00:12.584 --> 00:15.751
♪♪

00:23.792 --> 00:26.584
I don't think any good director,

00:26.667 --> 00:30.209
you know,
is directing from gender.

00:30.292 --> 00:32.000
You're directing
to tell a story.

00:32.083 --> 00:34.042
I said "Stop it!"

00:34.125 --> 00:35.209
[tense music]

00:35.292 --> 00:38.834
[explosion]

00:38.918 --> 00:42.542
I think there is such a thing
as the female lens.

00:42.626 --> 00:44.375
[man] If we allow women to vote,

00:44.459 --> 00:46.334
it will mean the loss
of social structure.

00:46.417 --> 00:48.417
Everyone outside of yourself

00:48.501 --> 00:50.417
is always going
to want to put a sticker on you.

00:50.501 --> 00:52.459
So how did you get here?

00:52.542 --> 00:55.209
A woman.

00:55.292 --> 00:57.375
I mean, we give birth
to nations.

00:57.459 --> 00:58.959
We give birth to society.

01:02.000 --> 01:03.083
Who are you?

01:15.709 --> 01:19.125
I don't know anybody
who has seen this movie

01:19.209 --> 01:24.042
who says "I can't believe
a woman directed this movie."

01:24.125 --> 01:27.667
- Mmm.
- The violence, the machoness.

01:27.751 --> 01:30.542
What does having
a set of ovaries

01:30.626 --> 01:33.000
have to do
with directing a film?

01:33.083 --> 01:36.292
It's through her eyes
that she sees.

01:36.375 --> 01:38.334
Not through her mammaries
or anything else

01:38.417 --> 01:40.584
that defines her
as a woman, right?

01:42.667 --> 01:44.834
[interviewer]
Tell me who you are

01:44.918 --> 01:45.918
and what you're doing.

01:46.000 --> 01:48.042
My name is Cady McClain.

01:54.209 --> 01:57.834
I am making a film
on women directors.

01:57.918 --> 02:02.626
I wanted to be a director
starting when I was 22.

02:02.709 --> 02:06.083
I took a directing workshop
with Curt Dempster

02:06.167 --> 02:09.375
who's the Artistic Director
of Ensemble Studio Theatre.

02:09.459 --> 02:10.542
And it changed my life.

02:10.626 --> 02:14.667
I was so thrilling to have
someone ask me:

02:14.751 --> 02:18.000
"What do you see,
how do you see it?"

02:18.083 --> 02:21.792
I had a voice for the first time
in my life,

02:21.876 --> 02:24.375
directing that piece
for that workshop.

02:24.459 --> 02:29.584
Having been a child actress
and then a soap opera actress,

02:29.667 --> 02:32.542
I was not often asked
what I thought.

02:32.626 --> 02:33.626
[laughs]

02:33.709 --> 02:37.292
Discovering a medium that allows
you to connect to others

02:37.375 --> 02:40.417
is a pretty exciting moment
in one's life.

02:40.501 --> 02:44.000
But, as I realized,
there's so much to learn.

02:44.083 --> 02:46.959
I just wanted to talk to women
who directed.

02:47.042 --> 02:48.959
I needed to hear
about their journeys,

02:49.042 --> 02:53.000
where they came from,
why they wanted to be directors,

02:53.083 --> 02:54.959
how they overcame obstacles,

02:55.042 --> 02:58.000
and how they negotiated
their careers forward.

02:58.083 --> 03:01.667
I felt like perhaps
through these women's stories

03:01.751 --> 03:03.626
I might undercover something

03:03.709 --> 03:06.292
I've been searching for
my whole life.

03:06.375 --> 03:08.918
And that's what this film
has become--

03:09.000 --> 03:12.334
a hunt for the female voice.

03:12.417 --> 03:13.501
[camera shutter clicks]

03:15.667 --> 03:17.375
♪♪

03:25.626 --> 03:29.000
My name is Lesli Linka Glatter,
and I'm a director.

03:29.083 --> 03:31.709
And, fortunately, I've been able

03:31.792 --> 03:33.584
to direct
in a lot of different genres.

03:33.667 --> 03:36.083
But, right now, I'm on a show
called Homeland,

03:36.167 --> 03:40.083
and I'm the Executive Producer
and Director.

03:40.167 --> 03:42.250
And it's been
an amazing experience.

03:45.792 --> 03:47.000
[gentle splashing]

03:48.417 --> 03:50.250
My name is Sarah Gavron.

03:50.334 --> 03:53.083
I'm the director of the film
Brick Lane.

03:53.167 --> 03:54.792
It's the first cinema film
I made.

03:54.876 --> 03:57.292
And recently I directed
Suffragette,

03:57.375 --> 03:59.959
a film about the women
fighting for the vote.

04:00.042 --> 04:01.417
And I've also made
documentaries.

04:01.501 --> 04:03.083
I made Village At The End
of the World,

04:03.167 --> 04:04.792
which was a film
about Greenland,

04:04.876 --> 04:06.834
and I've made nine short films.

04:09.501 --> 04:10.876
[blowing]

04:10.959 --> 04:12.209
Hi, my name is Li Lu.

04:12.292 --> 04:14.709
And I'm a writer-director
here in Los Angeles.

04:14.792 --> 04:17.417
And I've just completed
my first feature film,

04:17.501 --> 04:19.209
which is called There Is
A New World Somewhere.

04:22.792 --> 04:24.334
Naima Ramos-Chapman,

04:24.417 --> 04:27.667
and people might know me
from my first short film

04:27.751 --> 04:30.459
based on a true story
called And Nothing Happened.

04:32.083 --> 04:34.209
[alarm buzzes]

04:36.000 --> 04:38.083
- So it's initially a dive.
- A dive.

04:38.167 --> 04:40.375
And then it's going
to be a swim...

04:40.459 --> 04:42.751
[interviewer] Who is your
favorite female filmmaker?

04:42.834 --> 04:45.542
Um, since I only know one,

04:45.626 --> 04:48.042
I'd have to say Kathryn Bigelow.

04:48.125 --> 04:50.375
But I do love her movies, so...

04:50.459 --> 04:51.542
[interviewer]
What did she direct?

04:51.626 --> 04:55.709
The Hurt Locker
is the one I've seen.

04:55.792 --> 04:56.792
[interviewer]
That's good.

04:56.876 --> 04:59.292
So, do you think a lot
of your peers

04:59.375 --> 05:01.459
may only know
one female director as well?

05:01.542 --> 05:04.584
I think a lot of them may only
know zero

05:04.667 --> 05:07.918
because Kathryn Bigelow
isn't really a household name

05:08.000 --> 05:09.626
in the same way James Cameron

05:09.709 --> 05:12.584
or George Lucas
or Spielberg are.

05:12.667 --> 05:14.292
[muted conversation]

05:27.501 --> 05:29.042
[actor]
Do they have a man there...?

05:31.459 --> 05:32.792
Here we go.

05:34.292 --> 05:37.375
Yes, she's on. There...

05:41.334 --> 05:43.042
Cut. Okay, great.

05:43.125 --> 05:44.584
One more, one more.
Please don't move.

05:44.667 --> 05:46.250
One more, one more.

05:47.792 --> 05:51.334
First of all, cinema for me
is art, of course.

05:51.417 --> 05:54.876
It's visual art, for me.

05:54.959 --> 05:58.918
But, same time, I think
that cinema

05:59.000 --> 06:05.167
it's some kind of bridge
for conversation between people.

06:05.250 --> 06:08.501
And I think that we,
cinematographers,

06:08.584 --> 06:12.709
we have more power
than politicians

06:12.792 --> 06:17.250
because we really can

06:17.334 --> 06:24.000
help people to start to talk
about any problems.

06:24.083 --> 06:27.000
It's my...

06:27.083 --> 06:30.292
very personal opinion,

06:30.375 --> 06:36.959
but maybe a lot of people
will share this opinion, too.

06:37.042 --> 06:38.083
[camera shutter clicks]

06:47.626 --> 06:50.250
I grew up in New York City
and Dallas, Texas,

06:50.334 --> 06:52.125
which was
extremely schizophrenic.

06:52.209 --> 06:53.918
My mom danced with Martha Graham

06:54.000 --> 06:56.459
and Hanya Holm
and Alwin Nikolais,

06:56.542 --> 06:59.209
and my dad was a labor organizer
for the Women's Garment Union.

07:01.584 --> 07:02.792
I'm an old lefty.

07:02.876 --> 07:05.959
[plane engine whooshing]

07:06.042 --> 07:10.083
I live in London, and I was
born in London, North London.

07:10.167 --> 07:12.000
My mother was a politician,

07:12.083 --> 07:14.417
and my father
was a book publisher,

07:14.501 --> 07:17.042
and they took me to theatre,

07:17.125 --> 07:19.125
and they were
very interested in art.

07:19.209 --> 07:21.167
But nobody was in film.

07:21.250 --> 07:23.000
And I didn't go to the cinema
that much.

07:23.083 --> 07:25.834
But when I started talking about
wanting to go to film school,

07:25.918 --> 07:27.459
I think they were
a little bit baffled.

07:27.542 --> 07:28.959
And, for a while, they were
quite hopeful

07:29.042 --> 07:30.125
that I was going to be a doctor.

07:32.250 --> 07:34.459
I'm from Brooklyn, New York.

07:34.542 --> 07:35.792
Specifically, Flatbush.

07:35.876 --> 07:38.584
My dad was a musician.
He's a jazz musician.

07:38.667 --> 07:40.167
So that's actually how
I got my name, Naima.

07:40.250 --> 07:43.042
They always had a respect
for the arts.

07:43.125 --> 07:47.000
But my mom, she was
a little bit more

07:47.083 --> 07:48.959
on the, like,
straight and narrow path.

07:49.042 --> 07:51.417
She was supportive
but sometimes, like,

07:51.501 --> 07:53.918
the valleys or the lows of,

07:54.000 --> 07:55.292
like, maybe living paycheck
to paycheck

07:55.375 --> 07:56.459
she doesn't quite understand.

07:56.542 --> 08:01.375
So, she's supportive,
but it's like...you know.

08:01.459 --> 08:02.918
In flux.
[laughter]

08:06.709 --> 08:09.000
I was born in China

08:09.083 --> 08:12.292
in a little town called Suzhou
by Shanghai.

08:12.375 --> 08:14.709
And I moved to the States
when I was five years old.

08:14.792 --> 08:18.167
When I told them ultimately
that I wanted to do

08:18.250 --> 08:20.334
something in the realm of art
as a profession,

08:20.417 --> 08:22.459
they were
completely flabbergasted.

08:22.542 --> 08:24.709
And they didn't know
what to do with that.

08:24.792 --> 08:27.626
[laughs]
I mean, quite rightfully so.

08:27.709 --> 08:30.626
22D, take two.

08:30.709 --> 08:32.334
[clap]

08:32.417 --> 08:34.876
[interviewer] Who is your
favorite woman director?

08:34.959 --> 08:40.125
Um, I like Ava DuVernay.

08:40.209 --> 08:42.125
I like Jodie Foster.

08:42.209 --> 08:45.250
That's all I can think of.
[laughs]

08:45.334 --> 08:48.375
What about their work
makes you like them so much?

08:48.459 --> 08:51.667
I just think, like,
Ava DuVernay,

08:51.751 --> 08:53.834
I think she's really passionate
about what she does,

08:53.918 --> 08:56.876
and, like, she's very specific
about the projects

08:56.959 --> 08:58.209
that she decides to direct.

08:58.292 --> 09:04.125
And I just think, like, she has
a very strong, like,

09:04.209 --> 09:06.751
voice that she wants to put
specifically into certain films.

09:06.834 --> 09:10.292
And I think that's just
a really good quality to have.

09:10.375 --> 09:12.167
It's not that you just want
a million women

09:12.250 --> 09:14.459
to be directors
or actors or whatever.

09:17.876 --> 09:21.000
You want a million...

09:21.083 --> 09:23.167
women with points of view,

09:23.250 --> 09:25.083
women who have a vision,

09:25.167 --> 09:27.250
women who want to say something.

09:27.334 --> 09:28.375
Those are the women you want.

09:32.876 --> 09:37.083
I do remember when I was a child
writing stories,

09:37.167 --> 09:39.918
writing in a boy's voice
or a man's voice

09:40.000 --> 09:42.584
because that's so often
what I heard or saw.

09:42.667 --> 09:46.417
You know, the point of view
of the narrator

09:46.501 --> 09:49.792
or the lead character
was so frequently male.

09:49.876 --> 09:52.959
And now it's not only men.

09:53.042 --> 09:56.918
And now it's not only men
as the lead character,

09:57.000 --> 09:59.876
but it's also women who are
telling the stories

09:59.959 --> 10:03.584
as the author whether it's
of a novel or a film.

10:03.667 --> 10:05.250
And that's exciting to me.

10:05.334 --> 10:10.751
I feel like I'm growing
into a voice and still becoming

10:10.834 --> 10:15.417
because I am more and more
encouraged and affirmed

10:15.501 --> 10:18.876
in my desire to speak
in my own voice,

10:18.959 --> 10:22.918
not in an assumed
masculinized voice.

10:23.000 --> 10:24.501
♪♪

10:24.584 --> 10:26.751
I think if you have
a passionate pursuit

10:26.834 --> 10:28.125
for anything,

10:28.209 --> 10:30.709
you have to persevere.

10:30.792 --> 10:33.083
Like perseverance is the key.

10:33.167 --> 10:37.042
And the way to persevere,
which I have--

10:37.125 --> 10:38.542
I have the key to the mint--

10:38.626 --> 10:40.334
the way to persevere
is to innovate.

10:40.417 --> 10:43.751
Innovation is often, like,
associated with a product.

10:43.834 --> 10:45.792
Let's make a cool laptop
or a cool iPhone

10:45.876 --> 10:47.250
or, like, a cool app
or whatever

10:47.334 --> 10:49.417
or service or company.

10:49.501 --> 10:52.209
But when I say innovate
I mean innovate yourself.

10:52.292 --> 10:54.709
Make the system work for you,
like, adapt to it.

10:54.792 --> 10:57.584
Like figure out new ways
that you are more relevant

10:57.667 --> 10:59.292
in the system.

10:59.375 --> 11:01.709
And I think that's something
we miss out a lot on.

11:01.792 --> 11:06.292
So it sounds simple and generic,
but it actually takes a lot.

11:06.375 --> 11:08.167
[camera shutter clicks]

11:16.375 --> 11:18.375
I was a modern dancer

11:18.459 --> 11:19.959
and then a modern dance
choreographer

11:20.042 --> 11:22.501
back in the dark ages
when the American government

11:22.584 --> 11:24.125
actually sponsored the arts.

11:24.209 --> 11:26.459
And then I got a grant
to teach, choreograph

11:26.542 --> 11:28.375
and perform
throughout the Far East.

11:28.459 --> 11:29.584
And I was based in Tokyo,

11:29.667 --> 11:32.083
which was
an extraordinary experience

11:32.167 --> 11:33.209
and life-changing.

11:33.292 --> 11:35.626
And when I was working in Japan,

11:35.709 --> 11:38.209
I wanted a cup of coffee.

11:38.292 --> 11:39.834
There was a coffee shop
on the right

11:39.918 --> 11:41.125
and a coffee shop on the left.

11:41.209 --> 11:44.375
And I arbitrarily chose
the one on the right,

11:44.459 --> 11:47.375
and in that coffee shop
was an older Japanese man

11:47.459 --> 11:49.667
who we kind of looked
at each other--

11:49.751 --> 11:52.792
older meaning he was in his 70s,
I was in my 20s.

11:52.876 --> 11:56.667
And we shared some sort
of connection.

11:56.751 --> 12:00.125
And over the years he ended up
telling me a series of stories

12:00.209 --> 12:01.542
that happened to him.

12:01.626 --> 12:02.751
And what they had in common

12:02.834 --> 12:04.501
is they all happened
on Christmas Eve,

12:04.584 --> 12:06.292
even though he was Buddhist,

12:06.375 --> 12:09.501
all during different wars
and about human connection.

12:09.584 --> 12:12.709
And I knew when he told me
these stories

12:12.792 --> 12:16.000
that I had to pass them on,
and I knew it wasn't dance.

12:16.083 --> 12:18.501
So, if I had not walked
in that coffee shop,

12:18.584 --> 12:20.167
if I had gone to the one
on the left

12:20.250 --> 12:21.959
rather than the one
on the right,

12:22.042 --> 12:24.417
I would still be
a choreographer.

12:24.501 --> 12:27.209
As a teenager
and through school,

12:27.292 --> 12:31.000
I was really-- I loved drawing
and painting.

12:31.083 --> 12:33.626
I loved art,
and I also loved drama.

12:33.709 --> 12:35.959
So those were
the two parallel influences.

12:36.042 --> 12:39.667
And I did also have
kind of an increasing,

12:39.751 --> 12:42.876
developing social conscience
and political awareness,

12:42.959 --> 12:44.250
and that came
from being surrounded

12:44.334 --> 12:46.083
by a political environment

12:46.167 --> 12:47.417
where my mom was becoming

12:47.501 --> 12:49.459
a local counselor
and then a local politician,

12:49.542 --> 12:51.959
and I was watching her journey
into that,

12:52.042 --> 12:55.334
and it was infusing our home
and the table

12:55.417 --> 12:56.501
with discussions about politics.

12:56.584 --> 12:58.334
So I was becoming more and more
aware of that,

12:58.417 --> 13:02.125
and that led me to think maybe
I could fuse the interest

13:02.209 --> 13:05.334
in drama and the interest in art
with politics

13:05.417 --> 13:06.584
by making documentaries.

13:06.667 --> 13:08.834
And for a while I did
go down that route

13:08.918 --> 13:10.626
and even made
political documentaries

13:10.709 --> 13:12.167
at the BBC for quite a while.

13:12.250 --> 13:14.626
But all the time I was thinking
I want more creative freedom.

13:14.709 --> 13:17.626
I want to be telling stories.
I want to be making fiction.

13:17.709 --> 13:20.250
I want to be working
with images, freely.

13:20.334 --> 13:24.042
My mother always had
a huge interest in the arts.

13:24.125 --> 13:26.083
When she was much younger,

13:26.167 --> 13:28.375
they would actually go
from school to school

13:28.459 --> 13:30.459
and do sort of talent search

13:30.542 --> 13:32.918
to see which kids
were the most flexible,

13:33.000 --> 13:38.125
had musical abilities
or just innate artistic notions

13:38.209 --> 13:40.209
and talent.

13:40.292 --> 13:43.042
And she always wanted
to be picked.

13:43.125 --> 13:44.334
She always wanted
to sort of be the one

13:44.417 --> 13:45.834
that they sort of saw.

13:45.918 --> 13:48.000
Her neighbor had a violin

13:48.083 --> 13:49.667
or some kind of
musical instrument,

13:49.751 --> 13:53.626
and she would always hear
her practicing from her home

13:53.709 --> 13:57.417
and wish that she had, you know,
the means to get a piano

13:57.501 --> 13:59.834
or a violin or have music
in her life.

13:59.918 --> 14:02.501
So I think a lot of it comes
from my mom

14:02.584 --> 14:05.584
wanting these things that
she couldn't have for herself

14:05.667 --> 14:07.334
for me.

14:07.417 --> 14:12.584
I always knew I wanted
to create and be an artist

14:12.667 --> 14:14.250
because I was a dancer
for a while,

14:14.334 --> 14:15.501
and I did journalism.

14:15.584 --> 14:17.042
I got into some acting

14:17.125 --> 14:19.709
and then slowly realized that

14:19.792 --> 14:23.000
"Oh, I can kind of like
grab all of these things

14:23.083 --> 14:26.626
"and figure out how to make use
of all of them as a director."

14:26.709 --> 14:27.959
[camera shutter snaps]

14:30.584 --> 14:31.918
[camera shutter snaps]

14:32.000 --> 14:34.584
[interviewer] Do you think women
add any sort of different impact

14:34.667 --> 14:36.000
to films than men would?

14:36.083 --> 14:37.626
Of course, of course.

14:37.709 --> 14:40.667
They have a perspective on life
that's completely different

14:40.751 --> 14:43.459
than many men.

14:43.542 --> 14:46.959
I'd love to see trans women
directing films

14:47.042 --> 14:49.626
or writing for films,
seeing their perspective

14:49.709 --> 14:51.375
and input and so on.

14:51.459 --> 14:55.167
Yeah, I think anyone who's
different than the status quo

14:55.250 --> 14:57.918
has something different
to bring to the table.

15:00.000 --> 15:02.709
You have the power
when you have the imagination.

15:02.792 --> 15:06.918
If you only have imagination,
you can be a writer.

15:07.000 --> 15:10.626
If you have imagination
and leadership skills

15:10.709 --> 15:14.959
and the force within you
to be a leader,

15:15.042 --> 15:16.542
that it's something that
you must be,

15:16.626 --> 15:18.792
it's part of your life path,

15:18.876 --> 15:21.375
then you can be a director.

15:21.459 --> 15:22.834
But you don't need to look like

15:22.918 --> 15:24.626
what people think
you should look like.

15:24.709 --> 15:31.417
You don't need to fit in
to a certain societal norm.

15:31.501 --> 15:33.918
You can just be your best self
that you can be.

15:34.000 --> 15:38.834
[camera shutter clicks]

15:40.292 --> 15:44.626
To explore the transgender,
transsexual communities

15:44.709 --> 15:46.876
throughout the country.

15:46.959 --> 15:51.792
When the men and women involved
were so shunned,

15:51.876 --> 15:55.417
it was as if I was allowed
everywhere,

15:55.501 --> 15:58.709
and I could film it
and I could put it up

15:58.792 --> 16:04.125
for citizens to see,
see what's going on,

16:04.209 --> 16:07.209
see what's happening
in this world,

16:07.292 --> 16:11.542
it was the most liberating
experience of my life.

16:11.626 --> 16:13.209
[camera shutter clicks]

16:21.501 --> 16:23.459
Then in my late teens,
early 20s,

16:23.542 --> 16:25.959
I went to see films
about Britain

16:26.042 --> 16:28.959
by British filmmakers who were
rebelling against Thatcher

16:29.042 --> 16:31.417
and were making really engaged,
interesting films

16:31.501 --> 16:33.000
about the world around us.

16:33.083 --> 16:35.042
So you had Mike Leigh
and Stephen Frears

16:35.125 --> 16:37.042
and Ken Loach
and Terence Davies.

16:37.125 --> 16:39.417
And I thought, "Gosh,
there's a vision there."

16:39.501 --> 16:42.209
And I know that world because
it's the world I live in,

16:42.292 --> 16:45.083
and it's around me, I can see it
on the streets of London

16:45.167 --> 16:46.459
or in the streets of Britain.

16:46.542 --> 16:48.375
And that excited me,

16:48.459 --> 16:49.918
but it never occurred to me
for a minute

16:50.000 --> 16:53.083
that I could direct those films
because they were all men.

16:53.167 --> 16:58.000
And so it was only later
when I saw in my early 20s,

16:58.083 --> 17:01.250
I saw the short films
and the TV piece

17:01.334 --> 17:03.250
and then a film of Jane Campion.

17:03.334 --> 17:05.709
I saw Sweetie
and An Angel At My Table.

17:05.792 --> 17:08.501
And I thought, "God, this woman
is someone I want to be."

17:08.584 --> 17:12.000
Her life, what she's doing
is something I want to do.

17:12.083 --> 17:13.417
And that became very exciting.

17:13.501 --> 17:16.167
And then I also saw Mira Nair's
Salaam Bombay!

17:16.250 --> 17:18.292
which I found
incredibly thrilling

17:18.375 --> 17:19.375
at the time, I remember.

17:19.459 --> 17:21.501
And then I started digging out
those women.

17:21.584 --> 17:24.083
I saw Claire Denis' work
and Sally Potter's work.

17:27.501 --> 17:29.584
[violin music]

17:42.792 --> 17:44.918
[birds tweeting]

17:48.751 --> 17:51.167
Oh...

17:51.250 --> 17:52.292
poetry.

17:53.334 --> 17:56.459
Seeing those filmmakers
made me feel convinced

17:56.542 --> 17:59.584
that that was something
I wanted to train to do.

17:59.667 --> 18:02.876
There were many women directors
back in the silent era.

18:02.959 --> 18:06.876
Alice Guy-Blaché who created
the first narrative film.

18:06.959 --> 18:10.876
Lois Weber who was as popular
as D.W. Griffith in her day.

18:10.959 --> 18:13.959
And Dorothy Arzner who is
the only woman

18:14.042 --> 18:15.501
to continue into the talkies

18:15.584 --> 18:18.918
and became a wildly successful
studio director.

18:19.000 --> 18:20.876
[actress] We laugh right back
at the lot of you,

18:20.959 --> 18:23.042
only we're paid to let you
sit there and roll your eyes

18:23.125 --> 18:25.167
and make your screamingly
clever remarks.

18:25.250 --> 18:27.751
What's it for?

18:27.834 --> 18:30.125
[Glatter] Ida Lupino
was probably

18:30.209 --> 18:33.459
the first woman director
I heard of historically.

18:33.542 --> 18:37.250
One of the first women I met
as a director

18:37.334 --> 18:38.918
was Agnieszka Holland,

18:39.000 --> 18:41.000
who is an extraordinary
director,

18:41.083 --> 18:43.501
and I see as some kind
of a mentor.

18:43.584 --> 18:45.292
Pariah by Dee Rees.

18:45.375 --> 18:49.125
It just felt closer
to my experience in my home.

18:49.209 --> 18:52.292
[woman] See the love shine in
through my cracks

18:52.375 --> 18:54.125
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪

18:54.209 --> 18:55.876
See the light shine out
through me

18:55.959 --> 18:57.876
♪ Ooh ooh ♪

18:57.959 --> 19:00.834
My spirit takes journey
My spirit takes flight

19:00.918 --> 19:02.709
And I'm not running

19:02.792 --> 19:05.667
I am choosing

19:05.751 --> 19:07.542
Just knowing like
the textural difference

19:07.626 --> 19:11.584
of it being a woman
who may have had

19:11.667 --> 19:14.792
some experiences in her life
that were similar to mine

19:14.876 --> 19:17.167
and being able to see that
on a silver screen,

19:17.250 --> 19:22.167
on a big screen was just
sort of very...very gratifying.

19:22.250 --> 19:24.083
Chantal Akerman.

19:24.167 --> 19:27.083
She is the ultimate
independent filmmaker.

19:27.167 --> 19:31.292
Anything that she could do
to make a film, she did.

19:31.375 --> 19:33.250
Her years in New York
when she was working

19:33.334 --> 19:36.292
at a gay porno theatre
selling tickets.

19:36.375 --> 19:39.042
She would sell one ticket
but charge for two

19:39.125 --> 19:40.417
and rip each ticket in half,

19:40.501 --> 19:41.876
and that's how she would
pocket money

19:41.959 --> 19:44.751
to make her films
at the theatre.

19:46.459 --> 19:48.876
[muted conversation]

19:51.250 --> 19:53.626
[interviewer] Can you name
any women directors in film?

19:53.709 --> 19:58.083
[camera shutter clicking]

20:02.459 --> 20:03.792
No.

20:03.876 --> 20:05.501
I already know off the top
of my head, I can't.

20:05.584 --> 20:08.000
[interviewer]
Why do you think that is?

20:08.083 --> 20:12.167
Uh, the whole idea with women
never being a role

20:12.250 --> 20:16.083
or having a main role in a movie
is gonna be part of it.

20:16.167 --> 20:18.542
We actually just talked
about how Quentin Tarantino

20:18.626 --> 20:22.209
used Jackie Brown
as a main female character

20:22.292 --> 20:23.792
in a movie,

20:23.876 --> 20:27.209
and that was a very unique
kind of thing.

20:27.292 --> 20:30.751
And, I don't know, I just...

20:30.834 --> 20:33.542
I don't know.
It doesn't make any sense.

20:33.626 --> 20:38.334
If it wasn't for my father
thinking I could do anything

20:38.417 --> 20:39.792
a guy could do

20:39.876 --> 20:42.709
or anything one of his sons
could do,

20:42.792 --> 20:44.751
I wouldn't be here.

20:46.167 --> 20:47.584
I wouldn't be here.

20:48.959 --> 20:52.542
I went to my mom, and I said,
"Mom, I want to be a director."

20:52.626 --> 20:56.125
And she had cancer at the time.
She had it for a long time.

20:56.209 --> 20:57.834
Then she said, "I'm dying,
please don't."

20:57.918 --> 20:59.083
[laughs]

20:59.167 --> 21:00.542
I was supporting her,

21:00.626 --> 21:03.709
so I could kind of understand
her perspective.

21:03.792 --> 21:07.542
But on the other hand
what she was telling me

21:07.626 --> 21:10.542
even subconsciously was
there is no room

21:10.626 --> 21:12.709
for a woman's voice
in this world.

21:12.792 --> 21:15.375
She regularly told me

21:15.459 --> 21:17.834
"You will not work
after you're 40 years old."

21:17.918 --> 21:20.584
So everything that you do now
you have to save every penny.

21:20.667 --> 21:23.334
You have to take
every opportunity.

21:23.417 --> 21:25.918
Make money now because
no one will want you

21:26.000 --> 21:27.792
when you're 40 or up.

21:27.876 --> 21:29.167
You will be invisible.

21:34.501 --> 21:36.083
[sighs]

21:36.167 --> 21:38.000
Ta-da!

21:40.000 --> 21:43.000
I've made a movie
with five dollars.

21:43.083 --> 21:47.042
And not literally
but figuratively.

21:47.125 --> 21:48.834
And I will continue to.

21:48.918 --> 21:50.834
So, I'm not getting my meetings,

21:50.918 --> 21:52.834
so I'm just going to continue
to make my own things.

21:52.918 --> 21:54.626
And by the time
I get that meeting

21:54.709 --> 21:56.042
and if they're going to try
to tell me

21:56.125 --> 21:57.250
"We don't know that
you can do it,"

21:57.334 --> 21:59.626
I can say, "Well, here's
my feature, which is a comedy.

21:59.709 --> 22:01.334
"Here's this short,
which is action.

22:01.417 --> 22:03.792
"Here's this short, which is
a drama about domestic violence

22:03.876 --> 22:05.334
"set in the Marvel universe.

22:05.417 --> 22:06.834
"Here's this short,
which is a thriller.

22:06.918 --> 22:08.292
"Here's this feature,
which is this.

22:08.375 --> 22:10.167
"Here's this web series."

22:10.250 --> 22:12.709
Was there something you wanted
to tell me I couldn't do?

22:12.792 --> 22:14.792
Because I've already done it.

22:14.876 --> 22:18.292
Oh, you want to take a risk
on a man who's never done it?

22:18.375 --> 22:21.417
Then this was never
going to work out.

22:21.501 --> 22:24.626
But I can't leave it to chance,

22:24.709 --> 22:26.959
so I'm just going
to keep doing it.

22:27.042 --> 22:28.459
[camera shutter clicks]

22:36.751 --> 22:39.751
I ended up meeting
my first filmmaker

22:39.834 --> 22:42.167
who became very instrumental

22:42.250 --> 22:44.000
and was a great mentor to me--

22:44.083 --> 22:47.292
George Miller from Road Warrior,
George Miller.

22:47.375 --> 22:48.792
He was the one who said,

22:48.876 --> 22:50.751
"Those stories,
I think it's a film."

22:50.834 --> 22:53.834
And he let me shadow him.

22:53.918 --> 22:56.584
[tense music]
Ah!

22:56.667 --> 22:58.792
[screaming]

23:02.626 --> 23:04.542
[screaming]

23:04.626 --> 23:05.667
[crashing]

23:07.417 --> 23:09.918
Another friend told me about
the Directing Workshop for Women

23:10.000 --> 23:11.626
at the American Film Institute.

23:11.709 --> 23:14.626
And I thought, you know,
"I'm gonna apply."

23:14.709 --> 23:16.250
I'm totally unqualified,

23:16.334 --> 23:18.125
and it was set up for women
in the film business

23:18.209 --> 23:19.626
who hadn't directed.

23:19.709 --> 23:24.334
But I figured it would make me
get my ideas together.

23:24.417 --> 23:25.709
You know, and why not
give it a shot.

23:25.792 --> 23:27.209
The worst they can say is no.

23:27.292 --> 23:29.584
I'm forever grateful
that they accepted me,

23:29.667 --> 23:35.167
but, you know, we had like
kind of three days of seminars.

23:35.250 --> 23:36.959
I knew very little about film.

23:37.042 --> 23:40.209
And then you just made
a schedule

23:40.292 --> 23:42.459
and jumped into doing it.

23:42.542 --> 23:45.083
So I worked on like 10
of the other women's films

23:45.167 --> 23:49.292
so I would know what
people's jobs were.

23:49.375 --> 23:52.042
You know, I didn't know
what a key grip was.

23:52.125 --> 23:54.083
What is that? A best boy?

23:54.167 --> 23:55.751
A best what? You know.

23:55.834 --> 23:58.959
So I felt it was my job
to learn about the process

23:59.042 --> 24:00.626
before I was actually directing,

24:00.709 --> 24:03.209
and that turned out
to be a great choice.

24:03.292 --> 24:05.501
So the process was that
I made all these short films.

24:05.584 --> 24:08.876
And with every one I kind of
hoped it was a masterpiece

24:08.959 --> 24:11.584
and hoped it would be the ticket
to making longer films.

24:11.667 --> 24:13.375
And so I sent each one out,

24:13.459 --> 24:15.834
and I'd send them round
to agents I'd heard of

24:15.918 --> 24:17.000
or to festivals,

24:17.083 --> 24:18.667
and, you know, lots of them
got rejected

24:18.751 --> 24:21.501
by most of those festivals,
the high-profile festivals

24:21.584 --> 24:22.626
and most of the agents.

24:22.709 --> 24:24.876
And I kept going, you know,
and I made more and more

24:24.959 --> 24:29.083
and eventually that last one
called "Losing Touch."

24:29.167 --> 24:31.375
♪♪

24:33.125 --> 24:36.584
[indecipherable shouting]

24:36.667 --> 24:41.709
Sneaking, whingeing, boring,
boot-licking coward!

24:47.167 --> 24:49.918
I think it was my most
successful short film,

24:50.000 --> 24:53.083
and then it got accepted
by the Telluride Film Festival

24:53.167 --> 24:55.209
and the London Film Festival

24:55.292 --> 24:56.667
and various other
film festivals.

24:56.751 --> 24:58.542
And then it won prizes.

24:58.626 --> 25:01.834
And then I did a television film
called "This Little Life."

25:10.876 --> 25:14.876
And suddenly that got me
meetings with broadcasters

25:14.959 --> 25:17.918
and film companies
about doing longer films.

25:18.000 --> 25:21.834
Then it was on the back of that
that I got Brick Lane.

25:21.918 --> 25:25.125
It was a real revelation for me
in making Brick Lane

25:25.209 --> 25:27.083
that I hung out
with that community.

25:27.167 --> 25:29.250
And although I've lived
in London, you know,

25:29.334 --> 25:32.167
in areas where there are
many Muslim women,

25:32.250 --> 25:34.459
I hadn't spoken to them,
and I hadn't got to know them.

25:34.542 --> 25:36.209
And I did through the making
of that film,

25:36.292 --> 25:38.417
and what I realized is
we could have conversations,

25:38.501 --> 25:40.918
we were the same,
there weren't those barriers,

25:41.000 --> 25:42.834
they weren't the other.

25:42.918 --> 25:45.542
And I think that that's what
I'm trying to do

25:45.626 --> 25:46.792
is break down those barriers

25:46.876 --> 25:49.083
because that's where you get
empathy

25:49.167 --> 25:50.751
and you get
a more interesting world.

25:50.834 --> 25:52.792
I think right now
young filmmakers feel

25:52.876 --> 25:56.250
like they need to choose
one kind of medium

25:56.334 --> 25:57.918
and pursue that.

25:58.000 --> 26:00.918
I don't want to be restricted
to one medium.

26:01.000 --> 26:02.751
For me to feel fulfilled

26:02.834 --> 26:06.751
and just happy in general
in life,

26:06.834 --> 26:08.167
I want to feel like I can do

26:08.250 --> 26:09.834
all these different things
at the same time.

26:09.918 --> 26:12.584
I have to say like
when I graduated USC

26:12.667 --> 26:16.542
I had the advantage of
immediately starting to work

26:16.626 --> 26:18.626
as a Second or First AD.

26:18.709 --> 26:21.083
That's how I cut my teeth--
First AD'ing.

26:21.167 --> 26:24.167
Through friends' thesis films
initially from USC,

26:24.250 --> 26:27.876
then as everyone started
to progress in their career

26:27.959 --> 26:30.542
I did their short films,
I did their first feature films.

26:30.626 --> 26:31.834
When I turned to those people
and said,

26:31.918 --> 26:34.542
"Hey, I just did a film,
I just won these awards,

26:34.626 --> 26:36.959
"think of me as a director
for the next time around,"

26:37.042 --> 26:39.584
those people
would never call me.

26:39.667 --> 26:41.709
Those people would never
even think of me in that way.

26:41.792 --> 26:45.626
You have to either come out
this like hot and heavy,

26:45.709 --> 26:48.334
you know, young filmmaker
out of film school

26:48.417 --> 26:50.959
who's a visionary
and all these things.

26:51.042 --> 26:53.918
Or...I don't know.

26:54.000 --> 26:56.000
Or you have to fight
your way through the trenches

26:56.083 --> 26:58.542
like most of us do.

26:58.626 --> 27:00.834
It really doesn't matter
really where you're from.

27:00.918 --> 27:03.542
You just have to figure out
a way to make it work.

27:03.626 --> 27:07.709
And sometimes creativity is what
you make within confines.

27:07.792 --> 27:10.834
That's really when creativity,
like, sprouts.

27:10.918 --> 27:13.959
[muted conversation]

27:17.209 --> 27:19.542
[interviewer] Can you name
any women directors in film?

27:19.626 --> 27:21.959
Ah, she did some films
in the past

27:22.042 --> 27:26.292
including...the one about...

27:26.375 --> 27:30.083
No, I can't. I know they exist,
but I can't.

27:30.167 --> 27:32.417
[interviewer] Why do you think
you can't name any?

27:32.501 --> 27:34.459
Well, part of it is because
I'm brain-dead.

27:34.542 --> 27:36.459
It's Friday afternoon
after a really long week,

27:36.542 --> 27:38.792
and part of it is there are
very few

27:38.876 --> 27:40.167
Hollywood female directors.

27:40.250 --> 27:41.792
[interviewers] Now why do you
think that is?

27:41.876 --> 27:44.209
I think it's because of
a patriarchal structure

27:44.292 --> 27:45.918
in America and in Hollywood.

27:46.000 --> 27:47.167
[interviewer] Does that
bother you at all?

27:47.250 --> 27:48.334
A great deal.

27:48.417 --> 27:50.709
[interviewer] What do you think
women offer to films

27:50.792 --> 27:52.250
that men don't?

27:52.334 --> 27:55.042
I don't know that they offer
much different

27:55.125 --> 27:57.667
beyond a different perspective
from their own experiences.

27:57.751 --> 28:02.250
But I do think that they offer
a diversity of experience

28:02.334 --> 28:04.417
just like a bunch of
different men who make film

28:04.501 --> 28:05.667
offer a diversity of experience.

28:05.751 --> 28:07.334
If you're only letting
half the population

28:07.417 --> 28:09.292
have a shot at sharing
their experiences,

28:09.375 --> 28:13.042
then we're missing the 50%
not sharing their experiences.

28:18.167 --> 28:19.834
Just make things, make things.

28:19.918 --> 28:21.751
Go out and make yourself
a show, make a series,

28:21.834 --> 28:24.292
keep writing, write, write.

28:24.375 --> 28:26.417
Because you can write yourself
into success.

28:26.501 --> 28:28.876
Because, you know, some ways
scripts are a little different

28:28.959 --> 28:30.501
because they don't really know
if it's a male or female

28:30.584 --> 28:31.667
half the time
when they read it.

28:31.751 --> 28:34.709
So sometimes that's
the opportunity for you.

28:36.876 --> 28:39.959
As long as you have either
a typewriter or a computer

28:40.042 --> 28:42.042
or a piece of paper and a pen,

28:42.125 --> 28:44.751
you control that medium.

28:44.834 --> 28:46.417
You can't use the excuse,

28:46.501 --> 28:47.918
"Well, I don't have
any material"

28:48.000 --> 28:49.584
because you can create
your own.

28:49.667 --> 28:51.876
And we all did it
when we were kids.

28:51.959 --> 28:55.918
Or those of us who wanted
to be in this world.

28:56.000 --> 28:59.292
We all played with our dolls
or our imaginary friends

28:59.375 --> 29:02.667
or were outside on the patio
creating scenarios.

29:02.751 --> 29:06.709
And so it's just returning
to that and finding the joy.

29:06.792 --> 29:11.709
And then you abdicate,
you feel more empowered

29:11.792 --> 29:14.000
because you feel like no one's
in control

29:14.083 --> 29:15.459
of giving me the happiness.

29:15.542 --> 29:18.042
I have to create it for myself.

29:18.125 --> 29:21.626
Cady's doing a documentary
on female filmmakers.

29:21.709 --> 29:24.250
And she's been following
some of us around.

29:24.334 --> 29:27.417
I'm one of her subjects,
so she flew in today

29:27.501 --> 29:30.250
and would like to be
a part of our reading.

29:30.334 --> 29:32.334
So don't be nervous.

29:32.417 --> 29:34.959
We have to generate constantly

29:35.042 --> 29:38.083
and connect to each other

29:38.167 --> 29:42.042
and use those--
that connective tissue.

29:42.125 --> 29:45.083
Don't be afraid to call,
you know, a woman

29:45.167 --> 29:49.751
who you want a mentorship from.

29:49.834 --> 29:51.459
She can just say "No."

29:51.542 --> 29:53.334
And then you know
she's not for you.

29:53.417 --> 29:55.542
But she might say "Yes."

29:55.626 --> 29:58.209
[camera shutter clicks]

29:58.292 --> 30:00.250
♪♪

30:05.292 --> 30:07.667
After I did my film

30:07.751 --> 30:09.792
for the Directing Workshop
for Women,

30:09.876 --> 30:11.751
we submitted it
to the Academy Awards

30:11.834 --> 30:14.125
in the short feature area.

30:14.209 --> 30:16.209
And it got nominated.

30:16.292 --> 30:18.626
I mean, how could you
ever plan that?

30:18.709 --> 30:20.667
I got a call
from Steven Spielberg,

30:20.751 --> 30:23.125
and I thought it was
a prank call.

30:23.209 --> 30:25.209
I thought it was
one of my friends, hung up.

30:25.292 --> 30:27.000
Thankfully, he called back,

30:27.083 --> 30:29.042
and I went in for a meeting
with him.

30:29.125 --> 30:31.000
And he was starting a show,

30:31.083 --> 30:32.918
a new series called
Amazing Stories,

30:33.000 --> 30:34.918
which was an anthology series.

30:35.000 --> 30:36.876
He was asking
all of his friends,

30:36.959 --> 30:38.667
amazing directors,
to come direct.

30:38.751 --> 30:41.959
And he also asked
three new film directors.

30:42.042 --> 30:44.459
So, that was kind of
my film school.

30:44.542 --> 30:46.000
[soldier]
Okay, men...

30:46.083 --> 30:48.375
On my first day of shooting
on Amazing Stories,

30:48.459 --> 30:51.083
you know, there were probably
five women on the set

30:51.167 --> 30:54.083
and 300 guys storming a beach
in World War II.

30:54.167 --> 30:56.459
I had 12 cameras
and three Eyemos,

30:56.542 --> 31:01.292
and, you know, it was
a very male-dominated world.

31:01.375 --> 31:04.709
But, again, I think you just

31:04.792 --> 31:07.125
focus on the story
that you're telling.

31:07.209 --> 31:09.417
It felt like
an incredible opportunity.

31:09.501 --> 31:11.250
I shadowed...
[laughs]

31:11.334 --> 31:14.334
I shadowed Spielberg
and Clint Eastwood,

31:14.417 --> 31:16.959
which was like "Oh my God."

31:17.042 --> 31:18.667
But what you learn from that

31:18.751 --> 31:20.876
is that here are these two
amazing directors,

31:20.959 --> 31:24.083
and they have their own
very unique styles,

31:24.167 --> 31:26.626
and there's no one right way.

31:26.709 --> 31:29.083
So you have to find your way.

31:29.167 --> 31:30.417
Yeah, I was really lucky

31:30.501 --> 31:32.000
that when I went to National
Film and Television School

31:32.083 --> 31:33.876
there were some
incredible teachers there,

31:33.959 --> 31:35.876
and one of them was
the director Stephen Frears.

31:35.959 --> 31:38.834
And they only take
five directors a year.

31:38.918 --> 31:40.876
So it's
a very intense experience.

31:40.959 --> 31:43.417
You get a lot of attention
from those teachers.

31:43.501 --> 31:47.959
And Stephen Frears was there
a lot during my three years,

31:48.042 --> 31:49.375
and he would sit
in the cutting room

31:49.459 --> 31:50.834
of my short films.

31:50.918 --> 31:52.584
I now feel often
when I'm directing

31:52.667 --> 31:55.167
it's almost like I've got him
over my shoulder saying,

31:55.250 --> 31:56.709
"Why are you putting
the camera here?

31:56.792 --> 31:58.292
"What's this moment about?"

31:58.375 --> 32:01.167
He was really encouraging.
He was also quite harsh.

32:01.250 --> 32:03.501
But the combination of the two
taught me a lot

32:03.584 --> 32:05.167
and encouraged me.

32:05.250 --> 32:07.375
And he's continued to be
someone I can go to

32:07.459 --> 32:10.417
when I'm making a film now
in the real world

32:10.501 --> 32:12.959
and show him a cut
and get his opinion.

32:13.042 --> 32:16.584
And so I've really been grateful
for that support

32:16.667 --> 32:18.626
and mentorship through,
you know,

32:18.709 --> 32:20.459
right from film school onwards.

32:22.125 --> 32:23.501
I would love a mentor.

32:23.584 --> 32:27.667
I would love to find a director

32:27.751 --> 32:33.125
who has infinite wisdom
and experience and stories.

32:33.209 --> 32:34.918
I will be the constant student.

32:35.000 --> 32:38.375
I'm-- I always feel like
there's always more to learn.

32:38.459 --> 32:40.834
In the context of film too,
it's a culture,

32:40.918 --> 32:43.834
and it's such a history.

32:43.918 --> 32:46.042
And I've always wanted
to find someone

32:46.125 --> 32:48.751
that I can just sit like this
and ask them

32:48.834 --> 32:49.918
anything that I wanted.

32:50.000 --> 32:52.375
But it's been hard.

32:52.459 --> 32:57.459
It's been hard because also
I feel like people

32:57.542 --> 33:02.667
are a little bit more uptight
about things now

33:02.751 --> 33:07.209
that they feel like
it's harder to mentor someone

33:07.292 --> 33:09.501
when they feel like you can
also take their job.

33:09.584 --> 33:12.834
I think maybe in my generation
of women

33:12.918 --> 33:15.792
there was a sense there was
only room for one of us,

33:15.876 --> 33:17.125
and it better be me.

33:17.209 --> 33:19.083
And I think that if the women

33:19.167 --> 33:21.334
who are in the position to help
don't change that,

33:21.417 --> 33:22.876
nothing is going to change.

33:22.959 --> 33:25.792
My partner, Terence,
he's a really great mentor,

33:25.876 --> 33:28.876
kind of taught me that, like,

33:28.959 --> 33:31.209
everything is out there
for you to learn.

33:31.292 --> 33:34.918
You just have to, like,
be okay with being a student

33:35.000 --> 33:37.834
and not "I need to be master
right now."

33:37.918 --> 33:43.042
[muted conversation]

33:43.125 --> 33:47.125
Worked on feature films
for about 15 years.

33:47.209 --> 33:51.751
And on those 50 pictures
one had a woman director.

33:51.834 --> 33:54.542
Only one other had
a woman DP.

33:54.626 --> 33:58.584
Movie sets are mostly
80 to 90% male.

33:58.667 --> 34:04.042
I think the way movies are made
affects what movies are made.

34:04.125 --> 34:06.667
I'd like to see movies
made by women.

34:06.751 --> 34:10.250
I'm very heavily involved
in the WGA and the DGA.

34:10.334 --> 34:11.667
Like I said, I'm on the board.

34:11.751 --> 34:13.834
I love fighting for my guild.

34:13.918 --> 34:16.125
And I'm very aware
of the statistics.

34:16.209 --> 34:18.959
And the statistics are
four percent of women

34:19.042 --> 34:21.501
work in features, direct.

34:21.584 --> 34:24.083
Four percent of people
directing features are women.

34:28.709 --> 34:32.667
Now, if women are slightly more
than 50% of the population,

34:32.751 --> 34:34.876
and those are the statistics,

34:34.959 --> 34:36.959
you cannot point
to any single woman

34:37.042 --> 34:38.834
and say, "She's the reason
she's not working."

34:38.918 --> 34:42.083
You have to say there is
a systemic obstacle

34:42.167 --> 34:44.584
and a problem that
is stopping women

34:44.667 --> 34:47.584
not only from working,
not only from having careers

34:47.667 --> 34:49.375
but getting the training
they need,

34:49.459 --> 34:51.167
getting the experience
they need,

34:51.250 --> 34:54.083
going up to bat performing,

34:54.167 --> 34:57.000
and even having anything
more than a hobby.

34:57.083 --> 34:59.834
Those statistics are-- right?
That's not even hobby level.

34:59.918 --> 35:02.876
So, you have to look at
any woman who makes it

35:02.959 --> 35:06.792
and you have to think
that is phenomenal.

35:06.876 --> 35:09.667
It is phenomenal because
the odds are against her.

35:09.751 --> 35:13.501
No matter how many times
friends or my husband

35:13.584 --> 35:17.959
or people I know say,
"You can do it,"

35:18.042 --> 35:22.417
if I don't find it in myself

35:22.501 --> 35:24.125
and give myself permission
to do it

35:24.209 --> 35:28.501
and take that risk...
it's not going to happen.

35:30.626 --> 35:34.250
I'm interested in vulnerability
and courage.

35:34.334 --> 35:38.250
And I think that is
a through line.

35:38.334 --> 35:40.918
I don't think in abstractions
like truth.

35:41.000 --> 35:44.334
I just think
about human stories, you know.

35:44.417 --> 35:47.042
What grabs me? Why do I care
about these people?

35:47.125 --> 35:49.751
What are they fighting for?
What are they fighting against?

35:49.834 --> 35:51.876
I wouldn't be doing

35:51.959 --> 35:53.417
the particular story
I'm working on

35:53.501 --> 35:56.167
unless it was in my heart,

35:56.250 --> 35:57.834
that it was coming
from the heart,

35:57.918 --> 36:00.584
the making of this story.

36:00.667 --> 36:03.542
And so I guess I just
try to have faith

36:03.626 --> 36:06.375
that if I can succeed
in telling a story with heart

36:06.459 --> 36:08.667
that it's going to touch
other people's hearts.

36:08.751 --> 36:10.459
♪♪

36:13.167 --> 36:14.250
The numbers don't lie.

36:14.334 --> 36:16.167
The numbers say we're not being
hired as much as men.

36:16.250 --> 36:18.459
The fact of the matter is,
certainly for me,

36:18.542 --> 36:20.167
your voice develops
the more you work.

36:20.250 --> 36:23.000
And if the opportunities
aren't there within the system

36:23.083 --> 36:24.709
then you've got to make
your own stuff.

36:24.792 --> 36:28.751
But a big part of your voice
coming out--

36:28.834 --> 36:30.417
you can't direct by yourself.

36:30.501 --> 36:32.792
You need someone
to make it with you,

36:32.876 --> 36:34.083
and you need someone
to watch it.

36:34.167 --> 36:36.125
Just like being an actor,
you can't act by yourself.

36:36.209 --> 36:40.167
At the end of the day, someone's
got to sit in the audience.

36:40.250 --> 36:42.792
So developing any creative voice
for the most part

36:42.876 --> 36:45.626
is you need someone
to watch it.

36:45.709 --> 36:49.834
Witness it, better word.
Witness it.

36:49.918 --> 36:51.876
[camera shutter clicks]

36:59.626 --> 37:02.417
I remember talking to Steven.

37:02.501 --> 37:06.709
I had had like
the classic nightmare

37:06.792 --> 37:07.792
before shooting.

37:07.876 --> 37:11.250
It was I get to the set,
it's a crew I've never seen,

37:11.334 --> 37:13.334
and they're shooting something
I didn't prepare for.

37:13.417 --> 37:17.209
So I told him this, and he said
something so generous.

37:17.292 --> 37:20.042
He said, "I have that
before I start everything."

37:20.125 --> 37:22.167
And I'm like, "Oh my God,
Steven Spielberg,

37:22.250 --> 37:25.000
"who's a master storyteller,
you know,

37:25.083 --> 37:29.125
"goes through some sort of,
you know, creative angst

37:29.209 --> 37:30.542
"before he starts."

37:30.626 --> 37:34.167
And maybe that's something
about being in a creative field

37:34.250 --> 37:36.083
where you're always on the line.

37:36.167 --> 37:39.918
Yes, you know your skills
as you get more familiar

37:40.000 --> 37:41.584
and more practice with it,

37:41.667 --> 37:43.959
but it's always putting
something on the line.

37:44.042 --> 37:45.918
There's always a risk involved.

37:46.000 --> 37:48.000
- [squealing]
- Look out below!

37:48.083 --> 37:50.834
Verna, don't. It's too shallow.

37:50.918 --> 37:53.083
Bombs away!

37:53.167 --> 37:55.751
[splashing]

37:55.834 --> 37:57.834
♪♪

37:57.918 --> 38:01.167
I spoke to the head
of the directing department

38:01.250 --> 38:02.792
of the National Film School
and said,

38:02.876 --> 38:07.000
"I'd like the assistant
to be a woman

38:07.083 --> 38:08.626
"and a female director.

38:08.709 --> 38:10.167
"And who can you recommend?"

38:10.250 --> 38:12.876
And she recommended
a brilliant woman

38:12.959 --> 38:14.542
called Josia Goldyn

38:14.626 --> 38:16.501
who was my assistant throughout
the whole of Suffragette.

38:16.584 --> 38:20.167
So I had this graduate
film school director

38:20.250 --> 38:21.584
as my assistant.

38:21.667 --> 38:24.250
And I think that she
got a lot out of it

38:24.334 --> 38:25.501
and I got a lot out of it.

38:25.584 --> 38:29.083
And, looking back, I wish
that I'd done that

38:29.167 --> 38:31.584
as a student filmmaker

38:31.667 --> 38:33.125
or as a recent graduate
filmmaker

38:33.209 --> 38:37.417
because the first time
I was ever on a feature film set

38:37.501 --> 38:38.834
I was the director.

38:38.918 --> 38:41.000
And that's not right.

38:41.083 --> 38:44.334
You know, I should've
cut my teeth.

38:44.417 --> 38:47.501
I should've been on those
feature films

38:47.584 --> 38:49.834
as runners, as assist--
particularly as assistants

38:49.918 --> 38:52.083
where you get such an insight
into what the director's doing

38:52.167 --> 38:53.709
because you're with them
every bit of the way

38:53.792 --> 38:54.792
and you can stay with them

38:54.876 --> 38:56.000
through the whole
post-production.

38:56.083 --> 38:58.584
And I think looking back
I would dream of doing that.

38:58.667 --> 38:59.876
Even now I'd like to do that,

38:59.959 --> 39:01.459
but it would seem
slightly absurd

39:01.542 --> 39:03.292
if I went to trail
someone around.

39:03.375 --> 39:05.250
But maybe it wouldn't.
But, you know.

39:05.334 --> 39:08.542
That's the kind of thing
that I think...

39:08.626 --> 39:11.125
opportunities women
should look for particularly.

39:11.209 --> 39:14.292
Every director should look
for it as their training.

39:14.375 --> 39:16.250
But I think that particularly
women

39:16.334 --> 39:17.626
because it gives you confidence

39:17.709 --> 39:19.584
and it makes you think,
"Okay, I know this world."

39:19.667 --> 39:22.542
And you can watch those people
being in charge

39:22.626 --> 39:25.417
and watch how they negotiate it
and navigate it.

39:25.501 --> 39:27.792
And I think that will give them
more confidence.

39:27.876 --> 39:29.959
Well, I think if you're as a kid

39:30.042 --> 39:31.876
if you grew up
in many different places

39:31.959 --> 39:36.626
you have this innate ability
to see this new environment

39:36.709 --> 39:38.751
and this new social strata

39:38.834 --> 39:40.501
that you're about
to enter yourself into

39:40.584 --> 39:43.375
and figure out a way
to fit within that,

39:43.459 --> 39:45.083
that new world.

39:45.167 --> 39:49.209
And moving so many times
when I was a kid

39:49.292 --> 39:51.334
really strengthened that muscle
so, so much

39:51.417 --> 39:53.918
to where I could immediately see
what are the characteristics

39:54.000 --> 39:55.250
of this new place

39:55.334 --> 39:59.292
and how I can sort of emulate
or find things that I liked

39:59.375 --> 40:01.542
in that new place
to call my own.

40:01.626 --> 40:03.584
Now whenever I start
a new project

40:03.667 --> 40:06.918
or approach a new subject
for a film

40:07.000 --> 40:10.501
I'm able to have sort of
using the same kind of skill-set

40:10.584 --> 40:11.834
that I learned
when I was a child

40:11.918 --> 40:15.167
to take a step back
and also just see that world

40:15.250 --> 40:16.584
for what it is.

40:16.667 --> 40:22.209
I mean, really I think
the biggest obstacle for me

40:22.292 --> 40:24.626
has always been sort of myself

40:24.709 --> 40:27.709
or preconceived notions
of what I've been capable of.

40:27.792 --> 40:31.667
I would attribute that to, like,
there's a host of things.

40:31.751 --> 40:34.125
You know, it's patriarchy
and racism

40:34.209 --> 40:38.375
and sort of constant
storytelling coming at you

40:38.459 --> 40:40.125
from a very young age of what

40:40.209 --> 40:44.375
as a young woman of color
in Flatbush

40:44.459 --> 40:48.000
with a single mother
and a father who's not around,

40:48.083 --> 40:51.542
this is statistically
what your life should look like.

40:51.626 --> 40:55.959
It's just sort of having to tell
yourself a different story.

40:56.042 --> 40:59.751
[distant conversation]

41:01.959 --> 41:05.501
[muted conversation]

41:10.125 --> 41:15.000
[muted conversation]

41:25.375 --> 41:26.792
[laughter]

41:32.209 --> 41:34.167
[interviewer] Do you think
the success of Wonder Woman

41:34.250 --> 41:36.876
will help more women directors
get hired out in Hollywood?

41:36.959 --> 41:39.292
Yeah, because I mean it just
shows that not only can women

41:39.375 --> 41:40.375
make a solid movie,

41:40.459 --> 41:42.626
which I don't think
is a contestable thing,

41:42.709 --> 41:45.000
but it's an example
in Hollywood then,

41:45.083 --> 41:47.584
and also it did really well
at the box office.

41:47.667 --> 41:49.918
So, if anything, it will
just start a trend.

41:50.000 --> 41:51.959
[interviewer] Yeah, and does
this encourage you

41:52.042 --> 41:53.501
to try and make movies
out in Hollywood

41:53.584 --> 41:54.709
and that you could really
get there as well?

41:54.792 --> 41:55.959
Yeah, yeah.

41:56.042 --> 41:57.125
[interviewer] Anything else
you'd like to say

41:57.209 --> 41:58.584
about Wonder Woman?

41:58.667 --> 42:01.250
It's not about deserve,
it's about what you believe.

42:01.334 --> 42:02.667
♪♪

42:03.667 --> 42:06.167
More actresses need to work
with female directors.

42:06.250 --> 42:08.459
You know, I know a lot of people
are going to see this film,

42:08.542 --> 42:11.167
and I am begging and pleading

42:11.250 --> 42:13.751
for the recognizable women
out there

42:13.834 --> 42:16.167
who are working
in front of the camera

42:16.250 --> 42:18.667
make an effort to work
with female directors

42:18.751 --> 42:20.709
because they're going
to help you

42:20.792 --> 42:22.542
because it's a completely
different experience

42:22.626 --> 42:23.918
working with a female director,

42:24.000 --> 42:25.334
and you're going to help them.

42:25.417 --> 42:28.501
And it's going to work
in a ripple effect.

42:28.584 --> 42:30.626
And we all get
to help each other

42:30.709 --> 42:31.918
and lift each other up,

42:32.000 --> 42:33.292
and, if we don't do that,

42:33.375 --> 42:35.792
we're going to continue
to be screwed.

42:35.876 --> 42:38.834
Bringing a woman--
another woman--

42:38.918 --> 42:43.375
to perform in the way
that she wanted to

42:43.459 --> 42:47.876
and giving her everything
she needed to perform and excel,

42:47.959 --> 42:52.292
like, I just felt this kind of
gratitude that I was able

42:52.375 --> 42:55.584
to come up with the right words
that helped her.

42:55.667 --> 42:58.292
And it just felt amazing.

43:01.000 --> 43:06.459
I feel like using your own power
and whatever that means,

43:06.542 --> 43:08.542
whether you want to be masculine

43:08.626 --> 43:10.751
or you want to wear
[bleeped] heels to set.

43:10.834 --> 43:13.000
Like, do whatever you want,
you know.

43:13.083 --> 43:15.542
It's just like how do you
want to do it?

43:15.626 --> 43:18.751
What's your style, you know?

43:18.834 --> 43:22.334
And if...if out of that

43:22.417 --> 43:26.667
comes more diverse voices,

43:26.751 --> 43:29.542
that's what we want.

43:29.626 --> 43:32.250
We don't want women
pretending to be men

43:32.334 --> 43:34.417
or men pretending to be women.

43:34.501 --> 43:39.125
There's like a million different
things in between that.

43:39.209 --> 43:40.334
[camera shutter clicks]

43:50.626 --> 43:52.209
In terms of choosing material,

43:52.292 --> 43:55.167
for me it's very
kind of instinctive.

43:55.250 --> 43:57.959
So I have to feel there's some
sort of emotional connection

43:58.042 --> 43:59.334
with that material

43:59.417 --> 44:01.792
and something driving me
to tell that story.

44:01.876 --> 44:05.209
And sometimes I'm not always
clear what it is.

44:05.292 --> 44:08.000
But I think looking back
it's quite obvious

44:08.083 --> 44:09.959
with both those films
that, you know,

44:10.042 --> 44:11.918
in a way they're similar.

44:12.000 --> 44:13.876
They both tell the story
of women finding their voice

44:13.959 --> 44:15.626
and finding their place
in the world.

44:15.709 --> 44:18.501
I have never heard you say
what you want.

44:18.584 --> 44:21.042
Please, mama, tell him.

44:21.125 --> 44:24.250
Tell him, mama,
please for once.

44:24.334 --> 44:27.584
Please tell him!
Please, mama.

44:28.626 --> 44:31.542
Tell him you don't want to go!

44:31.626 --> 44:34.000
It's very exciting to me
to see people transform

44:34.083 --> 44:36.250
and particularly to see women
transform.

44:36.334 --> 44:37.792
And I'm sure it connects back

44:37.876 --> 44:39.542
with lots of things
about my past.

44:39.626 --> 44:43.584
You know, I had a grandmother
who came over here age 17

44:43.667 --> 44:47.125
from Germany,
and she was a German Jew.

44:47.209 --> 44:50.459
And she had to conceal
her identity

44:50.542 --> 44:53.626
and find out who she was
and not speak out.

44:53.709 --> 44:56.000
And, as a consequence,
my mother became a politician

44:56.083 --> 44:57.292
who was always speaking out.

44:57.375 --> 44:59.459
And so I sort of saw
both the repressed woman

44:59.542 --> 45:03.167
and the liberated woman
as models in my own home life.

45:03.250 --> 45:05.792
And, you know, I can see
the connections.

45:06.751 --> 45:09.959
[shouting and smashing]

45:10.042 --> 45:12.167
Vote for women!

45:12.250 --> 45:13.375
[sighs]

45:13.459 --> 45:15.042
For me, what's important
about the story

45:15.125 --> 45:17.918
is that the action
is character-based.

45:18.000 --> 45:22.000
You know, with any of the things
I've done,

45:22.083 --> 45:24.292
I don't really care
about blowing up a truck.

45:24.375 --> 45:26.834
I care about how it moves
the story along.

45:26.918 --> 45:28.959
So, for me, it's all
about character.

45:29.042 --> 45:31.375
It's all about human beings
making choices.

45:31.459 --> 45:34.626
I'm very interested in...

45:34.709 --> 45:37.584
in people being put
in extraordinary circumstances

45:37.667 --> 45:40.042
where they're forced to deal
with who they really are.

45:40.125 --> 45:44.042
And that could be in a comedy
or in a drama.

45:44.125 --> 45:45.501
I know why you've been
upset with me.

45:45.584 --> 45:47.083
I did a terrible thing to you.

45:47.167 --> 45:48.501
I shouldn't let you take
all that heat.

45:48.584 --> 45:51.959
Yeah. No, but you did.

45:52.042 --> 45:53.709
Because that's who you are.

45:53.792 --> 45:57.709
Then you come around here
with a bottle of champagne,

45:57.792 --> 46:00.209
and you want me to tell you
everything is fine.

46:02.042 --> 46:03.626
But it ain't.

46:03.709 --> 46:05.834
So with And Nothing Happened,
I think I was really focused

46:05.918 --> 46:10.000
on figuring out a way
to viscerally portray

46:10.083 --> 46:11.459
post-traumatic stress disorder.

46:11.542 --> 46:12.959
And do it in a surrealist way

46:13.042 --> 46:16.042
because a lot of what people
I think go through,

46:16.125 --> 46:21.959
aside from me, is sort of
this like being in two worlds.

46:37.792 --> 46:40.876
My first feature is
about a woman

46:40.959 --> 46:46.542
who is at the dead end point
in her professional life.

46:46.626 --> 46:48.000
And she's at that point

46:48.083 --> 46:50.792
when she really has
to make a decision

46:50.876 --> 46:54.792
to keep going
or find something else.

46:54.876 --> 46:56.459
This is her last chance.

47:00.167 --> 47:01.167
What am I doing?

47:01.250 --> 47:03.542
[sniffs]

47:07.167 --> 47:08.918
I don't know where I am.

47:09.000 --> 47:11.083
I don't even...

47:11.167 --> 47:12.918
I don't even know who you are.

47:13.000 --> 47:15.792
[muted conversation]

47:18.292 --> 47:19.751
[interviewer] What do you think
the difference is

47:19.834 --> 47:22.751
between what men and women
bring to films that they direct?

47:22.834 --> 47:24.292
If there is a difference.

47:24.375 --> 47:26.083
I think it's pretty much
the same.

47:26.167 --> 47:29.334
I know when I watched
Angelina Jolie's movie

47:29.417 --> 47:32.626
about the runner,
the Olympic runner I think,

47:32.709 --> 47:35.918
it was very humanistic,
if you may.

47:36.000 --> 47:41.792
It focused a lot on truths
about the human spirit.

47:41.876 --> 47:44.792
Come on, Louie.

47:44.876 --> 47:46.375
Come on, boy-o.

47:51.459 --> 47:53.083
Come on, Louie.

47:56.626 --> 47:59.876
[whimpering]

48:03.042 --> 48:06.042
You know, the ratio
of men directors

48:06.125 --> 48:09.125
to female directors
is way out of whack.

48:14.042 --> 48:17.209
And that needs to be corrected.

48:19.000 --> 48:23.042
You've got to get work
on film.

48:23.125 --> 48:24.959
You've got to actually
get a show reel together.

48:25.042 --> 48:28.125
You've got to show
what you can do.

48:28.209 --> 48:30.209
It's all very well having
amazing ideas

48:30.292 --> 48:33.042
and, you know, and even
if it means kind of

48:33.125 --> 48:35.292
shooting something
on your phone

48:35.375 --> 48:39.125
you've just got to show
that you have something

48:39.209 --> 48:41.959
that's kind of unique to you.

48:43.876 --> 48:46.959
For me, the idea of making films
is all about women on the edge.

48:50.459 --> 48:52.709
That's what my subject is,
I think,

48:52.792 --> 48:55.834
women who are at the edge
of a culture

48:55.918 --> 48:57.792
who are fighting for something.

48:57.876 --> 49:00.125
It's always about choice,
you know.

49:00.209 --> 49:04.959
It's always about being able
to be enfranchised

49:05.042 --> 49:07.125
when they're disenfranchised.

49:07.209 --> 49:10.292
That's what concerns me always.

49:10.375 --> 49:11.959
[camera shutter clicks]

49:15.834 --> 49:17.250
♪♪

49:20.834 --> 49:23.501
I remember directing
an episode of Mad Men

49:23.584 --> 49:29.584
where they're trying
to figure out how to...

49:29.667 --> 49:34.000
program commercials
with television drama.

49:34.083 --> 49:36.792
The person who was great
at doing that was Joan.

49:36.876 --> 49:40.042
Mr. Hanson, I don't know
how Mr. Crane feels about this,

49:40.125 --> 49:42.751
but I've been reading
the scripts.

49:42.834 --> 49:44.751
And I just have to say
As The World Turns

49:44.834 --> 49:46.292
is about to become unmissable.

49:46.375 --> 49:47.709
I don't want to give it away,

49:47.792 --> 49:51.918
but someone people
think is dead...is not.

49:52.000 --> 49:53.959
I'm glad you like it,

49:54.042 --> 49:55.501
but they all do the same things,
don't they?

49:55.584 --> 49:56.667
No. Not at all.

49:56.751 --> 49:59.167
This is what they call
a special summer storyline,

49:59.250 --> 50:00.459
and I've spoken
to Logan Reynolds

50:00.542 --> 50:01.626
over at CBS,

50:01.709 --> 50:03.667
at it's gonna receive
a lot of promotion.

50:03.751 --> 50:04.918
Is it the same price?

50:05.000 --> 50:06.501
Well, they're all close.

50:06.584 --> 50:08.000
This sounds better.

50:08.083 --> 50:10.709
Well, if you lock them in
at this rating

50:10.792 --> 50:12.000
and then they exceed it,

50:12.083 --> 50:13.918
there's a bang-for-your-buck
factor, isn't there?

50:14.000 --> 50:15.292
I would say so.

50:15.375 --> 50:16.876
Then you should do that.

50:16.959 --> 50:19.167
So, temporarily
they gave her the job,

50:19.250 --> 50:20.375
and she really excelled.

50:20.459 --> 50:23.542
She really had a skill
as to what to put together.

50:23.626 --> 50:26.459
But when they actually
thought about hiring someone

50:26.542 --> 50:28.375
for that new role,

50:28.459 --> 50:30.834
because television was new
at that point,

50:30.918 --> 50:33.918
they never even considered
hiring her.

50:34.000 --> 50:35.584
Joan, this is Danny Lindstrom.

50:35.667 --> 50:36.876
Dan.

50:38.334 --> 50:40.167
He's gonna be in charge
of broadcast operations.

50:41.584 --> 50:43.000
Excuse me?

50:43.083 --> 50:44.751
I really appreciated
you filling in.

50:44.834 --> 50:46.000
I couldn't have asked for more.

50:46.083 --> 50:47.542
Joan knows everything
about this.

50:47.626 --> 50:49.709
Well, that makes one of us.

50:49.792 --> 50:52.834
[laughs] I've already given him
next week's scripts.

50:52.918 --> 50:54.501
It would great if you could
fill him in on how it works.

50:56.751 --> 51:00.167
And, to me, that was
a great way of dealing

51:00.250 --> 51:01.959
with the sexism of the time.

51:02.042 --> 51:04.959
It's not that they thought
she didn't do a good job.

51:05.042 --> 51:07.292
They all admitted
what a great job she did.

51:07.375 --> 51:09.876
But, when it came to filling
that role,

51:09.959 --> 51:11.584
it was gonna go to a guy.

51:11.667 --> 51:14.000
So, to me, that was
a great exploration

51:14.083 --> 51:16.375
of the kind of sexism
that happened

51:16.459 --> 51:18.792
at that particular time.

51:18.876 --> 51:21.167
[interviewer] Somehow or other
that feels very familiar.

51:21.250 --> 51:22.250
Yes.

51:22.334 --> 51:24.876
When we look at a film set,

51:24.959 --> 51:27.167
it could look like
a construction crew.

51:27.250 --> 51:29.584
It seems to be directing
seems to be the last kind

51:29.667 --> 51:32.792
of holdout for change,
you know,

51:32.876 --> 51:36.167
in our world of filmmaking.

51:36.250 --> 51:39.334
I premiered this film actually

51:39.417 --> 51:41.417
at the L.A. Asian Pacific
Film Festival.

51:41.501 --> 51:43.667
That festival has meant
so much to me

51:43.751 --> 51:46.083
when I started off at USC,

51:46.167 --> 51:48.000
and since they've programmed
everything I've ever made.

51:48.083 --> 51:50.459
And more so I also wanted
to take a stand and say

51:50.542 --> 51:52.209
I can premiere a film like this

51:52.292 --> 51:55.876
at one of the nation's oldest
Asian American film festivals

51:55.959 --> 51:58.167
and show different work.

51:58.250 --> 52:00.459
A question that I got
during the Q and A

52:00.542 --> 52:03.542
was this guy rose
and he asked me,

52:03.626 --> 52:06.667
"So you're
a Chinese-American woman,

52:06.751 --> 52:10.751
"why did you cast
a white woman in this film?"

52:10.834 --> 52:14.792
And...
[laughs]

52:14.876 --> 52:18.459
I was taken aback because
that's an onion of a question

52:18.542 --> 52:20.292
because it means
two assumptions.

52:20.375 --> 52:23.000
One, the first assumption
is that you think

52:23.083 --> 52:25.584
that this film is my life,

52:25.667 --> 52:28.042
and I'm not able
to write a story

52:28.125 --> 52:30.584
that's outside of my existence.

52:30.667 --> 52:36.792
And, two, you think that
I'm whitewashing this film

52:36.876 --> 52:39.792
or trying to make a statement
about something

52:39.876 --> 52:41.209
that is not there.

52:41.292 --> 52:45.209
And you're accusing me
right now more than anything.

52:45.292 --> 52:48.000
So, I took a beat,
and I said,

52:48.083 --> 52:50.167
"Everyone has the same emotions.

52:50.250 --> 52:52.501
"We have the same blood
running through our veins.

52:52.584 --> 52:55.292
"And we suffer from the same
highs and lows of life."

52:55.375 --> 52:56.876
And that's basically it,

52:56.959 --> 53:00.876
and the audience actually
applauded after that.

53:00.959 --> 53:03.501
The reason we gravitated
towards telling the story

53:03.584 --> 53:05.459
of a working class woman
in the suffragette movement

53:05.542 --> 53:08.167
was because, you know,
women were marginalized,

53:08.250 --> 53:10.292
and working class women
were even more marginalized

53:10.375 --> 53:12.667
and have been
through our history.

53:12.751 --> 53:14.709
And often they were
at the vanguard of change.

53:14.792 --> 53:16.792
It felt exciting
to tell the stories,

53:16.876 --> 53:18.334
to shine a light
on those women,

53:18.417 --> 53:19.501
to bring them out of the shadows

53:19.584 --> 53:21.792
and realize how much
they had to lose.

53:21.876 --> 53:23.250
They had more to lose
than their middle class

53:23.334 --> 53:24.792
or upper class counterparts.

53:24.876 --> 53:28.667
I think mainstream media
and also film

53:28.751 --> 53:31.334
is sort of obsessed more
with, like, courtroom drama

53:31.417 --> 53:33.584
and, like, the act of rape

53:33.667 --> 53:37.501
and sort of in some ways
eroticizing that for the camera

53:37.584 --> 53:39.167
and for people who are watching.

53:39.250 --> 53:43.083
Like, I kind of got tired of
seeing women being brutalized.

53:43.167 --> 53:47.083
[sobbing]

53:47.167 --> 53:48.667
[muffled screaming]
Stop!

53:48.751 --> 53:50.626
Hold still.

53:50.709 --> 53:52.876
And you want to talk
about the brutality,

53:52.959 --> 53:56.584
but like, you know,
to what end and why?

53:56.667 --> 54:00.209
And so I think and I hope
that in And Nothing Happened

54:00.292 --> 54:04.792
sort of was that sort of
gateway or, you know,

54:04.876 --> 54:08.292
conversation starter
to figuring out

54:08.375 --> 54:11.375
how sexual assault
and sexualized violence

54:11.459 --> 54:13.125
impacts not just the individual

54:13.209 --> 54:15.334
but also, like, the family
and the community

54:15.417 --> 54:16.876
and, you know, mental health.

54:18.584 --> 54:19.876
I love you to death.

54:19.959 --> 54:21.626
Boom. Right here.

54:21.709 --> 54:23.876
Just remember this is
friendly territory.

54:23.959 --> 54:26.042
Anyone who would go
out of their way

54:26.125 --> 54:30.209
to make a job more difficult
because you're a woman...

54:35.459 --> 54:39.083
...that's someone I don't even
want them on my radar anymore.

54:39.167 --> 54:41.417
You know?

54:41.501 --> 54:44.959
That's, to me, it's--

54:45.042 --> 54:49.083
you're hurting-- you're hurting
the product, right?

54:49.167 --> 54:50.918
You're hurting the process.

54:51.000 --> 54:55.584
More importantly,
it's just such a--

54:55.667 --> 54:57.584
it's inexcusable to me.

54:57.667 --> 54:59.334
[dramatic music]

55:31.834 --> 55:33.417
♪♪

55:35.083 --> 55:37.167
I think every scenario
that comes up on set

55:37.250 --> 55:38.626
whether it's narrative,
documentary,

55:38.709 --> 55:40.167
any working environment,

55:40.250 --> 55:43.042
you have to figure out
how to stand up for yourself.

55:43.125 --> 55:45.584
And sometimes that's in silence.

55:45.667 --> 55:49.042
Sometimes that's shouting
at the top of your lungs.

55:49.125 --> 55:50.626
Every work environment
is so different,

55:50.709 --> 55:52.792
and you have to think about
your own career

55:52.876 --> 55:54.709
and the consequences
of your actions

55:54.792 --> 55:56.876
and how they reflect back
on you.

55:56.959 --> 55:59.792
And I think women are often
too smart

55:59.876 --> 56:02.167
because instead of saying,
"That's wrong,

56:02.250 --> 56:04.209
"you shouldn't be saying that,
that made me feel uncomfortable,

56:04.292 --> 56:06.918
"I'm going to go talk to HR
or whoever or whatever"

56:07.000 --> 56:08.584
to defuse the situation,

56:08.667 --> 56:10.751
we can often talk ourselves
out of it

56:10.834 --> 56:13.584
because we know that
suddenly we're gonna be the ones

56:13.667 --> 56:15.584
that suffer the consequences
of saying something.

56:15.667 --> 56:17.667
We are the party pooper.
We're the killjoy.

56:17.751 --> 56:21.209
We're the ones that
couldn't take a joke.

56:21.292 --> 56:23.876
But it's up to us to also
lead by example,

56:23.959 --> 56:27.417
and if you see a younger woman
being, you know, mistreated

56:27.501 --> 56:28.626
we have to stand up for her

56:28.709 --> 56:30.584
as we would want
to be stood up for.

56:30.667 --> 56:32.209
So, it's really sticky,

56:32.292 --> 56:34.209
and there's no one answer
to this issue.

56:37.334 --> 56:39.083
When I went to Sundance,

56:39.167 --> 56:42.334
I was the youngest director
anyway, I think,

56:42.417 --> 56:43.626
there with a feature.

56:43.709 --> 56:47.000
And I was the only
woman director there.

56:47.083 --> 56:51.209
I don't think that women
are lacking, you know,

56:51.292 --> 56:53.167
as a group, confidence
to be directors

56:53.250 --> 56:55.375
or talent to be directors
or any of that stuff.

56:55.459 --> 56:56.751
I don't think that's
what it is at all.

56:56.834 --> 57:02.000
I think that there's...

57:02.083 --> 57:05.042
I think it's about like
the perpetuation

57:05.125 --> 57:07.667
of which belief systems
you have.

57:07.751 --> 57:10.417
I don't feel like
a female director

57:10.501 --> 57:13.209
the same way as guys don't feel
like male directors.

57:13.292 --> 57:14.626
Do you know what I mean?
They're just directors.

57:14.709 --> 57:15.834
[camera shutter clicks]

57:24.709 --> 57:26.626
When I started directing

57:26.709 --> 57:28.918
and heard what
the statistics were,

57:29.000 --> 57:32.834
which I think were at that time
14, 15%,

57:32.918 --> 57:34.751
which is the same as it is now.

57:38.918 --> 57:41.209
Twenty years ago
if you would've said to me

57:41.292 --> 57:44.375
"Will we be talking about this
in 2015?"

57:44.459 --> 57:45.959
I would've said,
"Absolutely not."

57:46.042 --> 57:47.250
This will be resolved.

57:47.334 --> 57:49.667
This will be a non-issue
in 2015.

57:49.751 --> 57:51.918
And, sadly, it's still an issue.

57:52.000 --> 57:53.542
We are still at the same place.

57:53.626 --> 57:57.375
So, you know, I don't think
directing is easy for anyone.

57:57.459 --> 57:58.959
It's not easy for men.

57:59.042 --> 58:01.042
But I think the playing field
should be equal.

58:01.125 --> 58:02.667
I don't think it should be
harder for women

58:02.751 --> 58:04.709
to direct than men.

58:04.792 --> 58:08.501
The thing that's most often
happened

58:08.584 --> 58:10.375
is that I've been in situations

58:10.459 --> 58:13.334
where I'm the only woman
in the room

58:13.417 --> 58:15.334
or one of very few women
in the room.

58:15.417 --> 58:20.667
And often people have assumed
I'm not the director.

58:20.751 --> 58:23.792
I often have to announce
to people, "I'm the director."

58:25.125 --> 58:28.000
The more that I work
within the system

58:28.083 --> 58:34.417
the more I see the sexism,
the ageism, the isms.

58:34.501 --> 58:36.751
The more I feel the oppression.

58:36.834 --> 58:42.000
Which goes to show
that those behavior patterns

58:42.083 --> 58:45.959
are learned from previous
generations of filmmakers.

58:46.042 --> 58:48.667
The whole idea of a boy's club,

58:48.751 --> 58:51.626
the whole idea of being
the only girl in the boy's club,

58:51.709 --> 58:53.542
which is another thing too.

58:53.626 --> 58:56.125
Sometimes I work with people
higher up than me

58:56.209 --> 58:59.792
that are strong, powerful,
intelligent women

58:59.876 --> 59:03.584
but felt threatened by me
in some kind of way

59:03.667 --> 59:08.751
and didn't want to include me
into the process

59:08.834 --> 59:10.751
or just even socially

59:10.834 --> 59:13.334
in whatever project
we're working on together

59:13.417 --> 59:16.042
because they wanted to be
the only girl in the room.

59:16.125 --> 59:17.334
They wanted to feel like
they had that.

59:17.417 --> 59:19.042
They were one of the boys.

59:19.125 --> 59:22.375
That's also a huge problem, too.

59:22.459 --> 59:24.125
And it's a problem that
not a lot of people

59:24.209 --> 59:25.959
are willing to talk about.

59:26.042 --> 59:27.959
I mean, I think at this stage

59:28.042 --> 59:30.959
I believe in being
a spokesperson

59:31.042 --> 59:32.792
because I think we need
spokespeople.

59:32.876 --> 59:36.501
And we're at the point where
we need to keep discussing it.

59:36.584 --> 59:40.375
I believe it's not helpful
if women directors say,

59:40.459 --> 59:41.459
"I don't want to talk about it"

59:41.542 --> 59:44.918
because it's denying that
there's an issue,

59:45.000 --> 59:47.334
and there is an issue,
and we need to engage with it.

59:47.417 --> 59:48.792
And we need to change it,

59:48.876 --> 59:51.959
and we need to encourage
people coming up.

59:52.042 --> 59:54.959
[muted conversations]

59:57.876 --> 01:00:00.125
Respect is
a really important way

01:00:00.209 --> 01:00:01.209
of showing leadership.

01:00:05.292 --> 01:00:07.083
You know,
that's respecting people,

01:00:07.167 --> 01:00:08.375
whether they're
executive producer

01:00:08.459 --> 01:00:09.667
or whether it's a PA.

01:00:09.751 --> 01:00:13.250
Treating everyone with fairness
and respect.

01:00:13.334 --> 01:00:15.918
I think just in general
there's an atmosphere

01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:17.876
of, oh yeah,
if they're doing that

01:00:17.959 --> 01:00:20.000
then I should be
doing that too.

01:00:20.083 --> 01:00:24.292
And it instills in the set
a sense of fairness

01:00:24.375 --> 01:00:26.167
and a sense, again, of family,

01:00:26.250 --> 01:00:28.334
which I think is
the best kind to have

01:00:28.417 --> 01:00:29.876
when you're making something.

01:00:29.959 --> 01:00:33.542
Landed in London. Yay!

01:00:33.626 --> 01:00:35.459
The primary role of the director

01:00:35.542 --> 01:00:39.042
is to be confident
in their decision-making

01:00:39.125 --> 01:00:41.000
and to keep on making decisions.

01:00:44.918 --> 01:00:47.876
That is just what you're doing.
You're making decisions.

01:00:47.959 --> 01:00:51.334
You're calling shots.
You're saying yes or no.

01:00:51.417 --> 01:00:53.334
It's true throughout
pre-production

01:00:53.417 --> 01:00:55.459
and production
and post-production,

01:00:55.542 --> 01:01:00.792
and people are largely
offering you their skill,

01:01:00.876 --> 01:01:02.501
you know, what they've got,
you know.

01:01:02.584 --> 01:01:04.751
The actor is offering you
their performance.

01:01:04.834 --> 01:01:07.709
The DP is offering you,
you know, the camera move.

01:01:07.792 --> 01:01:11.667
You know, the gaffer is offering
you their lighting design.

01:01:11.751 --> 01:01:14.083
The editor is offering you
their cut.

01:01:14.167 --> 01:01:17.167
And you're going
"Yes, no, because."

01:01:17.250 --> 01:01:21.167
And as soon as you stop saying
yes or no,

01:01:21.250 --> 01:01:22.334
the thing falls apart.

01:01:22.417 --> 01:01:23.667
So, decisiveness.

01:01:25.459 --> 01:01:28.375
As much as it is
a collaboration,

01:01:28.459 --> 01:01:30.542
it's all about execution.

01:01:30.626 --> 01:01:31.959
Are we going to make our day?

01:01:32.042 --> 01:01:33.250
Are we going to make
our schedule?

01:01:33.334 --> 01:01:36.459
Are we going to get
the performances we need?

01:01:36.542 --> 01:01:37.959
And, at the end of the day,

01:01:38.042 --> 01:01:41.000
it's an enlightened
dictatorship.

01:01:41.083 --> 01:01:42.250
It's not a democracy.

01:01:42.334 --> 01:01:43.459
And, if you think
it's a democracy,

01:01:43.542 --> 01:01:44.626
you're in the wrong business.

01:01:44.709 --> 01:01:48.000
Yes, I want to collaborate,
and I want to work with my team.

01:01:48.083 --> 01:01:49.667
I want to listen
to what they say,

01:01:49.751 --> 01:01:52.542
but they're counting on me
to make the decision.

01:01:52.626 --> 01:01:54.334
And there's nothing worse
than a director

01:01:54.417 --> 01:01:55.501
who can't make a decision.

01:01:55.584 --> 01:01:57.083
[camera shutter clicks]

01:01:59.292 --> 01:02:00.792
[heart beating]

01:02:05.375 --> 01:02:06.792
I think it is radical to care.

01:02:06.876 --> 01:02:09.167
And it's difficult because...

01:02:09.250 --> 01:02:12.209
people try to beat that
out of you, but, yeah.

01:02:12.292 --> 01:02:15.000
And it's partly
about confidence.

01:02:15.083 --> 01:02:16.751
Believing you can do it.

01:02:16.834 --> 01:02:19.417
I mean, I think the reason
that women

01:02:19.501 --> 01:02:21.918
need more confidence to direct

01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:24.042
is because there are so few.

01:02:24.125 --> 01:02:25.167
So you look around you
and think,

01:02:25.250 --> 01:02:26.417
"Oh, can I do this?"

01:02:26.501 --> 01:02:28.209
Because no other women
are doing it.

01:02:28.292 --> 01:02:30.000
Or very few other women
are doing it.

01:02:30.083 --> 01:02:32.083
And also because traditionally

01:02:32.167 --> 01:02:34.792
women haven't been brought up
to be leaders.

01:02:34.876 --> 01:02:37.542
And, you know, it's hard
to pin--

01:02:37.626 --> 01:02:39.292
to work out what it is

01:02:39.375 --> 01:02:40.959
that makes women uncomfortable
about leading

01:02:41.042 --> 01:02:42.626
or makes women feel
that they can't

01:02:42.709 --> 01:02:43.792
or shouldn't lead.

01:02:43.876 --> 01:02:45.667
Or is that we're imagining that?

01:02:45.751 --> 01:02:47.334
But I think there is something
about that.

01:02:47.417 --> 01:02:49.959
I was the youngest of four
in my family.

01:02:50.042 --> 01:02:53.501
So I certainly wasn't a leader
within my sibling group.

01:02:53.584 --> 01:02:54.584
I was a follower.

01:02:54.667 --> 01:02:58.167
I really, really had to learn
how to be in charge.

01:02:58.250 --> 01:03:01.209
It is almost an act,
and you have to learn it.

01:03:01.292 --> 01:03:05.709
I think having a sense of humor
is a great tool.

01:03:05.792 --> 01:03:07.709
You know, I've had people
say things to me

01:03:07.792 --> 01:03:09.584
I can't even believe
what they've said.

01:03:09.667 --> 01:03:13.167
But I think there's a way
you can turn that around.

01:03:13.250 --> 01:03:17.292
I was doing a very kind of
testosterone-driven show,

01:03:17.375 --> 01:03:19.667
and they'd never had a woman.

01:03:19.751 --> 01:03:23.083
And I remember one of the guys--
it was all guys--

01:03:23.167 --> 01:03:26.375
and they said, "We don't think
a woman can direct this show.

01:03:26.459 --> 01:03:27.584
"It's just too tough."

01:03:27.667 --> 01:03:29.626
And I said, "You know,
yeah I get it.

01:03:29.709 --> 01:03:31.626
"Something bad happens,
we all start crying."

01:03:31.709 --> 01:03:33.501
And they were all like,
"Oh my God."

01:03:33.584 --> 01:03:34.918
And then they started laughing.

01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:36.375
And then it never came up again.

01:03:36.459 --> 01:03:38.792
Not that every situation
is that easy.

01:03:38.876 --> 01:03:41.667
I don't mean to be cavalier
about this.

01:03:41.751 --> 01:03:45.667
I mean, I think there are
situations that are very tough.

01:03:45.751 --> 01:03:49.042
But I think, again,
you have to know what you want

01:03:49.125 --> 01:03:51.709
and keep moving forward.

01:03:51.792 --> 01:03:53.584
Be very tenacious.

01:03:54.584 --> 01:03:58.292
I would say the first thing
that you should know

01:03:58.375 --> 01:04:00.125
is you have to trust yourself.

01:04:00.209 --> 01:04:01.709
And that's a very vague thing
to say,

01:04:01.792 --> 01:04:07.834
but it can be used in smaller
detail situations too.

01:04:07.918 --> 01:04:09.792
Trust your instincts

01:04:09.876 --> 01:04:12.292
because no amount
of film school

01:04:12.375 --> 01:04:14.042
or set experience

01:04:14.125 --> 01:04:16.000
or Steven Spielberg
being your mentor

01:04:16.083 --> 01:04:19.876
is going to replace you
yourself and your--

01:04:19.959 --> 01:04:22.459
your sense of right and wrong.

01:04:22.542 --> 01:04:26.000
Like, whenever I'm really scared
or really nervous

01:04:26.083 --> 01:04:27.542
or like "I don't want
to do that,"

01:04:27.626 --> 01:04:29.751
that's usually a huge sign

01:04:29.834 --> 01:04:32.334
that that is exactly
what I need to do.

01:04:32.417 --> 01:04:34.918
There is sort of a voice,
a little scratch

01:04:35.000 --> 01:04:37.334
that's like, "Ooh, you know."

01:04:37.417 --> 01:04:40.292
And I think sort of like
how children are.

01:04:40.375 --> 01:04:43.292
They're very--they're some of
the most focused people.

01:04:43.375 --> 01:04:45.626
If you ever watch a child play
like in the sand

01:04:45.709 --> 01:04:47.501
or they're like playing
with their toys

01:04:47.584 --> 01:04:50.417
or, like, making a little movie
with their stuff,

01:04:50.501 --> 01:04:51.501
they're just like really in it,

01:04:51.584 --> 01:04:55.709
and they just...like flow,
you know,

01:04:55.792 --> 01:04:58.167
until they get bored
and move onto something else.

01:04:58.250 --> 01:05:00.042
They're very intuitive,

01:05:00.125 --> 01:05:04.000
and I think you have to be
also with filmmaking.

01:05:04.083 --> 01:05:05.667
♪♪

01:05:10.083 --> 01:05:12.792
I think that my favorite
female director is Mary Harron.

01:05:12.876 --> 01:05:14.459
She directed American Psycho,

01:05:14.542 --> 01:05:16.167
and a lot of people
had a lot of misconceptions

01:05:16.250 --> 01:05:20.292
about what her intention was
when she directed that.

01:05:20.375 --> 01:05:23.667
And so I think that she really
showed strength as a director

01:05:23.751 --> 01:05:26.334
by picking a project
that was already controversial.

01:05:26.417 --> 01:05:28.667
Then she handled
her criticism very well

01:05:28.751 --> 01:05:31.167
because she knew exactly what
she wanted to do with that film.

01:05:31.250 --> 01:05:33.292
And I think that she showed
that women directors

01:05:33.375 --> 01:05:35.292
can know exactly
what they're doing

01:05:35.375 --> 01:05:37.417
and can operate very well
within the industry

01:05:37.501 --> 01:05:41.083
making like an entertaining,
critically praised film.

01:05:41.167 --> 01:05:43.834
Because it's not just about
the pleasures of conformity

01:05:43.918 --> 01:05:45.334
and the importance of friends.

01:05:45.417 --> 01:05:48.751
It's also a personal statement
about the band itself.

01:05:48.834 --> 01:05:51.167
Hey, Paul!
[screams]

01:05:51.250 --> 01:05:52.584
[splat]

01:05:54.083 --> 01:05:56.334
I think that anyone who has
an alternative take

01:05:56.417 --> 01:05:58.250
to the male perspective,

01:05:58.334 --> 01:06:00.209
I think it's important
that we get any kind of person

01:06:00.292 --> 01:06:03.459
who has a different kind of
perspective behind the camera.

01:06:03.542 --> 01:06:05.375
I think that we need
to diversify the kind of stories

01:06:05.459 --> 01:06:06.918
that are being told.

01:06:07.000 --> 01:06:09.792
I don't think films
don't get made

01:06:09.876 --> 01:06:11.167
because a woman wrote it.

01:06:11.250 --> 01:06:14.125
Films don't get made
if it's a woman's movie.

01:06:14.209 --> 01:06:16.626
That's the difference.

01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:22.125
If anything, those statistics
make me realize

01:06:22.209 --> 01:06:25.167
that, like, even when it's hard

01:06:25.250 --> 01:06:28.876
there is a greater purpose to me
trying to get my name out there,

01:06:28.959 --> 01:06:34.083
which is to diversify the face
and type of person

01:06:34.167 --> 01:06:36.167
you see doing this job.

01:06:36.250 --> 01:06:38.042
You know, in those moments
when it's hard,

01:06:38.125 --> 01:06:39.459
even in those moments
when it feels

01:06:39.542 --> 01:06:43.751
like a somewhat frivolous,
self-indulgent endeavor

01:06:43.834 --> 01:06:46.501
as sometimes creativity can feel

01:06:46.584 --> 01:06:47.918
even though it's, you know,

01:06:48.000 --> 01:06:49.709
an incredible thing
to do with your life

01:06:49.792 --> 01:06:51.667
because you're articulating

01:06:51.751 --> 01:06:54.709
and defining and shaping
the imagination.

01:06:54.792 --> 01:06:55.834
It's a great thing to do,

01:06:55.918 --> 01:06:58.000
but sometimes you can like
sit there and feel like,

01:06:58.083 --> 01:06:59.542
"Well, should I be
in the Peace Corps,

01:06:59.626 --> 01:07:02.000
"should I be doing something
more valuable with my life?"

01:07:02.083 --> 01:07:03.209
But in those moments,

01:07:03.292 --> 01:07:06.042
those statistics actually
make me feel like,

01:07:06.125 --> 01:07:08.417
well, there is a greater purpose
to doing this.

01:07:08.501 --> 01:07:13.417
It's to show them that we can,
right, yeah.

01:07:13.501 --> 01:07:15.209
[camera shutter clicks]

01:07:24.375 --> 01:07:28.250
I don't think you can separate
yourself and the world

01:07:28.334 --> 01:07:30.000
from what's happening
politically.

01:07:30.083 --> 01:07:34.000
I think we're all part
of this bigger picture.

01:07:34.083 --> 01:07:36.167
Not everyone was booing.

01:07:36.250 --> 01:07:37.501
There were people
in the audience

01:07:37.584 --> 01:07:38.876
who heard Captain Hill say

01:07:38.959 --> 01:07:40.417
that when he was deployed
to Iraq

01:07:40.501 --> 01:07:42.918
he was worried that if
his sexuality was discovered

01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:44.334
they might not let him go.

01:07:44.417 --> 01:07:45.709
As opposed to most of us,

01:07:45.792 --> 01:07:48.250
who, if told we were
being deployed to Iraq,

01:07:48.334 --> 01:07:50.709
would Corporal Klinger
faster than you can pull on

01:07:50.792 --> 01:07:52.709
a yellow taffeta picnic dress.

01:07:54.459 --> 01:07:57.542
I came of age
in the time of feminism.

01:07:57.626 --> 01:07:59.375
I'm absolutely a feminist.

01:07:59.459 --> 01:08:02.667
I believe that women
should be paid the same.

01:08:02.751 --> 01:08:05.459
I believe women are
just as capable as men,

01:08:05.542 --> 01:08:06.918
that it's not about gender.

01:08:07.000 --> 01:08:08.876
It's about skill.

01:08:08.959 --> 01:08:11.918
What's been most exciting
about making this film for me

01:08:12.000 --> 01:08:15.918
is that it reached
across generations.

01:08:16.000 --> 01:08:18.501
Here, particularly, lots
and lots of women in Britain

01:08:18.584 --> 01:08:19.584
went to see it,

01:08:19.667 --> 01:08:22.918
and young people who are
horribly apathetic at the moment

01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:24.876
in the political system,
particularly young women,

01:08:24.959 --> 01:08:28.167
lots of them tweeted saying
"I'll never not vote again"

01:08:28.250 --> 01:08:30.125
and "This is reminding me
of a past

01:08:30.209 --> 01:08:31.876
"or taught me about a past
I didn't know about"

01:08:31.959 --> 01:08:33.709
because this history
isn't known.

01:08:33.792 --> 01:08:36.792
So, that felt exciting
to have achieved that

01:08:36.876 --> 01:08:38.334
through a fiction film.

01:08:39.125 --> 01:08:41.209
And there's nothing left
but to stop you.

01:08:41.292 --> 01:08:42.459
What are you gonna do?

01:08:42.542 --> 01:08:44.918
Lock us all up?

01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:47.167
We're in every home.
We're half the human race.

01:08:47.250 --> 01:08:48.375
You can't stop us all.

01:08:50.501 --> 01:08:52.959
You might lose your life
before this is over.

01:08:55.667 --> 01:08:57.083
We will win.

01:08:58.542 --> 01:09:01.876
When someone is being shown
a film that was made

01:09:01.959 --> 01:09:04.709
with these bare bones things,
it actually inspires them,

01:09:04.792 --> 01:09:07.250
it gives them permission
to do something of their own.

01:09:07.334 --> 01:09:09.000
That's the best outcome

01:09:09.083 --> 01:09:12.417
that could ever come
of something like that, right?

01:09:12.501 --> 01:09:14.125
I think after making my film

01:09:14.209 --> 01:09:16.000
and telling people
how I made it

01:09:16.083 --> 01:09:19.000
and hodge-podged all these
different sources of funding

01:09:19.083 --> 01:09:23.000
and getting Skywalker
to do my sound.

01:09:23.083 --> 01:09:25.459
I mean, that was incredible.
It's insane!

01:09:25.542 --> 01:09:27.584
I never would've guessed that
in a million years.

01:09:27.667 --> 01:09:31.083
But I asked, I dared to ask
the question.

01:09:31.167 --> 01:09:33.292
[car horns honking]

01:09:40.375 --> 01:09:41.792
In some ways,
And Nothing Happened

01:09:41.876 --> 01:09:43.292
is like my way
of finding justice.

01:09:43.375 --> 01:09:45.918
And not like-- because it's
not at all about him,

01:09:46.000 --> 01:09:47.792
or, like, what he did.

01:09:47.876 --> 01:09:52.209
But it's just more about,
like, how we try to heal,

01:09:52.292 --> 01:09:54.042
and maybe sometimes
that doesn't always work

01:09:54.125 --> 01:09:57.501
and how it does need to be,
like, a multi-tiered effort.

01:09:57.584 --> 01:09:59.709
I would talk to people
and say that this happened to me

01:09:59.792 --> 01:10:02.834
and not realize how it happened
to so many others.

01:10:02.918 --> 01:10:05.000
And the way we would
tell our stories

01:10:05.083 --> 01:10:06.751
was so, like, yeah.

01:10:06.834 --> 01:10:10.292
"I went to the corner store,
and this person bumped into me."

01:10:10.375 --> 01:10:13.501
And it's the same way
we might say, like,

01:10:13.584 --> 01:10:16.709
"This person raped me,"
and that's, like, not okay.

01:10:16.792 --> 01:10:18.792
♪♪

01:10:21.292 --> 01:10:23.542
We need a great cinematographer.

01:10:23.626 --> 01:10:25.042
We need great actors.

01:10:26.876 --> 01:10:28.792
We need great stylists

01:10:28.876 --> 01:10:31.459
and great hair
and makeup people.

01:10:31.542 --> 01:10:35.000
All these artists
who make the film.

01:10:35.083 --> 01:10:38.501
Even sound-- what do you have
if the sound guy's shit?

01:10:38.584 --> 01:10:41.250
[laughs]
Everything has to be great

01:10:41.334 --> 01:10:43.250
in order to make a great film.

01:10:43.334 --> 01:10:46.250
You can't just do it alone
as a director.

01:10:46.334 --> 01:10:48.209
You know, you're not the boss.

01:10:48.292 --> 01:10:50.417
Everybody's the boss.
It's the team.

01:10:50.501 --> 01:10:53.834
It's the ball that rolls,
you know.

01:10:53.918 --> 01:10:55.125
I really believe in that.

01:11:01.501 --> 01:11:03.501
I can't function at my best

01:11:03.584 --> 01:11:06.167
if I'm not, you know,
at my best.

01:11:06.250 --> 01:11:09.083
So I need the people who are
going to support that effort.

01:11:09.167 --> 01:11:11.918
Sometimes, it's tough
because some people

01:11:12.000 --> 01:11:15.959
are incredibly great
at their craft.

01:11:16.042 --> 01:11:18.959
But they're not wonderful humans

01:11:19.042 --> 01:11:22.584
that you want to work with
and have surround you

01:11:22.667 --> 01:11:26.042
in this very hectic,
stressful process

01:11:26.125 --> 01:11:27.792
when you need support,

01:11:27.876 --> 01:11:32.042
and you need the underpinning
of very thoughtful

01:11:32.125 --> 01:11:33.334
and caring people.

01:11:33.417 --> 01:11:34.626
[camera shutter clicks]

01:11:43.375 --> 01:11:46.250
With creative endeavors,
you've got such an idea--

01:11:46.334 --> 01:11:47.959
you hold so much of it
in your head,

01:11:48.042 --> 01:11:50.167
and you assume everybody
knows what's in your head,

01:11:50.250 --> 01:11:51.250
and they don't.

01:11:51.334 --> 01:11:52.626
So it's all about communication,

01:11:52.709 --> 01:11:53.959
and it's communication
with everybody.

01:11:54.042 --> 01:11:55.542
But I also think I learned

01:11:55.626 --> 01:11:58.501
that it's a lot
about motivating people

01:11:58.584 --> 01:12:02.626
and that I don't believe
it's motivating

01:12:02.709 --> 01:12:05.459
to behave badly.

01:12:05.542 --> 01:12:08.292
[bleeped cursing]
Bitch!

01:12:08.375 --> 01:12:10.000
I'm not here to be
[bleeped] yelled at.

01:12:10.083 --> 01:12:12.501
I worked on this [bleeped] thing
for three [bleeped] years

01:12:12.584 --> 01:12:15.709
not to have some [bleeped]
yell at me!

01:12:15.792 --> 01:12:18.876
I try to treat everybody well,

01:12:18.959 --> 01:12:21.501
and I'm also very interested
in listening to ideas

01:12:21.584 --> 01:12:24.292
and having a conversation

01:12:24.375 --> 01:12:26.959
and having an environment

01:12:27.042 --> 01:12:29.709
where people
can really contribute,

01:12:29.792 --> 01:12:34.042
and that is the way I've kind of
found that I feel works for me

01:12:34.125 --> 01:12:36.751
and works for the film.

01:12:36.834 --> 01:12:40.959
You want to embrace
what's different about everyone

01:12:41.042 --> 01:12:43.292
because it's going to affect
the filmmaking

01:12:43.375 --> 01:12:46.000
but not put people
in little boxes

01:12:46.083 --> 01:12:48.042
of what they can and can't do.

01:12:48.125 --> 01:12:50.626
Make the people around you
your team.

01:12:50.709 --> 01:12:52.083
Make them your collaborators.

01:12:52.167 --> 01:12:54.959
You know, we're all
in a team sport here.

01:12:55.042 --> 01:12:58.167
You know, I'm not a poet
where I sit alone in a room.

01:12:58.250 --> 01:13:01.584
I get to work with this amazing
group of talented people,

01:13:01.667 --> 01:13:04.083
and I don't want to be
the smartest person in the room.

01:13:04.167 --> 01:13:05.542
But I want to be sitting
in the room

01:13:05.626 --> 01:13:06.918
with the smartest people.

01:13:09.000 --> 01:13:14.167
You are responsible
for setting up the mood

01:13:14.250 --> 01:13:17.459
and the rules of this world.

01:13:17.542 --> 01:13:20.918
And if you walk in
and you treat everyone

01:13:21.000 --> 01:13:24.167
from the PA to your producer
the same way

01:13:24.250 --> 01:13:28.334
people are going to clue
into that and just be with it.

01:13:28.417 --> 01:13:30.918
Once you have people involved
with the process,

01:13:31.000 --> 01:13:34.125
you really do have to trust
and let go of some things

01:13:34.209 --> 01:13:36.876
in order for it to be more

01:13:36.959 --> 01:13:38.417
than what you thought
it was going to be.

01:13:38.501 --> 01:13:41.375
And I do actually really love
the collaborative experience

01:13:41.459 --> 01:13:43.918
and just knowing how many
different people it took

01:13:44.000 --> 01:13:45.292
to make it all happen.

01:13:45.375 --> 01:13:47.667
I love being on set.
It's so much fun.

01:13:47.751 --> 01:13:49.292
[laughs]

01:13:49.375 --> 01:13:53.209
And Tyler shaking his...

01:13:55.209 --> 01:13:59.042
We started a directorial
diversity program

01:13:59.125 --> 01:14:01.042
through the company
with some discretionary funds

01:14:01.125 --> 01:14:02.792
we got from Warner Brothers
in the '90s

01:14:02.876 --> 01:14:06.792
because we were having
difficulty finding...

01:14:06.876 --> 01:14:08.584
female and minority directors

01:14:08.667 --> 01:14:11.292
who had actually had
the opportunity

01:14:11.375 --> 01:14:16.042
to get enough experience
to successfully direct something

01:14:16.125 --> 01:14:18.459
of kind of the complexity
and difficulty

01:14:18.542 --> 01:14:20.667
of what we were doing on ER
and West Wing

01:14:20.751 --> 01:14:22.584
and Third Watch at the time.

01:14:22.667 --> 01:14:24.918
One of the problems
with the diversity programs

01:14:25.000 --> 01:14:28.083
is that it's not difficult
to find candidates.

01:14:28.167 --> 01:14:30.709
It's difficult to actually
give them enough experience

01:14:30.792 --> 01:14:32.667
to be able to succeed.

01:14:32.751 --> 01:14:35.292
Because it's not just talent
because there's no question

01:14:35.375 --> 01:14:38.000
that there's no difference
between the talent

01:14:38.083 --> 01:14:40.959
that women
and minority candidates possess

01:14:41.042 --> 01:14:43.042
and those of the white directors

01:14:43.167 --> 01:14:44.167
who've been getting
a lot of work,

01:14:44.250 --> 01:14:45.250
particularly white
male directors

01:14:45.334 --> 01:14:47.125
getting a lot of work
for a long time.

01:14:47.209 --> 01:14:50.000
The difficulty is that there's
also some craft involved,

01:14:50.083 --> 01:14:51.626
and the craft requires
experience.

01:14:51.709 --> 01:14:55.083
You have to do it before you
kind of get to a level of craft

01:14:55.167 --> 01:14:57.542
where you can do
the more complicated shows.

01:14:57.626 --> 01:14:59.834
My great sadness
about the program,

01:14:59.918 --> 01:15:01.292
we ended up kind of ending it

01:15:01.375 --> 01:15:02.459
because we didn't have
the discretionary money

01:15:02.542 --> 01:15:03.918
anymore to do it.

01:15:04.000 --> 01:15:07.000
But my sadness about it
wasn't that the money ended.

01:15:07.083 --> 01:15:10.125
The sadness was that we had
to do it in the first place.

01:15:10.209 --> 01:15:13.083
The opportunity should be coming
for everyone

01:15:13.167 --> 01:15:16.125
just based on their abilities
and talents,

01:15:16.209 --> 01:15:19.292
and we should bringing people
up through the entire system

01:15:19.375 --> 01:15:22.000
without the need
for external programs to do it.

01:15:22.083 --> 01:15:24.584
Unfortunately, that's not
what really exists.

01:15:26.125 --> 01:15:29.334
I also think it can't become
an us versus them.

01:15:29.417 --> 01:15:32.250
What's fascinating is that
when we really took it around

01:15:32.334 --> 01:15:33.751
men were responding.

01:15:33.834 --> 01:15:35.292
I mean, middle aged white men

01:15:35.375 --> 01:15:37.292
were extremely supportive
of this film.

01:15:37.375 --> 01:15:39.000
[man] ...to the phone right now.
Leave us a message.

01:15:39.083 --> 01:15:40.083
[beep]

01:15:40.167 --> 01:15:42.000
[woman]
Well, that's a little confusing.

01:15:42.083 --> 01:15:44.125
It was definitely
a female-driven film.

01:15:44.209 --> 01:15:46.626
It was an all-female cast.

01:15:46.709 --> 01:15:49.000
Here's my first criteria
of hiring people.

01:15:49.083 --> 01:15:51.000
Are you a jerk?
[laughs]

01:15:51.083 --> 01:15:53.042
You know, regardless
of your plumbing,

01:15:53.125 --> 01:15:55.042
if you're a jerk I don't want
to work with you.

01:15:55.125 --> 01:15:57.542
But if I'm given two options,

01:15:57.626 --> 01:16:01.000
and they're equally not jerky,

01:16:01.083 --> 01:16:03.083
and one's a man,
and one's a woman...

01:16:04.667 --> 01:16:06.083
I will hire the woman.

01:16:08.751 --> 01:16:11.000
Good communities
kind of come together.

01:16:11.083 --> 01:16:13.250
When someone is a great artist
they're a great artist.

01:16:13.334 --> 01:16:18.209
And whether they're a woman,
man, transgender,

01:16:18.292 --> 01:16:21.667
you know, black, white,
Hispanic,

01:16:21.751 --> 01:16:25.501
people will always rally
around what is good,

01:16:25.584 --> 01:16:27.626
what, you know-- good content.

01:16:27.709 --> 01:16:28.751
So, I think that's
the most important thing

01:16:28.834 --> 01:16:30.125
is to acknowledge
the conversation,

01:16:30.209 --> 01:16:31.626
to acknowledge the issue.

01:16:31.709 --> 01:16:35.542
But, most importantly,
just kill it as a director.

01:16:35.626 --> 01:16:36.792
Kill it as a storyteller.

01:16:36.876 --> 01:16:39.083
That's the thing that
is going to stand out.

01:16:39.167 --> 01:16:41.167
And I think eventually,
you know,

01:16:41.250 --> 01:16:42.542
like all things turn around,

01:16:42.626 --> 01:16:44.167
it's going to turn around
for women.

01:16:44.250 --> 01:16:47.709
And so we just have to focus
on the task at hand.

01:16:47.792 --> 01:16:49.626
[camera shutter clicks]

01:16:57.751 --> 01:16:59.792
All these little battles,
little wars,

01:16:59.876 --> 01:17:02.918
like little things that you do
along the way

01:17:03.000 --> 01:17:04.792
of making the piece.

01:17:04.876 --> 01:17:08.083
And then the piece is made,
and it premieres, and that's it.

01:17:08.167 --> 01:17:10.375
Like, that's the end
of the trail.

01:17:10.459 --> 01:17:12.334
It's very short.

01:17:12.417 --> 01:17:13.959
So then you look back,
and like,

01:17:14.042 --> 01:17:16.918
"Why was I so like...uh?"

01:17:17.000 --> 01:17:20.792
In the hopes of this great sort
of happiness at the end,

01:17:20.876 --> 01:17:24.250
where really that happiness
at the end is only this big.

01:17:24.334 --> 01:17:26.334
And the process had been
this long.

01:17:26.417 --> 01:17:30.459
So, being patient,
enjoying the process,

01:17:30.542 --> 01:17:34.501
enjoying who you work with
during the process too.

01:17:34.584 --> 01:17:37.959
So it becomes like a longer span
of happiness,

01:17:38.042 --> 01:17:41.626
not just this once everything's
perfect and it's edited

01:17:41.709 --> 01:17:44.042
and it's color-corrected,
and it's finally done,

01:17:44.125 --> 01:17:46.918
it's only this much time
you get to enjoy it.

01:17:47.000 --> 01:17:49.584
Life always ends up being
much more exciting

01:17:49.667 --> 01:17:52.417
if you just let it,
you know, unfold

01:17:52.501 --> 01:17:55.375
versus, like,
"I have to do this."

01:17:55.459 --> 01:17:58.375
But as long as you know, like,
you want to create art

01:17:58.459 --> 01:18:00.709
and being open to, like,
what that might look like

01:18:00.792 --> 01:18:02.501
and it might look different
from what you planned,

01:18:02.584 --> 01:18:04.918
I think you'll be happy.

01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:11.876
Even on a bad day, three AM
of an incredibly hard shoot

01:18:11.959 --> 01:18:15.709
when things are all like
not going as you planned,

01:18:15.792 --> 01:18:17.751
it's still an amazing thing

01:18:17.834 --> 01:18:22.834
to be able to work with a group
of incredibly talented artists

01:18:22.918 --> 01:18:28.209
and actors to tell a story
that you feel compelled by

01:18:28.292 --> 01:18:30.542
is such a gift, you know.

01:18:30.626 --> 01:18:32.876
And that always moves me.

01:18:32.959 --> 01:18:38.000
I think you just have to
really put away that insecurity

01:18:38.083 --> 01:18:39.250
and that doubt.

01:18:39.334 --> 01:18:40.918
If it's something that
keeps coming back to you,

01:18:41.000 --> 01:18:42.000
just go after it.

01:18:42.083 --> 01:18:44.000
And I think that
the biggest thing

01:18:44.083 --> 01:18:45.292
is to not give up.

01:18:45.375 --> 01:18:47.918
I mean, I cannot put
enough store by that

01:18:48.000 --> 01:18:51.000
because I had so many moments

01:18:51.083 --> 01:18:53.959
where I could have,
and it looked like

01:18:54.042 --> 01:18:57.542
I should have given up
on every project I've done,

01:18:57.626 --> 01:19:00.125
and it was only because
I forced myself

01:19:00.209 --> 01:19:02.042
to get to the end that I did.

01:19:02.125 --> 01:19:04.000
And I forced myself
to keep going,

01:19:04.083 --> 01:19:06.459
and I forced myself
to not take no for an answer.

01:19:06.542 --> 01:19:08.751
And I think you've got
to carry on,

01:19:08.834 --> 01:19:10.209
and that's the only way
to make films.

01:19:10.292 --> 01:19:12.501
And it takes a lot of
determination and hard work.

01:19:12.584 --> 01:19:14.083
But, if it's where
your passion lies,

01:19:14.167 --> 01:19:16.375
you've got to chase it.

01:19:16.459 --> 01:19:18.834
Nick, if you could be
not staring at her

01:19:18.918 --> 01:19:19.959
as she's walking up.

01:19:20.042 --> 01:19:21.209
I think that's going
to help you.

01:19:21.292 --> 01:19:22.459
You can be...

01:19:22.542 --> 01:19:25.959
I think it's a really
exciting time right now.

01:19:26.042 --> 01:19:29.959
I think that,
especially with the films

01:19:30.042 --> 01:19:34.209
and television shows
that are coming out this year,

01:19:34.292 --> 01:19:37.209
I think we are in a really,
really exciting time.

01:19:37.292 --> 01:19:39.834
There's a lot of opportunity.
There's a lot of new talent.

01:19:39.918 --> 01:19:41.792
There's a lot of work
to be done though

01:19:41.876 --> 01:19:47.000
in terms of still making women
feel that they're equal

01:19:47.083 --> 01:19:48.292
to men in this industry.

01:19:48.375 --> 01:19:53.000
And I think that's the only part
we need to keep fighting for

01:19:53.083 --> 01:19:56.876
because, guess what,
we're just as badass as men,

01:19:56.959 --> 01:19:59.375
so who cares?

01:20:03.501 --> 01:20:07.375
We need women's voices.
We need women's stories.

01:20:07.459 --> 01:20:11.876
Our world depends on it.
I truly believe that.

01:20:11.959 --> 01:20:17.792
And if you think about the fact
that media, film, TV

01:20:17.876 --> 01:20:20.709
that's how we as a society
sit around the campfire

01:20:20.792 --> 01:20:25.876
and create our myths
and share our dreams

01:20:25.959 --> 01:20:28.501
and lay out our future.

01:20:28.584 --> 01:20:33.000
And, if 94% of those stories
are being told by men,

01:20:33.083 --> 01:20:36.334
this is deeply,

01:20:36.417 --> 01:20:40.542
chronically unhealthy
and unbalanced,

01:20:40.626 --> 01:20:42.209
and it has to be--

01:20:42.292 --> 01:20:46.792
it has to be shaken apart
and split open,

01:20:46.876 --> 01:20:48.167
and the only way for that
to happen

01:20:48.250 --> 01:20:52.667
is for young women to dig in
and hear themselves,

01:20:52.751 --> 01:20:56.501
hear themselves deeply so that
they can share their voice

01:20:56.584 --> 01:20:58.000
and their story.

01:20:58.083 --> 01:20:59.751
That's what we need.
That's what our world needs.

01:20:59.834 --> 01:21:03.709
So, it's like take courage,
and be true to yourself.

01:21:03.792 --> 01:21:07.167
And even if they hate you,
tell your story.

01:21:07.250 --> 01:21:09.125
Tell your story, not theirs.

01:21:09.209 --> 01:21:11.626
You're the only one
who can tell your story.

01:21:11.709 --> 01:21:16.083
And we need it, we need
every single one of those women

01:21:16.167 --> 01:21:18.083
and their voices
and their stories

01:21:18.167 --> 01:21:21.626
to bring this world
into balance.

01:21:21.709 --> 01:21:24.626
So, I'm here to make that point,

01:21:24.709 --> 01:21:27.459
to say I'm here, I have a voice,
I have the right to say

01:21:27.542 --> 01:21:29.042
what I need to say.

01:21:29.125 --> 01:21:33.542
Now, I'm like so encouraged
and strengthened

01:21:33.626 --> 01:21:38.626
by finding all these other women
who are doing the same thing,

01:21:38.709 --> 01:21:40.375
of all ages.

01:21:40.459 --> 01:21:42.876
I'm not just the wife
and the mother

01:21:42.959 --> 01:21:46.542
and the girlfriend
or the assistant.

01:21:46.626 --> 01:21:49.209
I am the hero of my own journey.

01:21:49.292 --> 01:21:51.709
And whatever choices I make,

01:21:51.792 --> 01:21:54.334
those are my choices
as the hero of my journey

01:21:54.417 --> 01:21:56.542
and my story
that I want to live.

01:21:56.626 --> 01:22:00.125
And that's why it's important
that there are women directors

01:22:00.209 --> 01:22:02.375
who have a voice in the world.

01:22:11.542 --> 01:22:13.250
♪♪

01:22:44.584 --> 01:22:47.209
♪ Taking my time with this ♪

01:22:47.292 --> 01:22:49.959
♪ Won't be home
before breakfast ♪

01:22:50.042 --> 01:22:52.876
♪ Out here
where the fast mail flies ♪

01:22:52.959 --> 01:22:55.709
♪ I don't need no surprises ♪

01:22:55.792 --> 01:23:02.709
♪ I got to get to you
I got to be with you ♪

01:23:06.834 --> 01:23:09.334
♪ Taking my time
On a slow train ♪

01:23:09.417 --> 01:23:14.375
♪ Taking my time
On a slow train ♪

01:23:23.250 --> 01:23:24.959
Yay!
[clapping]

01:23:25.042 --> 01:23:26.542
[laughter]

01:23:26.626 --> 01:23:29.459
Was it good? Okay, okay.

01:23:29.542 --> 01:23:30.918
Oh, I'm always in my head,

01:23:31.000 --> 01:23:33.042
like "How is she going
to cut this?"

01:23:33.125 --> 01:23:34.751
♪♪

01:23:34.834 --> 01:23:40.042
♪ This is a scene
From a Hollywood dream ♪

01:23:40.125 --> 01:23:44.626
♪ This feels just like oh ♪

01:23:44.709 --> 01:23:49.459
♪ It's just like a scene
From a Hollywood dream ♪

01:23:49.542 --> 01:23:52.584
♪ This feels just like... ♪