Dakota Johnson is at the Cannes Film Festival for the first time with “Splitsville,” a dark comedy from “The Climb” director Michael Angelo Covino that debuts in the festival’s Cannes Premiere section. Not only does Johnson star in the film but she also produced it through TeaTime Pictures, the production banner she co-founded six years ago with good friend Ro Donnelly. The two women joined Variety’s Angelique Jackson in Cannes for a Kering Women in Talk ahead of their big premiere.
“So much of why I wanted to start a production company and make my own movies is because I want more from this industry,” Johnson said. “I want more from my experience as an artist. I felt so thirsty for more conversation and more creativity and more collaboration. I found myself as an actor, a few times, showing up to the premiere of a movie to see it the first time and saying, ‘Woah. That is not what I thought we were making.’ That is such a weird thing to do.”
Through TeaTime Pictures and her producing work, Johnson is able to ensure that every crew member understands the director’s vision so that everyone is working toward the same goal and there are no surprises.
“The way that we build our sets is really vibe based. Energy based,” Johnson said. “It’s very much a no asshole policy. The other thing is that we really ensure that every person on the crew knows what we are making, so everybody feels a part of it. Working in movies… the hours are long and it’s grueling. It’s not comfortable. It’s not nice. When you feel like you’re genuinely invested in something, people are happier and they work better.”
Johnson was a huge fan of “The Climb,” the 2019 dark comedy from writers Covino and Kyle Marvin, and couldn’t believe the movie did not find greater success. She signed on to produce “Splitsville” in order to ensure the duo’s next movie remained protected and true to their vision.
“Original ideas from new filmmakers are our deepest passion,” Donnelly said about the goal of TeaTime Pictures, which has also backed films like the Sundance hit “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” It was on the set of that film where Johnson met the actor Vanessa Burghardt. Johnson revealed she is hoping to make her feature directorial debut with one of Burghardt’s scripts.
“In ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth,’ the girl that plays my daughter… she is an autistic actress and musician. We have been working with her on developing scripts. She has written a script. It’s really special. It’s about a young woman with autism, and I feel very protective of her and her story and her mind. She is just an unbelievable woman. So that’s kind of the thing i just don’t think i could allow anyone else to direct it. So we will see.”
Johnson later joked: “I want to direct and I need to grow the fucking balls to do it…. actually no I don’t. I’m not going to grow balls and no one can make me.”
While TeaTime Pictures continues to grow and hits a new milestone as it gears up to debut a new movie at Cannes, Johnson and Donnelly said getting to this point has not been an easy road.
“It’s been very challenging to get people to take us seriously,” Johnson said to much surprise from the audience. “That was very sad and very lame. I think I have glamorized this industry my whole and have thought it’s pure magic. To see behind the curtain in that way was just shitty. It was hard.”
“Some professionals who run studios don’t feel the desire to make things that are different or risky or scary or dangerous or raw and real and human and messy,” Johnson added. “That’s also really hard. As an actor, that is what I am craving. As an audience member, that is what i’m craving. It’s a constant fight. But we are fighters. We hustle. We really work so hard to tell the stories that we love.”
“Splitsville” is already backed by Neon and is likely to be released in theaters later this year.
