Lesson 5: The work isn’t completed till your collaborators form it.
“This was the kind of materials that was at all times going to adapt to no matter performers got here onto it. There’s that concept that you just don’t know what your film is till you’ve gotten your solid—till the solid tells you what the film is. That’s at all times what was going to occur with this script, it doesn’t matter what.”
Lesson 6: Collaboration is constructed via readability, not management.
“Sidney Lumet wrote in his unimaginable e book Making Films that he loves prep since you’re compelled to justify every a part of your script to every member of your crew. When your head of division says to you, ‘Why am I constructing that wall?’ it’s by no means arbitrary. It’s like, we’d like that as a result of it’s within the script—due to this. The method with this workshop interval was like gut-checking all the things. It meant that everybody understood why we have been doing what we have been doing, and that creates belief throughout all the crew.”
Lesson 7: Shield the time to do issues correctly.
“My non-negotiable was permitting for time to arrange the movie accurately. As an illustration, rehearsals don’t are likely to exist, even on large movies. However I wish to know the way the solid goes to create this collectively. There’s no mathematical equation for it. It takes belief. And for those who can earn that belief, it advantages all people. You’re employed lengthy sufficient, hopefully for a lot of extra years, and ultimately you get to say, ‘Can I’ve the time to do that correctly?’ After which it actually turns into about making one of the best work attainable.”
Picture caption: Olivia Wilde and Chris O’Falt throughout the IndieWire Way forward for Filmmaking Keynote Introduced by Dropbox with Olivia Wilde at Sundance on January 25, 2026 in Park Metropolis, Utah. Picture courtesy of IndieWire.
