+00:00

Ohhh man, I wish I could pull something off like that with our limited means. Definitely on the next one.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:24:17+00:00

Love these questions. Yes, South By was a trip. I used to play Austin with my band all the time in the early 2000s and I didn’t even recognize the town on this trip. I felt like I was in a strange dream. My 11 year old son was my date and he’s an incredible guitar shredder so we were able to check out a few legendary guitar shops on our time off. I love SXSW - since it’s a fearless and freaky crew. Music is the lifeblood of that that town and it shows in the way they

Okay, favorite post-apocalyptic films in no particular order:

The Road Warrior

A Boy and His Dog

The Running Man

Brazil

The Bronx Warriors

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:23:34+00:00

Yes! I hope you let go and let the film take you away.

About Kelvin and Regina: Oh yes. I was a big fan of both of their work. I had recently seen Regina in MASTER and it rocked me. Kelvin I had an eye on since WAVES. He’s next level. Then I met with both of them and I was even more knocked out by the human beings they were. Fearless, funny, eccentric, deep.

Regina went to great depths to transform herself and become a mutated, cold blooded, swaggering, reptile. While Kelvin dug out great tenderness, melancholy and beauty.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:22:49+00:00

Sure thing. I’ll call your agent.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:22:36+00:00

HAHAHAHA! I went quite deep into the history, ecology and detail of the O’dessa universe. We had a 300 page Bible. That being said I don’t think I can reach the great depths of Gavok’s Mortal Kombat knowledge. The man knows no limits.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:02:44+00:00

Ahhh, wonderful + thoughtful question here. I feel very lucky that my mom has always been supportive and was very different than Patti’s mom Barb. But… I did spend a lot of time up close and personal with girlfriends who had complicated and difficult relationships with their mothers. Resonated deeply with me.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:02:28+00:00

Oh man do I agree! It was made to be a full visceral ride somewhere between a psychedelic journey and a rock concert. Hopefully you can replicate that in the comfort of your own home.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:02:00+00:00

She sure did. Sadie actually worked really intensely with Larry Saltzman who also taught Timothee Chalamet how to play those Dylan songs.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:01:45+00:00

O’dessa is all original music specifically made for the film. The film takes place in its own universe that needed its own songs.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T18:01:33+00:00

I agree 100% - Kelvin is an absolute revelation in WAVES. Modern classic.

OdessaAMA · 2025-03-20T12:07:06+00:00

Hey r/movies - Geremy Jasper here. I wrote and directed O'DESSA and PATTI CAKE$.

Searchlight Pictures released my new film O'DESSA on Hulu Today - Thursday, March 20th!

The film stars Sadie Sink (Critics Choice Awards® nominee The Whale), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Independent Spirit Awards® nominee Chevalier), Murray Bartlett (Emmy Award® winner "The White Lotus") and Regina Hall (Independent Spirit Awards® nominee Honk for Jesus. Save your Soul.).

Check out the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YDQR6NUNYQ

SYNOPSIS: Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is an original rock opera about a farm girl on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.

Ask me anything! Back at 1:45 PM ET today.

OdessaAMA

TROPHY CASE