Interview: Greta Gerwig on what kind of filmmaker she's going to be

by Nathaniel R 

Greta Gerwig directing the prom scene in Lady Bird. Look, she's even dressed for the occasion!The first time we spoke to Greta Gerwig in 2013 for Frances Ha it was over the phone. Her voice was so animated it felt like an in person interview. She was learning the accordion because of that seismically magical moment in the French film Holy Motors and revealing to me that she didn't think being an "actor-for-hire" in other people's work would be her path. Little did I know -- though perhaps she did -- that the exquisite Lady Bird was coming. In between she wrote and starred in Mistress America (2015) and gave what is arguably her best performance in Mike Mills 20th Century Women (2016). The rest is of course current celebration and future history: Lady Bird proved a mainstream breakthrough as a writer/director. It's up for five Oscars including two for Greta Gerwig herself as a writer and as a director.

This time, speaking in person, that familiar voice is just as lively but her laughter even more infectious. She radiates as much joy from talking art in real life as she often has creating it onscreen as a performer.

When I ask her her how the accordion is coming, she admits she's "rusty" and that it hasn't been a movie that inspired her lately but 'certain books' though she leaves them unnamed. Whatever feeds your soul as an artist, that's where you go.

on set directing Timothée and Saoire in Lady Bird (2017)

I reminder her about that comment about acting for others not being her path and she says "I know..." in a goofily apologetic way, like she always knew where she was heading but just hadn't told us.  Our interview is after the jump...

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Blueprints: "I, Tonya"

Jorge continuing to look at the screenplays of this year's Oscar crop... 

All through this year’s awards campaign, the team behind I, Tonya has repeatedly stated that the movie came to be because of screenwriter Steven Roger’s interviews with Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly, in which he realized that they both had widely different recollections of their relationship.

The movie that came out of those interviews decided to play with perspective, memory, and point of view to give an unreliable retelling of this story, and playing with biopic tropes. Let’s take a look at how Rogers used various formal devices in the script to convey that we all remember things differently...

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Blueprints: "The Disaster Artist"

Jorge Molina continues with the 2017 Oscar nominated screenplays...

One of the most overused film tropes out there is the big pep talk that a leader gives his or her team before they get into some sort of defining battle. It’s meant to inspire, motivate, eliminate any form of self-doubt, and give them the necessary strength to embark on their journey. 

But what if the task at hand is the production of what would become one of the canonically worst films of all time? And what if its leader is a proto-European actor with a lot of heart and devotion, but almost no social skills? Let’s take a look at how the writers for The Disaster Artist managed to inject these doomed elements with sincerity...

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Blueprints: "Ingrid Goes West"

In the latest installment of our screenplay column, Jorge takes a look at the tricky task of making a phone screen visually engaging.

As technology becomes more efficient and finds new ways to make our lives easier, it’s making the job of screenwriting more difficult. It’s now nearly impossible to not be able to reach a person in some way (once a common source of screen conflict) and, worse for the visual montony, most of our day-to-day activities include staring at some kind of screen.

Ingrid Goes West didn't just incorporate how we relate to technology today, but made it its central theme. Let’s look at the underrated gem to see how the use of technology is captured in its pages, and how the writers made it as emotionally thrilling as any action movie car chase...

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Your 8 favorite lines from "Mean Girls" ?

W magazine convinced Lindsay Lohan to recite her* 8 favorite lines from Mean Girls. Picking 8 definitive favorites is impossible so herewith a list of the lines that probably get quoted most often amongst my friends in no particular order. Would love to hear yours in the comments.

• "It's just gonna be a few cool people and you better be one of them biotch."
• "Oh my god, that was one time!"
• "I'm not, like, a regular mom, I'm a cool mom"
• "But you love Ladysmith Black Mambazo!"
• "She doesn't even go here."
• "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can't help it that I'm popular"
• "Trang Pak is a grotsky, little byotch."
• "I can't go out, I'm sick *fakecough*"

* Or did they just give her 8 lines... considering she wants to change one of them.