Interview: ‘Oh, Hi!’ Filmmaker Sophie Brooks on Fine Tuning Her Comedy

It takes confidence as a storyteller to zig when you should zag. Oh, Hi! consistently does that, playing with tone in a way that not many young filmmakers would have the guts to do. Luckily, Sophie Brooks did and film is better for it, as this is a wonderfully creative romantic comedy. Yesterday, I shared my chat with stars Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman here. Today, it’s Brooks’ turn to talk about this great little movie.

In my review of Oh, Hi! (here), I said the following about Brooks’ filmmaking:

Filmmaker Sophie Brooks fills her movie with astute observations about modern relationships, as well as just some wonderfully funny lines. Her writing (Brooks shares a Story By credit with Molly Gordon) is terrific, while her direction handles the tonal movements with aplomb. It would be easy for Oh, Hi! to go off the rails, but Brooks behind the camera, as well as Brooks and Gordon at the keyboard, never allow that to happen.

Below, you can see my conversation with Brooks. Like with Gordon and Lerman, we only had a tiny bit of time, so I wanted to make it count. She and I talked about the control that she has on tone, as well as how she crafted the precise nature of the flick. Brooks is quick to praise her co-writer Gordon, which is wonderful, and it’s clear that there’s lived experiences at play. Once you see Oh, Hi! this weekend, and you really should, you’ll understand how it’s both specific and universal.

Here now is my interview with Oh, Hi! director and co-writer Sophie Brooks. Enjoy:

Oh, Hi! is in theaters this weekend!