Ben Affleck, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Holofcener Do Business in the Mess at the WGA

Nicole Holofcener (walk and talk, friends with cash) entertained attendees of a Czech film competition on Wednesday, discussing his collaborations with stars like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as well as Reese Witherspoon’s departure from directing in a quiz. legally bleached,

Holofcener has been busy in recent days in the Czech spa town of the Karlovy Range. The 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary World Movie Competition (KVIFF) is retrospectively honoring his career, screening 3 of his films: please give, plenty mentioned And You hurt my feelings.

During a KVIFF dialogue at the festival headquarters, Lodge Thermal, on Wednesday, she said she felt honored by the festival’s invitation and the decision to screen her three films. “I’m not even dead yet,” she quipped.

Asked how much box office success she is known for in her indie film work, Holofcener said: “It means a lot to me. It means people are watching my films. I never lost money. So, I think, that’s why I’ve been able to move forward. And some films have earned a good amount. But I never know why or which people do it and which don’t.”

He also addressed the broader landscape of the indie film sector. “Right now, it’s really hard to watch movies,” the filmmaker said. “And then when they come to the streaming platforms, there are a lot of smaller pictures. You don’t know what you’re going to see or why. so even though you hurt my feelings (starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus) was in theaters for a really long time, it didn’t make any money, which I don’t understand. Maybe someone is getting rich. But this is really disappointing. Of course, I want to make money doing what I love doing the most,” even though it is not her government priority.

His TV paintings are helping him earn money. Holofcener explained, “Actually, I make money from television directing and writing work, like adapting books or rewriting something.” “Three weeks of writing on a Marvel movie cost more money than making three movies. This is obscene!”

How about rewriting a surprise tentpole for that? “It’s funny because I get hired to make female characters better. Because men don’t understand women or anything,” he said. “soon black mother, I worked on Scarlett Johansson’s character and Florence Pugh’s character, just making them more human, giving them a little more depth. And it’s not hard, especially when they’re written like cardboard letters.

He said such jobs also have alternative benefits. “I get to meet all these new people and see these crazy sets, like final duel When I wrote the part of Jodie Comer. I would never have had the experience of watching battles in actual castles in France. And I probably wouldn’t want to direct a movie like that, but watching it was an amazing experience and really cool.

So what was it like painting with Affleck and Damon? “I knew Ben already because we were mutual fans. He wrote me a letter, and I went to meet him on the set,” Holofcener shared. “He’s one of the smartest, funniest people I’ve ever known. She may have love troubles, but she really is one of the most intelligent and fun people around, and I respect her a lot. I didn’t know Matt, except that my son dated his daughter in high school. And I was jealous. ‘You know Matt Damon, and I don’t?’ They are just great people. And he was very generous towards me. They treated me like they respected me, so I was very comfortable. And I wrote that part for him. In the end, we all collaborated on everything because it had to be a cohesive script. It was very collaborative and really a great experience.”

Holofcener also laughed when he recalled not being able to collaborate with another big celebrity. He said, “I was sent scripts that I regret not taking.” walk and talk, I met Reese Witherspoon, and she said, ‘Do you want to direct this movie? I am doing legally Blonde, When I read it, I thought, ‘This is so stupid, and I don’t know where to start.’ So I passed. and you know what? It really proved to be a great film. And I think (Robert Luketic) did a great job. I probably would have done a less good job. I would have made it less broad, less funny, more realistic.

Wondering about her directing experience, Holofcener suggested that as a director it was sometimes more challenging for men to guide her. “I think men often have a hard time trusting me, because they’re not usually the ones taking the lead,” he introduced. “And I think men have a hard time not playing the lead or not being liked onscreen. I’ve had actors say, ‘Oh, can I be a little nicer or not do this,’ and I’m just like (no). And then they watch the movie and they get it. He says, ‘You were very right. I was trying to make my character something else. And you were right. So they finally apologize. But it was never too much. It has always been manageable. The sets I have are fun and we’re having fun, having fun and not taking things too seriously – except for the words on the page.

After the talks, the issue of the film industry came up again in streaming month. Holofcener urged that many of the movies being streamed “we should be watching in theaters….” And he recalled: “When I was coming up with independent films in the 90s they were really exciting and open, and studios were willing to take a risk on me – weird. I was at Sundance with Todd Solondz and Quentin Tarantino. Everyone was starting at the same time, and now, I think, everyone is running scared. And there are usually six artists who will get you the financing you want.”

In the streaming month, it also has searchable movies like Unhealthy. “A lot of the theaters in New York where my films used to play are gone. And this is very sad for me and also sad for new upcoming filmmakers. It’s really different right now. But I survived this attack. I had a writing job and I got my salary a day before the strike and I was fine. A lot of people were in really bad situations.”

How about alternative challenging situations for writers and filmmakers and trading that hot ancient WGA hard work with studios? Holofcener noted, “I don’t think they’re hiring robots to write scripts yet.” “I think they will. This will happen. But many people had small writers’ rooms. (Still) Someone Like Mike White, Who Wrote All the Episodes white lotus, you know… are forced to have a writer’s room. They have to pay writers for their work. That’s why they’re sitting there.”

She concluded: “From what I understand in terms of the deals we’ve made, it’s good to have more jobs for writers, but at the same time, some of it doesn’t make sense. So it’s a mess. A lot of television writers I know are struggling, really struggling, to make enough money and get work.