Vinesh Vora
Apr 4, 2023
Joanna’s feature directorial debut did not disappoint
The Knockturnal: First, congratulations on your film. It was a wonderful film. I saw it last night. So, this is your directorial debut, right?
Joanna Gleason: Yeah. I directed shorts, television, and theatre a little bit. This is my first feature film.The Knockturnal: That’s so exciting. Congratulations!Joanna Gleason: Thank you!
The Knockturnal: How did you prepare for your directorial debut in features?
Joanna Gleason: I prepared for it by doing shorts. I assembled the same team: the same producers, composer, and DP. I said ‘Let’s take two and a half days and shoot this fifteen-minute movie.’ By the way, it got into festivals, which I am excited about. We knew that we clicked. We knew the rhythm.From fifteen years of being on the camera’s other side, I have absorbed quite a lot. I know what I want the set to feel like. I know how to talk to actors and they feel like they can talk to me. I’m one of them. The preparation was in everything I’ve ever done before. This was just like ‘Go! Hire all the best people from every department: sound, hair, makeup, costumes, everything. They will bring you your best.’
The Knockturnal: For sure. I am curious to know about what you’ve learned. Do you have any specifics?
Joanna Gleason: Among the many things I’ve learned, you can’t be precious about what doesn’t make it into the movie. Instead of spending the money for people to shoot and then saying ‘oh, we’ll see…,’ make sure your script is water-tight before you start shooting. Second of all, demand, carve out, and scream for time with your first AD, script supervisor, and DP. Through this, you’re all on the same page and know the way you would like to work.Gabe and I have worked before. We have a shorthand, so we can walk onto a set and go ‘Hey, let’s flip this. Let’s not start down there. Let’s start at the other end!’ If that happens, everyone goes on fire. The script supervisor might pass out. This is the kind of thing where you must write every idea down. Write down every idea you think you might have, like ‘Hey! Let’s have him sing over by that table!’ Don’t just say it out loud. Write it down and let everyone know. I think that was the biggest takeaway.
The Knockturnal: Nice. So, what were you channeling when you wrote the screenplay? I know you said that it was in remembrance of people you met in the past.
Joanna Gleason: Yes, it partly was. I created my club to be a place of healing, like the healing of the gods in France or the ‘drink the water and throw away your crutches’ kind of thing. I thought about the need for one in America. Then, I thought about the AIDS crisis. I said, ‘how about a club that used to be a gay nightclub?’ It ties into Alice’s story about who she thought she would spend her life with.Also, it was about my own midlife crisis in my forties. During that time, everything was wrong. I thought that the cast of characters surrounding me was not good. I thought I was living where I should be or doing what I should be doing. Everything sort of fell apart. I thought, ‘well, that’s a good place to start a story.’ All good stories start near the end. Somebody else said that once.
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