The most intriguing movies are often those that effortlessly interweave realistic emotions within fantastical circumstances that many people often only dream about carrying out. The new comedy, ‘The List,’ is sure to spark debates among viewers how they would feel in such a grand situation that its protagonist finds herself in.
On the surface, the film appears to just focus on an engaged couple pondering how having a free pass to sleep with their celebrity crush will affect their relationship. But a deeper exploration into the story shows it’s also about people putting themselves out there and knowing their worth.
‘The List’ was penned by first-time feature film screenwriters, Rob Lederer and Emmy Award-winner Steve Vitolo. The project marks the second feature film directorial effort of filmmaker Melissa Miller Costanzo, who previously helmed the 2018 drama, ‘All These Small Moments.’ The new movie is now available to buy or rent on Digital, courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
‘The List’ follows Abby (Halston Sage) as she prepares to for her wedding, thinking everything in her relationship is perfect. That changes, however, when she finds out her fiancé slept with a celebrity from his free pass list.
To get her mind off things, Abby and her best friend Chloe (Chrissie Fit) come up with a crazy idea: Abby should pursue a celebrity from her own list, which includes tough guy action movie star Mac West (Rich Morrow), Sexiest Man Alive Cooper Grant (Gregg Sulkin) and multi-platinum Grammy award-winning rapper Avon (Will Peltz).
In LA, their friend Sam (Shelley Hennig), a Hollywood talent agent and Chloe’s ex, calls in all her favors to help Abby get into the same room as her celebrity crushes. But getting their attention will be up to Abby. Just as she starts to get close to living the ultimate dream in La La Land, things become complicated when Abby meets Jake (Christian Navarro), a local waiter with big dreams of his own, who gives her a fresh perspective.
Miller Costanzo generously took the time recently to talk about directing ‘The List’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed that she was in part interesting in helming the feature because she felt it was important to infuse a female’s perspective into the story behind the camera. She also praised the comedic genius of the movie’s cast, including Sage, Navarro and Fit, as well as their natural ability to infuse subtle differences in their takes when needed.
Film Factual (FF): You directed the new comedy, ‘The List,’ which was written by Rob Lederer and Steve Vitolo. How did you become attached to helm the film? What was it about the script that convinced you helm the movie?
Melissa Miller Costanzo (MMC): This script came to me through the regular, boring channels. I know that one of the producers on this movie had a good relationship with one of my agents.
There were also two male writers on the film, so I know they were sort of eager to have a front woman to this project, especially since it’s a movie about women. So, like anything, the agency probably thought about a couple of their clients who would be the right fit, so they put my name into the ring.
I think the team watched my first movie ( ‘All These Small Moments’) and saw that I had experience with A-list talent, so I think that appealed to them. I think they also liked how I told the story.
But I think what really nailed it was when we all got on a Zoom together and talked about the project. I was able to give them my notes, and we realized that the writers and I have similar senses of humor. From there, we felt like we would make a good team to make this movie.
FF: Like you mentioned, you infused a female perspective into the story, after Rob and Steve incorporated their viewpoints into the screenplay. How did you infuse your personal perceptions of romantic relationships into the characters and their arcs throughout the comedy?
MMC: I think a good example of that is in a scene in which they’re at the beach, and the Abby character was stuck by a rock. Then the Jake character helped her out, and there was the troupe that she fell on him and they had a moment. I think it was myself and Halston who were like, ‘Why does there have to be the male savior?’
It was funny; there was one night when we were looking over the script and the number of times that Abby was stumbling or drunk was high. So there were a lot of things in that situation that we pulled back on.
Again, I hate to say a female director and female actor, but by the very nature of what was brought to the table, we noticed those types of things a little more than the writers. The second we pointed it out to them, “Oh yes, of course.” We worked well as a team, and those were the types of things we would bring to the forefront.
FF: Speaking of Halston Sage, she stars in ‘The List’ alongside Christian Navarro and Chrissie Fit. What was the casting process like for the film?
MMC: I think we initially thought of Halston because I think she’s an underrated actress. What really impressed me with her is we did a table read, and the writers and I kept looking at each other. We were like, “She’s a comedic genius.”
We had no idea that she had this comedian inside of her. I think a lot of times beautiful women get a bad rep, and people think they can’t do comedy. But her comedic timing was so good and we were so impressed with her on that.
Then with Christian Navarro, I was a huge fan of his from ’13 Reasons Why.’ He’s such a handsome guy, and I don’t think he had the opportunity to be a leading man. So I was excited about the idea of hiring him as the love interest, as I don’t think he had done that in his career prior.
Then Chrissie Fit was also amazing with improv and comedy. We were so lucky to have her on board. So I think they were the three who really carried the film.
FF: Once the actors were cast, how did you approach working with them to build their characters’ arcs throughout the narrative?
MMC: We didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time, but we did get to do a table read. Halston and I also talked a lot because she really cares about her character. We discussed the rationale behind the things that she’s doing, including the wardrobe she’s wearing. So her and I had a lot of discussions.
I think Christian is one of those actors who’s like, “I’m here to service you, so have at it; I can do whatever you need me to do.” So I never needed to do too many takes with him, as he understood the assignment. If I had a note, he was very quick to deliver that back to me. I could see in the next take that he absorbed what I had said.
Then with Chrissie, I was like, “Give me another one-liner, and give it to me another way.” She was really good at giving me really funny lines in scenes.
Sometimes actors like to go for it on the day, and others like to really talk about it. So for me, it was really about giving the actors what they need from me, and knowing that that’s different for each person.
FF: ‘The List’ was shot on location in Los Angeles. How did you decide where you would shoot the movie, and what was the experience like working with the feature’s production designer, Julia Dent?
MMC: We have so many locations in this movie, and it wasn’t a big-budget movie. So a lot of times Julia had to figure out where we could get the best locations for our budget.
She really did a good job in the friend’s apartment. We were there for the most days, and she got to bring in the furniture and artwork that she wanted.
A lot of other times, there wasn’t a lot we needed to do. So Julia would focus the most on what she knew we could spend less time on and get the most bang for our buck.
There were also a couple of locations that doubled for several setups, like the engagement party, the interview that (the character of) Kenzie Scott does on the talk show and the closet where they’re confronting each other. So I think the trick was to find locations that could double as other things so that we wouldn’t have to do too many company moves.
FF: ‘The List’ is (now) available to buy or rent on multiple digital platforms, courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entnertainment. What was your collaboration with the distributor?
MMC: We were lucky that we went into production that Universal would be distributing the film. This is my second film, and on my first film, I didn’t have distribution when I made it. So we did the festival circuit and then got picked up.
So with this film, it felt very secure and great going into it, knowing that they were going to be distributing it. Then it was just up to me not to mess it up.
FF: Speaking of your first film, ‘All These Small Moments,’ how did making influence the way you approached making ‘The List?’
MMC: I think that I’m a more confident filmmaker this time around. I also learned that you can be really happy with what an actor’s doing, but if you don’t get options, you’re only hurting yourself in the editing room.
On my first film, for example, I was like, “Oh my God, the actors are giving me everything that I want, which is incredible.” But then I’d have five takes of an actor doing a scene the exact same way. So what’s an editor going to do with that, as they don’t have any choices?
So by shooting scenes differently, in a way I’m servicing the editor. So I think more like an editor on set, rather than just as a director. I’m making sure that I’m giving the editor enough options to play around with.
I also think B-roll and cutaways are ruinously important. There are times when you get yourself into a jam and need to Band-aid a scene. So having something to cutaway to, or having B-roll, is imperative.
Also, I think it’s important as a director to know what your opening titles to be before you shoot, if it’s not a digital situation. That way you can shoot them while you’re in production.
FF: Speaking of the differences in the way you approached editing both of your movies, how did putting the final version of ‘All These Small Moments’ help influence the way you edited ‘The List?’
MMC: Editing this film was interesting because the editor (Russell Costanzo) is my husband. I learned so much from him about approaching filmmaking and understanding how important editing is, and how you can set the pacing.
So on set, I was thinking about the editing, but I was also concentrating about the performances. You can manipulate scenes to a degree, but at the end of the day, you have what you have. So when I’m on set, I want to make sure that when I later go into the editing room, I’m not thinking, why didn’t I get that close-up or master?
Establishing shorts are important, too. It’s all of these little things that help with the pacing of a movie that you may not think about initially.
So it’s like you’re putting a puzzle together. You don’t want to get into the editing room and realize there’s a glaring piece of the puzzle that’s missing. So I think it’s important to do as much preparation as you can going into a shoot.
Film Factual 