After a special showing of A24’s “Heretic” at FilmScene on Nov. 10, the University of Iowa alums and directors and writers of the film, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, answered audience questions and signed blueberry-scented candles for their fans. Once the hype died down, the directing duo spoke with The Daily Iowan to discuss their career trajectory. 

While at the UI, Beck and Woods had a great deal of success. The duo, originally from the  Quad Cities, founded the production company BlueBox Films and directed the films “Her Summer” and “University Heights,” the latter of which helped the duo to gain a production deal with MTV Films after winning MTVU’s Best Film on Campus competition with the movie. 

“We’ve known each other since we were eleven years old, so we were making movies as soon as we met. We did University Heights as a feature film here in Iowa City, because we started here freshman year. We thought ‘Okay, I know how to make movies, we know how to make movies in the Quad Cities area. We have our resources. What is there here in Iowa City?’” Beck said.  

Beck and Woods have come a long way since shooting films outside the EPB and at the Ped Mall. From writing the box office hit, “A Quiet Place”, starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, to directing and writing “Heretic” the psychological thriller starring the charming romantic comedy veteran, Hugh Grant, this pair is on the rise. 

However, in the art world, success is tricky to define. Reviews, box office and fame are all entirely different measures. 

“You have no control over audience perception. The audience that pays the money to go see the movie, but it’s also the critical community, it’s your peers. You just do your best work in the circumstances you’re given. So, I think we define success more as ‘were we able to communicate the idea, the feeling, the emotion that we set out to communicate,’” Woods stated. 

“Heretic” certainly reached a lot of people and some of the film, especially the ending sequences, can be very much left up to audience perception. The central idea, though, was made quite clear by Mr. Reed, played by Hugh Grant, and Sister Paxton, played by Chloe East, in one of the final scenes: the one, true, religion, according to Mr. Reed is control. 

“So, by that standard, for us, if you asked what is our most successful project, it would be Heretic. Because from top to bottom, we got to make our own movie. We had partners in A24, the studio that believed in us, and supported us, and gave us the resources we needed to achieve the project. It was done with a crew and a cast that was very hungry to do great work,” Woods said. 

To Beck and Woods, it’s all about getting the message and emotions that they want the audience to feel across. The numbers and the money come after. 

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“To me, this was a rare experience, because I felt like, to me, personally, if I measure a success, I was like ‘this is a success before the movie gets released.’ You always care to a certain degree, but I could remove myself from the pressures of ‘what will people think’ or ‘how much money will this make,’” Beck said. 

Beck and Woods spoke nothing but highly of their cast and experience working on this film and with A24. Their eyes lit up and their smiles grew every time they got the chance to talk about their experience filming with their cast and crew. The directing, producing, and writing duo couldn’t wait to share this experience with the world. 

“We told them, we told our agents, we told everybody — we couldn’t stop we were so excited, we were like ‘regardless of how the movie’s received, regardless of how it does at the box office, this was the best experience of our careers, this is what we are the most, kind of, proud of,’” Woods said passionately. 

From making award-winning films as best friends on campus to writing hits and directing stars like Hugh Grant, Beck and Woods’ definition of success hasn’t changed as they continue to try and share their art with the world. 

“Heretic” is now showing in theaters including at Beck and Woods’s own “The Last Picture House,” an independent arthouse cinema in Davenport.