Hello, and thanks for tuning in to another episode of The Directors Cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America,

featuring today's top directors sharing behind-the-scenes stories of their latest films and insights into the craft of directing.

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This episode takes us behind the scenes of director Wash Westmoreland's new biographical drama,

Colette. Set in the dawn of the 20th century, the film tells the story of Sedoni Gabrielle Colette,

a talented young writer who moves from her childhood home to Paris,

after she weds a writer known commonly as Willie.

Convinced by Willie to ghost write for him,

Colette pens a best-selling semi-autobiographical novel that becomes a cultural sensation and spawns sequels.

But her fight to regain creative ownership drives her to overcome societal constraints and challenge gender roles.

In addition to Colette, Mr. Westmoreland's credits include the feature films Still Alice and The Last of Robin Hood,

and episodes of the series Z, The Last of Robin Hood, and episodes of the series

Zee The Beginning of Everything.

He and his late co-director Richard Glitzer earned a Humannitas prize and won the 2006

Sundance Film Festival Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for their feature Kinsenera. Following a recent screening of the film at the

DGA Theatre in New York, Mr. Westmoreland spoke with director Scott McGeighy about filming Colette.

During their conversation, Mr. Westmoreland discusses the 17-year journey to the silver screen,

developing the film with his late husband, Richard Glasser,

and his desire to rethink the classic conceits of a period film by being inclusive during

the casting process.

Hello everybody. Hello everybody.

So I'm just here to interview my old friend Wash.

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