Labor of Lohan: An Interview with Labor Pains Director Lara Shapiro.

http://www.movieline.com/2009/07/labor-of-lohan-an-interview-with-labor-painsdirector-lara-shapiro.php
INTERVIEWS
Labor of Lohan: An Interview with Labor
Pains Director Lara Shapiro
WRITTEN BY JULIE MILLER | 13 JUL 2009, 3:45 PM | COMMENT
You’ve heard about Labor Pains, the Lindsay Lohan feature that was picked up by ABC
Family after narrowly missing a theatrical release. But you probably aren’t familiar with
Lara Shapiro, the film’s co-writer and director. A Columbia Film School and Sundance
Lab alum, Shapiro first established herself in the commercial landscape, writing and
directing spots like the memorable Hallie Eisenberg IFC commercials , starring Matt
Damon, Edward Norton, Janeane Garafalo and Lili Taylor. We spoke to Lara Shapiro
about directing her first feature, dealing with the paparazzi and the unfortunately small
world of female directors.
How was directing your first feature different than directing some of the
bigger commercials you’ve worked on?
It’s like running a marathon instead of a sprint. And I really enjoyed being able to work
with a crew and the cast day after day. We were able to establish relationships that really
paid off. And I tried to focus on performances as much as possible and that was my main
emphasis. So I guess that would be the biggest difference. With commercials you’re not
given as much freedom as I was given on this project.
You had some great improv comics in your cast: Chris Parnell, Cheryl Hines,
Janeane Garafalo, Jay Thomas —
It’s funny, every actor has their own style of working and Cheryl Hines and Chris come
from this really improv background and actually Janeane Garafalo was the one who
improvised the most. We had a really loosely structured part for her because she was
playing a talk show host. I think she was on set for two days and I just let her do
whatever she wanted. She just went on and on with these interview questions.
You had actually worked with Janeane Garafalo before, in the Hallie
Eisenberg IFC commercials —
Yeah, the IFC stuff.
Had you kept in touch with her at all?
Yeah, we have friends in common. I had seen her onstage with the Stella comedy group.
And Lindsay, I would say has a blend — she has the really classic training from having
done all the Disney stuff but then she would also riff on things.
Did you have to change the Thea character at all once you found out that
Lindsay Lohan would play her?
Not really, we didn’t really have to change anything. We basically wrote it with her in
mind. There are not many people that can do what she does. The very earliest script we
wrote reflected the same kind of attitudes and general character. I think Lindsay has an
incredible ability to make the audience really sympathize with her and that was
something that was important to us. That that character not be someone that you’re
turned off by because the choices that she’s making are not that great. But still you have
to be rooting for her and understanding what she’s doing.
"I was standing next to three paparazzi. And then there
were four on the other side of the camera. They were
really in her face."
Was it stressful shooting with Lindsay? Gary Marshall talked about how
difficult it was to shoot Georgia Rule with the paparazzi hounding her.
Yeah, well we thought about it a lot and strategized the way that we shot so we didn’t run
into paparrazi so much. We shot in Burbank and we had a core set of about five locations
that were all within a block of each other that were all owned by the same company. So
we rented out the offices and the apartment and as a result we were able to keep things
as sane as possible. There were only a couple days when we were really bothered by the
paparazzi, like in the baseball scene. We were shooting the scene in the outfield and
there were paparazzi in the shot. And then there was another day where Cheryl and
Lindsay were coming out of the maternity store. That was stressful because we were
running out of light and they had a page and a half of dialogue and we were running out
of time to shoot it. I was standing next to three paparazzi. And then there were four on
the other side of the camera. They were really in her face.
Do they quiet down when the camera is rolling? Do they respect the set?
They did but they were still very aggressive in terms of getting their shot. And it was a
good image of Lindsay holding a fake stomach and trying to get Cheryl to take it home
with her.
Where you at all concerned with the film’s distribution during production?
When you’re directing a feature, I just kept blinders on and didn’t want to worry about
anything other than what was in front of me. We were just like “let’s shoot it. Let’s get it
in the can” kind of attitude.
Did you have to change the ending at all once ABC Family got involved?
No we actually didn’t change anything. They bought it as is - we didn’t change one frame
or anything. Not the ending, not any dialogue.
So they’ll be showing the scenes with smoking and the simulated sex?
Oh yeah. Everything you saw is going to be there.
That’s a whole new direction for ABC Family.
Well it’s a whole new family out there.
What are you working on next?
I just finished a script with Stacy [Kramer], the same writing partner I wrote Labor
Pains with and I’m talking to TV people about a couple different projects as well. I hope
to be able to do film and TV now that I’ve bridged the gap with this project.
Are you still directing commercials at all?
Yeah, I am actually. I’m still doing commercials. That’s always a good thing to do.
"That’s the thing, whenever anyone mentions a woman director, I always say ‘Oh I know who
that is’ because there are so few of us out there."
You don’t see many female directors, especially in the commercial industry.
That’s the thing, whenever anyone mentions a woman director, I always say ‘Oh I know
who that is’ because there are so few of us out there.
It’s really too bad.
Well people always ask me, ‘Well why is that?’ And I’m like, ‘You know what, I don’t
know.’ I think it’s just so hard, for anybody, male or female to direct anything. And I
don’t know what it is. I don’t know why. I don’t have the answer there but I wish it
weren’t that way. There aren’t that many industries left though where it’s like that. I
think architecture is another one where it’s male dominated.
How did you get into writing and directing?
I went to film school and learned that way and then started writing stuff and directing it.
In film school, I had a couple shorts that went to Sundance and I had a screenplay I
wrote that went to the Sundance Writers’ Lab and that helped a lot, so just by doing it. I
always tell people the best way to get into writing and directing is to try to make as many
opportunities as possible for yourself to actually just go out and do it.
Are there any female directors you pattern yourself after — or male
directors? There’s always the female subgroup - the one class in film school
about female directors —
Right, I know. I would say Nancy Myers or Nora Ephron. Jane Campion was a huge role
model for me. Kathryn Bigelow. I’ll definitely go out of my way to see stuff directed by
women. There’s a French director Claire Denis that’s also very talented.
One of the prominent themes in Labor Pains
is motherhood, and coming to terms with it. Is that something that was
reflected from your personal life at all?
Well I have two daughters and I was pregnant when I wrote the script so it was definitely
something that was weighing on my mind. I think more specifically, becoming an adult is
what the story is really about. And that’s something I have definitely grappled with.
[Chuckles] It was important for me to put something I was passionate about in my work.