As Lesli Linka Glatter prepares for audiences to see Love & Death, she looks back at her career.
Before standing behind the camera, Glatter was a dancer and choreographer.
While based in Tokyo, she studied the work of filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi.
Lesli Linka Glatter.Getty Images
“I was heavily influenced by Japanese films,” she says.
Hence her decision to siwtch careers.
Without a formal education, she watched films and took acting classes to prepare.
Claire Danes on ‘Homeland’.Antony Platt/SHOWTIME
That, coupled with mentorship, kickstarted her career.
Glatter notes that havingSteven SpielbergandDavid Lynchas her first mentors is the reason she’s so passionate about the subject.
“Those directors had a huge impact on me.
Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery in ‘Love & Death’.Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max
It was all about story.
While the two were very different behind the camera, she did learn one important lesson.
“You’ve got to find your way.
There’s no one right way to do this,” she says about what she learned.
They taught her to trust her instincts, especially when a scene isn’t working.
Glatter asked Lynch about it, and he said it was simply there when he walked onto the set.
“Something cracked open for me,” she says.
“Dance is very female,” Glatter says.
“When I came into the film business, there were so few women directors.
“I got involved and realized there was an amazing community there.
I have an incredible community of directors, and I am so grateful for that,” she says.
Glatter has been the president of the DGA since 2021.
“I was always mentoring, but I wasn’t in that position,” Glatter says.
“To me, that changed everything.
You have to put your skin in the game to make a qualitative and quantitative difference.”
“Giving back is part of the process,” she says.
There are many facets, and I feel a huge responsibility,” she explains.
The hard work across the industry is paying off, and Glatter is hopeful that the progress will continue.
She has seen the percentage of female directors in television increase since she began her career.
“I would have been the first female director on most shows I was on.
Alongside that progress, Glatter is continuing to tell great stories herself.
The Emmy-nominated director’s credits range fromPretty Little LiarstoPieces of Her.
These characters did everything right: They got married young, had children, and moved to the suburbs.
Glatter’s work onLove & Deathhighlights a complication within the current television landscape.
And yet, the number of interesting stories being told only seems to increase.
To put it simply, she says, “It should be an equal playing field.”
Love & Deathpremieres April 27 on HBO Max.
