Crystal Moselle is best known for her Sundance Grand Jury Prize award-winning documentary “The Wolfpack.” She served as producer on “Excavating Taylor Mead,” and in the last decade she has worked with short-form storytelling for publications such as Vice and The New York Times. Most recently she directed a documentary short series for National Geographic entitled “Our Dream of Water” about women dealing with water crisis in Haiti, Peru, and Kenya.
“Skate Kitchen” premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CM: I worked for over a year with a group of real teenage skateboarder girls to create a film that was semi based on their lives.
The film follows an introverted teenage girl whose life completely changes when she meets an all-female crew of New York City skateboarders named “The Skate Kitchen.”
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CM: I met the characters from the story on the train and became friends with them, and was incredibly inspired to make a film based on their lives.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
CM: I just want people to feel good and inspired.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CM: Bringing a bunch of non-actors onto a film set for 37 days was actually not the hardest thing; getting them to not skate but act instead while we were at an open skate park was hard. Oh, also, getting hit by skateboards on your ankles constantly wasn’t fun either — lots of bloody socks.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CM: I came to Sundance last year with a mission to get my film funded, [and] had several meetings with financiers.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Sundance?
CM: It’s a great way to share your work with the world. It’s an outlet that gets so many eyes on your work.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CM: The best advice is that when you approach a project make sure it ticks at least two of three of these boxes: “reel,” “revenue,” and “relationships.”
“Reel” being the creative work for your portfolio, “revenue” being the amount of money you make, and “relationships” being where the project will take you in the future.
The worst advice: there was this one time when I was getting feedback on a script and the mentor told me to make the female main character’s father the main character of the film. I laughed.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
CM: Stay focused on making more films. Make films about perspectives that are not covered as much. Don’t let anything get in the way. I never take no for an answer when it’s something I really believe in.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CM: “The Piano”by Jane Campion because its a haunting, beautiful masterpiece.
W&H: Hollywood is in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women and some men in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What do you think of the recently announced anti-sexual harassment Commission made up of industry leaders? Do you believe that it will help make systemic change? What do you think needs to be done to address this issue?
CM: I think the movement is long overdue, and the fact that women are able to come forward in every industry to be honest with their conditions is so important. I think we’ve just got to keep putting the pressure on because time’s up.
