You just work really hard and scrutinize. What is it called in politics? "Opposition research"? You want to do the detective work on your client so to speak before your opponent can dig it up. We're vetting everything thoroughly.
James PonsoldtMaking movies is really hard, and it can be humbling. And once you put them out into the world, you can't control how people will respond to it.
James PonsoldtAnd I was constantly trying to stay in body, so to speak. It feels very surreal, and I go away to a happy place where I'm there but not really there. I was just trying to enjoy the night, I guess is what I'm saying. We had a lovely after-party.
James PonsoldtBy the time you arrive at Sundance as a filmmaker, you've been living with your film intimiately, and scrutinized every frame, and probably aren't happy with - or at least I'm never happy with it - and you've seen it in the roughest of states, and you lose perspective, really.
James PonsoldtI cannot control what you bring into the theater when you see the film. I can't control what my parents bring in. I can't control what some random person on Twitter brings in to the theater. All I can control is the hour and 50 minutes that the movie lasts, and try to give it absolutely everything I can.
James PonsoldtAll the more a cheesy musical seems fake, so it requires a level of honesty to be injected or an acknowledgement of that which is fake and fun about musicals, and it isn't necessarily escapist. Like there are great musicals like Once, which feel very almost like a mumblecore musical. I love Once. It's great.
James Ponsoldt