DGA Monthly

O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 I 2 3 Membership Screenings Q&As listed in alphabetical order by Director. See more detailed descriptions, additional photos & podcasts online at www.dga.org. DGA Screenings Q&As Director Austin Peters's thriller, Skincare, tells the story of Hope Goldman, an aesthetician who suspects her skincare business is being sabotaged when a rival, Angel Vergara, opens a boutique across the street. Peters discussed the making of the film with Directors Mimi Cave in Los Angeles and Anu Valia in New York and during the LA conversation, revealed why he chose to shoot in this city. "I really wanted to make a movie that felt like Los Angeles and Hollywood, for real. Specifically as a neighborhood, not as this idea that people around the world think of when you think of the word Hollywood. So, we were really excited about shooting in LA and shooting this really gross sunlight. Obviously, there's a couple scenes where the sun is right up here, and Elizabeth [Banks] has those nice sunglasses that you can see the side of her face and see how she's emoting even though they're covered. But it just felt like the dark, underbelly noir ideas once they get heatstroke and things sort of go on tilt and things start making less sense. People become more unreliable. That was kind of the energy we wanted to capture. I think ultimately shooting in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. blocks away from here [DGA Headquarters] was incredibly chaotic, but I believe ultimately to the benefit of the film and creating that feeling." Austin Peters discusses Skincare A young woman's psychedelic experiment yields unexpected consequences in Director Megan Park's comedy, My Old Ass. Park's film spins the tale of Elliott, a free-spirited 18-year-old whose mushroom trip brings her face-to-face with her 39-year-old self who starts handing out warnings about her future. During a Q&A moderated by Director Siân Heder, Park discussed the making of the film and revealed how the challenges of the shoot helped to bring the cast together and ultimately serviced the film. "Shooting on water … Everyone kept saying like it takes twice as much time. It takes like 10 times as long and half the time the actors would be on a boat and we'd lose service [on the follow boat] and we'd be like, 'Well hope it's going well. I hope they don't need us.' So we really had to be loose and flexible and know what we needed to cut the film together, but also just surrender a little bit to the leeches in the lake and the bears in the woods. But I think it did really create an atmosphere — especially for the younger actors — that allowed for some playfulness and some fun. And I do think that really helped the energy of the place come alive in the actual movie." Megan Park discusses My Old Ass photo by Shane Karns Director Matt Tyrnauer's new documentary, CARVILLE: Winning is Everything, Stupid, follows the legendary Democratic political operative James Carville through intimate interviews and verité footage with Democratic Party luminaries such as Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, Donna Brazile and famed Republican operative Mary Matalin — James's wife of over 30 years — who trace the story of his rise from the bayou to the Beltway, culminating in his masterminding of Bill Clinton's stunning presidential upset in 1992, intercut with his present-day efforts to shape the Democratic Party and to get Joe Biden to step aside. During a Q&A moderated by Special Projects Documentary Series Subcommittee Chair Ondi Timoner, Tyrnauer spoke about financing a film whose subject might not appeal to the current obsession with youth. "Something told me this is an 80-year-old white guy which were two things that I didn't think were gonna sell in the room. I just said. 'We're going to do private equity,' and we made a lot of phone calls and raised it. It was one of those journeys but it wasn't like the desperate scraping thing — which I've done too. If you haven't maxed out low interest credit cards while you're making a film, you haven't lived." Documentary Series Screens Matt Tyrnauer's, CARVILLE: Winning is Everything, Stupid photo by Elisa Haber photo by Shane Karns photo by Marcie Revens Photos: Director Austin Peters with moderators Mimi Cave in Los Angeles on September 1 and Anu Valia in New York on September 8. Photo: Directors Megan Park (right) and Siân Heder (moderator) discuss the making of My Old Ass following the DGA screening in Los Angeles on September 8. Photo: Matt Tyrnauer and Ondi Timoner (moderator) discuss the making of CARVILLE: Winning is Everything, Stupid following the DGA screening in LA on September 12.

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