The winner of the 2022 Narrative Feature Grand Jury prize at Slamdance, Hannah Ha Ha is a subtle and impactful film that follows 26-year-old Hannah (Hannah Lee Thompson), whose quiet life is turned upside down when her ambitious older brother visits and pressures her to start focusing on building a career. Its natural, slice-of-life approach makes for a beautiful, refreshing, and authentic watching experience.
We got the chance to speak to Joshua Pikovsky and Jordan Tetewsky, who co-wrote and directed the film, as well as the movie’s lead, Hannah Lee Thompson. They discussed their inspirations, the challenges of shooting their debut feature in just 10 days, and more.
Watch the trailer, and read our interview below.
It’s so nice to meet all of you. Congratulations on the movie — it’s such a special one. It’s so quiet but packs such a powerful punch. I think it’s going to be one that sticks with me. I’m curious about the significance of the title and how it came to be. The ‘Hannah’ part of it is pretty obvious, but I was wondering how you landed on the ‘Ha Ha’ part.
JORDAN: [sarcastically] Well, it’s just such a funny film. A riot.
Really laugh-out-loud.
JOSH: Yeah, a lot of people told us not to name it that. In fact, I may have been one of the people.
HANNAH: I was also one of the people.
JOSH: Basically, I think Jordan really wanted to call it that.
JORDAN: We were advised by our PR team that Hannah Ha Ha would have the most sales.
No, I like it. It does sound very indie, slice-of-life movie. It definitely attracted me to it, so I think you landed on the right one.
JORDAN: See? I’m right.
JOSH: All right, all right, all right.
JORDAN: Taylor, what would you name it, if you could? What would you have come to?
I mean, I think it’s the perfect title. I think Hannah Ha Ha is it.
JORDAN: Yeah, but would you have come up with it? Or would you have been a naysayer like Josh and Hannah?
I think I would be on board! Sorry, not to be divisive. Not to cause issues.
JORDAN: Taylor, you’re my new collaborator. Josh, you’re out.
I’m honored and privileged. Like I said, this movie is so special, and those opening scenes are so immersive. I know it doesn’t necessarily take place in the Midwest, but that’s where I grew up, and it definitely felt sort of nostalgic for that. I was curious why you chose the bonfire specifically to start and end the movie — it’s such a nice full-circle moment.
JORDAN: Honestly, our original opening wasn’t working, and we desperately needed something else, and that one was the one that felt right.
I love how it bookends. Now I’m curious, what was your original opening?
JORDAN: It was making fun of a Russian accent. Like, it was supposed to be with the Russian mechanic.
JOSH: But actually, the bonfire wasn’t supposed to be our original ending at first. And it’s not even our real real ending. I won’t say what that is so it can be a surprise for our viewer.
I also really loved the central relationship between Hannah and her dad. That bond felt so sweet and natural. Hannah, I’m curious what it was like working with that actor [Avram Tetewsky] and how you built that chemistry because it feels so organic.
HANNAH: Well, that actor is Jordan’s father, to give some context, and we were kind of bonded together in the fact that neither one of us knows how to act and were reliant on Josh and Jordan sort of tricking us into delivering the right performance. So I think that we had that, I don’t know, that innocence. And Avram, being Jordan’s father, had such a funny energy on set because he was just so proud of his son and so excited about everything that he just made a great buddy for me to go through scenes with. Yeah, I’m glad it came across as really natural. It felt like we had some dad/daughter chemistry that kind of came out of nowhere.
100%. How much of it was improv and how much was scripted? Because it does feel so conversational.
HANNAH: I think about 80-90% was on the page. Josh and Jordan, what would you say?
JOSH: It’s a mix scene-to-scene, I think. I think some scenes were very heavy on improv because it was just meant to be sort of like a loose conversation and whatever is natural works best for those. And I think there’s a couple of scenes that were much closer to the page.
JORDAN: The story beats were all mostly there, but there was a lot of looseness to interpret things and how people would try to naturally say them.
Obviously, in the age of movies we’re in now, I feel like every movie is almost three hours, so I really appreciated that this was a tight 75 minutes. I think it honestly is more impactful that way. I’m curious how long the script was and how much footage you ended up having to edit out to meet that runtime.
JORDAN: Actually, we used every shot. It was almost none.
JOSH: We were scraping the bottom of the barrel. [Laughs]
JORDAN: Also, we 100% agree that movies need to match our length as opposed to us matching the standard. It’s much better that way. We need to popularize the hour runtime for movies to accommodate the attention spans.
How long was your shoot? How many days did it take to film everything?
JORDAN: 10 days of shooting and then one day of pickup shots without any actors. We kind of just went around and shot some extra town shots for one of the sequences.
JOSH: It was a very breakneck pace for those 10 days.
Yeah, I bet. Indie filmmaking, baby. Something else I really like about this movie is that the characters are very layered. I feel like there’s no real black-and-white hero/villain. Everyone is just coming at something from a different perspective but has the best intentions. Do you personally relate more to the Hannah character or to Paul, the brother character?
JOSH: I’m all Hannah.
JORDAN: We’re both more Hannah.
JOSH: It’s very kind of you to say that the movie is a balanced portrayal in a way because we did want even the more negative characters to still feel realistic and human, but I would definitely say we strongly tilted the scales in favor of Hannah. I do think, at the end of the day, the movie does not have a neutral perspective. We very intentionally had conversations about how this should not really be totally open to interpretation. There’s a perspective, and while we do want to do a fair representation of how things really are, at the end of the day, there is a point of view.
I think that’s a really, really good point, and I like that it definitely does have something to say. One shot that did feel a little ambiguous just in terms of ‘what does it mean?’ is where Hannah is looking out over the train tracks. What was the thinking behind that in terms of symbolism and where she’s at in her journey? I think there are several different ways to interpret it.
JOSH: It was so stressful to shoot that scene.
JORDAN: I definitely think there’s a lot of intention in that sequence.
JOSH: I think it’s a very emotional, calm scene in a way, but if it’s not too much of a diversion, can I describe what it was like to shoot?
I would love that. Please.
JOSH: Okay, so we have a train coming in. This is the very last morning of shooting, all right? And we kind of knew the approximate time it would come in, and we basically were trying to run around really quickly to get the shots of Hannah coming down, which we actually already shot on the previous day.
JORDAN: But the lighting didn’t match.
JOSH: So we needed the shot.
JORDAN: Let me describe it better, all right? We needed, like, 15 shots in five minutes, and we were arguing about what the best angle would be. And then I was like, ‘All right, we’re gonna get both angles,’ and we had to go up to get this high angle. I mean, really, we could have done that all after the train came — we could have been set up. [Laughs]
JOSH: The real stressful part, in short, is we had to quickly set up a spot to shoot Hannah on the platform, right? And we picked a spot, and the train pulled in, and unfortunately, the spot Jordan placed the tripod down on perfectly matched up with where one of the doors of the train was. And it was too late — we couldn’t wait for another train. We already got the train coming in and Hannah watching. So the door opens, and there are people trying to get out.
JORDAN: The conductor is just yelling at me.
JOSH: He was really unhappy.
JORDAN: And I’m like, ‘We just need the shot! We just need the shot!’ Which is true. We did need the shot.
JOSH: Inarguable logic there. He really appreciated that. Once he heard that he was like, ‘All right, fair enough — you guys are good kids. You need the shot.’ It was very active. Lots of people trying to get by. It actually ended up working well for the edit, right?
JORDAN: We got some swipes, and then we could perfectly cut on the swipes, and we only had to move the tripod about a foot. And he was still being a distraction, but…
JOSH: ‘Quiet on set,’ you know? [Laughs] Hannah was great in that she knew to stay focused, and she internally, I think, knew everything that was happening and really hoped we got it.
HANNAH: First of all, every train moment was a must-get. Like the scene that’s in a train, we were taking a train to Boston to shoot a scene, and we needed to get it. So that was just kind of the energy going the whole time.
But I had my own incident with a guy up there because I was also standing in front of the door, and the train man was like, ‘You need to move.’ And out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Jordan was moving the tripod, and I was just having a panic attack but knew that we only had one shot, so I was just gonna keep on staring straight and then walk back slowly when the train pulled away, and we did — we were able to execute on that. There were a lot of small miracles along the way I would say.
Well, you never would have known the chaos happening because it feels very mellow. This is your first feature, Hannah, and you are the lead. There were obviously a lot of stressful things happening. Was that exhilarating and filled with lots of adrenaline, or was it more terrifying? What did it feel like to be first on the call sheet for something like this?
HANNAH: Depending on the day, it felt very different, I would say. Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done with the perspective of it being over and complete and going relatively well. But it was exhausting — I would describe myself as very physically uncomfortable for those 10 days because you’re outside, you’re kind of getting directed the whole time. I am much less docile than Hannah, so like, I don’t like getting directed all day every day. [Laughs] Which is, you know, what I signed up for completely — and that’s my problem. But it was exhausting.
We did have a lot of moments that were so fun and spontaneous, and that kind of was what would help us get through every day. Josh and Jordan were working way harder than I was, so at the end of the day, there was like really no excuse, but it is very tiring to be the center of attention.
I had this tiny little pop-up tent the producers brought to change in that was like a, I don’t know, three-by-three tube that they found. It was always blowing over in the wind. [Laughs] So I’d be changing on a street in my bra inside this black tent, and then the wind would come and blow the whole tent into me, and I would just be like [growls]. Stuff like that would happen, and that makes it tough. But overall, it was a good time.
I completely understand. A lot of pressure, especially when you’re not working with a lot of time or budget. I know I keep saying this, but it’s just such a natural and grounded movie. I’m curious if you had any people that inspired your performance, whether that be other characters on the screen or people you know in real life. How did you prep to get into this character’s headspace and play her?
HANNAH: This is a little bit of a boring or cop-out answer, but Josh and Jordan are very good at identifying what they want on camera, and I knew what they wanted was naturalistic, so I went through the headspace of like, ‘Okay, I have to hit points A, B, and C, but I’m just gonna try to make it feel like it’s just myself.’ I didn’t feel in character as I was delivering lines. The moments I struggled most with were, you know, she is very introverted, so she pulls away some of times my instincts were to be like, ‘Fuck you, Paul,’ and those kinds of things. I don’t watch a lot of films — maybe I shouldn’t say that. [Laughs] Josh and Jordan knew how to how to handle me and how to get what they wanted out of me, and that was more than enough to go off of.
I think there’s something to be said about not being as familiar with a lot of performances to reference or having training because it does feel so much more natural, and you’re not in your head about that stuff. I think that can be really beneficial, especially like a movie like this. Josh and Jordan, I love the visual language of the film, especially the parts where you feel sort of the dreamlike haze over some of the shots, which I thought was really neat. Were there any directors or cinematographers that you sort of took inspiration from to form the visual language of it?
JORDAN: Yes, I think a lot about Reichardt. We love Altman, who kind of has this holy, you know, like elation, definitely in The Long Goodbye. This movie isn’t really emulating that from a shot language standpoint at all, but we definitely think of them.
JOSH: We looked at a lot of documentary-style stuff.
JORDAN: Yeah, and I think from The Long Goodbye and McCabe & Mrs. Miller being what I think of the most when I referenced him. It’s like a lot of those dolly and looming telephoto shots, whereas this one, I think, is a lot more Reichardt and and Bukowski. We went into writing embracing the limitations of working with what we had access to.
JOSH: Old Joy, in particular, was a big one we talked about a lot — doing so much that feels natural and real with a very small cast.
JORDAN: I love that movie. I wish I had a directing credit on it. It’s too bad it got made.
JOSH: One of the of the great injustices of the world that you don’t have a directing credit on that. I hope someday that’ll be fixed.
Well, I’ll talk to some people. We’ll see if we can get that worked out.
JORDAN: Do you have [Old Joy director] Kelly [Reichardt]’s number?
Not at the moment. I’ll see what I can do, though.
JORDAN: Thank you, Taylor.
Yeah, of course. Anytime. I’ve watched a couple of other interviews with you to prep for this, and I know that you’re working on doing more features in the future. What did you learn from this movie that you’ll take with you to those?
JOSH: That’s a good question.
JORDAN: We already did make another one. Did you learn anything on Hannah, Josh?
JOSH: Yeah, definitely. It was a real education. But I don’t know if we actually fixed any mistakes.
JORDAN: I think we just made the same ones.
JOSH: It’s like that Bowie song — always crashing the same car.
JORDAN: There’s a Sisyphisian aspect to it. I think maybe our third feature we’ll have learned from our first two.
JOSH: That’s a really good question about lessons.
JORDAN: Yeah, we got to think on that one. It’s a great question. Hannah, what did you learn?
HANNAH: I would say off days are important, you know. Self care.
My last question that’s kind of a silly one, but I love the scene where they’re talking about Hannah’s Myers-Briggs personality type. What is her Myers-Briggs personality type?
JORDAN: ENFJ.
JOSH: No. It’s INFP. I’ll take you one further — I can give you her sun and moon sign as well.
Let’s hear it.
JORDAN: No, no, no, no, no.
JOSH: This is official canon.
JORDAN: I wrote her as a Sagittarius like myself.
JOSH: No. She’s definitely not, no.
I don’t know that I see her as a Sagittarius, I hate to say it.
JOSH: You don’t have to hate to say it — it’s true.
I feel like she’s more of a Pisces.
JOSH: Exactly. Thank you.
JORDAN: I wrote that character.
JOSH: Taylor, you’re spot-on.
Listen, I was team Jordan for the title and then team Josh for the astrology.
JORDAN: I think you should concede with me always.
I can’t. I can’t give you this one.
JORDAN: [Publicist] Molly, do you know anything about astrology? Can you chime in?
MOLLY: I do know a bit about astrology.
JORDAN: Do you agree with me about the Sagittarius thing?
MOLLY: [Laughs] I don’t know.
JORDAN: She said yes. She just said yes.
MOLLY: No! I don’t know. It’s up in the air. That’s not a yes, sorry.
JOSH: It’s Capricorn/Pisces.
JORDAN: I’m frustrated.
I’m so sorry to end this interview on such a negative note for you.
JOSH: Things really soured for Jordan.
Yeah, this really took a turn, unfortunately. But I do very much appreciate getting the chance to talk to you because I really did love this movie, and I can’t wait to see what you all do next.
JOSH: Thanks so much for having us.
JORDAN: Thank you, Taylor.
Hannah Ha Ha is coming to select theaters
NYC
AMC Empire 25 (2/10 – 2/16) (Q&A 2/10 and 2/11)
Alamo Lower Manhattan (2/13 – 2/15) (Q&A 2/14)
LA
AMC Americana at the Brand (2/10 – 2/16)
Alamo Downtown LA (2/13 – 2/15)
– Taylor Gates