5 Questions with Melanie Notinger ("Dress Code")
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I grew up in the theater, gender-bending from a young age. I went to Texas State for a B.F.A. in Acting, and in the process, discovered my love for playwriting and directing. When finishing up acting training, I booked my first role in a feature film and my first full-length play was produced at school. Sent out for auditions post-grad, the roles I read for felt two-dimensional and nothing like me (usually the funny friend who wasn't funny! Not to be confused with the SMOKING HOT love interest we learn two things about!). Fed up with reading for projects overwhelmingly run by men who viewed me with a narrow lens, I wrote a short film to star in. With that first short, Choke Artist, I learned how a film is made in real-time. That process made me as comfortable behind the camera as in front of it.
Diving into the work of Desiree Akhavan, Joey Soloway, Dee Rees, and Eliza Hittman (to name a few), I had never felt so seen. My desire to tell stories that center around patriarchy, discomfort, and identity...whatever was trying to jump through my chest...became inescapable.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
I religiously watched my best friend, Tyler, do drag in college. He was stunning and an absolute snob in the role! He performed at the newly opened Stonewall Warehouse, the first gay bar in San Marcos, TX. Recognizing my own queerness around that time, it was surprising to me that in a college town of 45k students, there was previously no space for us. While the theatre building was a space for us, some students in our tight-knit theatre community brought their Southern religious homophobia through the double doors, and some carried it with them beyond graduation.
FINALLY getting out of Texas and moving to Brooklyn as I had always dreamed, the concept for Dress Code came immediately. Coming out had left me with some confusion and shame around my femininity. It was something I had to abandon and reclaim. I wanted to make something about a highly feminine queer who felt suffocated by labels, and who, even for a moment, questioned if her outward presentation matched who she was inside. Some talented friends gathered to do a reading and discuss the script. Stonewall and Texas State generously gave me the green light to shoot. The genius Lauren Lane, who was my professor and is a dear friend, agreed to join the cast. Tyler hopped on board, despite being in Seattle. I hired as many women as possible and we ended up with a predominantly female crew. Working with that many women on set was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
One of the toughest parts was doing pre-production in New York while our team was in Texas, and I produced solo until a few days out from filming. It was like climbing a mountain? One of our shooting days was cut short by surprise, so I had to get creative to make up for lost time and rewrite a scene to shoot in our next location.
The smoothest part was connecting with our team. They put their hearts into the work. Aiming for feeling and meaning as the primary goal, they made that part easy.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Share (2019) written & directed by Pippa Bianco on HBO. It's a drama/mystery and honestly one of the most painful films I've ever watched. With a masterful groundedness, she tells a simple story about a promising high school basketball player who just wants to hang out with her inner circle. Something happens that makes her simple wish feel impossible.
5) What’s next for you?
I recently moved to LA where I'm writing a feature about people navigating their excruciating feelings around boundaries. Before that, I wrote a half-hour pilot based on Choke Artist and a spec for Pen15.
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www.melanienotinger.com | IG: @_melnot_