Stacy Cochran made her debut with “My New Gun,” starring Diane Lane; it premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. Her other credits include “Boys,” “Richard Lester!” and “Drop Back Ten.”
“Write When You Get Work” will premiere at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival on March 12.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
SC: It’s a love story set in New York City.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
SC: The story just floated to me on a breeze of love for New York and the cacophony of people who live here.
Usually I find that I write about things I’m angry about, but cheerfully. This movie is more of an ode to being in love with the one who drives you crazy.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
SC: I want people to think about the pleasure of going to movies.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
SC: There were two challenges and both were met so beautifully: finding the financing that we needed to shoot a union film in New York and finding the perfect cast.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
SC: I found a visionary investor who loved the script and wanted to see the movie get made.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at SXSW?
SC: It means everything.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
SC: “Work with this person” and “don’t work with that person.” These words have interchangeably been the best and worst advice. I’ve been rescued and I’ve been misdirected by advice about with whom I should work.
The best advice I can offer myself now, as I think back on those episodes, is live and learn!
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
SC: I’d say to ask yourself: Do you want to keep going? Can you keep going? If the answer is yes, then do it.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
SC: “Clueless.” And I think second place is “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” although it might be the other way around. Thank you, Amy Heckerling!
These are movies with mischief and wit and a subversive personality.
W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are 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 are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?
SC: I believe in checks and balances. There are, and have always been, a certain number of people out there in the homo sapiens’ universe with an addiction to cruel and reckless self-interest. It’s not just in the film business that this fantasy — that some people matter and some people don’t — managed to feel like reality.
Once in a while, and in my opinion this is one of those times, those who hold unchecked power over others get sloppy and greedy enough to be looking in the wrong direction when the earth turns and they get slammed in the back of the head.
I don’t see this transformation as an assault on sexuality. I find it very exciting. Respecting the rights and dignity of people you don’t know, or don’t understand, or who just don’t seem to matter to you, might be something like societal seatbelts: It’s not as uncomfortable as your grandparents might have thought it would be, and if people could be forced to learn some laws of respect, it might end up preventing them from flying through a windshield.
