Backlot: My Most Indie Moment

9:17 PM PST 11/23/2010 by Randee Dawn

Seven Gotham Award nominees reveal how they’ve struggled on a shoestring during their careers in advance of the Nov. 29 ceremony

Lisa Cholodenko — The Kids Are All Right, best feature nominee
“My most indie moment was the day I was told that I had $3.5 million to make The Kids Are All Right, which broke down to 23 shooting days. Distraught, I called my manager and my best friend. I asked them if the prospect was insane. How could I know if I’d be squandering five years of hard work on an impossible filmmaking task? They both agreed about the insanity but told me that I didn’t have a choice — there was no turning back. I had to take what I had, and I had to make it work.”