Reed Morano won the 2017 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for cinematography in her directorial debut “Meadowland,” where she also served as the film’s cinematographer. Her other directing credits include Showtime’s “Billions” and AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire,” and her cinematography credits include “Frozen River” and “Kill Your Darlings.”
“I Think We’re Alone Now” will premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 21.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
RM: Del is the last man on Earth and he’s finally at peace. He’s not looking for other survivors and besides, there aren’t any. He’s created his own utopia he’s completely in control of and life is good. But then, his worst nightmare is realized — he’s not alone. Her name is Grace and she wants to stay.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
RM: I felt like it could be a very personal, subjective, psychological, and emotional examination of life in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s not about why the human population has been wiped out: it’s a story about how you would feel if that were to happen.
It’s about what human connection means to someone who never actually connected to people when they were around. At the end of the world, when there’s no one left anymore, the how and the why matter far less than basic emotional survival. It’s about how you live with it and how it changes you.
I wanted to do a character study of two very fundamentally different people who are coping with the loss of humanity in very distinct ways and the effect they inevitably have on one another.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
RM: If everything you depended on was taken away, what might you hear and see differently? What are the things you never understood or felt when the world was full?
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
RM: Telling the story of a relationship but at the same time never letting the audience forget they’re in the apocalypse. Also, locking up the apocalypse with only three PAs was slightly challenging.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Sundance?
RM: I’ve had a lot of films at Sundance — as a DP. But to have a film at Sundance as a feature director is just holy cow.
How lucky I am to share my baby with that audience is not lost on me.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
RM: The best advice I ever received was when my dad told me, “Reed, no one’s going to give you the power. You have to take the power.”
The worst advice I ever received was “stick to what you know.”
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
RM: Come out of the gate with a very specific point of view. Don’t play it safe. Stop apologizing.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
RM: “Fish Tank” by Andrea Arnold. It made me feel things, and has amazing performances.
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?
RM: I don’t know how fast it will change things, but I do believe it’s a step in the right direction. Awareness and making it an issue can induce change.
I think that those in a position to do the hiring need to realize that the wider net they cast for storytellers in terms of diversity, the more likely they are to find an amazing perspective that is totally unique. If you keep going back to who’s safe, you’ll be less likely to find the next great creative mind.
