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Walking onto the California set of “Palo Alto,” Gia Coppola had her doubts.Money was tight. The cast and crew were 350 miles outside the film’s title location, never to set foot there due to budget constraints. And Ms. Coppola’s omnipresent family legacy was weighing on her. Watching her every move.
Born into what is widely considered Hollywood’s most famous empire, Ms. Coppola’s family tree includes director Sofia Coppola and actors Talia Shire, Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman, not to mention the luminary she calls “Grandpa”—director Francis Ford Coppola, the man behind “The Godfather” trilogy, who revolutionized gangster films.
That is not a light torch to carry. But all it took was one look around the set of “Palo Alto” for Ms. Coppola to realize she was not alone. She was surrounded by friends. And she could let go.
Representing her family’s fifth generation of film professionals, Ms. Coppola released her directorial debut on May 9, a teenage drama tailing the house parties, hook-ups and emotions-run-high among a group of friends that has finally made its way to the East End—premiering Friday, June 6, at Sag Harbor Cinema.
“I really never expected it to be in theaters,” Ms. Coppola, 27, said of the film last week during a telephone interview from the West Coast. “It’s above and beyond thrilling that people are seeing it.”
It all began nearly five years ago after two chance encounters with actor-turned-author James Franco. The first was at a deli. The second was, serendipitously, later that night—at an after-party for a gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
When her mother introduced them, Mr. Franco recognized Ms. Coppola immediately. Her face was fresh in his mind.
“I guess he noticed me and my friends running around,” she said timidly. “I’m a big fan, but I feel like I’ve grown up around stars and stuff, so I can be pretty comfortable. He’s so normal when you actually get to talk to him. He’s so down-to-earth and interested in what you’re doing.”
After bonding over Mr. Franco’s early work on the short-lived television series “Freaks and Geeks,” as well as his leading role in “Pineapple Express” opposite Seth Rogan, Ms. Coppola told him a little about herself.
She had just graduated from Bard College in upstate New York, where she studied photography. She had made a few short fashion films, but did not see herself in the features world—perhaps slightly deterred by her last name and the assumed talent associated with it.
The following morning, Ms. Coppola woke up to an emailed proposition from Mr. Franco. He wanted to see some of her photography in exchange for an advance copy of his book, “Palo Alto: Stories.” When he liked what he saw, and she liked what she read, a partnership formed. She would adapt the short stories for the screen—adding a younger, female perspective to the collection—and then direct it.
“I was at a place in my life where I was looking back at my teenage years and, to have enough distance to understand it a little bit better, finding it fascinating,” she said. “The missed opportunities and the mistakes you make, you’re just discovering yourself. That’s what I connected to.”
Within a year, Ms. Coppola had a rough screenplay—which she continually tweaked through shooting—and a cast of characters, including first-time actor Jack Kilmer, whom she had known since he was 4, and his father, actor Val Kilmer, who makes an appearance opposite Jacqui Getty, the director’s mother.
Jack portrays Teddy, a mop-headed skater-stoner whose unrequited affections lie with April, acted by Emma Roberts—niece of Julia Roberts—a virginal good girl looking for a bit of trouble by crushing hard on her soccer coach, Mr. B.
“I always, secretly, wanted James to be that character, because it was a really hard character for me to understand. And I wanted to work with a good actor,” Ms. Coppola said of Mr. B. “I was always a little shy to ask. Eventually, I just did and he was obviously very nice about it. I think it’s not his favorite character to play. He really connected to the younger boy characters and wanted to be with them, but he couldn’t. He’s the villain in the movie.”
The star strayed far from playing the bad guy in real life, Ms. Coppola emphasized. As the first day of shooting grew closer and closer, and funds were nowhere to be seen—after investors pulled out upon seeing the number of new, young actors involved—Mr. Franco delivered.
His earnings from the film “Homefront” suddenly belonged to Ms. Coppola and her vision.
“I was a first-time director, and the material’s really dark, and we wanted to do it with real teenagers,” she said. “It was just a really hard time to get things going. James saved us.”
They shot on location in Woodland Hills, a suburb outside Los Angeles, for 30 days, even using Jack’s and Ms. Coppola’s childhood bedrooms as sets. Both Jack and Nat Wolff, who portrays Fred, a troublemaker and Teddy’s best friend, slept on cots in Ms. Getty’s garage, where they watched movies on Mr. Coppola’s old television.
“Since they stayed with my mom, we would drive home after work, and it was very much like summer camp,” Ms. Coppola said. “I was really sad when it ended.”
She paused, and continued, “When we started shooting, I forgot all about the stress,” she said. “We were so happy we got the money and could actually do this. I was surprised, overwhelmed. It had fallen apart so many times. I was at the point where I was like, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’”
She believes it now.
Gia Coppola’s directorial debut “Palo Alto” will make its East End premiere on Friday, June 6, at Sag Harbor Cinema. For show times, call (631) 725-0010.
Michelle Trauring on Jun 3, 2014