Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I want to introduce you to Sophie Brooks. She is
a director and writer of a very unusual rom com
that's like perfectly timed in this very very weird, bizarre,
crazy time of dating. If you happen to be a
young person. Thank God I'm not there anymore. Thank God
(00:33):
is all I could say. Sophie Brooks. The movie is
O HI and it is now in theaters. And so
let me just give you the basic scenario of the
opening scene and then you can kind of get the
gist of how crazy this is. So the movie opens
with this young man who's bound to a bed and
(00:54):
this young woman who is not untying him. And basically
they were together for the weekend, you know, a date,
hook up, whatever, and she's just not letting him go.
He thinks she's insane, she thinks he's an Ah. So, Sophie,
(01:16):
where did this craziness come from?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Gosh, I know it's definitely a kooky one.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Well, the original of the idea came during COVID when
my agent prompted me to come up with an idea
that could shoot with limited locations and limited actors, and
about five minutes off to that phone call, I had
the seat of the idea, which was a couple take
trip away together.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
He breaks up with her.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
She holds him captive, and I thought, oh, that's kind
of fun like that, And then Molly Gordon and I
developed the story together, and then I wrote the first
draft kind of in this fever dream of two and
a half weeks in my childhood bedroom alone, fueled by
you know.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Grit and sadness, and found my way to the script.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
But I think, you know, I was. I had just
done thirty at the time, and I'd gotten out of
a serious relationship and kind of re entered the dating
world and was honestly kind of horrified by how these
really i think basic things of wanting communication and respect
(02:24):
and to define things was viewed as a lot or intense.
And I thought that that was something really funny about it,
and also sad about it.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
And I guess that's kind of where this idea came from.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And how long you shot it during COVID right?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
No?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Was so it actually, oh, because it could have been
shot during COVID, considering you know how few actors were involved,
and that you know you have this one country house.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, exactly, Well, we almost shot it in twenty twenty
and then it ended up taking four and a half
years to actually get made, so we made it last
summer in upstate New York.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Okay, okay, Now tell us about Molly Mollie.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Gosh, what to say.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
We've been friends for ten years, and at the time
of COVID, we've been friends for six years.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
And she's so funny and.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Charming that I'd never written for an actor before, and
the joy of writing for someone who is just inherently
likable on screen and has this delightful cheekiness to her
was so so fun And also I don't want to
stay safe, but like gave me the freedom to really
(03:43):
go fall with the character because I knew I had
this actress who has this kind of inherent likability.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
And her background with acting, Yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
She I mean, she's really done mainly comedies and is
an incredible improviser. She directed and starred in Theater Camp
where that film was fully improvised. So there was also
a joy in knowing that she has this, you know,
skill set that I could lean into and did so.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Was a lot of this improvised?
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Then, I would say a lot of the movie was improvised.
I would say we did a lot of improvisation on set,
but the script was very much a fully written script,
and the final film is mainly what was written. But
I love improvising. I love having my actors play on
(04:37):
the day, and some of the best lines in the
movie were improvised.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Well, I don't want to give anything away, but there
are some really fun lines for Mollie and Logan and
John and Geraldine that were improvised, and we did a
lot of improvisation on set to kind of leave space
for discovery.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Since it was made. What four years you said after
you wrote it, and do you have the idea? Was
it hard to sell this movie? It actually feels more
today than it would have felt four years ago. To me,
I think our world has changed that much with COVID
(05:20):
just did a number on us, but so has the
dating apps and everything else. I mean, everything has just
gotten so crazy when it comes to new relationships, finding
a genuine relationship.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I completely agree.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Yeah, I think it was It wasn't hard We were
so lucky to get into Sundans and have Sony Picture's
Classic by the movie, which was I feel the perfect
partan of for us. So it wasn't hard to sell it,
but it was really hard to get financing.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
It took us four years to get financing to get
the money to.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Make it, and I think that was surprising to me.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I thought it well, I thought it felt so of
the moment, and yeah, as you just said, I think
ultimately it's so much more of the moment now than
it was five years ago. There's also something quite nice
about the fact that I wrote it at thirty and
then we shot it when Molly was thirty, so there's
this kind of full circle thing of she landed kind
of where I started in a really beautiful way. So
(06:20):
I do think it happened when it was supposed to happen,
and it feels yeah, God, I mean the And by
the way, I have.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Many friends who have met the loves of their lives
on dating apps. I do not think dating apps are.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Inherently bad, but I do think what dating apps have
done to the culture of dating is not healthy.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
In what way? What do you mean?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I think that there's this you know, dynamic where there's
always something better out there, and it makes you undervalue
a connection. I also think Instagram does that too, you know,
the ability to see people from you know, we used
to just see people at all local balls, or people
we were in class with, or people we lived close to,
(07:04):
and now you can see.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Someone who you know. Some dating apps have you matched
with people in different states? I don't know. I fully
understand the point of that. That seems confusing.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So it's just created this kind of better, this mentality
there's always something better out there. And I certainly am
someone who thinks you should never settle for something that
isn't right. But I also think connection is special and
rare and if you find someone you have that with,
it shouldn't be undervalued.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I'm speaking with Sophie Brookshee is the co writer and
director of Ohai, which is now in theaters. It's an
unusual rom com and it's really geared toward younger people,
Sophie's age, Molly's age. So what about you? Did you
find love? What is your situation and if so, how?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Oh gosh, I don't know how much I want to
end I did? I am in love, which I feel good, Yes,
which I feel very lucky to be in love.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
But I'm you know, I'm thirty five.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
I feel like this movie probably connects more to people
people's Molly's you know, Mollie's age, which is thirty and below.
I think thirty five is a really interesting age in
womanhood and in dating specifically, and something I think I'm
going to explore in my next in my next screenplay,
(08:31):
because the stakes feel higher, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, because time is creeping up, and you have the
whole issue of family, which is a whole other thing
because I have three kids, one has one, my oldest
son has two sons, and my middle son, who really
wanted a family, ended up not wanting a family after
(08:55):
he got married, which was just a shock. And then
my daughter also no children. Now I don't put pressure
on them, but I just find that that your generation
and people who are even younger than you, it's a
really peculiar time. So explain, how how do you feel
about that, because you know, you're talking about bringing children
(09:18):
into a really crazy world. I didn't even think that
way when I got pregnant, and I think that your
generation is thinking far deeper. M gosh, I mean, or
maybe even about lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, I want kids for sure.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
I've always wanted to be a mother, and I think
I was someone who when I was in my twenties,
I for sure thought i'd have kids by you know,
thirty two, and then I and then I didn't.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I And I'm also like a.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Very driven, ambitious person and my craft is really important
to me. So I certainly don't think there's just one
path to happiness.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But yeah, I think.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
I think if you are someone who wants that, it's
an interesting balance of knowing when the right time is.
But women have a biological clock that men don't have
as much, so we can't twittle our thumbs forever. We
do ultimately have to pick a lane and kind of
go down it. And I actually kind of think that's
(10:29):
a good thing, because I think the fact that we
have to make a decision, I think it's good. I
think it's good sometimes to be pushed to choose a path.
And I don't know that it would be better for
me if I was a man and I could just
kick the can down the road forever, because because then
(10:51):
I don't know when I would do it. You know,
I think there's something good about the The Ticking Clock.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Sophie. How did you get involved in film? What was
so magical that drew you to film?
Speaker 4 (11:05):
M Well, I went to film school where at Miyu
at Tish, and I actually didn't think I would be
a writer or director.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
At first.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I thought maybe I would be a producer or do
costume design or production design. And then my junior year,
you're required to make a short, and I truly just
fell in love with it. Like I thought, the writing
and directing was the funnest thing that it ever happened
to me, and it was so challenging and fulfilling, and.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
It peaked all of my interests I love.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
I love design and costume and I love cinematography, and
I love working with actors, and I love storytelling. So
once I made that short film, I really committed to
the path of kind of the director track at NYU,
and then I made two more shorts before I made
my first feature, of The Boy Downstairs, which I made when
I was twenty six. And listen, I think it's it's
(12:02):
hard business. It's a really hard business, and there's a
lot of heartache and pushing through rejection, but there's really
some there's there's just nothing like if you if you
love making movies, like getting to do it and and
getting to be in a theater, not just you know,
getting to make it, which is so incredible, but also
(12:24):
sitting in a theater and hearing people laugh and enjoy
your film is is is quite magical.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
What are your feelings about opening in theaters as opposed
to streaming when you when you're streaming, you have a
shot at a really much wider audience, and what are
the plans for that, if there are any for O?
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Hi, Yeah, well, definitely land on streaming at some point.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I know Sony Pictures Classics has kind of.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Deals with a couple of places, so but but you know,
we are only in theaters right now for a while,
so if people want.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
To see this movie, they do have to go to
the theaters.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
And to me, obviously, there's so many things I've watched
on streaming which are wonderful, but there is nothing like
going to the movies and having that shared experience and
this movie specifically, Obviously I'm biased, but I think that
the laughter that comes from it is really and also
gasps like every time I've seen it in the theater,
so far. There's a few scenes where there have been
(13:24):
audible gasps at the conversations they're having in the miscommunications,
and it kind of feels like a horror movie in
that way, you know, when you have jump scares and
then you're like, I can't believe we're on this ride.
This movie has an element of that, and it's just
such a fun feeling. So I hope people go to
see it in the theaters and have that communal experience.
(13:44):
And I also hope it has a second life on
a streamer when it lands.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
There, you know, later in the year.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
I think this this is the type of movie Molly
and I have said this a few times, but where
we hope girls watch it at sleepovers, you know, when
they're of age. But you know, it's a great movie
for friendship too.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
It's a really challenging time when it comes to theaters
because the blockbusters, I mean, duh, yeah, people are going
to go, you know, the action movies, and they keep
remaking you know, the same movie. Basically, it's really tougher
with the rom com. Don't you think we only have
like a minute left? So just sum it up.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Yeah, it's I mean, it so hard, but I think
what the materialists just showed us, which you know, was
doing really well in the box office, is that there
is a desire for these sorts of movies and that
people will show up. So as much as it is
hard to get butts and seats, I think there's hope
that they will, and the value of that shed experience
(14:46):
is kind of special and unparalleled. So I hope that
I hope that we preserve the magic of the movies
for my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, great, great getting to know you so, Sophie Brooks.
Congratulations on OHI and you couldn't be, you know, connected
to a better studio than Sony Picture Classics. I love them.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You've been listening to Sunstein sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
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