Samy Burch wrote May December in an effort to pivot from her day job in casting. At best, she thought maybe it would attract an agent. Imagine her surprise when her script made its way to Natalie Portman, who wanted to produce and star in it, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Haynes, who signed on to direct. "It's been a wild journey," Burch says. "It really has."
Although May December may be Burch's first produced screenplay, in many ways, this has been a lifetime in the making. "Movies and the business of making movies was certainly the closest thing to a religion that I grew up with," she says. "It wasn't until high school that I started writing plays. I put them on with my friends and that then became the dream."
Burch and her now-husband, Alex Mechanik, conceived of May December's story together, about a television actress (Portman) who arrives to a small town to study the notorious tabloid figure she is set to play in her next movie. At the 96th Oscars, Burch is a first-time nominee for Best Original Screenplay, of which she is "shocked and deeply moved."
Surprising even herself, Burch followed up May December by writing something completely different: Coyote vs. Acme, starring Wile E. Coyote, Roadrunner, and John Cena.
"That's something I never thought I would get hired to do, and I got hired off May December's script," she explains. "I didn't think I'd write for kids. Honestly, I really didn't think I'd write for a studio, so I'm trying to keep an open mind and see what comes. But I'm very interested in character-driven stories that have a mix of tones and that are as varied as this list."
Below, Burch shares with A.frame her Top 5. "These are not my favorite of all time," she explains. "These are movies that, at certain points in my life, really changed the game for me."
Directed by: Fred Coe | Written by: Herb Gardner
A Thousand Clowns was one of my favorite movies growing up. As a screenwriter, it affected me in a big way. It's a Herb Gardner play that he then adapted for the screen, but it very much feels like a play. It has such a specific rhythm, and I think that was the first time I really processed a writer's voice on-screen. It's about a comedy writer who isn't working and is just trying to live his own invented way of being happy.
It's also just filled with the best performances. It's Jason Robards; Barry Gordon, who was one of the best young actors of all time; Barbara Harris, who was my favorite actress; and also Martin Balsam, who won the Oscar [for Best Actor in a Supporting Role]. It's such a funny movie, but it's so sad. That movie is very important to me and sort of dear.
Written and Directed by: P.J. Hogan
I saw Muriel's Wedding in eighth grade, and it became such a big deal to myself and my friends. It is so dark and funny. Obviously, there's the ABBA of it all, and Toni Collette gives one of the best performances ever. But then it's brutally sad. It's so depressing, so there's that interesting mix of tone that I love and that I'm always seeking. There's humor and fun — like, them doing karaoke to "Waterloo" in those white jumpsuits after she told off the bullies is so much fun — but then it is also quite a mix. And some of those lines, I think of all the time.
Written and Directed by: Terrence Malick
I saw Badlands at the New Beverly when I was in high school, and as far as what tone can do, that really blew my mind. It is the most beautifully shot, beautifully felt, beautifully paced movie with two incredible performances from Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. There've been a lot of great movies about road trip killing sprees, and they're all so different, but Badlands has this poetry and it does have humor. So much of it is so funny, and it also really breaks your heart. The beautiful narration of this character who's not processing exactly the horrors that she's living is really very simple, and it kind of just floats you along. That really blew my mind and was a big deal for me.
Written and Directed by: Albert Brooks
I saw Defending Your Life right after college. If you're a person who is fearful or has a fearful constitution — like I do — I think it's a movie that you should watch every year. Honestly, the first time I saw it, the next day I got out of a relationship that I shouldn't have been in. It really had life-changing effects, even though it's a very funny, commercial, comedy love story with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. But this whole idea of your life being a challenge of not being afraid, I think is so profound. Everything he does obviously is so ahead of its time.
Directed by: Miloš Forman | Written by: Jean-Claude Carrière, Miloš Forman, John Guare and John Klein
Taking Off was Miloš Forman's first American film that he shot here. It is so simple and wonderful and very alive. It's Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin, who is amazing, and they're this couple whose daughter has run off to be a hippie, and the whole thing is intercut with these musical interludes of young women singing songs. Carly Simon is one of them, and Kathy Bates sings an original song. She's like 22 years old, and she's credited as 'Bobo Bates.'
It's really hard to see this movie. I don't think it's on DVD or streaming in the U.S. Alex and I saw it at the Film Forum early on in our relationship. But it's just alive. I mean, it's Miloš Forman; I could have said any one of his movies. But as a writer and a filmmaker, that one really affected the way we wanted to shoot things and edit things. I love that movie.
