Film is probably my favourite thing in this world. I love talking about it, thinking about it, and watching them.
Quatoyiah Murry did her MA in Film at Kent’s Paris School of Arts and Culture. We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Quatoyiah about the publication of her book, TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema.
Dr Cecilia Sayad, Senior Lecturer in Film spoke about Quatoyiah’s time at Kent, “Quatoyiah was an outstanding student in our MA Film programme in Paris. She wrote an excellent dissertation on what she called ‘trauma horror’—horror films that imaginatively engage the bodily manifestation of mental states. That she was an experienced writer before coming to Kent shows in her achievements at the university, and we are happy to attract such talented minds into our programmes. We are proud to have a published writer among our alumni.”
What made you choose your course and Kent?
Film is probably my favourite thing in this world. I love talking about it, thinking about it, and watching them. So, it only made sense for me to study film in Paris. Thankfully Kent provided English-speaking studies in the heart of the city.
What is the book about?
My book is a top 50 breakdown of some of my (and my co-author Millie De Chirico) favourite cult films that have been featured on TCM Underground. Unfortunately, TCM Underground was recently discontinued due to corporate layoffs, but it was a four-hour block of films and shorts that came on the American movie network Turner Classic Movies every Friday night at 2am. The block and our book is a celebration of cult movies, midnight movies, box-office bombs, and weird, off-beat films that have cult significance, or a passionate fan base despite not being well-received or revered during their release.
Having access to film resources and being exposed to genres and movies I’d never know of before has been great for my personal and professional education.
What inspired you to write it?
I worked at Turner Classic Movies for 5 years, and during my entire time there I worked really hard to promote TCM Underground. I’ve always loved weird and strange films or films that other people overlooked, so I was a fan of TCM Underground before I started at TCM. Millie is the former head programmer for the block, and she offered me the chance to write this book when the option was presented to her because she knew my passion for these movies and respected my viewpoint on them. However, I was in the midst of moving to Paris for school and couldn’t commit to 50 titles by myself, so I pitched that we write it together and split the titles 50/50. Thankfully it worked out perfectly!
You collaborated on this book, what was that process like?
It was a hard process only because we had huge life transitions happening at the time of writing it. Millie had left living in Los Angeles to live with her parents for a bit at the beginning of Covid, and I was packing up my entire life to move to Paris. We finished the bulk of the writing right as I was writing some of my first major film papers for Kent. The entire process of proofreading the book, going over layout design, and all of those details, plus the publishing of it all happened during my time at Kent. It was wild working on my dissertation and then receiving a rough draft of my cover design in the break room at the BNF!
Write all the time and read as much as you can. Not just critical film reviews or theories, but philosophy, sociology, news stories, fiction, everything.
What is your favourite classic cult film and why
I have so many that aren’t featured in the book and so many that are. But I think for now, I’ll say Xanadu. It’s a terrible, funny, amazing movie that I credit with bringing me out of a dark place. I watched it for the first time during the start of the pandemic before we knew we were going to write the book. I’m from Atlanta, so this was right after the George Floyd murder and Atlanta had a rush of protests like many other predominately Black cities were having. I was depressed and upset at the state of the country and wanted to distract myself one night with something light and fluffy. Xanadu had been on my watchlist for years, so I got really drunk and turned it on. I cannot express in words the way that movie made me feel. It transported me to a different place. It was weird and one of the most off-the-wall movies I’d ever seen. When it ended, I was laughing hysterically and dying to watch it again.
I’m very lucky to say that as promotion for the book, Atlanta’s oldest theatre, the Plaza Theatre, collaborated with the city’s last surviving video store, Videodrome, to screen it for a live audience. I got to Zoom in and be a part of it, then stayed up until 5am rewatching here in Paris. It still made me feel warm and fuzzy.
Are there any aspects of your degree which have influenced your career?
Having access to film resources and being exposed to genres and movies I’d never known of before has been great for my personal and professional education. Studying film has definitely helped me hone my skills as a writer, which I think can always use improvement. I’m happy to have written the film papers that I had the opportunity to write. I also had a wonderful creative writing class with Yelena Moskovich, which helped changed the way I look at language as a tool to communicate ideas.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in Film writing?
Write all the time and read as much as you can. Not just critical film reviews or theories, but philosophy, sociology, news stories, fiction, everything. Film writing can be stiff and clinical, but I personally prefer to write fluidly and let things that have recently inspired me find their way into my work. I think it helps my writing feel more conversational.
Are you currently working on any interesting projects that you would like to tell us a bit more about?
I wish I had another book in the works! I’m currently working on everything and nothing. Desperately job-seeking at the moment while also taking my papers and my dissertation and trying to get those published. I’m also trying to write film scripts and video essays for YouTube. I don’t know where they will lead, but I’m throwing all the spaghetti at the wall.
Many congratulations from the School of Arts, this is a significant achievement!