Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab

Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

By Jessica Herndon

As the Sundance Institute Directors Lab turns 45, we're celebrating this milestone by highlighting filmmakers who are an integral part of its legacy. Through this special series, we dive deep into the stories of directors who began their narrative feature filmmaking journey at the lab and went on to make an indelible mark on cinema. To ensure future fellows have access to this formative space, we invite you to make a gift and join us as we champion independent voices by keeping the labs alive.

On a sunny Tuesday in early May, Marielle Heller gazes out of her window as memories from the 2012 Directors Lab, where she developed her directorial debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl, come flooding back. She's just been asked to recall the moment in the lab that changed the trajectory of her film and career. A grin forms across her face as she directs her attention back to her computer to chat via Zoom.

I have one very clear memory that sticks in my head every time I look at a monitor, she says warmly, her specs reflecting the light of her screen as her chic eyeglasses chain frames her cheeks and rests on her shoulders near the straps of her mauve tank top. We were filming a scene from Diary, and there was something I didn't love that I was seeing on screen, whether it was something in the composition of the shot or maybe it had to do with the lighting, and Gregg Araki said to me, Don't call action until you love everything you see.' It was a simple note, she adds, but it lit a fire inside of her.

Particularly as a woman in the industry, and feeling like I already was insecure about what I didn't know, that gave me the confidence to be really clear with what I saw, what I wanted, and to not call action until I was satisfied, she says. It was sort of this permission granted that I could be really specific about what I wanted and needed. That's something I've taken into my career; I'm very meticulous, and I don't let little details that bother me go, whether it's in performances from actors, or costume choices, or how the camera's moving - if something's nagging at me, I listen to that voice.

This voice has contributed to Heller becoming an award-winning filmmaker who draws incredibly nuanced performances from actors, taps into the universal truths in twisted tales, and revels in quiet moments on screen. An undeniably powerful presence on set, when Heller speaks to you, you feel like you're the only person in the room. Technically, we are. We're both alone in our home offices, and she's texted those in her house to ensure no one disturbs her during our chat. But, intimate setting aside, her focus, deep eye contact, and relaxed tone make you feel seen and heard.

Below, we chat with Heller about learning to trust her creative voice, how the 2012 lab set her career in motion, paving the way for a journey that has seen her direct Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and Amy Adams in Nightbitch, and how her lab experience gave her a lifelong community among the Sundance Institute, where she's been a program creative advisor and Sundance Film Festival Dramatic Competition juror.

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/directors-lab-at-45-writer-director-mar...
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