Amanda Sthers

There’s no more exciting place to be in independent film than the intersection of France and the United States, or as a filmmaker in either of these locations. In France, cinemas are packed and the Cannes Film Festival often sets the tone for what’s considered the best films of the year. 

So if the goal is understanding France’s role in global cinema, there is no better person than my guest, Amanda Sthers, who has released three feature films that star globally known actors and help explain, in each of their ways, what is attractive about filmmaking in both countries. 

Along with filmmaking, her production company aims to “build bridges between Europe and the United States.” That’s the goal of this episode, too.

Amanda and I talk about:

• What it’s like to have somebody on the podcast without an immediate project to pitch!
• How she got her start as a novelist, not a filmmaker, at 15 (!);
• How she’s never taken on a script she hasn’t written and what it would take for her to do so; 
• As a novelist, did she write her books with a film adaptation in mind?
• The role of screenplays in films and how to define what’s good or not — “ the way you say things without saying them, that's a good screenplay.”;
• Should screenwriters direct films?
• How she would introduce her three feature films -- HOLY LANDS (2017), MADAME (2017), PROMISES (2021);
• Why the trust given to her from well known actors hasn’t translated to reviews of the films;
• How she runs a “collaborative” set and how she works “exactly like Woody Allen” (!);
• Her production company and differences in American and French filmmaking;
• Why French people love going to the cinema and the difficulty of streaming French cinema in the United States;
• How she’s able to work with globally known actors;
• What’s next for her. 

Amanda's Indie Filmmaker Highlight: Bonnie Timmermann

Memorable Quotes:

“The first time I was on a set, it was mine.” 

“ And then it took 10 more years for me to direct my first movie and it wasn't really my decision. I was writing a movie for a studio that basically ordered me [to write a] French “Love Actually.” 

“ You need to know how to betray your own work because it's not the same way to write a novel and to write a screenplay.”

“ A screenplay is not a piece of art, per se. It's a tool to make a good movie.”

“ It's a collective work. And I just feel that everyone is important on a set. Everyone should be celebrated because it's always a miracle when a movie is good.”

“A writer director, when you give something so honest and so personal, because when people don't like my movie, I feel that they don't like me, which is not true, but I need to work on that.”

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