CHARLOTTE WELLS

Charlotte Wells shot by Sarah Makharine

I read that you received both your MBA and MFA at NYU with the intention of becoming a producer. What made you decide to switch to pursuing directing instead? 

​

I think on some level I had probably always wanted to direct, but producing felt like the right path for a few different reasons and seemed somehow more practical/attainable than directing (little did I know.) Then, in my second year in the program, I had a chance to direct a short and I took it. It was an incredible experience and more creatively fulfilling than I really thought possible, especially the collaborations at the heart of it. I feel fortunate that the feedback I received gave me some confidence in what I was doing; I continued to produce for friends in film school but never really looked back from that point on. 

​

How did your education at NYU and living in NYC affect the stories you want to tell? 

​

I don’t think it affected the stories I wanted to tell, so much as how I wanted to tell them. I owe a lot to the faculty that supported me at NYU and even more to my classmates who I learned a ton from. They were so far ahead when I started in the second year — what they made and what they were watching informed my early steps. The majority of people in that program did a couple of different things — directing and cutting/shooting/producing/designing. It meant we could help each other out and rally a crew together for just about anything; a crew of people who cared deeply and who were there to support each other. That’s how I learned to make films.

​

I was so touched by Aftersun and would love to hear more about your experience as both the writer and director. What was your development process like, both before and after participating in the Sundance Lab? Additionally, how did being both the writer and director of your film influence your approach to each role?

​

I don’t necessarily think of writing and directing as separate roles for me; they’re both stages of the same process, just as editing is. It’s all filmmaking. I’m thinking of images just as much when I’m writing as when I’m on set. Equally, I think of writing just as much in the edit as I do on the page. The difference is really the extent of collaboration. I wrote Aftersun sharing very little until I had a complete first draft. At that point I considered feedback from close collaborators and shaped it into the script we took into production. In total, that was 4 or 5 years. Directing though is inherently collaborative and much more concentrated in time. You’re taking on different points of view, allowing yourself to be challenged by every part of the process, making every decision in service of the story you’re trying to tell. 

​

Your short film Tuesday is about a girl who is dealing with the loss of her dad, and Aftersun is about a young woman reflecting on her vacation to Turkey with her father as a child, supposedly the last time she ever saw him. Both stories involve loss, but in different forms. As a director, how did you approach these two distinct portrayals of loss?

​

I never thought of these films as explicitly about loss, although they are. I considered them independently as the stories they were — one about a teenager trying to go on as usual in the face of a recent loss and one about a relationship between a daughter and her father at a certain point in time. That’s how those stories began. Their underlying themes are part of the discovery of writing. I think the idea of writing about loss up front might feel too overwhelming; too much to commit to for years on end. But that’s a part of who I am and inevitably it surfaces time and time again.

​

Many of your films explore ideas of the intersection between mental health, loss and grief and I think your films beautifully capture the essence of the complexities of mental illness and its impact on relationships. What draws you to explore these themes, and how do you approach capturing the authenticity and complexity of these stories on screen? Are there any influences or inspirations, whether personal experiences or other works of art, that shaped your approach to depicting these themes?

I tend to write about subjects I have proximity to; something to say about. There’s something of me in all of my films, in all of my characters. I don’t think of myself as someone explicitly drawn to these subjects — but they’re in my life and family in various ways and filmmaking is a way to reckon with them and other parts of life that don’t always make sense.

Are there any filmmakers, artists, or mentors who have had a profound influence on your career and approach to cinema?

My closest collaborators have had the greatest impact — Greg Oke (who photographed Aftersun) and Blair McClendon (who cut it) — we all went to film school together. Many other friends and collaborators from NYU too and others I’ve met along the way. 

I know that films can take years to make and that you need a solid team around you. When times get tough, which women in your life have inspired and/or supported your creativity and artistry as a filmmaker? Who truly supported you every step of the way?

At film school, Gail Segal, Kasi Lemmons, and Sandi Sissel were important parts of that experience. Gail opened up the world of cinema for me and mentored me through the early stages of Aftersun (and was a crucial voice of support in the edit). I had limited time with both Kasi and Sandi, but they each made a lasting impression and both opened up about themselves in ways that made me understand something of the relationship between life and art. 

​

Like you say, making a film takes years and alongside the creative evolution of a project is its practical evolution from financing through to distribution and promotion. Only a few people are along for the whole ride and a producer is one of them. Adele Romanski at PASTEL was the first producer I shared the script with and feel incredibly lucky that she took it on. She was there not just to make the film a reality but to offer guidance and support at every stage from script to set to edit to everything I had no idea about that lay beyond.

​

What advice do you have for individuals aspiring to work in roles similar to yours in the film industry?

Find your people and work together. Nobody has an identical path to writing or directing, there’s no clear way though, but find your people, collaborators, advocates, film community, and work with each other to keep making films, taking creative risks, pushing each other to be true to yourselves in expressing whatever your vision of the world is.