- Alright, Reed Morano I have a question.
So "The Rhythm Section" is this high intensity
action film with a woman at the center of it
and I rarely see those type of films,
so why do you think it is so rare?
- This is a genre that I think studios believe traditionally
And actually,
tons of women watch action movies.
And also there'd be the same misconception that this movie,
with a female at the center of the action movie
wouldn't be for men, because actually men love this movie.
- You're much more human than I thought you'd be, Patrick.
- Then it's a good disguise.
- Yes it is.
- The people making those decisions ultimately are
the people up top.
And they're like, this is what they think the people want,
and I found that they're often not correct
in many different ways.
- As a cinematographer, I mean, every shot in every scene
was so incredibly beautiful.
But which was your favorite to shoot,
and which was your favorite to watch back on the big screen?
- I love watching the car chase.
(engine roaring loudly)
It was the most fun ever.
I did it just in a way that felt right to the story,
to the style of how we were telling the story.
(screams) (glass shatters)
But I wasn't doing it just to make it different,
it just felt like the way I wanted to see it.
And then people were like, "Wow, I've never seen this
like this before."
We had big, you know, producers.
You know, Barbara Broccoli and Micheal Wilson,
the "James Bond," and you know there's nobody better.
And they supported all the ideas that I had,
and we were like a family
so there was a lot of banter of like,
"I don't know, we tried to do that one on
"Spectre" but it was boring."
And it's like, no.
I was like, "It's not gonna be boring."
- It sounds like you're a decisive leader on set,
would that be a fair assumption to say?
- Yeah, you really do have to be
because someone told me before I started directing,
they were like, "All you have to do is say yes or no.
It doesn't really matter if it's the right answer,
just say it and say it fast."
- Is it sometimes a system of like,
faking it 'til you make it?
Like having to just make a decision and inside
not really knowing 100% if that's the right direction?
- If I had just jumped into this and I hadn't had
that experience as a DP working with
all those great directors then, yeah.
I would've definitely been fully faking it.
But I have an opinion now, it took me a while
to get to a point where I was like, "I have a POV
and I have an opinion, now I feel like I can tell a story."
You know, in college a lot people were like,
"I wanna be a director."
And I was like, "I haven't had life experience yet,
how could I possibly be a director?"
- If you could go back and give your college self
one piece of advice about filmmaking process,
what would that be?
- Oh my goodness, that's a great question.
Watch more movies.
That's not about filmmaking process but for me,
I wish that when I had the time, I did more of that work.
And I think there's a lot of learning to be done.
And I think also one other piece of advice is
I would've asked more people above me,
you know, to work with them, to shadow.
I was very like, afraid to do that.
I never asked anything of anyone, so I learned everything
kind of slowly and organically like a baby learning to,
you know, walk.
Yeah, don't be afraid to ask people for help.
But I think women, sometimes as women we are,
we don't wanna ask people for help
because we don't want people to think we need it.
- And speaking of women, and in this industry we're having
all these robust conversations now about inclusivity,
you know, speaking of the Oscars snubs and stuff.
But what is the thing that you think we are missing
in these conversations?
or wouldn't get considered.
And the people that are voting for these awards
should be put on the spot.
I know that people who are voting in the Academy
for example, probably don't always watch all the movies.
I'm just saying.
And when I don't watch all the movies, I don't vote.
I can't, it just doesn't feel right.
You have to watch all the movies,
and if there was a way that,
and there is a way to do it,
where you had to prove that you've watched all the movies.
I bet you there would be more female nominees.
And I think part of that is,
it's starting to pervade the industry,
where I think a lot of studios are feeling like,
yeah, we're gonna support women.
You know, we're gonna support female filmmakers
and we're gonna make, you know,
we're gonna make a concerted effort
to hire more female filmmakers
and look at these new voices that are exciting.
You know, it's happening.
- And do those sort of labels, female filmmaker,
female cinematographer, female director,
does that bother you, or is that something you're proud of?
- I wouldn't say I'm not proud of it, but it does bother me.
I've said many times in the past, years ago,
real success
in our industry
would be when we're all just called filmmakers,
or we're all just called directors,
we're all just called cinematographers.
I don't like this idea of separation,
I think films are genderless.
And I think, you know, I mean it's something
everyone has to learn,
and even women.
- What makes you the most proud of your career so far?
I was very proud of 'Handmaid's Tale' because we — I wasn't supposed to get that job.
And it was one of those things I felt like it was meant to be.
And even when we made it, we were like, this is super cool.
We hope people like it. They should like it. But they probably — it's kind of a crazy thing.
And then when it did, that was really great.
- You know, for me, I'm proud that we made this movie,
a female action movie.
But I'm also proud that it has its own voice.
And I'm also proud that I got to do it
with you know, the Bond producers.
So actually yeah, I would say at this point in time I'm most proud of this.