DGA Monthly

6 4 I D G A M O N T H L Y 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 A daring science experiment by a brilliant, but egotistical, scientist brings a monstrous creature to life and ultimately leads to disaster in Director Guillermo del Toro's retelling of the classic 1818 novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Del Toro spoke about bringing the film to life during Q&As moderated by Directors Bradley Cooper in New York and Jon Favreau in Los Angeles, where he revealed how they created everything by hand from the sets to the costumes. "The ship is real in every shot. There's not a single miniature ship. There's not a digital ship. We built the entire ship. We built some of the biggest sets I've ever had. The ship was on two gimbals. One that pushes it when the creature pushes it. It really pushes it with all the sailors on top. And when he pushes it away, it's on a different gimbal. We sawed it in half and put new railings and there were solutions suggested. And I said, 'I know all that. I'm not doing that.' We're very well versed technically but I wanted to shoot it the way we would have shot it in the fifties, in the forties. I want to build things. We loomed the fabric for the costumes. We loomed it. It was fabric that didn't exist. We made it to reflect the circulatory system, the wings of a butterfly, the patterns on a rock. We embroidered everything by hand. I said, 'I want to do The Last of the Mohicans.' I'll never have a chance to do a movie like this again." Guillermo del Toro discusses Frankenstein photo by Marcie Revens photo by Shane Karns Photos: Director Guillermo del Toro with moderators Bradley Cooper in NY on October 19 and Jon Favreau in LA on October 25. A woman finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life in Hedda, Director Nia DaCosta's modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's classic play, Hedda Gabler. DaCosta discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors Shaka King in New York and Daniel Scheinert in Los Angeles. During the Los Angeles conversation, she shared advice for other women of color looking to break into the industry. "Apply to everything. That for me was like the big thing. I applied to everything, and I happened to get into Sundance and that was my path. Knock on every door. Kick every door! But then as I think, for me as a black woman, it's like you have to do all that stuff but then — something kind of what the movie is about too — it's like there's the obvious oppression from the outside but then there's what you've internalized like the self-limitation. I had to learn how to own my authority even once I was getting the jobs and even once I was in the room. I had to own my authority and stand 10 toes down and be like, 'this is what I'm doing and this is why' and coming to terms with what you internalize can be more damaging than what comes at you from the outside." Nia DaCosta discusses Hedda photo by Marcie Revens photo by Elisa Haber Photos: Director Nia DaCosta with moderators Shaka King in NY on October 22 and Daniel Scheinert in LA on October 26. Sean McNamara discusses Soul on Fire Director Sean McNamara's biopic, Soul on Fire, tells the incredible true story of John O'Leary, who after barely surviving burns covering 100% of his body during a tragic accident as a young boy, goes on to becomes a motivational speaker who inspires millions of people to make the world a better place. McNamara discussed the making of the film with Director Dean Alioto and spoke about his pre-production process. "I have the same process every time. At some point, myself, the DP, and the AD, we go out to every location and do a shot sheet. We're basically figuring out, shot-per- shot, how we're going to do it so there's no surprises. Then every night before we shoot, I type up that shot sheet, so we have it for that day and the crew kind of knows what we're doing. And then I rehearse the actors. I'm a big fan of having a table read and then at least two or three days of rehearsal. Every scene I go through with the actors because when I know we're going to have to move quickly I don't want to have that many discussions on set. I want to have them all beforehand. So, we really dig deep like theater. We turn the page, we talk about it." photo by Elisa Haber Photo: Directors Sean McNamara and Dean Alioto (moderator) discuss the making of Soul on Fire in LA on November 8.

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