DGA Monthly

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 I 4 9 Director Paul Feig's mystery thriller, The Housemaid, spins the tale of young woman, with a troubled past looking to get a fresh start by taking a job as a live-in housemaid for a seemingly perfect, wealthy couple. But that luxurious home hides dangerous secrets, leading to a twisted game of manipulation, obsession, and shocking twists where nothing is as it seems. During a Q&A moderated by DGA Past President Lesli Linka Glatter, Feig spoke about directorial process. "I don't rehearse. I never rehearse. I don't even do a table read of the script. I just get feedback from everybody because I want the discovery to happen on the set. I used to box myself into a corner in the beginning of my career with storyboards and shot lists and all this stuff. Then you're not in the moment of what somebody is doing or bringing to it. So, I jettison all of that and go like, 'I have a plan of what I want to do.' But if somebody's got something they want to do or something starts to come organically as we're doing it going, 'Oh wait, I have an idea!' That's what I want. That's where the magic starts to happen and you're doing it for the fi rst time." Paul Feig discusses The Housemaid photo by Elisa Haber Photo: Director Paul Feig (right) and DGA Past President Lesli Linka Glatter (moderator) discuss the making of The Housemaid following the LA screening on December 21. 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 As his life unravels, a man seeks new purpose in the New York comedy scene in Director Bradley Cooper's comedic-drama, Is This Thing On? Cooper's discussed the making of the fi lm during a Q&A moderated by Director Bennett Miller and revealed why he opted to shoot the fi lm in the European widescreen aspect with only one lens. "I always knew I was going to shoot New York handheld — I thought maybe I'd be on a dolly or maybe steadi-cam at the suburbs — and the whole movie needs to be one vision. I loved the 1.66:1 aspect ratio for this fi lm. It just feels like the way I experienced New York where the compositions can be beautiful, but the characters are always the stars of the composition. The 40mm just fi t perfectly with that. Every time I would change the lens sized for a different depth it just like, 'No!' Long lens close-up is so beautiful, but there's a safety to it and the whole point was I never wanted the audience to ever feel safe. One of the things I was very excited about was the opportunity to potentially create what it's like cinematically to be in these stand- up comedy rooms and to be on stage. So that's why we landed on the 40 and that's why we landed in that aspect ratio and handheld." Bradley Cooper discusses Is This Thing On? Photo: Directors Bradley Cooper (right) and Bennett Miller (moderator) discuss the making of Is This Thing On? following DGA screening in New York on December 20. photo by Marcie Revens Loosely based on real-life 1950s table tennis hustler and champion Marty Reisman, Director Josh Safdie's sports comedy-drama, Marty Supreme, follows a fi ctionalized character named Marty Mauser, a cocky and ambitious shoe salesman who uses his table tennis skills to hustle his way toward greatness and escape his mundane life. Safdie discussed the making of the fi lm during Q&As moderated by Directors Sean Baker in New York and Ben Affl eck in Los Angeles where he spoke about his pursuit of "big feelings" in his fi lms. "You never are satisfi ed, ever. Even when you have a great take, you're not satisfi ed. I am only satisfi ed when I'm feeling something, and I chase big feelings. Like when Marty and Wally are dancing outside that car, that's so beautiful to me, the idea of connecting with a friend and feeling like you're the only two people on planet earth? That's rare. That's awesome. That's human nature. So, when I'm there on set and the actors are feeling something and I'm feeling it with them, in those moments I'm having a big feeling. But there's so much going on. 'How am I going to get 15 set ups before lunch? How am I going to do that?' I was able to transfer enough enthusiasm, that's a Director's job, transferring enthusiasm. I think I had an impassioned crew. I think that they all felt what we were doing." Josh Safdie discusses Marty Supreme photo by Elisa Haber photo by Marcie Revens Photos: Director Josh Safdie with moderators Ben Affl eck in Los Angeles on December 7 and Sean Baker in New York on December 20.

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