Writer-director Celine Song began her career in the New York theater world, which spanned about ten years. Then, things started shifting. In 2020, her play Endlings premiered at the American Repertory Theater, but was cut short by the pandemic. By that fall, Song had joined the New York Theatre Workshop, where she directed a live digital theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull using the social simulation game Sims 4 and streamed it on Twitch.
Following The Seagull’s success, the South Korean-Canadian playwright ventured into TV. She became a staff writer in Amazon Prime’s first season of The Wheel of Time, where she learned how to write for a large scale fantasy series.
Song then moved onwards to filmmaking — a gamble that has paid off.
Her 2023 directorial debut Past Lives has received five Golden Globes nods, including for best drama, direction and writing, and is in contention for five Independent Spirit Awards. It was also named as one of the AFI’s top ten films of the year, and has already won top honors at the Gotham Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.
Song says the highly-acclaimed intercontinental relationship drama — about identity and destiny — was a deeply personal, “cinematic story” that she needed to tell.
“It’s fair to trace the autobiographical roots of the story … I did find myself at this bar sitting between my childhood sweetheart and my husband that I left in New York City,” she says, alluding to the film’s story. “It really was inspired by this private feeling I had in this bar sitting between these two people in my life who cannot speak the same language. And that moment is the inspiration for the whole movie.”
More: In ‘Past Lives,’ Korean childhood sweethearts reunite in US
In Past Lives, a young girl leaves her childhood sweetheart behind Korea when her parents emigrate to Toronto. The two stay in touch, and eventually Nora (Greta Lee) finds herself explaining to her husband Arthur (John Mangaro) that her old friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is planning to visit after more than 20 years.
Creating chemistry on “Past Lives” official featurette. Courtesy of A24 via YouTube
“We were seduced immediately”
But first, the playwright-turned-first-time filmmaker needed to convince people to get on board.
“I think that it really started and ended with the script itself… the pitch was the script… the whole script was such an implication of what kind of a movie I wanted to make,” Song notes. “I usually call it my seduction technique. It's a way for me to get people to be interested in making this movie with me.”
When veteran indie producer Christine Vachon first heard about Song’s Past Lives, the script wasn’t on the market anymore.
“During the first few months of the pandemic, my business partner Pamela Koffler, reached out to every agent she knew and said, ‘Can I just see the best scripts you have? I don't care if they're available or not. I just need the inspiration of reading something great during these dark times,’” Vachon recalls.
“[Then Song’s] agent sent Pam Past Lives. I remember she called me and said, ‘Damn. This is one I really wish we had. I don't think I've read a script this good this year.’”
A year later, powerhouse indie studio A24 reached out to Vachon and Kofller looking for collaborators.
“[Kofller] was like, ‘That's the [script] I kept telling you about,’” Vachon says. “We were all in. We were seduced immediately.”
While Song had never directed a movie, Vachon and her partners at Killer Films took a leap of faith.
“We've been doing this for a long time… and we feel like we have a really good nose for who has what it takes,” she says. “I don't think someone can learn very quickly how to tell their story. I think that's either baked into a director or not, frankly.”
A24 also invited South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM to support the production in Seoul.
“It was so amazing to have those partners there because they're a huge and amazing studio… it really felt like such a powerful partner in our arsenal,” Song says. “[Without CJ ENM] I think that we couldn't have gotten through the 10 day [production] in Korea.”
For the new auteur, working alongside veterans in the business was an encouraging process.
“I just got to experience what it's like to be a proper filmmaker because they're my partners,” Song says.
Past Lives is playing in select theaters and is available online.
Journeying the awards circuit together
In the meantime, Song and Vachon are busy on the awards circuit.
Vachon is splitting her time promoting Past Lives and Killer Films’ latest collaboration with director Todd Haynes – the drama May December, which is also nominated for four Golden Globes.
The veteran film producer and Killer Films have shepherded a wealth of independent films, including every movie from Haynes.
When asked if she has a favorite in the competition, Vachon says “nobody is drawing a line in the sand.”
“I want both movies to succeed as much as possible, and that's where I'm putting my focus,” Vachon says. “Let's see what happens.”
For the first-time filmmaker, being able to talk about the movie and be part of this process with Vachon and her team has been thrilling.
“I think that I just feel so honored to be a part of their journey, this part of the journey as my first movie. What an amazing thing!” Song says. “Being a first rodeo [for me] is a source of uncertainty, but it's also a source of fearlessness for me because I can't be scared of what I don't know.”