Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1097515
50 DGA QUARTERLY Have camera, will interview N C E A S U B J E C T A G R E E S to an on-camera in- terview, directors like James and Zenovich do not waste any time with pre-interviews. "I know filmmakers who spend several months with their subjects before ever introducing a cam- era into the relationship in order to build that relationship," says James. "I can't do that, and part of the reason why is if amazing things are being said and I don't have a camera with me, I'm like, why am I not recording this?" Instead of pre-interviews, James relies on humor, "even on my most serious films," to make subjects feel comfortable. "Humor is a great way of connecting to people and taking the nervousness of what we're doing out of the equation. It makes it feel like we're just doing this thing and having some fun." James cites his 2011 documentary The Interrupters, about for- mer Chicago gang members who come together to fight crime, as an example. "I had more fun on that film than any film I've ever made," James says. "And yet, that was a very serious subject matter. I have found that I could never do what Frederick Wiseman does and shut up, stand over at the side of the room and document stuff, and feel like that is enough for me. He makes great films, but I want to engage with people. I have too many questions that I want to ask." Others comfort subjects before the big interview by relating to them on a personal level. Zenovich took close to a year to develop a re- lationship with, and eventually convince various members of the late Robin Williams' family, in- cluding his eldest son Zak and his first wife Valerie Velardi, to speak to her for the 2018 documentary Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind. "When I talked to Robin Williams' son for Come Inside My Mind, recalls Zenovich, "I brought up what it was like when my dad died and I started crying. Is that manipulative? I don't think so, because I'm telling him about a genuine thing that happened to me in order to have him talk to me about a genuine thing that happened to him." Like their subjects, directors also get nervous about interviews. "When you're in the position of having to get something from peo- ple, it's very stressful," admits Zenovich. "Very, very stressful. So I get excited by interviews, but they make me nervous too." Liz Garbus adds that the sheer awkwardness of showing up at someone's house with a camera makes the exchange initially inva- sive. "It's a huge imposition," she says. "But you have to believe that they agreed to be there and agreed to give you access because they feel like they have something important to say on the matter. You don't get into the room if they don't want to be there. There's a mutual in- terest going on." PHOTOS: (TOP) JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/NETFLIX; (BOTTOM) AARON WICKENDEN/KARTEMQUIN FILMS "TRUST IS BUILT OVER TIME… AS TIME WENT ON, PEOPLE STOPPED PAYING SO MUCH ATTENTION TO US." —LIZ GARBUS On filming in The New York Times newsroom for The Fourth Estate Steve James, with camera, films on location in Chicago for The Interrupters. O