A creatively blocked composer rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand in Director Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy-drama, She Came to Me.
Miller’s film tells the story of Steven Lauddem, who is unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. At the behest of his wife/former therapist, Patricia, he sets out in search of inspiration and finds much more than he bargained for in the form of Katrina, a tugboat captain with her own obsessions.
On October 29, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Miller discussed the making of She Came to Me during a Q&A moderated by Director Noah Baumbach (White Noise).
During the conversation, Miller spoke about how she prepped for the film while making the transition from screenwriter to Director.
“I used an iPad and drew out the central visual moment of every scene. In a way this one was more like a comic strip than I’ve ever done before because it’s funny and also because I just sort of saw it all these ironic situations were juxtaposed so color was really important and how the different worlds had different colors. So, my preparation was very visual. And then, of course, there’s the moment where you do have the money — and never quite enough money — so there’s always the question of what do you have to cut out? For example, where he falls in the water and you go straight into that rehearsal scene through his mouth, well there was originally a whole long sequence of how he gets home and then he tells his wife I realized that I didn't need. I realized you could just cut all that stuff so there were there was there’s quite a lot of creative cutting that goes on because you can't afford certain things.”
Miller’s other directorial credits include the feature films, Maggie’s Plan, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, Personal Velocity: Three Portraits and Angela; and the documentary, Arthur Miller: Writer. She has been a DGA member since 2003.