Carl Potts discusses Marvel Comics & Comic-Con

Carl Potts at Marvel

An oldie but a must-keep

In July 2010 I met Carl Potts at San Diego Comic-Con. My mom had spoken highly of him as being such a nice and brilliant man to work with. I was very excited to meet him and honored to record a brief interview about what it was like to attend Comic-Con during its early years. 

Clearly in 2010 I didn’t have high end video capabilities. It’s a bit grainy…quick cuts too. But with my own superhero story coming out soon (Super Human Anxiety),  I can’t help but think of this day.

My mom now works with me — as a producer and activation producer. She’s featured towards the end of this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

Making It Real For Super Human Anxiety

Making it look real

Creating Whitney's World

An interview with Super Human Anxiety Production Designers Lynda Reiss & Rachel Leggett

What are practical effects?

Practical effects are special effects created physically, with a goal of making the viewer feel a desired emotion, and shot in camera. We often create these special effects by hand and utilize tools like puppeteering, hydraulics or animatronics, cloud tanks, bladders, and reverse photography of moving objects….and in our case for this film, sheer woman muscle!

Rachel: We had to make the set look like the world around Whitney was really crumbling around her — breaking, smashing, denting, you name it. To do that, Lynda and I spent months creating the best look for a tumbler cup to shatter, a pencil breaking in her hand, a stress ball popping, elbows punching through walls (*takes breath in…continues*), denting a floor tile, denting an elevator door, breaking elevator buttons, scrunching a book bag…all while ACTUALLY building an elevator because we weren’t allowed to break a real elevator. 

SHA elevator
Assembling the elevator on set.

Lynda: Not only did these effects need to be safe and convincing, most needed to practically fix themselves again on camera (spoiler alert!).

We needed to think through each effect front & back, inside & out. The popped stress ball refilling with air, the splintered elevator panel stitching itself back together, and more.  Trial and error became our best friend. 

For example, there is an effect, our “piece de la resistance,” where Whitney (Alexis Jacquelyn Smith) sends her elbow through the wall. We built the elevator set with a wood paneling design so that we could replace the breakaway wood panel in-between takes. During the build we tested multiple versions of the breakaway panel to find the perfect balance of splintering and strength.

Rachel: My poor elbow took the brunt of it all! In the end we found a material that was just right. On the day of the shoot, when it was time for elbows to fly, we recruited the crew to stand on the other side of the wall as reinforcement (and put a comfy arm pad on Whitney to protect her elbow).

Lynda: The stress ball deflating & inflating was less grand but a fun one for Rachel. Deflating was a simple replacement with color matching clay, but the ball shape rebounding was the challenge. We could slow down the footage in post but we needed to delay the rebound just enough for a squeezing hand to escape frame in time.
 
Rachel: I started thinking back to road trips when I was a kid in the occasionally cold Ohio, and remembered my siblings using their frozen memory foam pillows as weapons. So I thought perhaps that same concept could be applied for good this time. I placed a specialty memory foam stress ball in the freezer, and the cold helped maintain the shape for just long enough to get the shot. 
Super Human Anxiety ball
the ball
Super Human Anxiety ball being squeezed
squeeze
Super Human Anxiety ball collapsed
broken
Super Human Anxiety ball being repaired
fixing it

Lynda: By far the largest challenge working on this project was the summer heat. We built the elevator elements in a small living room with no air conditioning.

Rachel: Ha! It’s a miracle we were able to problem solve these practical effects while sweating buckets. We owe a lot of gratitude to the friends who helped along the way, and to popsicles!

working in the heat of the summer
Cooling off in the truck as they haul the elevator to set!

Lynda Reiss is a Director, Production Designer, and a Prop Master in film and television. Reiss’s directorial debut, “Ready To Go”, won 27 awards on the festival circuit, and was Oscar qualified for 2019. As prop master, she has worked on feature film projects such as “American Beauty”, “American History X”, “Reality Bites”, and television shows “Stranger Things”, “True Detective”, and “Winning Time”.

Rachel Leggett is a Production Designer, Prop Master, Stop Motion Animator in social media spots, shorts, and feature films. Recent projects include “YOYOs”, “Never Hike Alone 2”, and “The Stain”. As a member of Women in Film, Cool Girl Cinema Club, and a regular at the neighborhood cinema, she loves connecting with the film community.

Featured in May

Screened in May

Special Moments

ConnectHer

Ontario, Canada

May 2, 2025: ConnectHER Conference Building Bridges for Working Women

We are SO excited to have been part of a powerful event where women came together for connection, learning, and inspiration.

Hosted by The Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario and held in Canada every year, this conference celebrated and uplifted women in the workforce—especially in non-traditional industries—through keynote speakers, panels, and breakout sessions that were all about real talk, bold moves, and building each other up!

We proudly screened Pioneers in Skirts Friday evening — followed by meaningful conversations about ambition, equity, and change.

“The film made me think about how I hope I can make my daughters aware that they can reach their goals by teaching them to speak up.” 

“I should have brought my kids to watch it!” 

“It was a real look at gender bias. I loved hearing all the experiences in the women’s interview circles!” 

Los Angeles, California

May 25, 2025: Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival!

Screening at The Yard Theater — a 65-seat black box-style theater and 501(c)3 non-profit located in East Hollywood, Los Angeles.

We’re excited to have had Super Human Anxiety be part of this fun-filled event showcasing the best short films for kids from around the world!

SHA
theater
LOVE
Ashley attended and had a blast speaking with the audience about the movie!
at the Yard

WonderCon Roundup!

WonderCon

We came. We screened. We took over!

Our WonderCon 2025 adventure was filled with meeting some incredibly talented people, our WonderCon premiere of “Super Human Anxiety,” and lots of fun!!

As we prepped for our big screening at the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival on Saturday March 29th, we handed out movie flyers at panels & the vendor hall, and walked amongst the so-very-cool people in cosplay.

And we documented it all on the @AshleyMariaProductions Instagram page!

The Instagram Takeover

WonderCon Instagram Takeover

In the news - WonderCon!

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WonderCon 2025 Interview: Ashley Maria of ‘Super Human Anxiety’
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