Filmmaking is a collaborative sport, and few people know this better than producers Marisa Polvino and Kate Cohen, who met at Sundance in 2007 and one year later co-founded Straight Up Films. Polvino had recently left her post as head of production at Revere Pictures, where she had financed and produced films like I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, The Door in the Floor, and The Education of Charlie Banks. Cohen, who came from a publicity background, was in the process of producing her own script, Away From Here. “We just kept on talking,” Polvino says of their chance meeting in Park City. “The more we got to know each other, the more we realized that we were very aligned with our vision for what a company could look like.” Recent projects include Wally Pfister’s ambitious directorial debut, Transcendence, and Gavin O’Connor’s upcoming Jane Got a Gun, starring Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor.
How would you define your company?
Marisa Polvino (MP): Our real goal is not only to find emerging talent and work with filmmakers who have a strong vision for their material, but also to find stories that, at their core, are very grounded. Transcendence was a “big idea” film, because it dealt with AI technology and the future of the world that’s very much within our reach. But what drew us to the material was that it was a love story.
What elements attract you to a script?
MP: I tend to gravitate toward sci-fi.
KC: And I’m the sappy sap who wants to make The Notebook over and over again. [Laughs.]
MP: Because we’re balancing both film and commercial divisions, we’re certainly interested in finding filmmakers who are trying out new technologies and innovations. We’re working with Brett Foraker on The Speeder, which is a car-chase film, but it’s also a relationship-driven, coming-of-age story. So we’ve been talking about how we can break boundaries in an innovative way in terms of storytelling and technology.
Did you receive a master class in visuals working with Wally Pfister?
MP: This was hands-down our biggest film, and I think it would be a biggest film for a lot of people. In some respects, just because of the way Wally approached it stylistically and the choices he made, it’s a different movie than it could have been. A different director would have approached it very action-y and high concept – the Roland Emmerich version – whereas Wally’s approach was intimate and symbolic.
How deep is your involvement in the technology of a movie?
KC: I think it depends on with whom we’re working, because with some directors you don’t need to be hands-on. It also depends on whether we’re investing in the film as well, which is not to say that we’re not protecting the money regardless, but each film is treated differently.
How are your contributions segregated?
KC: I’m definitely more of the front man when it comes to raising money, networking, needing to know the right person in the room. I love the art of the deal; it’s one of the most satisfying buzzes. Even when it doesn’t work, when the person says no, I think my greatest strength is not understanding what “no” means.
MP: My experience is in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. But I’m also very story-driven, so I spend a lot of time reading material. I love developing [the script] with the writer and the director and then the physical production as well. I’m also the administrator in the company, so I deal with all the contracts and boring administrative stuff.
KC: But she’s really good at it! [Laughs.]
Is star power an important part of your formula?
KC: Unfortunately, it is, because we want to mitigate as much risk for our investors as possible and are heavily reliant on foreign sales, which require a certain level of name in a movie. There’s also a level of comfort in knowing that these people are pros and have done this many, many times and really can carry a movie.
MP: One of the most difficult parts of casting is finding the person that works both creatively and financially, because we’re locked into 10 guys and 10 women – well, five women really.
KC: Three women!
MP: Yeah, more like three women who really, financially, make sense for the budget around the world.
Are there specific challenges you face as a female producing partnership?
MP: On some of my early jobs, I was one of the only women on set, and that has changed a lot. Now you have women who are grips and electricians, and, of course, producers. [Cinematographer] Mandy Walker, who shot Jane Got a Gun, was incredible. But we have a commercial division and it’s very hard to find female directors. That’s where there just seems to be a disparity that has to change.
KC: Also the majority of our projects require partners, and we’re treated a little bit differently – like we’re sitting outside the fence and have to work 10 times harder to make our way in. You have a group of guys in the meeting, and then you have two strong women and, I’m making an assumption, but it can be threatening and sometimes we can feel it. But I have to say that Marisa and I do a really good job of acting like that elephant’s not in the room.
Filmmaking is a collaborative sport, and few people know this better than producers Marisa Polvino and Kate Cohen, who met at Sundance in 2007 and one year later co-founded Straight Up Films. Polvino had recently left her post as head of production at Revere Pictures, where she had financed and produced films like I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, The Door in the Floor, and The Education of Charlie Banks. Cohen, who came from a publicity background, was in the process of producing her own script, Away From Here. “We just kept on talking,” Polvino says of their chance meeting in Park City. “The more we got to know each other, the more we realized that we were very aligned with our vision for what a company could look like.” Recent projects include Wally Pfister’s ambitious directorial debut, Transcendence, and Gavin O’Connor’s upcoming Jane Got a Gun, starring Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor.
How would you define your company?
Marisa Polvino (MP): Our real goal is not only to find emerging talent and work with filmmakers who have a strong vision for their material, but also to find stories that, at their core, are very grounded. Transcendence was a “big idea” film, because it dealt with AI technology and the future of the world that’s very much within our reach. But what drew us to the material was that it was a love story.
What elements attract you to a script?
MP: I tend to gravitate toward sci-fi.
KC: And I’m the sappy sap who wants to make The Notebook over and over again. [Laughs.]
MP: Because we’re balancing both film and commercial divisions, we’re certainly interested in finding filmmakers who are trying out new technologies and innovations. We’re working with Brett Foraker on The Speeder, which is a car-chase film, but it’s also a relationship-driven, coming-of-age story. So we’ve been talking about how we can break boundaries in an innovative way in terms of storytelling and technology.
Did you receive a master class in visuals working with Wally Pfister?
MP: This was hands-down our biggest film, and I think it would be a biggest film for a lot of people. In some respects, just because of the way Wally approached it stylistically and the choices he made, it’s a different movie than it could have been. A different director would have approached it very action-y and high concept – the Roland Emmerich version – whereas Wally’s approach was intimate and symbolic.
How deep is your involvement in the technology of a movie?
KC: I think it depends on with whom we’re working, because with some directors you don’t need to be hands-on. It also depends on whether we’re investing in the film as well, which is not to say that we’re not protecting the money regardless, but each film is treated differently.
How are your contributions segregated?
KC: I’m definitely more of the front man when it comes to raising money, networking, needing to know the right person in the room. I love the art of the deal; it’s one of the most satisfying buzzes. Even when it doesn’t work, when the person says no, I think my greatest strength is not understanding what “no” means.
MP: My experience is in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. But I’m also very story-driven, so I spend a lot of time reading material. I love developing [the script] with the writer and the director and then the physical production as well. I’m also the administrator in the company, so I deal with all the contracts and boring administrative stuff.
KC: But she’s really good at it! [Laughs.]
Is star power an important part of your formula?
KC: Unfortunately, it is, because we want to mitigate as much risk for our investors as possible and are heavily reliant on foreign sales, which require a certain level of name in a movie. There’s also a level of comfort in knowing that these people are pros and have done this many, many times and really can carry a movie.
MP: One of the most difficult parts of casting is finding the person that works both creatively and financially, because we’re locked into 10 guys and 10 women – well, five women really.
KC: Three women!
MP: Yeah, more like three women who really, financially, make sense for the budget around the world.
Are there specific challenges you face as a female producing partnership?
MP: On some of my early jobs, I was one of the only women on set, and that has changed a lot. Now you have women who are grips and electricians, and, of course, producers. [Cinematographer] Mandy Walker, who shot Jane Got a Gun, was incredible. But we have a commercial division and it’s very hard to find female directors. That’s where there just seems to be a disparity that has to change.
KC: Also the majority of our projects require partners, and we’re treated a little bit differently – like we’re sitting outside the fence and have to work 10 times harder to make our way in. You have a group of guys in the meeting, and then you have two strong women and, I’m making an assumption, but it can be threatening and sometimes we can feel it. But I have to say that Marisa and I do a really good job of acting like that elephant’s not in the room.