DGA Monthly

1 8 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 Loosely based on the classic novel by Emily Brontë, Director Emerald Fennell's period romance, Wuthering Heights, unveils the story of the intense and destructive relationship between an orphan named Heathcliff and a woman from a wealthy family named Cathy at a windswept 18th-century estate on the Yorkshire Moors. Fennell discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors Greta Gerwig in New York and J.J. Abrams in Los Angeles where she spoke about working with a large budget. "It's still very rare, regrettably, that women to have access to these kinds of budgets still, and especially for a movie that is in many ways a romance. So, I felt a responsibility in many ways. But also, I love building stuff. And if you're going to play with a world that does play with the suspension of disbelief and it is surreal, to be able to physically make it, to know that it exists is really important. To be able to work with the best in the world at everything they do — the best model makers, the best stop motion animators, the costume department was like dozens and dozens of people — so to be able to do that was wonderful. It's lovely to see it." Emerald Fennell discusses Wuthering Heights photo by DGA Staff photo by Elisa Haber Photos: Emerald Fennell with moderators Greta Gerwig in New York on February 8 and J.J. Abrams in Los Angeles on February 14. Director John Patton Ford's dark comedic thriller, How to Make a Killing, tells the story of a blue-collar outsider, disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, who launches a campaign of manipulation, betrayal and calculated violence to eliminate the multiple heirs standing between him and his inheritance. During a Q&A moderated by Director Kobi Libii, Ford discussed the making of the film and spoke about creating a flow and a sense of motion through sound. "I think a lot about sound with scene transitions. So, when I've got to the mixing stage, I've got like a billion ideas and mixers hate me, because the notes that I give them are just this giant novel. I think with a movie like this, that's so dense — there are 216 scenes in a movie that's 104 minutes long — it's really reliant upon sound and telling the audience the story with sound. There are scenes that have diegetic sound: they have music that's pumping, and they have a voice-over, and then the voice-over will dip down and there will be dialogue on screen, then the dialogue will go away and the voice will come back, and the music will transition to another sound — all that in 6 seconds! It's sort of like you're either completely hands-on with the sound or it becomes an unlistenable mess." John Patton Ford discusses How to Make a Killing photo by Shane Karns Photo: John Patton Ford (right) and Kobi Libii (moderator) discuss the making of How to Make a Killing following DGA screening in Los Angeles on February 28. The former leader of an Irish criminal enterprise returns home to face new challenges in Director Tom Harper's period drama, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. In the big screen follow-up to the television series Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby returns to a bombed-out Birmingham, England, from a self-imposed exile amid the chaos of World War II. With the future of his family and country at stake, he must face his demons and choose whether to confront his legacy or burn it to the ground. During a Q&A moderated by Director Mary Harron, Harper expressed his preference for shooting on location rather than manufactured vistas. "I love location shooting… It's an interesting time, isn't it when you can pretty much do everything with visual effects or incredible set builds, or you can create anything, and that's a wonderful thing. But there's something for me, in this age of AI and technology, that the more real it can be… that the heart of cinema or storytelling lies in the imperfections of reality rather than creating worlds." Tom Harper discusses Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Photo: Tom Harper (right) and Mary Harron (moderator) discuss the making of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man following the DGA screening in New York on March 8. photo by Marcie Revens

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