DGA Monthly

6 6 I D G A M O N T H L Y In the follow-up to his 2024 feature, Wicked, Director Jon M. Chu's musical fantasy, Wicked: For Good, resumes the story of Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the popular Good Witch of the North, as their unlikely friendship is tested by the Wizard's regime and the arrival of a visitor from Kansas. Chu discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors Rob Marshall in New York and Ava DuVernay in Los Angeles. During the Los Angeles conversation, Chu described his process for scaling the movie to keep the heart of the film from being overwhelmed by the visuals. "The visuals come easy for me and when you have a a big budget, you have a great crew that's going to cover your ass at every corner so that's never the issue. It is, 'What are you saying and what's your intention in every scene?' So I make a map of the of the plot, sort of an outline on my on my wall and I put in an emotion next to each scene of what I want people to feel — whether that's yearning or resentment or jealousy, or courage, or whatever — and that's my clarity. Those words change over time when I start working with the actors. Maybe we discover something new. And this is not what the actors are feeling or the characters. This is what I want the audience to feel." Jon M. Chu discusses Wicked: For Good photo by Marcie Revens photo by Elisa Haber Photos: Director Jon M. Chu with moderators Rob Marshall in New York on November 9 and Ava DuVernay in Los Angeles on November 23. The story of the founding leader of the Shakers religious sect is revealed in Director Mona Fastvold's historical musical drama, The Testament of Ann Lee. Based on real events, Fastvold's film tells how in hopes of creating a utopian society in the 18th century, Lee — proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers — suffered persecution and rose from obscurity to forge the radical religious movement that would become the Shakers. Fastvold discussed the making of film during a Q&A moderated by Director Darius Marder and spoke about the challenges of getting the film financed. "I discovered this story and felt that I had to make it quickly before somebody else does. I think we met with every single company and everybody was like, 'Well, sounds interesting, let us know when you make it.' Luckily, we had some of our trusted partners who came in with a little bit, but there are so many collaborators on this film. I mean, you've seen the credits, it's a lot of smaller checks, and just piece, by piece, by piece to get the financing together. Then we just took the number that we got and decided to somehow make it for that without changing the script. I wanted it to be epic. I wanted it to span her entire life. I wanted it to cross oceans. And so we did it." Mona Fastvold discusses The Testament of Ann Lee photo by Marcie Revens Photo: Directors Mona Fastvold (right) and Darius Marder (moderator) discuss the making of The Testament of Ann Lee following the New York screening on December 7. Director Hikari's comedic drama, Rental Family, tells the story of a lonely American, actor in Tokyo who is hired by a company for special gigs that fill a void in people's lives. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection and begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. After the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Hikari discussed the making of the film during a Q&A moderated by Director Nicole Holofcener spoke about the challenges of directing with both Japanese and English dialogue. "We had bilingual dialect coaches constantly shifting. For me, how the English and Japanese switch, was important because some Japanese can be very difficult to pronounce and vice-versa. So, finding the balance, when to switch, when to keep it… 'I know you practiced it but let's switch to Japanese.' Thankfully both [actors] Brendan Fraser and Akira Emoto were really open, so, I was able to fix it if it didn't work, switch it over and teach them to memorize the English and Akira would speak Japanese, so the conversation flows better and then at one point we'd switch it back to what we practiced. We were dealing with that constantly." Hikari discusses Rental Family photo by Quintin Lundy Photo: Directors Hikari (right) and Nicole Holofcener (moderator) discuss the making of Rental Family following the Los Angeles screening on November 29. 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

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