Sarah Salovaara was nominated for her show “Let Me Die a Nun,” in the Breakthrough Series – Short Form category at the 2017 IFP Gotham Awards.
We caught up with Salovaara and the star of the show Ana Fabrega on the red carpet.
This is an exciting night for you, huh?
Sarah: Yes, we’re very excited.
Ana: I’m very excited but it’s more your night.
Sarah: Ana’s here as my hot date. She’s supporting me. Not that way, we’re not involved like that. It’s platonic. I wrote it and directed it and edited it and some other things. Location managed.
What inspired it?
Sarah: Oh gosh, so many things. Well, I wanted to tell a coming out story that was heightened stakes so I set it in a convent and I made the character who was coming out a nun with training wheels you could say. She’s apostolate. I also wanted to do a satire of male leads and romantic comedies so I made the man who is obsessed with her just like a total balls to the wall satire of a John Cusack type character who doesn’t take no for an answer. Just aggressively pursues a woman until she says yes.
How did you get involved?
Ana: We met through this project.
Sarah: I cold emailed her.
Ana: Yeah, she cold emailed me and I read the script and I didn’t know if it was supposed to be a drama or a comedy and I was like what is this thing about a nun. I’ll go talk to her. Then, we got along very well and I was very excited to be involved. It was good working together. She’s a very hands on.
Are you Catholic?
Sarah: I’m actually not Catholic but I did grow up in a very religious family. I grew up going to church every Sunday and I have about three priests in my immediate family. We shot at my cousin’s church in midtown and he’s actually gay. But, he didn’t come out until he was 45. It’s a New York story and we’re here at the Gotham awards … Nuns are hot right now. There are two nun movies [Lady Bird and Novitiate].
What’s next for you?
Sarah: Well there are a few things. Next, I’m trying to make an anthology series of what I’m calling the Gonzo Law and Order. That’s going to be sort of stranger than fiction tales about women in the media.
Ana: I am writing on the Chris Gethard show right now so I’ll be doing that. We’re going on break, this is our last week. We have about a three month hiatus so we’re back in the spring. I’m working on a pilot with Fred Armisen and Julio Torres for HBO. Then, just other little projects but those are my main two things.
How excited are you to be working with Fred?
Ana: It’s great. He’s great. We’ve been working on this pilot now since the summer and it was announced I think last week and I’m very excited to shoot it. I hope we get to do more of it.
The 2017 IFP Gotham Awards was presented by Fiji Water, The New York Times, Landmark Vineyards and Lindt Chocolate. The event was held at Cipriani Wall Street on Monday evening
Let Me Die a Nun // Episode 1 from Sarah Salovaara on Vimeo.
