Luis: What was the basis for you to write about these traumatic experiences?
Mia: In 1989, when I was cutting a movie on location in Virginia, a man broke into my condo through a window that was cracked for air. I woke up with him on top of me and he said, "There's a gun on the table, if you make a sound, I'll blow your brains out."
Luis: Were these characters based on true to life experiences?
Mia: Yes, but the film is fictional.
Luis: You were quoted as saying: "Every person has choices, in that sense we are free. We can have bad things happen to us, and in that we have no choice; but we do have a choice how we react to them. And that gives the power to the person and stops them from being a victim" Can you expound on this thought?
Mia: I realized that the experience could either ruin me, or make me stronger (like Nietzsche said: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger) and over time I decided I didn't want to let the experience mark me. I wanted to fight back, and I did, by choosing to go for help, searching for different ways to heal myself, by not giving up or giving in.
Luis: What aspects of your editing background has helped you write and direct this beautiful dramatic film?
Mia: Thank you for your kind words. Editing is writing with shots. It is a great training ground for understanding story. It makes you sensitive to actors, to language, to music, to the rhythms and DNA of film making.
Luis: What do you think are the selling points of this film?
Mia: My hope is that it can help change people. Make them not feel so alone, so alienated. That it can make people realize there is hope.
Luis: This film is a perfect film to show to the youth and people who have experienced traumatic experiences to deal with life... have you screened this to non profit groups who deal with the youth and victims of violent crimes?
Mia: We have spent the last year and a half since Sundance, showing the film to different groups and it has been gratifying to see the effect it has on both men and women. So many people have been touched by many different kinds of trauma. Having shown it at many colleges and other screenings promoted by different rape centers all over the country, we have seen how much people yearn for stories they can identify with. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) has been an enormous help. We hope that through viewing the movie, people will feel freer to talk about their own unique and personal journeys, and that it will be a catalyst for change in the way people see and treat victims.
Luis: How should a family member or a friend reach out to person who has traumatized because of a life and death situation?
Mia: It is best to listen. Listening heals. Allow them to say anything they want, and then offer to find help if they are willing to let you help. If not, wait, offer other help – like staying with them so they are not alone, by offering them their favorite food, getting them a dog or an alarm. Be creative. Each person is different, has different needs, so listen and offer whatever you think is best. But most important, never be offended by how they respond. Be patient and loving.
Luis: Why do you think children misinterpret parents caring as meddling?
Mia: When someone is traumatized, they can find life frightening, and can often become irritated. We show our irritation most with those we are intimate with – because we can.
Luis: Can you briefly explain to us your casting process? What a beautiful and talented cast you have...great choice...
Mia: I was so lucky. All of my actors were gifts from the film gods. I wrote the role of Izzy, with Robin Tunney in mind, so it was a dream come true to have her play the role. Her intelligence as an actor, her commitment, her instincts, are precious, gold. Joel Edgerton came to the film late, but he was exactly who I had in mind. His role is key because it is through his eyes that so much is revealed. Joel understood this clearly. He needed to be a sensitive, masculine man (so hard to find), and Joel is it. I knew I wanted comic relief, so the film wouldn't become reverential, enter Cybill Shepherd. She has the humor, the depth, the simmering tenderness that was needed for Arlene, the mother. I wrote the role of the father, hoping to get Elliott Gould. Elliott has a profound understanding of life and I knew he would embody that kind of warmth and wisdom in the father. (His son, Sam Gould, plays the doctor too.) I also wrote the role of Peter's father for Scott Wilson. I had worked with him before and knew his incredible range and honesty. Shirley Knight was perfect as the shrink. She has such an acute ability to express subtle emotions, is a good listener, and a deep thinker. She brought all that to the role. Matt Keesler knocked our socks off in his reading. He had never done anything like this before, but he immersed himself in the psyche of the rapist and made us see the complexity of what could have made that character become a lost and violent man. It was also a family affair. My brother, Justin Ashforth, plays Peter's (Joel's) best friend, and my mother-in-law, Janet Rotblatt, is wonderful as a victim in the group therapy session.
Luis: I also like your choice of your DP, Editor and Music Composer, please tell us why you chose them and have you worked with them before?
Mia: Denis Maloney was a godsend. Talented, committed, and generous. We looked at movies together for two weeks before we shot and I barely had to speak to him. We shot for 21 days – the schedule was hell. Through it all Denis was calm and gracious. Heather Persons had worked with me when I was an editor, so she knew my sensibilities and all my tricks. Her collaboration was priceless and her influence is all over the movie. I had also worked with Cliff Eidelman, the composer as well. Cliff is so versatile, he can do anything, but I wanted the score to be surprising, like the topic of the film. I just said a few things, and let him go. The result is perfect.
Luis: I read that the original idea came to you more than ten years ago.. why did it take that long for the final product to come to fruition?
Mia: Hollywood.
Luis: Which do you enjoy the best, editing, writing or directing and why?
Mia: I love them all. But directing is the most fun because here you have a story to tell, and what is more fun than to be surrounded by talented people who want nothing more than to help you realize your dream?
Luis: Which for you is your favorite scene and line in the film and why?
Mia: The last scene is my favorite scene because it is the culmination of everything that has come before. My favorite line is, "Sometimes adversary has unseen benefits."
Luis: Is there a piece of advice from your Oscar winning Father, Bo Goldman about writing or life in general?
Mia: "You are a writer if you write."
Luis: Do you have a piece of advice to would be screen writers/ filmmakers out there who want to make a film this year?
Mia: Don't give up! Talent isn't the most important ingredient for getting your film made, it's perseverance.
Luis: Who are your heroes in the filmmaking field and why? What are you favorite films? Who are your favorite directors?
Mia: Bergman, Louis Malle, Coppola, Kieslowski, Woody Allen, Fellini, Milos Forman, Lasse Hallstrom, Todd Field, Susanne Bier – the list goes on. They are original thinkers, making films with passion, intelligence, courage, and great technique. Their films are about the human condition, they make you think, and they take you into a world that is unforgettable.
Luis: If sky is the limit what would be your next ideal movie project?
Mia: I have a film that is a complete change that I'm hoping to make next – a film that will be shot in Buenos Aires. It's about young love, lots and lots of dogs, the international mafia – it's just a lot of fun. Totally different.
Luis: Mia, I am so proud of you and your whole cast and crew! I am flattered you granted me this interview. Congratulations!
Mia Goldman's Bio:
Open Window marks the feature debut for Mia Goldman as writer/director. Long recognized by directors such as Lasse Hallström, Lawrence Kasdan, Alan Rudolph and Steve Kloves as a gifted film editor, Goldman began her career as an assistant editor to one of film’s great contemporary masters, Carol Littleton. After assisting on films like The Big Chill, Body Heat and Roadie, Goldman was asked by Alan Rudolph to edit the now cult classic Choose Me in 1984. Following that, she was a second editor on Silverado with Ms. Littleton, for Lawrence Kasdan. She has edited numerous films, including The Big Easy, Something to Talk About, Flesh and Bone and Dick. She was editorial consultant on the Oscar nominated In the Bedroom and edited the sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She most recently cut The In-Laws for director Andrew Fleming, starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks. Goldman is on the executive committee of the Editor’s Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as well as The Nichol Fellowship committee. Goldman received fellowships to the Sundance Institute for both writing and directing. She developed her first screenplay, To Have and to Hold, at the Institute and wrote and directed Dizziness, a short starring Annette O’Toole, Ed Begley, Jr., Steven Weber and Leslie Hope. Goldman returned to Sundance with Open Window.
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