“Chasers,” a pilot created by co-writer/director Erin Brown Thomas (“[subtext]”), recently made its World Premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the Episodic Pilot Showcase, and hosted it’s L.A. premiere at Slamdance Film Festival last night on February 21, 2025. “Chasers” was also selected for the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose with its Bay Area Premiere on March 23, 2025. Coming up “Chasers” has their second screening at the Slamdance Film Festival on Tues., Feb. 25 at 7:45pm (Landmark Theatres Sunset, 8000 W Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046).
I had the opportunity to speak with my friends Erin and Olivia “[subtext]”. Both of them are forces in the industry, and I’m so proud of them! “Chasers” explores the toxic hustle culture of Hollywood for those chasing their dreams while tackling the universal struggles of ambition, exploitation, and mental health challenges. The series expands to follow the diverse stories of characters in the ensemble cast. For more information on “Chasers” visit here.
What was the inspiration for this project?
Erin Brown Thomas (EBT): “Chasers“ is a thematic amalgamation of my time in Los Angeles, pursuing a career as a filmmaker, and a life as a creative person. It’s inspired by the very real dilemma creatives face: should we keep pursuing this incredibly difficult dream in a world that is not only highly competitive but also sometimes abusive? In entertainment, the line between paying your dues and chasing abuse is thin enough to trip over, and it’s not easy to determine when you’re making real strides forward vs. sprinting in place.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen language and labels emerge concerning problematic behavior in dating and sexual situations. Labels are helpful—even when it hurts to identify with them. No one wants to see themselves as a victim, but refusing the label doesn’t change the reality. Accepting it is part of healing. I’m juxtaposing red flags in dating with the everyday hustle of the LA creative to paint the entertainment industry as a bad boyfriend.
My own experiences with exploitation have been shaped by the film industry, but the larger struggles—career disillusionment, work-life balance, the rising cost of living, and the inability to buy a home—are universal to millennials and Gen Z. Add to that some marginally shady or self-interested characters, and a workplace can become a bad boyfriend pretty quickly. I want to see more language that reflects our generation’s experiences and empowers us to take charge.
“Chasers” is a proof of concept for a series by the same name, in which we follow our ensemble as they navigate the relentless compromises of pursuing success, belonging, and authenticity. Through the little white lies they tell themselves, the series explores the sacrifices and self-deception that give their struggles—and exploitation—purpose.
What attracted you to this project, and how did you come on board?
Olivia Haller (OH): Erin and I were traveling to film festivals with “[subtext],” the short I wrote/produced that she directed before “Chasers.” She was in the process of creating and writing “Chasers” at the time, so she would bounce ideas off of me and share drafts of the script for feedback. I loved how ambitious the project was, and I loved how the script drew a parallel between toxic relationships and exploitative industry practices. When she asked me to formally come on board as a producer, I was excited to find more opportunities to collaborate. Working with Erin is refreshing and invigorating because she is always responsive and takes action; we have a similar communication style and work very well together. My main role is as a developing producer – providing creative notes on drafts of the script and rough cuts of the film, and now assisting the writers on building out the pitch for the series – and I also helped to produce the actual shoot.
Please talk about the editing! One of my favorite things I’ve seen in your work, it’s so seamless.
EBT: I have to give praise to my team here. “Chasers” is a “oner” but it was shot in segments and stitched together in post. My longtime collaborator Joe Siebert served as our editor and helped me determine the best takes of each segment – an incredibly pivotal task which had a huge influence on the final film. In long shots, each take has different merits, and you rarely have one obvious standout one, so every time we chose a shot, it was a big commitment. The segments ranged from roughly 2 minutes to 7 minutes. It’s funny to think of a 2-minute shot as a short one, but in this case it was!
Additionally, I owe a big debt of gratitude to Avi Kaye, who served on set as our VFX supervisor. Avi made the film better by adjusting my approach to the VFX transitions. He encouraged me to make them as complex as possible. This was scary on set, since I did not have experience here, but he was 100% correct. The more complex the transition the more seamless it worked. A busy, moving frame hid the cuts better than a static simple one. He and I tackled the VFX in post together.
For our readers I know they’d love to hear about how you raised money for your post-production. Love that we could be a part of that journey, as well as your Sundance journey!
EBT: Fundraising was (and is) always ongoing. Every step required more capital. We shot the film during the middle of our 60 day Seed&Spark campaign. We hit it hard for two weeks, then took four weeks off for prep/rehearsal, shooting, Christmas, and new years, then we hit it hard again for two weeks at the end. We were able to get fiscal sponsorship through film independent for ongoing fundraising during post production and marketing. I’m still raising money to cover marketing costs for Sundance. I’ve found that direct asks are the most effective – and people do love to hop on a train that is already headed somewhere exciting.
Can you talk about your cast? How did you find these talented individuals?
OH: We had an INCREDIBLE cast and I would work with every single one of them again in a heartbeat. We knew about half of the actors before production. Erin had worked with Ciarra, Amber, Hunter, Dex, and Daniel on previous projects and had them in mind when she was writing their roles. In general, Erin and I both love the idea of fostering a community of people who work well together and share a creative vocabulary – if I love working with someone, I will always look for more opportunities to collaborate with them again.
We worked with casting director Emily Cook to help us find the actors for the roles we hadn’t cast, which is how we ended up working with Louie, Keana, Brooke, Shannon, Xan, and Nicko. Emily, Erin, Elle Shaw (another producer) and I reviewed scores of audition tapes and held callbacks for some of the larger roles. We were drawn to those we ended up casting because of their completely original choices and palpable on-screen chemistry.
EBT: Olivia put it all perfectly. I think it’s worth mentioning how Ciarra and I met. I was attending a cold-read series in Los Angeles called Second Draft. I brought pages for my upcoming feature “The Body of Chris” and Ciarra was randomly assigned a major role in it. I was struck by her talent and hunted her down to be in “[subtext]” – A film I directed which Olivia wrote/produced/starred in. When it came time to put “Chasers” in motion, Ciarra was an obvious choice for the lead. She also co-wrote the script with me.
Any highlights from your Sundance trip you’d like to share?
OH: I had never been to Sundance before, and was struck by how open other filmmakers at all levels were to connect. There’s a real sense of camaraderie and excitement about sharing our craft with each other. What made it truly special for me was getting to share it with nearly every member of the “Chasers” team. We had a large cast & crew, and most of us crashed in the same Airbnb, which led to a lot of late-night chats about our hopes and dreams for the industry and our own futures. To work with that team through such a challenging shoot, then be able to see them shine on the Sundance red carpet line? That was a very special full circle moment.
EBT: I shared a reel with all my favorite moments on my instagram. Overall I agree with Olivia’s sentiment though. The moments that were the most special were the ones where I got to spend time celebrating with my collaborators. We truly became a family in this process and I love them dearly.
What do you hope people see in your series, and how can people support?
OH: I really think people will resonate with the feeling of wanting something – or someone – so bad that you give away just a little more of yourself than you wanted to give, and over time, those sacrifices add up. The idea that you might still lose that thing after all you gave to it is too painful. This applies to both bad relationships and abusive jobs. While the pilot follows Sophia, each episode in the series would follow a different character—someone introduced in the pilot—each pursuing a personal ‘chase’ for belonging, ambition, or validation. These pursuits are often complicated and self-destructive, exposing the compromises they make along the way, asking everything of them and forcing them to wrestle with the question: “Am I paying my dues or chasing my abuse?”
If you’d like to support us by watching the pilot, we have a few more festivals coming up! We’ll have our LA Premiere at Slamdance, followed by screenings at Cinequest and Cleveland. Those events will be listed on our website: https://linktr.ee/chasersfilm
EBT: To piggyback off of Olivia – we would love to keep creating in the world of “Chasers” and are looking for opportunities to pitch our expanded series.
On a separate note, I’d also like to add that I’m gearing up for my first feature, an earnest faith-deconstruction/reconstruction dramedy called “The Body of Chris.” I’m looking for resources to make that happen. The script is an Academy Nicholl Semifinalist and it was ranked 16th out of 24K comedies on Coverfly in 2022 (top .07% of discoverale projects).
