The UO Cinema Studies department is currently hosting Mollye Asher, producer of the Best Picture-winning film “Nomadland,” as their 2021 Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker. This spring, Asher will mentor students, guest lecture in an advanced cinema studies course and participate in live discussions for students and community members on the art of producing.
Asher described the beginnings of her career in a chat with associate professor Masami Kawai posted to the UO Cinema Studies Youtube channel. She entered the entertainment industry as a “frustrated” theater actor but fell in love with filmmaking after creating her first short film alongside other actors. After completing the film, she decided to attend the NYU Graduate Film program to learn about all the aspects of filmmaking.
“I hope that it never sees the light of day,” Asher said with a laugh. “But I found that I loved the process of putting the whole film together.”
The role of a film producer is not well understood by the general public, as indicated by the many clarifying articles that appear in a Google search of the term. In short, a film’s producer is responsible for organizing a film project from arranging financing to managing the artistic team. Asher’s public interviews as a part of the guest series so far have addressed the more artistic side of producing, especially when it comes to low-budget indie projects.
“There’s an opportunity as a producer to really advocate for people and projects I believe in,” Asher said.
On Wednesday, Asher sat down with Cinema Studies department head Priscilla Peña Ovalle to discuss the process of producing the 2019 psychological-thriller “Swallow.” During the discussion, she spoke about the challenges of curating an artistic team that would best serve director Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ vision for the film and fit within their limited budget. She spoke about how the limitations regarding time, equipment and locations helped to create the appropriate unsettling visual atmosphere for the film, she said. For example, time and budget constraints restricted a camera dolly from being used when the storyboard for the film initially called for one.
“I think that limitation led to some creative choices that they made,” Asher said. “The locked-off look was inspired in some ways, by necessity.”
The chat opened up to the audience where cinema studies students asked Asher questions about more specific details about the industry, like how she decides which projects to take on.
“Number one is the filmmaker and looking at their past work, because that’s in a lot of ways more important to me than a script; it’s how somebody sees the world,” Asher said. “I also tend to like films that are saying something larger – not necessarily hitting you over the head with it – but that can add to cultural conversation.”
The next event in the series will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 4 p.m. with a Q&A on “Nomadland” directed by Chloe Zhao and produced by Asher. The conversation will be moderated by associate professor Sergio Rigoletto and is free to UO students and community members. In addition to the public discussions, Asher is co-teaching “The Art of Producing” and mentoring fortunate Cinema Studies undergraduate students.
