When Lesli Linka Glatter first received the offer to board Apple TV’s “Imperfect Women,” it was in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed the acclaimed director’s Pacific Palisades home, along with 7,000 other people in the neighborhood — and that’s not even mentioning those impacted by the Altadena fires.
“[It was] the loss of a whole village, of a whole community,” Glatter recalled to TheWrap, calling the limited series a “gift” in the wake of the tragedy. “My best way of dealing with loss is to embrace something creative, so being able to jump on this amazing project with this incredible team was joyful.”
It was especially meaningful for Glatter that the series, which stars Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara as a trio of best friends hit with tragedy when one of them is suddenly found dead, was set and filmed in L.A., shifting from the book’s setting in the U.K.
“L.A. really needs it,” Glatter said, applauding the skilled L.A.-based crew, and noting the production’s commitment to go beyond filming in neighborhoods like Beverly Hills and Malibu, embracing filming locations including Chinatown, downtown L.A., East L.A., Pasadena and Santa Clarita, among others. “L.A. is so diverse in its location possibilities and places to set stories that are much broader than what we normally see.”
It’s a subject top of mind for the former DGA president, who notes the union has low-budget agreements and worked with its sister guilds to pass film incentives to make the city more shootable and stay competitive with other states. “We need to really attract stories to stay here,” Glatter said.
“We have to shift the mindset of ‘we can’t shoot in L.A.’ — it’s too expensive — literally, go through your budget and try to figure out how to make it work. It’s so important,” Glatter said. “Obviously, we’d love to get a federal tax incentive pass combined with all the state incentives to really make America competitive.”
While the cast, alone, was enough to attract Glatter to “Imperfect Women,” for which she executive produced and directed Episodes 1, 4 and 5, it was the richness, complexities and complications at the center of the mystery drama that she admits she fell in love with.
“I love that you keep peeling back and peeling back, and things are not what they appear to be — that’s one of the themes I’m always pulled to. ‘Imperfect Women’ has that in spades,” Glatter. “We’re constantly revealing something that you don’t expect.”
Those reveals happen via alternating perspectives from the three leading women, which switch off across the eight-episode season, emulating classic 1950 “Rashômon,” which Glatter studied during her time teaching, choreographing and performing in East Asia. “What is a better film that deals with point of view,” Glatter said. “I love the fact that we get to see the world in ‘Imperfect Women’ through our main character’s point of view and how different that world is.”
Glatter’s background in dance was also driven into action during Episodes 4 and 5, which took the show inside the production of a ballet through Mara’s character’s POV. “To go back in the dance world was such a joy for me,” Glatter said, explaining the episode prompted her to find a L.A.-based choreographer in Melissa Barak, artistic director of the Los Angeles Ballet, who coincidentally studied ballet with Moss. “I started going back into the dance world, which I always was tangentially, aware of what was happening, but it wasn’t my world anymore.”
Whether it was through Mara’s episodes in the middle or Washington’s installments that kick off the series, Glatter relished in the opportunity to work with the talented actresses, saying “they’re all so profoundly gifted and have such access to their internal life and to see each character come alive individually.” “Them as … a group of friends was amazing when you have that kind of history together … I believed they had that history,” Glatter said.
“Imperfect Women” employed a female-led cast and crew, reflecting efforts Glatter has made to mentor female directors. “When I started directing back in the dark ages, there were so few women, but I came out of dance which was so female,” Glatter said. “I’m not going to buy into the fact there’s only room for one of us at the table — that is a concept that I don’t want that in my life, and it’s not helpful … having a balance of men and women on the crew, as producers, as partners, that’s the best it gets … have great partners, open the door and keep mentoring.”
Glatter also helped shape several recent eras of television, from the must-see TV of “ER” and “The West Wing” to prestige TV with “Mad Men” and “Homeland” and now the streaming boom, which Glatter applauds for expanding the goal posts of what TV can be.
“Television got so great when they stopped making that medium-budget, theatrical feature film — so much great material went to television. That’s a great change that happened many years ago now, and has benefited storytelling,” Glatter said. “I love the fact that we can tell all kinds of stories … you can tell a story of all different lengths dependent on what the story needs to be.”
That said, there’s plenty of daunting realities plaguing the TV landscape and industry as a whole, including the upcoming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount, which brings up concerns for Glatter regarding the output of Warner Bros. and ability to bring people together in theaters and the independence of HBO.
“In my dreams and fantasies, Warner Brothers would remain the great legacy studio it is. I realize that’s not where we are,” Glatter said. “I want to be sure that Warner Brothers Television Studios continues to operate and create stories for all different platforms now.”
Moreover, the concern is for the loss of jobs, which has been a fear given the massive layoffs that resulted from the Paramount-Skydance deal and other industry consolidation. “As a former union president … I don’t want any of our members to lose out on telling the stories that they are meant to tell,” Glatter said. “I worry about the pot getting smaller. I hope that it we can maintain as much of the jobs and storytelling possibilities as our world changes.”
Glatter also admitted her fears regarding stories being told by algorithms, but noted “that’s the technological world we’re in.”
“The fear is, you take away all the edges and make everything very average — you don’t have to understand everything about a story in the first five seconds. You can let it unfold and grow, and things happen at a different pace,” Glatter said. “I hope that we can have the balance of using the information from all that kind of testing, but not be guided how you tell a story by that.”
“Imperfect Women” releases new episodes Wednesdays on Apple TV.
