Interview: Zoe Lister-Jones, Writer/Director/Lyricist/Star of “Band Aid”

For rogerebert.com, I spoke to writer/director/lyricist/star Zoe Lister-Jones about her film,

“Band Aid,” made with an all-female crew.

Why did you insist on an all-female crew?

First and foremost, I just wanted to see what it would feel like to make art with other women and exclusively so. It’s so rare that there are even a handful of women on a crew, let alone an entire crew made up of women. So I just thought that it’d be really interesting to see how that lent itself to the creative process. And then I also was very aware of the under-representation of women on film and TV crews and I wanted to create opportunities for women in departments where they are very rarely afforded them.

How did that affect the production?

It was amazing. It exceeded my expectations and expectations were already pretty high. It was just a really distinct energy and everyone who came on set immediately acknowledged it. All the extras who came on set for the first time would be like, “Whoa. This is really different and cool.” It was just a very calm and patient and gracious community of people making work together. It really did give a communal energy to the work. And it was on top of that just super efficient and productive which is maybe the biggest takeaway.