Back to selection
“Moviemaking Goes Hand-in-Hand with Collaboration” | Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi!
Still from Oh, Hi!. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?
The magic of moviemaking goes hand-in-hand with collaboration. It takes a village to make a film, and every step and person along the way feels vital, but nothing can exist without that initial spark.
When I search in my mind over the last four-and-a half-years it took to make this film, the day that stands out the most is the day Molly and I decided to make this project together. It was the summer of 2020, and, like the rest of the world, I was being decidedly anti-social. Molly and I were in a COVID pod together, both staying in our childhood homes in LA instead of our own apartments in New York. I had had the idea for the film a couple days earlier. Some ideas come and go quickly, staying within the confines of my brain or my notebook, while others seem to have enough of a presence for me to say them out loud. Luckily, Oh, Hi was the latter, and in the afternoon, sitting together in Molly’s parents’ backyard, I told her the idea. She immediately responded with great enthusiasm and excitement, so much so that we couldn’t stop talking about it. By the end of the night, we had decided to do it together.
A new idea is fragile. It needs to be nurtured and protected. This day holds special reverence in my memory because it is where the idea became a real possibility.
See all responses to our annual Sundance Question here.
