2018 NEXT Section Sundance Trading Card Series: #10. Jordana Spiro (Night Comes On)

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2017 discoveries”.
Jordana Spiro: Medium format camera with actual film. One More Time With Feeling – Nick Cave. Playing the ukulele to my toddler – even though she has yet to identify a single song I’ve attempted to play.

Lavallee: You co-wrote the screenplay with entrepreneur, media mogul Angelica Nwandu who had her own harrowing personal experiences in her own youth. I was wondering, in terms of dialogue, or perhaps character, plot, backdrop descriptions/development, what spoke loudest or what was her strongest asset in creating the blueprint?
Spiro: Angelica is strong and honest. Because of that, we were able to challenge each other and hold our writing to the highest standard that we could. She and I both have strong opinions and we were able to grapple with thoughts and ideas in a very open way and we took that as a positive. The more we worked together, the more the story became about our 2 lead sisters holding each other to their highest self and the importance of human connection.

Lavallee: Night Comes On benefitted from a thorough Sundance lab process experience. Could you discuss what takeaways you had from this process and if you had a eureka type moment(s).
Spiro: One of the things that I am most grateful for with the labs is the community. Making a film is a long amorphous road and it can feel daunting. The labs provide this environment that remind you that you are part of something, that the veil of mystery is lifted.

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