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The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Wildflower with Matt Smukler and Will Speck (Ep. 406)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6848 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Director Matt Smukler discusses his new film, Wildflower, with fellow director Will Speck in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, Smukler spoke about how the project transitioned from a documentary to a narrative feature, the challenges of making the shift in format and selecting a cast resembling family. Based on a true story about his extended family that inspired a documentary of the same name, Smukler’s feature centers on Bea, the daughter of two intellectually disabled parents and a set of relatives that can’t quite agree on the best way to help. Please note: spoilers are included. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://dga.org/Events/2023/May2023/Wildflower_QnA_0323.aspx

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It was a celebration of love and family for me,

0:02.9

and this family that certainly loves to live and laugh.

0:05.9

And so I wanted to sort of do my best to bring that out for everyone to see.

0:12.1

I mean, it's a real inspiration, you by the Directorctors Guild of America.

0:38.3

In this episode, a young woman navigates life with her unusual family

0:43.3

and director Matt Smuckler's comedic drama, Wildflower.

0:47.3

Based on a true story about his extended family that inspired a documentary of the same name,

0:52.3

Smuckler's film centers on B, the daughter of two

0:56.2

intellectually disabled parents, and a set of her relatives that can't quite agree on the best

1:01.5

way to help. Wildflower is Smuckler's feature directorial debut. Following a screening of the film

1:09.1

at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, Smuckler spoke with

1:12.4

director Will Speck about filming Wildflower. Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.

1:22.0

Hi guys. Hi, Matt. If anybody wants to come down, there's so much space between us and we can cozy up. So feel free to move. Congratulations. Thank you. This is such a treat. I know it. Well, first of all, the great thing about seeing your movie at the DGA is it never looks better and it's so hard to see it anywhere else.

1:45.0

So by the way, thank you to the projectionist and also the DGA for doing such a nice job

1:49.2

because it's an unbelievable screening situation.

1:52.9

And by the way, to see a movie theatrically, I was talking about this earlier as a comedy,

1:58.6

I mean, it makes such a difference because I saw it at home and seeing

2:01.7

it here and I can imagine, have you been, it opened this weekend, right?

2:05.6

Yes, it did. It just opened just in, this was, I guess, the U.S. premiere, this was yesterday.

2:10.7

Yeah, no, it was so, it's so amazing to see it in the theater and especially this one is.

2:14.4

Have you had a chance? I mean, what was it? So the movie started in Toronto, right?

2:19.7

That's where you premiered it.

...

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