Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded indie powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995.
Over the past two decades they have produced over 100 films, including some of the most celebrated American indie features: Carol (nominated for six Academy Awards), Far from Heaven (nominated for four Academy Awards), Still Alice (Academy Award winner), Boys Don’t Cry (Academy Award winner), One Hour Photo, KIDS, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, I Shot Andy Warhol, and I’m Not There (Academy Award nominee).
In television, Vachon executive-produced the Emmy and Golden Globe-awarded miniseries Mildred Pierce for HBO as well as Z: The Beginning of Everything for Amazon Studios. Killer Films recently produced such films as Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, Todd Hayne's Dark Waters, and Josephine Decker's Shirley.
Upcoming releases include Janicza Bravo's Zola to be distributed by A24, and PRIDE, six-part documentary series produced with Refinery 29 for FX.
She has an illustrious and highly lauded career spanning thirty years and continues to churn out zeitgeist shifting films at every turn.
A self-proclaimed pragmatist, opportunist, and hustler, Christine possesses the special alchemy of an inherent producer and does her part in sharing it with the world.
In this special episode we discuss:
-Her enduring relationships with partner Pamela Koffler and director Todd Haynes.
-The veiled promise of disruption.
-How to sustain a life as an independent producer.
-Why she is a forward-thinker and the importance of not dwelling on the “what could have beens” but to look to the “what could be’s.”
Show Quotes:
“I want to see things that move me, I want to see things that make me cry, that really allow me some release. And then, you know, I want to see things that aren't about my world, possibly, you know, I want to get out of whatever our four walls are.” 2:18
“Disruption brings opportunity, even while it destroys some, it brings some. Figuring out your way through defining that opportunity is almost like a whole other layer.” 19:32
“I like to not repeat experiences. I like it when a movie teaches me something new, or a TV series teaches me something new. I used to say, the great thing about filmmaking is you always learn something you didn't know, you had to know. And that you'll never need to know again.” 26:38