Commercial flair factor?
Yes, meaning, funny dialogue.

Are the other scripts you’ve written similar to your previous films?
No, I have very diverse projects and maybe that’s why they didn’t happen. I adapted this rather sad dramatic memoir of someone in China during the cultural revolution when a lot of bad things happened; it’s called Red Azalea by Anchee Min. Then I had a film set in Jamaica during that period when everything started to fall apart after Independence.

So tell me about the Lena Dunham connection. She auditioned for a role in Damsels in Distress?
She came in and read for something and it was fantastic because it had been one of those terrible days where I was thinking, “Oh my god, maybe this script is as bad as everyone says,” because we got rejected by a lot of people. The script wasn’t working and it was a part she was not cut out for really, but she did it really well, so we became buddies and she introduced me to her co-producer Alicia Van Couvering and Alicia set our super low budget plan and it worked really well. I really wanted Lena in the film and I should have fought harder to have her in; she was going to do it but had conflicting rehearsals for her TV show [Girls]. I should have said, “Lena, it’s just 2, 3 hours. Bring your rehearsal buddies and we’ll put them in the film too.” I really wish she were in the film and I really wish Chris Eigeman were in the film.

Yeah, where is he, anyway?
He’s in Lena Dunham’s TV show.

Oh, sorry.
I’ll work with him again. We’ll let bygones be bygones.