“Meadowland” helmer Reed Morano has signed on to direct “I Think We’re Alone Now,” a post-apocalyptic movie starring Elle Fanning (“Neon Demon”) and Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”), The Hollywood Reporter writes.
According to THR, the Automatik Entertainment project will see Dinklage playing Del, a man “who finds his innermost fantasies of seclusion realized when the rest of humanity is wiped out in a mysterious incident. But then a second survivor (Fanning) arrives and threatens to disrupt his newfound sense of order.”
Morano is an acclaimed cinematographer whose credits include “Kill Your Darlings” and “Frozen River.” She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her cinematography in “Meadowland,” her 2015 directorial debut starring Olivia Wilde.
When we asked Morano how she managed to balance both jobs on set she said, “I think I morphed into this other person, this other role, where both jobs went totally hand in hand in almost an old-fashioned kind of way. It was kind of like back in your film-school roots where you just pick up the camera and shoot what you want to shoot.” She elaborated, “I decided that I would not let the visuals overtake the story, the narrative, or the performances. That was really important to me. That was a promise I made to myself.” Morano’s decision to serve as both cinematographer and director was partly to “prove that [she] could.”
Morano has a number of promising projects in the works. She’s signed on to helm the first three episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic 1985 dystopian novel. Elisabeth Moss is starring in the 10-episode series. Morano is also set to direct “Lioness,” a drama about a Lance Corporal Leslie Martz, the Marine who led the first Female Engagement Team in Afghanistan. Ellen Page is portraying Martz.
In addition to directing, Morano continues to work as a cinematographer. Her recent credits include “Divorce,” “Vinyl,” and “Beyonce: Lemonade.” She is a part of CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX, a supportive group for female cinematographers. Producers and directors can use the group as a resource if they are looking to hire female DPs, who are extremely underrepresented in Hollywood. According to a study from Dr. Martha Lauzen and The Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, women accounted for six percent of all cinematographers working on the top 250 highest-grossing films of 2015.
