Reality Winner.
Over the past eight years, that name has sparked comments and controversy ever since Winner leaked a classified government report to newspaper outlets following the 2016 election.
Winner’s fame and infamy attracted the attention of Kerry Howley, an essayist, screenwriter, and author who is also an alum of the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program.
In 2016, Howley decided to look deeper into the story of Winner, contacting various family members and attempting to figure out who Winner really was. This culminated in her profile on Winner, which was published in New York Magazine on Dec. 25, 2017.
Howley visited the UI last Friday to discuss both her profile and the new film that has been adapted from it. She was joined in conversation by Susanna Fogel, a director, screenwriter, and author who worked on the “Winner” film alongside Howley.
“Susanna really helped in her rewrites,” Howley said during her talk. “I wasn’t thinking so much about giving each character a full arc and that’s something that Susanna is incredible at.”
Howley described Winner as a “vibrant character” who easily lent herself to a film adaptation.
“She was super funny and disagreeable and was just always making interesting choices as she went through her life,” Howley said.
While writing the profile, Howley attempted to tell a story that focused more on Winner as a person than her alleged crime. This later translated into how she approached writing a characterized version of Winner for the screenplay.
“In writing the film, my number one priority was that I was making a work of art,” Howley said. “And the idea was that we could do that while still being respectful of Reality. I hope that we’ve done that.”
Unlike Howley, Fogel did not meet Winner or her family, believing that it would be better for her both personally and professionally if she distanced herself from the subject of her movie. According to Fogel, this happens frequently with documentary directors who have to tell the stories of real people.
Another challenge that many screenwriters and directors face, no matter their genre, is trying to tell the best possible story in only an hour or two.
One aspect of the filmmaking process that Fogel and Howley debated was adding in a voiceover from Winner’s perspective. At first, Howley was resistant to the idea, but she eventually agreed — trusting in Fogel’s expertise.
Howley said in the end, the voiceover added another layer to what the audience was seeing. It also indicated how quickly Winner’s mind was moving during the events of the film.
“She has trouble quieting her brain down. And I think it’s hard to show that, because she’s also a very guarded person with most people in her life,” Fogel said. “It was a hard thing to show about her and I couldn’t think of another way to do it.”
Both Howley and Fogel also addressed the way budgets influence what they were able to portray in their movie. At first, they wanted to shoot parts of the movie at Seaworld, but the reality was that this wouldn’t be possible due to how expensive filming there would be.
They also have to keep in mind small, seemingly inconsequential details, such as how often background characters speak. The more lines a character has, the more they need to be paid.
“If you see a group of people saying ‘Happy Birthday,’ they’re actually just mouthing it, and we’re putting in sound later, so we don’t have characters needing to say just one line,” Fogel said.
Fogel and Howley ended their talk by taking questions from the audience, which was mainly made up of film students. An audience member proposed this question to the two writers: What would they do if they were tasked with making a film about Kanye West?
The two took the question head-on and mentioned they’d be more interested in making a movie from West’s perspective than one simply about him.
This idea of looking at the subject of a movie from their own perspectives also informed why Howley made “Winner” in the way she did.
“I’m much more interested in a movie that is told from [the main character’s] perspective because they are as a hero in their story and not the villain,” Howley said.