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‘Horse Girl’ Star, Co-Writer Alison Brie on Writing an ‘Almost’ Completely Improvised Film (Video)

Sundance 2020: ”It’s more of a method to get the dialogue to sound fresh and natural as if it’s coming from the real person,“ director Jeff Baena tells TheWrap

Beatrice Verhoeven, PWS | February 6, 2020 @ 5:38 PM

Alison Brie had an interesting task with “Horse Girl”: She had to write a script for the drama, but given that it’s mostly an improvised film, they had to be very specific in describing the actions of the characters.

“Almost all was improvised except for the TV show in the movie, ‘Purgatory,'” director and co-writer Jeff Baena told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at the Sundance Film Festival. “That was completely scripted.”

“It was certainly different for me this time around having written it together,” Brie added. “Basically, we created a very detailed 35 page outline, and the scenes are thorough — they talk what the characters come in and talk about. It’s pretty complex, there are major objectives that people have to get across in scenes, so it’s pretty specific. Then we start out shooting a wide shot, and then workshop the dialogue in the first few takes and then we would lock it in and shoot it like any scripted film.”

Also Read: Alison Brie Still Wants to Do a 'Community' Movie - She Just Wants Netflix to Make It

Baena added: “It’s more of a method to get the dialogue to sound fresh and natural as if it’s coming from the real person as opposed to some performance.”

“Horse Girl” is about a socially awkward woman who is interested in arts and crafts and horses, whose lucid dreams start to sprinkle into her reality. Debby Ryan, John Reynolds and Molly Shannon also star.

Brie said the idea for this trippy movie came during one of her long hikes with Baena — the two live near each other and have worked on two previous films together so they’ve grown extremely close.

Also Read: 'GLOW' Renewed for Fourth and Final Season at Netflix

“The first idea that came up was just Jeff saying I should play a horse girl which is something that I have heard before,” she explained. “Through that conversation, I felt encouraged enough to bring up an idea that I had been kicking around, then we merged them into the same idea and we cracked it wide open.”

When asked whether she’s a horse girl in real life, Brie responded, “I am not now, now have I ever been a real horse girl but I really loved working with the horse in this movie, so I could be converted. I haven’t actually started riding horses.”

Watch the video above.

Sundance Portraits From A to Z: Andy Samberg to Zazie Beetz (Exclusive Photos)

  • Sundance2020 gallery split v2
  • Glenn Close, Four Good Days
  • Mila Kunis, Four Good Days
  • Rodrigo Garcia, Four Good Days
  • Toni Collette, Dream Horse
  • Euros Lyn, Dream Horse
  • Sienna Miller, Wander Darkly
  • Diego Luna, Wander Darkly
  • Ron Howard, Rebuilding Paradise
  • Alison Brie, Horse Girl
  • Jeff Baena, Horse Girl
  • Steven Yeun, Minari
  • Yuh Jung Youn, Minari
  • Han Yeri, Minari
  • Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
  • Kelly Rowland, Bad Hair
  • Ashley Blaine Featherson, Bad Hair
  • James Van Der Beek, Bad Hair
  • Yaani King Mondschein, Bad Hair
  • Elle Lorraine, Bad Hair
  • Justin Simien, Bad Hair
  • Hatice Cengiz, The Dissident
  • Bryan Fogel, The Dissident
  • Andy Samberg, Palm Springs
  • Cristin Milioti, Palm Springs
  • Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, Palm Springs
  • Andy Siara, Palm Springs
  • Joe Keery, Spree
  • John DeLuca, Spree
  • Spree Director and Cast
  • Uncle Frank Director Alan Ball and Cast
  • Allan Ball, Uncle Frank
  • Paul Bettany, Uncle Frank
  • Sophia Lillis, Uncle Frank
  • Peter Macdissi, Uncle Frank
  • Rachel Brosnahan, Ironbark
  • Dominic Cooke, Rachel Brosnahan, and Merab Ninidze, Ironbark
  • Wilmer Valderrama, Blast Beat
  • Diane Guerrero, Blast Beat
  • Moises Arias, Blast Beat
  • Kali Uchis, Blast Beat
  • Daniel Dae Kim, Blast Beat
  • Mateo Arias, Blast Beat
  • Esteban Arango, Blast Beat
  • Lee Gelernt, The Fight
  • Brigitte Amiri, The Fight
  • THE FIGHT and Kerry Washington
  • Winston Duke, Nine Days
  • Bill Skarsgård, Nine Days
  • Zazie Beetz, Nine Days
  • Benedict Wong, Nine Days
  • Arianna Ortiz, Nine Days
  • David Rysdahl, Nine Days
  • Edson Oda, Nine days
  • Sil Lai Abrams, Drew Dixon, and Sherri Hines, On the Record
  • Gloria Steinem, The Glorias
  • Julie Taymor, The Glorias
  • Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows
  • Christopher Abbott, Possessor
  • Brandon Cronenberg, Possessor
  • Agnes Gund, Aggie
  • Catherine Gund, Aggie
  • Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Farewell Amor
  • Zainab Jah, Farewell Amor
  • Jayme Lawson, Farewell Amor
  • The Go Go's and Steve Pond
  • The Go Go's and Director Alison Ellwood
  • John Reynolds, Save Yourselves
  • Sunita Mani, Save Yourselves
  • Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, Save Yourselves
  • Alec Baldwin, Beast Beast
  • Jose Angeles, Will Madden, and Shirley Chen, Beast Beast
  • Bao Nguyen, Be Water
  • Julie Nottingham, Be Water
  • Lana Wilson, Miss Americana
  • Christine O'Malley, Morgan Neville, and Caitrin Rogers, Miss Americana
  • Jessica Hargrave and Ryan White, Assassins
  • Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
  • Maimouna Doucoure and Zangro, Cuties
  • Charlie Shotwell, Jude Law, and Oona Roche, The Nest
  • Devin France, Wendy
  • Elisabeth Moss, Shirley
  • Michael Stuhlbarg, Shirley
  • Josephine Decker, Shirley
  • Logan Lerman, Shirley
  • Brian Lazarte, McMillions
  • James Lee Hernandez, McMillions
  • Julia Garner, The Assistant
  • Kitty Green, The Assistant
  • Marquise Vilson, Sam Feder, Amy Scholder, Disclosure
  • Zeke Smith, Zackary Drucker, and Jen Richards, Disclosure
  • Rebecca Hall, The Night House
  • David Bruckner, The Night House
  • Stacy Martin, The Night House
  • Charm City Kings Cast and Crew
  • Wagner Moura, Sergio
  • Brent Travers and Daniel Marc Dreifuss, Sergio
  • Greg Barker, Sergio
  • Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein, The Nowhere Inn
  • Pilou Asbæk, Run Sweetheart Run
  • Ella Balinska, Run Sweetheart Run
  • Pilou Asbæk, Shana Feste, and Ella Balinska, Run Sweetheart Run
  • Emily Mortimer, Relic
  • Patricia Vidal Delgado, La Leyenda Negra
  • Monica Betancourt, La Leyenda Negra
  • Viggo Mortensen, Falling
  • Lance Henriksen, Falling
  • Laurent Bouzereau and Natasha Gregson Wagner, Natalie Wood, What Remains Behind
  • Stacey Reiss, Spaceship Earth
  • Mark Nelson, Spaceship Earth
  • Matt Wolf, Spaceship Earth
  • Linda Leigh, Spaceship Earth
  • Marina Zenovich, Lance
  • Andrea Riseborough, Luxor
  • Karim Saleh, Luxor
  • Brenda Chapman, Come Away
  • Aubrey Plaza, Black Bear
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