From director Nisha Ganatra and screenwriter Mindy Kaling, the dramedy Late Night follows legendary talk show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), a pioneer in her field who is now feeling the pressure to stay relevant when it comes to her long-running late night comedy show. When she’s pushed into making her all-male writers’ room more gender balanced, chemical plant efficiency expert Molly Patel (Kaling) finds herself the first and only female on the writing staff, and she must quickly discover her own voice while also figuring out how to bring her idol’s career back from the brink of losing her show.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, filmmaker Nisha Ganatra talked about her record-breaking deal with Amazon Studios, how she got the job as director, why she wanted to be a part of telling this story, how dreamy the collaboration with Emma Thompson was, how bummed she was to have to take out some very funny jokes, and the way screenings helped shape the film. She also talked about her next film Covers, set in the L.A. music industry and starring Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson, and that she’d love a crack at the Star Wars or Jurassic Park franchise.

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Image via Amazon Studios

Collider:  You’ve directed a lot of episodic TV and you’ve done independent film, and you’ve had a career that spans 20 years, but this is the first time that you’ve taken on a project of this level. What’s it like to have the spotlight on you, with this record-breaking $13 million deal with Amazon?

NISHA GANATRA:  It’s pretty unreal. I started in independent film. I’m only recently more into television. It’s just the last couple of years that I’ve been doing television. It was so hard to get those opportunities that I said yes to everything that came, that was interesting. It’s just been insane.  The thing is that I’ve always dreamed of making a studio film. You put all of your heart and soul into making a movie, and you want everyone in the world to see it, but it’s so rare, the indie film that gets plucked from Sundance and put into theaters. There’s only a handful. When it was happening, I just had this moment where I was like, “Oh, my god, what’s happening?!” It took me awhile for it to sink in. It happened on a Friday night, and then on Monday, on Main Street, I remember that I just stopped and burst into tears because it finally hit me. I realized it’s because, for so many years, I’ve been reading Filmmaker Magazine and looking at IndieWire, and it’s always a dude being like, “I won Sundance!” It’s never an Indian American woman holding a baby. That’s not who wins Sundance. It was so weird. The thing that I’ve been doing in my work, which is representation, and doing that so there can be identity formation, I just was like, “I’m experiencing it myself. I’ve never seen it, so I can’t even understand that it’s happening because I don’t have an image for it, so I don’t even recognize when it’s happening to me.” It was so interesting to experience it all.

Since you went into Sundance not knowing what would happen with the film, did you ever worry that it would end up in the wrong hands, or did you always have hope that it would end up at the right place?

GANATRA:  You know, you’re right. I didn’t even realize it, but I was worried about that. It’s that thing where you just want everybody to see your movie, when you spend so much time, and you put so much heart and soul into making it. So, there was always that fear that you’re doing all of this, and no one’s ever gonna see it. For Amazon to be like, “Not only is everyone gonna see it, but we’re gonna do a record-breaking sale, and we’re gonna make sure it goes to theaters, and we’re gonna advertise it, and we’re gonna do press for it,” that is just heartening. I’m like, “Good, everyone is gonna see this thing that we all worked so hard on.” Nobody was doing it for the money. You really just do it for the joy of audiences seeing it.

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Image via Sundance Institute

Once you do sign a deal like that, that far surpasses anything you could have dreamed of, can you breathe a sigh of relief, or does it add a whole new layer of stress and pressure?

 GANATRA:  For me, it was a huge sigh of relief. When you’re making a movie, all you’re told is how risky it is because it’s a first-time film writer, it’s a woman of color who’s known for TV, and the other female lead is over the age of 50, and you’re talking about things that people might not want to hear about. In my mind, I’m always making a very commercial, interesting movie, but then, I zoomed out a little and realized that maybe it was a little risky, from the business point of view. When that happens, like when that sort of record-breaking sale happens, I was so incredibly excited because I knew what it meant was that other female-led movies and female-centric movies were gonna have an easier time getting financed. That means, next summer, I get a whole slew of awesome movies with female leads. All I really wanna do is go to the movies and see these stories. I knew it was going to perpetuate work for other women in the industry, and for other female-led movies. That was the big joy of it.

I know that, originally, Paul Feig had been in talks to direct this film.

GANATRA:  Not just in talks, he was directing it.

I love his movies, and he’s told some great stories about women, but I have to say that I’m thrilled that it ended up being a female director at the helm. At what point in the process did you come to the project, and how did you end up being the one to step in?

GANATRA:  I love Paul Feig’s movies, and I’ve always wanted to be the female Paul Feig. When I was reading the script, I was like, “Oh, my god, this is my story!” When do you ever get to read something that you didn’t write, that is so close to your experience and to your story? When I met Mindy, I said that. I think the two of us realized that we were in a unique position, where the two Indian American women working in comedy could collaborate together. It’s sadly radical, but the cool thing about it was that I didn’t have to explain anything to her, and she didn’t have to explain anything to me. There was no, “Well, this is what it’s like being Indian American, and this is how it’s been in my journey.” It was like, “Yeah, I get it. I’ve done that.” We both have this shared experience, so we could make this movie that didn’t really explain anything, but was just our experience. Artists are allowed to tell whatever story they want, and I hope we all have empathy, but it’s something unique and special, in this period of time, where female directors are so discriminated against, that to be given the opportunity to tell this story and to be able to work together, as two women of color, was so unique. I think the movie may have been more explainy in another person’s hands, and I love that it’s not. It’s just an entertaining, funny movie that takes on issues that are near and dear to my heart. I’ve always thought the best way to talk about these things is in comedy. The joy of it all is that you get to be entertaining and funny, and make sure that people are having a good time, but also talk about things like feminism, ageism, women in the workplace, diversity, inclusion, and sexism. All of that stuff is so important to me to talk about, but it’s in the guise of a comedy. If you look at what’s happening in our culture today, the comedians are the only ones with the fearlessness to talk about it. Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee and Stephen Colbert are putting themselves out there and taking things on in a fearless way, saying what nobody else is saying, and what people might be too afraid to say. I just have so much respect and love for late night comedians.

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Image via Amazon Studios

As far as I’m concerned, Emma Thompson is and always has been an absolute queen. What’s it like to work and collaborate with an actress like that, who is also a writer and creator herself?

GANATRA:  Oh, my god, it’s a dream come true. I have been such a fan of hers, for her whole career. I never dreamed that I would get the honor of directing her. She is just so good at everything. I think she’s the finest actor of our time. She is equally generous, humble and gracious, and will execute any note you give her, perfectly. The joy of directing her is that collaborative spirit. I find filmmaking the most collaborative art. Everyone pretends that it’s about the director, but it really is such a collaboration. When you have somebody of that caliber put themselves in your hands and trust you completely with their performance, the real partnership between the actor and the director, to me, is the most exciting thing. I was so invested in showing everybody what a comedic force Emma Thompson is because I think people forgot that she started in comedy and that she is a brilliant comedian. When she allowed me that freedom of directing her, it was just the pinnacle of my experience so far. I think she’s spoiled me for life. Now, I only want to work with the highest caliber actors. There was a scene where I was directing John Lithgow and Emma Thompson together, and it just couldn’t have been dreamier.

Were there a lot of deleted scenes in this? Was there anything that you were particularly bummed about having to take out of the film?

GANATRA:  I’m bummed that I had to take out all of the very funny jokes that didn’t make it in. There were so many. And there were so many improvs from Emma and Mindy, and so many from the cast, that we couldn’t include all of them. I wish there were DVDs, so that we could do DVD extras again.

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Image via Amazon Studios

I feel like there has to be some way to get those out to people, nowadays.

GANATRA:  I hope so because it’s such a shame when you don’t get to do that. It’s heartbreaking that nobody will get to see all of these funny jokes.

Was there anything specific that you learned from doing test screenings, or screenings for friends and family, that changed the film, in any way?

GANATRA:  It’s a very talky script. People walk in and loudly announce who they are in a monologue. It was very challenging to direct and make this movie visual because, on the page, it was very just dialogue-driven. I had to really work hard to make it visual, and pull things out, and tell the story in the medium that it is. With every screening, Mindy was willing to lose a little bit more of the dialogue, realizing that audiences can follow along without being told as much as we think they need to be told. Audiences make big leaps, and you just want to be careful, in a movie, not to let them get ahead of you. This movie was fun, that way. The test screenings allowed me to take out some things that were said, that I don’t think needed saying.

 A lot of the time, when a director is finishing up a movie and on the verge of getting it out in theaters, they don’t necessarily know what they’ll do next or when, but you already know what your next film is. You’re doing Covers, with Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson. What made you want to go from the world of late night comedy to music?

GANATRA:  Tracee Ellis Ross. She is also a queen. I’m only going to work from queen to queen now. Really, it was Working Title. I’ve been such a fan of Working Title movies. They truly are just the most director-friendly and filmmaker-focused company working today. I think they’re the best producers of film. Every single film they’ve made, I love. It just seemed like a no-brainer to want to work with Working Title, Universal, and Focus. I grew up on these studio movies, dreaming about, “Will I ever get to do one of those?” It has just been a continual dream come true, first at Sundance and the sale there, and then going right into Working Title. I hope I never wake up from this dream because it’s pretty awesome.

How big is the comedy in that film? How would you describe the comedy in Covers compared to Late Night?

GANATRA:  I think it’s pretty similar. It’s character-driven comedy. Late Night had the extra benefit of the characters being joke writers, so we got to squeeze in a whole lot more comedy. Covers is a little more subtle because the characters are not working in the world of comedy, but we have such comedic actresses, with Lisa Kudrow, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zoe Chao and Dakota Johnson. I think we’ll have a really, really fun time with the comedy.

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Image via Amazon Studios

It sounds like there will be an interesting pairing, with Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson. What is it that most excites you about them, as actresses?

GANATRA:  As actresses, they’re both just very warm and real. Dakota has that thing that her mom has, which is that warm loveliness that she brings to her groundedness. Tracee, aside from just being a comedic force, can also pivot and make you cry and laugh, at the same time, and that’s a really big gift. She’s just so good at her craft that she can navigate anywhere. I’m very excited about working with them and seeing how we can bring the script to life, in the most dynamic way possible.

Have you thought about other types of films that you would like to try, but haven’t gotten a chance to do yet? Is there anything really unexpected that you’d like to have a crack at?

GANATRA:  I’d love a crack at the Star Wars franchise, or the Jurassic Park franchise. I’d really like a crack at some amazing science fiction drama, like a Gattaca-type movie. That would be amazing. It’s so funny, there are all those things that you dream about, as a kid, and then, as you start working, as a woman in the industry, you’re like, “I guess I’m just not gonna get a chance to do those things.” So, you focus on the independent films you can get made, but it’s been really exciting to do a movie [like Late Night]. I up to the Universal lot, and the gate goes up, and I still feel like, “Oh, my god, they’re letting me in!” The tram goes by, and I see all of the people on the tram looking, and I’m just like, “I’m working at the Universal lot. This is amazing!” There’s that thing that makes you realize this was possible, all along. I just didn’t know it. Now that I know it, watch out, because now I want all of it.

As somebody who’s done a lot of TV, is there a current TV series that you’d love to do an episode or a handful of episodes of, that you think you could really bring something to?

GANATRA:  Oh, my god, there’s so much good TV. Chernobyl is something that is just blowing me away. It’s so well-directed and so incredibly crafted. And Fleabag is my favorite thing, of all time. There’s so much exciting TV. I’m hoping that I have the talent and opportunity to make my own TV series. That would be such an incredible feat.

Late Night is in select theaters on June 7, and opens nationwide on June 14.

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