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00:00Hi, this is Anthony D'Alessandro from Deadline Hollywood, and this is our TIFF Studio interview
00:17with the producer and director of Shell, Mr. Max Minghella.
00:22How are you?
00:23Thanks for having me, man.
00:24So this is a very different movie from Teen Spirit.
00:27But talk about the origins, and then Lizzie Moss is a producer on this as well, in addition
00:35to starring.
00:36So my first movie, Teen Spirit, which I was at this festival with about six years ago,
00:41you know it was my first movie.
00:42It was a very personal film, and I think as a result of that, it's quite a melancholic
00:48movie.
00:49And it was a very, you know, I'm a very introverted person, the film itself is actually quite
00:54introverted.
00:55And I think I came out of that experience yearning to make something that was more audience-facing
01:04and kind of extrovert in a way.
01:06So what's interesting about these two movies is they explore very similar themes, but they
01:10approach it in almost an antithetical way.
01:13Well expound on that, the themes that you, that are in this, that you found in the script.
01:18I mean, there are interesting parallels.
01:20Both stories are about women entering different aspects of like the entertainment industry,
01:27and there being some kind of disillusionment in different ways.
01:32And then also there's a kind of Mephistopheles character that exists in both movies.
01:38In Teen Spirit it's Rebecca Hall, in this film it's Kay Hudson.
01:41Both of the films, the color aesthetic, just amazing.
01:45Can you talk about that?
01:46Like already, in a great way, I could see you have a distinguished visual style.
01:52I've worked with two very different cinematographers on these movies, both of whom are extraordinary,
01:57and I credit all of that to them.
01:58So my first movie I got to work with Orton Durrell, who is here actually with Gia Coppola's
02:03movie The Last Showgirl, and she's a genius, everybody knows that, and we have a long-standing
02:08history of working together.
02:10On this movie I worked with Drew Daniels, who I have been a fanboy of for a decade.
02:17To be honest, I didn't think we would ever be able to get Drew to do this movie.
02:21He's extremely particular about who he works with.
02:24If you look at his resume, it's hard to get him to make a movie.
02:27But he is so gifted.
02:30Obviously he shot Sean Baker's film Onora, which won the Palme d'Or this year.
02:33This is a very different kind of film for him, stylistically.
02:37I think one of the most interesting parts of this movie is Drew's work in it.
02:40He's never shot a film like this.
02:43His films tend to exist in a very naturalistic universe.
02:46Shell is not that.
02:47It's a very artificial aesthetic.
02:50It's really a love letter to a kind of studio filmmaking that doesn't really exist anymore.
02:56So I think for both Drew and I it was really exciting to challenge ourselves in this way.
03:02So you grew up on your dad's sets.
03:05And I'm just curious, what are some of the takeaways for you, even at a young age, that
03:10you either noticed about the way he worked or his approach?
03:16Anything that stayed with you?
03:18The boring answer is that my parents were fierce academics, so they didn't love to pull
03:22me out of school.
03:23So I was on set for a chunk of The English Patient and a chunk of The Talented Mr. Ripley.
03:30But mostly I was around for post-production.
03:35That was my childhood, honestly, because my father had a company, Sidney Pollock, so they
03:39also produced a lot of movies.
03:42And I basically spent most of my time either in ADR sessions or test screenings, watching
03:48multiple cuts of movies.
03:50So the part of the process for me that I'm by far the most comfortable with is post.
03:55I sort of work backwards from the edit.
04:00Even when I'm writing, I really try to think about where we're going to land and work backwards.
04:05I also make movies on very limited budgets, which are very ambitious.
04:08So part of that is kind of having a good plan, going into it.
04:12The other question I wanted to ask you is, what's the next film?
04:16Do you have something else that you're going to direct?
04:19I will absolutely, hopefully, be making more movies.
04:24It's my passion in life.
04:27I've put everything into this basket.
04:30I'm a slightly crazy person, I think, to the people around me.
04:33It's all I kind of think about.
04:35I've worked with Fred Berger and Brian Kavanagh-Jones now on two projects in a row.
04:40They're really incredible collaborators, and I just hope we get to continue working together.
04:45So Rosie Cordero, our TV reporter, is a huge fan of Handmaid's Tale.
04:51And I'm not allowed to let you leave until we ask you, you know, is there any clue you
04:57can give us?
04:58Is there any happy ever after for Nick and June?
05:01Or is Nick going to, is he the sacrificial lamb to keep June alive?
05:07What's so interesting about the show is I don't know any more than anybody else.
05:12We don't get the episodes ahead of time.
05:15So much like life, I don't know what will happen tomorrow.
05:21So the very honest answer is I don't know what will happen with Nick and June this season,
05:24except I'm very excited for it.
05:27I'm really excited to shoot this, yeah, and it's going to be very sad and sentimental.
05:31It's our last season.
05:32It's been a beautiful experience, but I love this character and I love the relationship
05:38between Nick and June, and I hope we get some really fun stuff to do.
05:43When does it start shooting?
05:44I will shoot my first day tomorrow, Wednesday?
05:47Wow, here?
05:48Here in Toronto.
05:49Oh, I love it.
05:50I love it.
05:51That's great.
05:52Take off my hat and put on a different hat.
05:54Max Minghella, director and producer of Shell, here at the Toronto International Film Festival.
06:01Thank you, boss.