How did you get on this project? How did it come to you?
John Krasinski: So I was about to start pre-production on Jack Ryan, and some of the producers on Jack Ryan were Platinum Dunes, and they said, “Would you ever act in a genre movie?” And I said, “Oh no, I can’t do that, I don’t do horror movies.”
You did almost all of the work on this film— what was that experience like?
Jessica Kingdon: I did have a close cinematographer, Nathan Truesdell, and we shot it together. But, yeah, it was very much a film that was coming out of my own mind.
Was there an importance to telling this story at this particular time?Jamie Dack: I was writing this script at a certain time in my life where I was starting to look back on some relationships I had when I was younger—one in particular. I think due to my age, and time passing, I had started to look back on it differently.
How did you decide that co-directing this film was the best approach?
James Lebrecht: I’ve had the good fortune to have worked with Nicole on three of her films in the past, and we became friends over the years. I just loved her work!
Why did you want to be in this film?
Redford: Because he asked me! In all honesty, I’ve spent many years building an organization to promote independent film, and yet no one has asked me to work in their film.
Mr. Chandor, why did you want to bring this story to the screen?
It was sort of two ideas that ran into each other. There was this core story that I had been working on for many years – probably six or seven years, actually – about a husband and wife who ran a business together.
You are such a quintessential New York Filmmaker, Mr. Sachs, but now you’ve made this film set in Portugal. I was wondering how the story came to you and how you worked with your writing partner, Mauricio Zacharia, to develop this film?
Ira Sachs: Probably around fifteen years ago, I saw a film by Satyajit Ray, the Indian master Filmmaker, called Kanchenjungha. It’s about a family on a vacation in the Himalayan mountains, and it takes place in one day.
What inspired this story?
Martin McDonagh: I saw something similar to what’s on the billboards in the film when I was on a bus going through one of the Southern States about seventeen years ago.
What was your emotional reaction as a filmmaker while telling this story?
Part of the impetus for me in making a project is that I’m already emotionally affected by something.
You did almost all of the work on this film— what was that experience like?
Jessica Kingdon: I did have a close cinematographer, Nathan Truesdell, and we shot it together. But, yeah, it was very much a film that was coming out of my own mind.
How did this film get underway, and how did you decide to co-direct it?
How did this film get underway, and how did you decide to co-direct it?
Frank Marshall: One of the things that happens — as you get older — is that your friends also become experienced, and rise in their careers.
What in your own life has helped you connect with the story?
John Crowley: I moved to London when I was 27 to direct a play at the National Theatre. Having been back and forth from London since I was about ten, I knew London better than I knew Dublin.
How did you translate the stage direction into the performance?
Edgar Wright: When I gave the script to the actors, they had all of the music as well, so they could read the script with the right music playing.
Just as in the last film, this one starts with an incredible burst of sound, accompanied by some text, that really grabs the audience and lets them know they are in for an incredible experience. Can you talk about that decision?
Denis Villeneuve: When making movies, you try to plan as much as possible in the screenwriting. Even so, there are elements that come to life as you’re shooting. And similarly, in post-production, sometimes unplanned things happen, too.
The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of The Way I See It. This film really seemed to hit at the perfect time. Can you talk about the genesis of the project? Jayme Lemons: My partner Laura Dern and I were big fans of Pete’s in general, having […]