Q&A With Filmmaker Katie Cokinos
When filmmaker Katie Cokinos sat down to write the screenplay for I Dream Too Much, her husband and filmmaking partner, Alex Rappoport, gave her one request: write a movie that could be shot in their hometown of Saugerties, New York.
The film, intended to be a convenient project for the couple, ended up turning into a feature length film produced by Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused) and starring Diane Ladd (Chinatown, Christmas Vacation) and Danielle Brooks (Orange Is The New Black).
Cokinos will attend Middle Coast to speak during two panel discussions: one talking about women in the film industry and the other on how to make a great film with whatever resources you have.
A little about Cokinos and the making of I Dream Too Much:
How did you write the film around the setting of your hometown?
[I asked] what characters would be in Saugerties in the dead of winter because our winters are pretty bad. So that’s when I started developing the idea of a young girl having to come up North, but why is she coming up here? Well, I decided she was coming up her to take care of her great aunt.
How did you decide to write a coming of age film?
And so it slowly, without having the intention of it, it slowly started becoming a coming of age film. And when I realized that I immediately rented a lot of coming of age films to see how it’s done. I realized there weren’t a lot of female coming of age films. It’s mostly guys, so I slowly turn to Jane Austen, so that’s why it feels like it has a Jane Austen feel to it.
What is it like working on films with your husband?
We had a three week shoot, which is very short, but I think the reason we were able to do it is because I’m married to my Director of Photography. He knows the script as well as I do so we were able to move at a very fast pace, which is really helpful on low budget films when you don’t have a lot of time.
Why was it important to you to create a coming of age movie focused on a young woman?
I’m just very inspired by women and female characters. Creating in the movie medium a female story is just always inspiring and still is. I think we need to make room for women in a field dominated by men.