INTERVIEW: Baby Fat Filmmaker Elliot Frances Flynn
January 23-25 2026 @ Saratoga Film Showcase
*This article originally appeared in our January 2026 print issue*
“I’m a millennial and my parents knew nothing about how to talk sex-positively. I think being sex negative, dare I say, has informed a lot of the storytelling that I do.”
As you’re undoubtedly aware by now, the Saratoga Film Showcase will be screening 28 different short films over the course of three days from January 23 to January 25. Prior to the festival, I had the opportunity to sit down with Elliot Frances Flynn, the writer and director of Baby Fat.
It all started with a rumor. Flynn grew up in Orangeburg down in Rockland County. When she was in high school, she heard that a group of middle schoolers were operating a prostitution ring from behind a local ice cream shop as a way to improve their social standing. It was both insane and heartbreaking in equal measure.
“What really tickled me is that they decided that this ice cream shop would be their whore house,” Flynn explained. “That’s how small your world is when you’re 13 in suburbia. The fact that an ice cream shop was the perfect ‘X marks the spot’ for this endeavor was just so ridiculous to me.”
While the events of the film were based on this rumor which Flynn stressed she took no part in, it’s still a deeply personal film to her.
“The movie is set in 2006 when I was 13,” Flynn said. “It’s a time when you’re trying to figure out what kind of woman you should be and also what kind of woman you want to be.
“I’m a millennial and my parents knew nothing about how to talk sex-positively. I think being sex negative, dare I say, has informed a lot of the storytelling that I do. I traced a lot of this negativity back to when I was coming-of-age at 13, which is when the events of Baby Fat take place.”
One of the challenges of making the movie authentic was to find teenage actors and parents that were willing to take on such risque subject matter. She enlisted the help of Heidi Ecklund of Hudson Valley Casting, a colleague who had cast Flynn in her first three acting roles.
A lot of audition requests were denied as actors and parents felt like the role wasn’t right for them, but with the help of Ecklund, Flynn found three fantastic actresses in Cameron Dawson Gray, Taylor Madeline Hand and Alexis Margolin to fill the roles of the budding ice cream shop madames.
“I am so grateful to every kid and parent who sent us a tape,” Flynn said. “I had the time of my life watching those tapes. I was so entertained because they were all so great, but I was also just in awe of the fearlessness.”
The final role that needed filling was that of the big bad Mr. Mann, a teacher who happens upon the ice cream shop brothel, then maintains a close relationship with the protagonist, Valley (Gray).
Flynn ended up casting Quincy Dunn-Baker, who was far different from how she had initially imagined the character. While the casting shifted the character dynamics significantly, it was precisely what the movie needed.
“Quincy was everything that I didn’t know I needed,” Flynn raved. “He’s fully a man in a way that I hadn’t envisioned the character. He’s taller, burlier, has facial hair and has a really deep voice. He feels like someone you’d feel safe with and comforted by.”
The other big challenge, especially when operating on a limited budget, was establishing the film firmly in 2006. It’s rather ridiculous to consider, but setting the film 19 years in the past makes it a period piece, which always presents its own unique challenges. Luckily for Flynn, fashion trends have swung back around and there was no need for any outlandish costuming which made shopping for the characters fairly straightforward.
“They wear some of my clothes in the movie for some vintage 2006 pieces,” Flynn explained. “We’ve also got the double popped collars, layered tank tops and UGG Boots. But more so than the fashion, I love a good needle-drop.”
Given the film’s focus on friendship dynamics and social hierarchy, Flynn sought out a poppy song with a level of R&B influence. A song reminiscent of the dog-eat-dog world of a middle-school dance, where grinding and too-close slow dances were forms of social currency.
“Right Thurr” by Chingy was Flynn’s first and really only choice. (Remember, when mispronouncing words was a huge piece of pop culture — “fo shizzle” anyone? The turn of the millennium was a weird time.) The nostalgia the song stirred within Flynn immediately signalled to her that it was the correct one.
“I love nostalgia,” Flynn concluded. “I’ll probably trace my entire life from 2006 all the way to now and just keep re-examining how the culture of that period influences us as people. That’s such a huge part of what Baby Fat is.”
Baby Fat will be screening on Friday, January 23rd at Putnam Place as a part of the “Shorts After Dark” block. The screening will begin at 7:00 pm. For more information about the Saratoga Film Showcase, visit: https://www.discoversaratoga.org/events/saratoga-film-showcase/