Indie darling Greta Gerwig‘s latest film, Lola Versus is now playing in theaters — or, more accurately, in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, which is typical for most of Gerwig’s films (though it expands to sixty theaters this weekend).
While Gerwig is best known for appearing in indie films, she has appeared in a handful of big studio productions, including last year’s Arthur and No Strings Attached. So if she’s gotten a taste of big-budget filmmaking, why does she find herself drawn to smaller films?
Gerwig actually dismisses the idea that there’s is just one category for independent film. She explains, “I think each movie is its own beast. Even in the smaller range, comparing Damsels In Distress, which is a very small movie, to other small movies, that’s totally different than, like, a Baghead experience even though they’re both tiny movies. I think the biggest difference, I find, is that there’s more oversight in studio movies and more people looking over your shoulder and more voices to account for. There are people who need to be heard, because they run these businesses and they’re putting up the money for it and they’re the ones who stand to lose a lot. It’s just being aware of those voices more. Whereas with Damsels, we really just got totally free range – Whit [Stillman, director] got free range. He had a small budget and we went and made it and I don’t remember seeing anyone on set telling us to do anything differently or looking at costumes or looking dailies or worried about that. I like both. I think a great producer is an amazing thing to have and can really push a film in a great direction. It’s not that oversight is inherently bad. It can be great, but I think the difference with studio movies is built in and you don’t get to choose that.”
via NBC New York. Lola Versus is now playing in New York and Los Angeles
