On June 6, the 2024 IndieWire Awards The ceremony celebrates 13 creators and stars responsible for some of the greatest works of the TV season. The event, curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial staff, is a new edition of previous IndieWire Honors ceremonies, this time focused entirely on television. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews in the run-up to Los Angeles celebration.
Further on: “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” star Maya Erskine tells IndieWire about working with Breakthrough Award winner Francesca Sloane on the Prime Video series.
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Working with Francesca Sloane is easy, stimulating, inspiring and fun. Like working with your best friend who is smarter than you, but never makes you feel like you are anything less. She always created a safe space for everyone on set. If anyone had a problem, she was there, ready to solve the problem on a small or large scale, while preparing the next block, rewriting episodes, and breastfeeding her newborn. I feel like I can only describe a fraction of what she was doing because much of the work was invisible – meaning she made sure everything went smoothly without all the problems being known. Things always slip through the cracks, but I always felt safe that the show would be made with sharp detail and vision and that none of it would be spared because she cared and wanted to make it right. It’s everything you could hope for in a showrunner.
She wanted this to be as good for me as it was for her and Donald. I felt so encouraged in the beginning to have a voice and be part of the team. She wanted to make sure that we were diving deep with these characters and doing something different with them, and not to be different, but just to challenge ourselves with this project. One particular conversation that made it clear we were both on the same page was when she brought up a scene where Donald’s character farted for the first time in front of me – talking about moments in relationships that we all go through – and I asked her if it could be my character doing the farting. We both realized then that we were like-minded people, ready to tackle this project together.
She helped my performance a lot by writing great scripts. Most of the work is done for me because the writing was already so detailed and nuanced and had so much depth. She was always available to discuss choices and rework scenes if they weren’t working for any reason. She also believed in me so much that it gave me confidence to play her Jane.
Fran is a true collaborator and visionary. It’s such a rare combination of someone who wants the best idea no matter where it comes from, but still goes for it if he’s passionate about certain choices. She trusts the people she hires, actors, directors, etc., so if they have a question or concern, she takes it seriously. There is no ego in her work. She doesn’t hold on to anything because it comes from her, so you can trust that when she fights for a choice, there’s a reason. She is absolutely not afraid of material that might make people angry. And she has such a unique point of view that her choices may scare you at first, and that’s a good thing.
She is authentic, brilliant and a very good person. I am lucky to be able to work with her.
Read Francesca Sloane’s IndieWire Honors profile.
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