By Robert Goldrich
“Let’s talk about Women Talking!” That was part of the pitch for a virtual press conference last month to promote Women Talking (MGM Studios), a film directed by Sarah Polley who penned the adapted screenplay based on the novel by Miriam Toews. Women Talking introduces us to the women of an isolated religious community as they grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith. Dealing with continued sexual and physical abuse from the men in their colony, the Mennonite women come together to discuss whether they should leave or stay and fight. Polley assembled a cast which included Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand.
The press event featured Polley, Toews, McDormand and the film’s producer, Dede Gardner. The latter, who is president of Brad Pitts’ Plan B Entertainment, noted that a knock on the Women Talking premise early on had to do with a talking heads film not being cinematic. Gardner rejected that argument, knowing Polley’s filmmaking acumen as well as the nature of the script. The story, she affirmed, is inherently cinematic, in part because it has “a ticking clock” with a deadline as to when a decision has to be made. It’s a mystery because there’s no telling what the women in this village will decide.
“It’s something I feel so much about,” affirmed Gardner of her belief that a story about women grappling with a life-changing situation is worthy of a film. “If there can be 12 Angry Men, there can be eight women in a hayloft,” she said.
However, there is a place for men in this film as discussed in a separate SHOOT interview with Luc Montpellier, CSC who earlier worked with writer-director Polley on the features Away From Here and Take This Waltz. Despite his collaborative bond with Polley, Montpellier felt some trepidation about shooting Women Talking.
“I thought it might be better for a woman to take this on,” reasoned Montpellier who offered to step back so that Polley could consider a female DP. Montpellier recalled that Polley then made it clear to him why he should work on Women Talking. “She said this film isn’t just about women. It’s about everyone, the hard conversations we need to have between men and women. Having you photograph this film is honoring what is in the film–a conversation between men and women that’s needed even though the film is women talking amongst themselves.”
It turns out that talking and listening can translate into a cinematic achievement. Women Talking has earned six Critics Choice Award nominations, and been named the winner of Film Independent Spirit’s Robert Altman Award.
Robert Goldrich is editor of SHOOT
Josh C. Kline joins Scripto as CEO
Josh C. Kline has been named the new CEO of Scripto, the innovative real-time, cloud-native platform designed for remote collaborative scriptwriting and production. Kline will steer Scripto into its next phase of growth. Plans call for Scripto to further transform collaboration throughout the writing and production stages, enabling creative teams to accelerate their workflow and enhance teamwork.
Emmy®-winning programs such as “Late Night with Stephen Colbert,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Daily Show,” and the Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live” rely on Scripto’s advanced workflow tools to allow show writers and production teams to work together seamlessly from any location.
“Late Night” host Colbert, co-founder of Scripto, said of Kline, “His deep background in entertainment technology will help take our groundbreaking platform to new heights, and also ensure we are on the winning side when the AIs finally make their move, which we all know is coming. I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together.
Kline brings a wealth of experience in technology and media. He previously served as head of media & entertainment at Box. Kline co-founded Sample Digital, where he developed Digital Dailies™, revolutionizing the review and approval process for film and TV production and earning him a Primetime Engineering Emmy Award. His entrepreneurial spirit continued with the launch of Secure Path Technology, a cloud-based content ID and metadata services company. Kline was chief strategy officer at Final Draft before joining Box as head of media & entertainment, and has consulted for major global clients including Microsoft, Avid, and Motion Picture Domain Registry.
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