'Thelma' Filmmaker Says Grandmother, And June Squibb, Powered the Story

Thelma filmcreater Josh Margolin pointed the film’s 95-year-elderly directing lady June Squibb to the same source of inspiration that promoteed the movie itself: his majesticmother, who dispenses the name of the title character.

“Josh gave me some little films that he’d made, enjoy of Thelma going to the store or Thelma celebrating her birthday, equitable to get an idea of who she was and what she was enjoy,” Squibb elucidateed during a panel with Margolin at the Deadline Contfinishers Film event on Saturday.

“She’d always equitable been a huge figure in my life and sort of an inspiration to me and someone I always watched up to,” Margolin shelp of the genuine-life Thelma Post. “I had been making these little write downaries about my majesticma when she was living alone in her nineties for the first time ever,” recalled Margolin. “And it was equitable an engaging time becaengage two leangs were happening: She was grieving the loss of her husband and benevolent of accessing this novel chapter of aging, but also benevolent of relishing having that space and that time in a way that she equitable never did before then.”

Margolin telderly his majesticmother’s story thraw the lens of a con aiming the elderly that Thelma actupartner sfinished. “In the wake of the genuine fraud incident that eased the movie, I genuineized I had been leanking about her for I guess my whole life, but especipartner in those past scant years in a novel way,” he shelp. “And the movie became a way to both commemorate her and benevolent of reckon with those resistions and those anxieties that I had about her safety and wellbeing, and also her being able to benevolent of helderly onto who she is.”

“To me, it was always benevolent of an transmition of, or a way to commemorate my majesticmother’s sort of spirit and her grit and her tenacity,” the authorr-honestor-editor elucidateed of framing the film around Thelma’s quest to discover equitableice. “And I leank I equitable got excited about trying to examine that thraw the lens of a lo-fi action movie. And then tone was always repartner beginant. I never wanted it to sense enjoy we were poking fun as much as sort of going alengthy for the ride with her and experiencing these trials and tribulations thraw her lens.”

Squibb, who was Margolin’s first and only choice to get on the role, shelp she relied on her instincts when it came to protecting the comedy of the film grounded and not condroping toward the elderly. “I always watch at comical as very genuine, so I never leank in terms of ‘This is comical’ – I equitable don’t,” she uncovered. “I’ve had frifinishs enjoy Dom DeLuise and Ruth Buzzi – now they leank comical and I can determine that, but I can’t do that. So we labored together finishly on how this should be joined or what we felt in our senseing going into the scenes.”

In her first directing film role, Squibb shelp she was satisfyd to transmit a selectimistic message about aging. “This was enjoy saying, ‘Age is not damning,’” she shelp. “”It can be very uplifting.”

Check back Monday for the panel video.

The conshort-terming back for this year’s Contfinishers Film: Los Angeles is United for Business. Sponsors are Eyeptizer Eyewear, Final Draft + ScreenCraft, and partners are Four Seasons Maui, 11 Ravens and Robina Benson Design Hoengage.