Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker

by Nicole Holofcener | Published February 3, 2007

Lovely and Amazing

Lovely & Amazing

On Film School

It was a good place to make mistakes and be an idiot--but learn. You make all these videos that nobody will ever see. If someone can pay for it, even better.

On Directing Someone Else’s Work

Directing others’ writing can be good and bad, depending on the material. The Sex and the City scripts are so good that it was a pleasure and I just wanted to do well for the writers. And they are on set enough so that I know when I’m doing well, or I can ask them questions. It’s hard to work on a television show when the script is only okay, and I have to drum up enough enthusiasm to get people through the day and make it look great.

On Allowing Someone Else to Direct Your Work

I’d have to see some of their work, like their style and see they understood the script. But if someone wanted to direct something I wrote, they could do it. I say that now, but it hasn’t been done. Maybe they’d do it, ruin the script and then I’d be upset.

On Working With the Same Actors

Having worked with Catherine [Keener] before, I certainly felt more comfortable. I think she felt she could trust me right away. I wrote the part for her. She had more confidence coming in and whatever she would bring would be right. I also learned about different ways she liked to be directed, so it’s definitely beneficial and easier to work with someone more than once.

On Progressing as a Writer

I gained professional and emotional maturity. It is easier now to say something once and get out. I’d written so much between the two movies--not my own stuff--that I became a better writer. Which is not to say my next script won’t be shitty, because you never know.

On Editing

I listened to feedback from everyone--actors, writer friends. I’ll change dialogue based on an actor’s response, such as during improvisation in rehearsal. I’ll take everyone’s opinion.

On Script Notes

I would get notes on the script like ‘the male characters are too minimal.’ That comment is so stupid to me. Everybody has to be front and center? That’s crazy because this isn’t a movie about the male characters. I don’t have to be fair. I want them to be good and well written but they certainly don’t have to be as dimensional. That’s sexism. You can do that to a woman in a man’s movie, but you can’t do that to a man in a woman’s movie.

On Getting a First Break

Years and years of trying to prove to people that I could do it. Pitch meetings all the time, or flying to Europe for meetings with people and trying to act like a person who could direct a movie, not really knowing what that person is supposed to act like. Who wants to give a million dollars to someone who has never directed a movie? I still can’t believe how fortunate I am, because I know a lot of talented people who are not getting a break.

On Getting the Second Film Off the Ground

Good Machine was attached from the beginning and we showed it to all the studios. We were told it was a great script but they didn’t know how to market it. Until we sent it to Blow Up Pictures, who said we should make it on digital video and they would finance it. We spent about a year shuffling it around. I was scared and discouraged that it wasn’t going to happen.

On Creating for the Audience

If I had an audience in mind while writing, I would be smarter about actually keeping them. I just write what is on my mind, the kind of movie I would want to see.

On Breaking in as a Woman

I know plenty of struggling men. Sometimes I’ve felt like it was in my favor that I was a woman. There were three women coming out of film school at the time I was, compared with 25 guys. If I made a movie that was interesting, it was like "and she’s the girl!" But that can also bite you in the ass. It depends on the type of movies you’re making. It’s hard for everyone, and I think it can sometimes be harder for women.

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