How to Greenlight Yourself with ‘Wildflower’ Director

Have you ever thought about drawing inspiration for your characters, from your own family? How do you accomplish that in a way that protects them while also being true to the story?

In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins and director of Wildflower, Matt Smukler, discuss:

• Taking a documentary piece and turning it into a narrative feature
• Being as authentic as possible while not losing his family in the process
• Knowing immediately who would be casted as the main character
• Leaning on the screenwriter and main actress to help him tell a young girl’s story
• Not wanting the audience to recognize his director’s hand
• Using a feature editor versus a commercial editor
• The things he wish he knew before making a feature film
• How a game of tennis helped him find a producer
• Having his teenage daughter write songs for the film 

Memorable Quotes

• “I got really really lucky. I had all my first choices in this movie.” [15:05]
• “I do feel like, as a family unit, they are all individually these wildflowers who can exist with very little in terms of human intervention in some ways.” [16:13]
• “I did want this to feel like it was just happening in sort of real time, in front of us.” [20:02]
• “I’d rather be in business with someone who's got the hustle than a bunch of credits.” [33:33]
• “Figure out a story that’s got a beginning, middle, and end that you love and just go do it.” [44:20]

Mentioned Resources:

Wildflower is Now Available for Streaming

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