Dune: Part Two producer Tonya Lapointe used to be an arts journalist, and always felt a little bad when she would say something negative about a film.
“I didn’t sleep well when I did reviews that were a bit harsher. And sometimes I felt that the harsher reviews were encouraged within the newsroom,” says Lapointe, a French-Canadian who spent years covering film for the Montreal-based Ici Radio-Canada.
When she transitioned from journalism to filmmaking, she realized that the same critical eye that helped her spot problems with a finished film could help her prevent such problems during production. She also knew how to work well under pressure.
“When you’re on deadline as a reporter, you’re in a constant race against time. And even though filmmaking isn’t a race against time, there is a sense of urgency. And the quicker you get things done, the better for the entire process,” she says.
Married to Dune franchise director Denis Villeneuve, she began working on his films with 2016’s Arrival, and continued with 2017’s Blade Runner 2049. She co-directed and produced the gender-gap documentary 50/50 in 2018, and followed it up by directing and producing The Paper Man, about French-Canadian children’s television star Claude Lafortune, in 2020. The next year she executive produced the first Dune.
Tonya Lapointe on Sand and Vision
Even before she became a journalist, she had always been interested in film. And she had an abiding sense of curiosity that helped her develop her mémoire journalistique, a French phrase about the power of lived experience. It refers to the deeper connection you feel with memories you have acquired firsthand.
“When you experience something, you’ve talked to people, you will remember it much more than if you just read it,” she explains.
The more she works in film, the more she sharpens what she calls “movie eyes.”
“I’m more than ever aware that it takes a village to make a movie, and that much of moviemaking isn’t as easy as it appears. But what I’m experiencing now when I watch movies is a deeper involvement. I still let myself get caught up in the narrative, but I’m also observing the cinematic language and perhaps more importantly why a movie is so impactful (and sometimes why it’s not),” she explains.
She describes her role as a producer as “defending Denis’ vision, and making sure that everyone on the team is on board with that same vision, and protecting him from the things that he doesn’t need to concern himself with, and also problem-solving.”
Also Read: 12 Movie Sequels That Improved on the Originals
There were lots of opportunities for problem-solving in the action-packed opening sequence of Part Two, which was shot in 12 locations in desert temperatures that soared above 100 degrees. At one point the team shot during a partial eclipse.
“In some scenes, you see Jordan, and then you have the reaction shot, and you’re actually in Abu Dhabi,” she explains, noting that it’s all edited so seamlessly that audiences would never know.
The heat presented unique logistical problems, especially when it climbed into the triple digits.
“At that point, not only are the actors and stunt people all wearing huge costumes, everyone’s covering up, and your brain starts to get into this weird meditative state where you’re in survival mode, essentially. So that’s when we broke for lunch, to give everyone a break, to cool down,” she says. “You’re living in an environment where you know most animals don’t even live. So it was an interesting but fun challenge.”
Boots and Ballet on the Set of Dune: Part Two
On Dune: Part Two, she was not just a producer but also second unit director, handling complex stunt scenes. Besides her career in journalism, she drew on her 20 years studying classical ballet.
“That experience of being able to tell stories through movement really informed how I was directing the stunts,” she says.
Asked if filmmaking more resembles ballet or chaos, she laughs: “Who says ballet isn’t chaos?”
“Everyone perceives ballet as this perfect, very aerial form of art, but it is so grueling and so demanding,” she says. “It’s very similar to movies, where on the red carpet, everyone’s pretty and it’s very glamorous. And then you get to set, and everyone’s wearing boots and hats.
“The hard work isn’t what shows,” she adds. “Amid the chaos you need to be disciplined.”
The discipline extends to everyone on set, and requires every member of the crew to be a sharp-eyed critic in the moment.
“Any little detail can quickly slip through the cracks. And then you’re sitting in post production and you’re looking at something, and you go, ‘Oh gosh,’” she says.
“I always tell our teams, ‘If you start smelling smoke, please let me know.’ Because usually, if you’re smelling smoke, there’s a fire somewhere, and I want to put out the fire while it’s only a tiny little fire,” she laughs, “way before we start seeing the flames from far away.”
She notes that proactive problem-solving is also a way of “protecting the creative space,” because it ensures everyone can devote as much of their focus as possible to artistic choices.
She recalls seeing how cinematographer Roger Deakins paid close attention to the smallest flaws on the set of Blade Runner 2049.
“There was a small detail and someone said, ‘Oh, we’ll fix it in post.’ And Roger said, ‘No, we don’t do that.’ And he took, like, gaffer tape and fixed whatever thing wasn’t right, and the illusion was perfect,” Lapointe recalls.
The lesson: to save fixing it in post for things that can only be fixed in post.
“Since then, whenever I hear that, I’m like, ‘Oh no, please don’t say fix it in post, because in post, we’re bound to find other things that we’re not seeing when you’re on set, because films are such huge endeavors.
“But I think that’s the joy of being a producer — you can contribute to making a movie better.”
Dune: Part Two is now streaming on Max.
Main image: Dune: Part Two producer Tanya Lapointe. Photo by Niko Tavernise. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Read This Next
