Nisha Ganatra is a powerful force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. The Indian American director has helmed both film and television projects for some of the most tv popular shows. Ganatra has guided episodes of The Mindy Project, Dear White People, Fresh Off The Boat and Brooklyn 99. It seems fitting that Mindy Kaling selected Ganatra to tell her story, when she wrote Late Night about her first big job as a television writer, in a writer’s room full of all white men.
The comedy garnered so much buzz at Sundance that it was bought by Amazon in a record setting $13 million dollar deal. Mindy Kaling portrays Molly Patel who is hired by Katherine Newberry (Emma Thompson) to bring a fresh female voice to help her low rated late night talk show. Molly finds that she is constantly challenged and ridiculed by her male peers as the only woman of color in the room.
BlackFilm spoke with Nisha Ganatra about working with Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson to convey Mindy’s personal experience in the movie.
Mindy Kaling wrote the film about her experience as a television writer. She was the only woman on The Office’s writing staff when she was first hired at twenty-four. Did she give you any additional notes or guidance about how she wanted to be portrayed in the role?
Nisha Ganatra: No, I read the script. I related to the character’s journey. We’ve had a very similar shared experience. The nice thing about the movie is we didn’t have to give each other guidance. Obviously I directed her and gave her guidance on her performance. When we were on the set to express my vision of the film. We both had a shared experience, so I guess we could start a little further down the road than where a director and writer usually have to start.
Can you talk more about that shared experience that you both have?
Nisha Ganatra: I think we both often find ourselves as the only woman in the room in television. Or the only woman of color in a position of power in television. It’s that thing that happens when you walk into a room and you realize nobody else who is in here looks like me. And I think it is something we both have experienced through the span of our careers. It was really fun to get her to portray that and talk about it and make fun of it.
The movie addresses themes about the need for diversity in Hollywood. Can you discuss this?
Nisha Ganatra: Yes, to me I think it is a really interesting way to talk about it. This to sort of one, make sure it is funny and comedic. But two, to me it’s a story about how Katherine’s character has sort of bought into this false myth that she had to be one of the guys in order to succeed. Now Molly’s character helps her learn and realize that was never really true. That Katherine could have taken a different path. Maybe she could have, maybe she couldn’t have historically. But I think what the message I was interested in was the idea that success in our industry is a zero sum game. That there is only one seat at the table for a woman or only one seat at the table for a person of color. And that if anyone else comes into the room they are somehow threatened that the position is full. That was all fiction to start with, there are always many seats at the table that having other people give the perspective that they have makes it a better environment for everyone. It actually makes the final product better. To me it was very important to kind of expose that myth about diversity and inclusion in the workplace helps just the person it seems to be helping.
That percentage is higher. It actually helps everyone in there it actually helps the final creative process the most.
Did you both have a conversation about how Mindy was a diversity hire and how she was treated in the writer’s room?
Nisha Ganatra: Yeah, she shared a lot of her stories with me about her experiences in there.
There are some key scenes in the film about how after she is hired some of the other writers will make comments about her. Her colleagues teased her because she was hired to bring a female voice on to the staff for the show. Can you discuss some of those scenes and how important it is for you to show something like that in the movie?
Nisha Ganatra: It’s just how it is in the movie how it is written.
Emma Thompson portrays Katherine. Her character has an interesting relationship with Mindy in the film. Both of their interactions are pivotal to the story. Emma, the way her character is she has gone through her career but at a certain point she feels as though she has hit a glass ceiling in her career. She is interacting with Molly. Even though they start off in a more antagonistic relationship, eventually they are able to work with one another. Can you talk further regarding that?
Nisha Ganatra: I don’t think Emma hit a glass ceiling because she is sort of at the pinnacle of her career. It think she is hitting, at the point of ageism and complacency that comes with success sometimes. Molly’s character is sort of bright eyed and just starting out. I think the two of them have a lot to learn from each other and inform each other’s experiences.
Late Night opens in theaters on Friday, June 7th.
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