Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
Happy Birthday to my first husband @juddapatow! The marriage was one of convenience, but I came to love you nonetheless. Sorry I kept the diamond! (Photo credit/ring credit the perfect @lesliemann)
I recently came across this photo of me in my first office. I was 23, and office is an overly fancy term for the dusty cubicle I rented with my babysitting money so I could write, edit and be near the other filmmakers who populated the building (like the Safdie bros, Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman, the Neistats, G Gerwig, but that’s for a book when I’m 88.) It was here that I conceived my first films, squirreled away what I needed to make lo-fi work. I remember carrying so many hard cases of equipment I had to stop every half-block, panting, ankles cracking. If you zoom in on the computer here, you can see I’m editing the script for Tiny Furniture on a boiling day in New York August. Back then I was motored by the bravado of youth and a vague sense that there was magic where I was headed (young, dumb and full of…French New Wave Cinema!) but I was also often scared, self-critical, rife with imposter syndrome. If you had told that girl that someday she’d be passed this post-it by a young woman in New York City, she would have felt- just for a moment- that her compass wasn’t broken (and to the lovely filmmaker who handed me this note, I wish I knew your name! Holler so I can see your work!) You don’t do this job for the affirmation. After all, it’s fickle and uncertain and sure to let you down. But this path has taken me places I only could have dreamed of when I was one of the few young girls in my particular scene trying to make movies (just in my scene- we are, of course, everywhere!) and to know that another woman has enough faith in herself to join the fun makes me well and truly happy. I complain sometimes- about the hours, the politics, the snacks- but it’s a beautiful life.
I recently came across this photo of me in my first office. I was 23, and office is an overly fancy term for the dusty cubicle I rented with my babysitting money so I could write, edit and be near the other filmmakers who populated the building (like the Safdie bros, Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman, the Neistats, G Gerwig, but that’s for a book when I’m 88.) It was here that I conceived my first films, squirreled away what I needed to make lo-fi work. I remember carrying so many hard cases of equipment I had to stop every half-block, panting, ankles cracking. If you zoom in on the computer here, you can see I’m editing the script for Tiny Furniture on a boiling day in New York August. Back then I was motored by the bravado of youth and a vague sense that there was magic where I was headed (young, dumb and full of…French New Wave Cinema!) but I was also often scared, self-critical, rife with imposter syndrome. If you had told that girl that someday she’d be passed this post-it by a young woman in New York City, she would have felt- just for a moment- that her compass wasn’t broken (and to the lovely filmmaker who handed me this note, I wish I knew your name! Holler so I can see your work!) You don’t do this job for the affirmation. After all, it’s fickle and uncertain and sure to let you down. But this path has taken me places I only could have dreamed of when I was one of the few young girls in my particular scene trying to make movies (just in my scene- we are, of course, everywhere!) and to know that another woman has enough faith in herself to join the fun makes me well and truly happy. I complain sometimes- about the hours, the politics, the snacks- but it’s a beautiful life.
Thank you @hollywoodreporter for giving me the chance to talk about the job I adore and a little life too. Loved chatting with you @seth_abramovitch about my new film Sharp Stick which premieres this weekend at Sundance, and thank you for the eccentric superhero pic @liaclay 💄 @itsmatin 💇♀️ @aarongreniahair 👗 @annaannasusu
Thank you @hollywoodreporter for giving me the chance to talk about the job I adore and a little life too. Loved chatting with you @seth_abramovitch about my new film Sharp Stick which premieres this weekend at Sundance, and thank you for the eccentric superhero pic @liaclay 💄 @itsmatin 💇♀️ @aarongreniahair 👗 @annaannasusu
Here’s a little checklist I made for myself when I was at a real low with love, sex and friendship. I didn’t trust myself and my inner voice sounded more like some drunk girl I wanted to ignore at a party… I wrote these questions down and asked them to myself often and… gradually, but sort of miraculously, things changed. I hope this comes in handy for anyone who may need it- now, or down the road ❤️
Are you…
…Reaching out because you genuinely want to share something funny or beautiful? Or because you want to get some kind of assurance, validation or response that eases the uncertainty of being vulnerable?
…Agreeing because you *truly* agree or because you want to create a portrait of someone easy to know, a mirror without smudges, a creature impossible not to love because, well, they aren’t really there?
…Having sex out of true desire or to quiet the voice that says your body isn’t desirable, the feeling you haven’t been properly seen and heard that day, or the reality that the world is too noisy and you want the drug of infatuation/lust/passionate connection in your system?
…Moving at the speed of reality or at the speed of fantasy?
…Seeing the person who is actually in front of you or the person you conjure when you’re going to sleep at night and need a pleasant diversion?
…Hearing what they’re saying when they tell you what they’re about and what they’re capable of? Or nodding absently as your ears ring with your own version of the story?
…Being honest about your own boundaries, limits, deepest desires, needs that must be met, dreams that must be fulfilled (even on a micro level!) in order to keep moving forward? Or are you saying “what, me have needs? Never!”
…Prizing your own journey and recognizing that any result is the correct one as long as it’s the result of you sharing your truth with love and care?
IF YOU CAN ANSWER ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS WITH CONFIDENCE THEN GO OFF YOUR MAJESTY! 👑
Never not in urgent care on a Friday night but this time it’s cuz I’ve been a victim of FASHION (jk it’s illness but I did “understand the assignment” as the kids say) Fashion Victim
Never not in urgent care on a Friday night but this time it’s cuz I’ve been a victim of FASHION (jk it’s illness but I did “understand the assignment” as the kids say) Fashion Victim
Never not in urgent care on a Friday night but this time it’s cuz I’ve been a victim of FASHION (jk it’s illness but I did “understand the assignment” as the kids say) Fashion Victim
Never not in urgent care on a Friday night but this time it’s cuz I’ve been a victim of FASHION (jk it’s illness but I did “understand the assignment” as the kids say) Fashion Victim
Happy New Year! It wouldn’t be the new year if I didn’t offer you the meager scraps of knowledge that I continue to cyclically gain and then forget again. This is a beautiful time to remind yourself of who you are, where you’ve been and what you now know that you didn’t know last December when you were hooking up with a guy who had a coffee maker in his bathroom. Imma go first:
-You continue to be capable of more than you ever imagined, but you only get there by admitting what you *are not* capable of.
-To that effect, people usually don’t get frustrated by your limitations- they get frustrated when you pretend that you don’t have any.
-Self care is great, unless you’re using it as an excuse to seal yourself off, say no to connection and fuck around on an app that lets you make sexy avatars and dress them in designer clothing you can’t find in your size IRL (slide 2, my Metaverse thirst trap… This is not a paid ad for @imvu, in fact I’ve paid *them* at least 20 bucks in digital designer clothing.)
-Love is patient, love is kind, love is being completely intolerant in others of behavior you allow endless leeway for in yourself. And THAT, kids, is *not* iconic.
-Every time life brings you to your knees, it’s a chance to clasp those hands and pray.
-CYOGB: Choose Your Own God, Baby…
-If what you really want is a little bit of cheese, don’t avoid the calories by eating a whole jar of olives. All you’ll feel is dissatisfied, with a brine-induced stomach ache. And there is for SURE a metaphor in there somewhere.
-If you could of then you would have, so regret is a pesky loser of an emotion. But there’s a difference between regret and self-reflection, and self-reflection is a great drug of choice.
I love you all more and more each year! To a new one full of health and happiness that isn’t so touch and go…
ya girl, Lena ☆-._.-☆*-Happy new year-*☆-._.-☆
Happy New Year! It wouldn’t be the new year if I didn’t offer you the meager scraps of knowledge that I continue to cyclically gain and then forget again. This is a beautiful time to remind yourself of who you are, where you’ve been and what you now know that you didn’t know last December when you were hooking up with a guy who had a coffee maker in his bathroom. Imma go first:
-You continue to be capable of more than you ever imagined, but you only get there by admitting what you *are not* capable of.
-To that effect, people usually don’t get frustrated by your limitations- they get frustrated when you pretend that you don’t have any.
-Self care is great, unless you’re using it as an excuse to seal yourself off, say no to connection and fuck around on an app that lets you make sexy avatars and dress them in designer clothing you can’t find in your size IRL (slide 2, my Metaverse thirst trap… This is not a paid ad for @imvu, in fact I’ve paid *them* at least 20 bucks in digital designer clothing.)
-Love is patient, love is kind, love is being completely intolerant in others of behavior you allow endless leeway for in yourself. And THAT, kids, is *not* iconic.
-Every time life brings you to your knees, it’s a chance to clasp those hands and pray.
-CYOGB: Choose Your Own God, Baby…
-If what you really want is a little bit of cheese, don’t avoid the calories by eating a whole jar of olives. All you’ll feel is dissatisfied, with a brine-induced stomach ache. And there is for SURE a metaphor in there somewhere.
-If you could of then you would have, so regret is a pesky loser of an emotion. But there’s a difference between regret and self-reflection, and self-reflection is a great drug of choice.
I love you all more and more each year! To a new one full of health and happiness that isn’t so touch and go…
ya girl, Lena ☆-._.-☆*-Happy new year-*☆-._.-☆
Happy New Year! It wouldn’t be the new year if I didn’t offer you the meager scraps of knowledge that I continue to cyclically gain and then forget again. This is a beautiful time to remind yourself of who you are, where you’ve been and what you now know that you didn’t know last December when you were hooking up with a guy who had a coffee maker in his bathroom. Imma go first:
-You continue to be capable of more than you ever imagined, but you only get there by admitting what you *are not* capable of.
-To that effect, people usually don’t get frustrated by your limitations- they get frustrated when you pretend that you don’t have any.
-Self care is great, unless you’re using it as an excuse to seal yourself off, say no to connection and fuck around on an app that lets you make sexy avatars and dress them in designer clothing you can’t find in your size IRL (slide 2, my Metaverse thirst trap… This is not a paid ad for @imvu, in fact I’ve paid *them* at least 20 bucks in digital designer clothing.)
-Love is patient, love is kind, love is being completely intolerant in others of behavior you allow endless leeway for in yourself. And THAT, kids, is *not* iconic.
-Every time life brings you to your knees, it’s a chance to clasp those hands and pray.
-CYOGB: Choose Your Own God, Baby…
-If what you really want is a little bit of cheese, don’t avoid the calories by eating a whole jar of olives. All you’ll feel is dissatisfied, with a brine-induced stomach ache. And there is for SURE a metaphor in there somewhere.
-If you could of then you would have, so regret is a pesky loser of an emotion. But there’s a difference between regret and self-reflection, and self-reflection is a great drug of choice.
I love you all more and more each year! To a new one full of health and happiness that isn’t so touch and go…
ya girl, Lena ☆-._.-☆*-Happy new year-*☆-._.-☆
Hello dear ones. Just a message reminding you to stay safe, for yourself and the people you love. Mask up and make the mask match your scrunchie if that helps. Listen to your bodies and do science. And more important remember you are not alone and that even if it feels like we are back in an isolation echo chamber, we have all grown in empathy and connection and inspiration. I am wishing you all three and I’ll see you in the New Year- going to take these weeks to make things and cuddle stuff. Carry yourself with ease and grace as you are precious cargo! Mask Up
Hello dear ones. Just a message reminding you to stay safe, for yourself and the people you love. Mask up and make the mask match your scrunchie if that helps. Listen to your bodies and do science. And more important remember you are not alone and that even if it feels like we are back in an isolation echo chamber, we have all grown in empathy and connection and inspiration. I am wishing you all three and I’ll see you in the New Year- going to take these weeks to make things and cuddle stuff. Carry yourself with ease and grace as you are precious cargo! Mask Up
This year I took my husband to see the windows at Bergdorf Goodman. His first time and he was giddy like a little kid. I’ve loved those windows since I was a child- the same way I loved the dioramas at the Natural History Museum, or lockets or snow globes. A discreet world, a moment in time, frozen and infinitely revisited. When I was 27 I was on the cover of Vogue. This didn’t seem like a natural place for me to land- I had never felt like a “cover girl” or really any kind of girl, more like an old lady. When one of my PR people said “the first of many!” I corrected her. “Probably this will only happen once- I realize I’ve struck a very specific moment. And someday I’ll be 99 and my cool young neighbor will come to my apartment to help me carry my laundry and I’ll offer her tea and show her the crinkled up Vogue cover that I keep in a plastic dust sleeve and she’ll be like ‘that’s you?’ And I’ll say ‘it was lifetimes ago.’” This was the last image Annie Liebowitz shot of me for Vogue (it was freezing and this @zacposen dress required several people to lower me in and out on a sort of wood plank!) They didn’t end up publishing it but it’s in Annie’s new book Wonderland. Watching her work was incredible- I noticed she held her camera at an angle I’d never seen before, slightly off. Like the Bergdorf windows at Christmas this image is a slice of time, a moment I can return to with some disbelief. Before so much. Standing in the window, seemingly oblivious to the passers by but really wondering “what are they thinking?” What are any of us thinking?
Over the dang moon to announce that Sharp Stick will be premiering at Sundance Film Festival. This is my first feature film in 11 years and I’m so in love with this cast and these collaborators. The chance to make films, to tell stories, to share that process with people I admire- I never take it for granted. And I don’t take the chance to head to Park City with this film for granted. Cannot wait to introduce you to Sarah Jo and her world… #sharpstick
She’s lost the plot… or has she found it?
Collaboration is key to so much joy and this is our second artistic collaboration and first Instagram post collaboration- which is more significant? Who can say! This music video concept came from conversations about our favorite children’s books and what in our life sparks our ability to create. So here’s a little fable, shot just us 2 in Covid isolation style, starring our dog-cat- frog – hippo – bat – seal – sprite – Ingrid).
Edited by the incredible genius @dschneids , with delicious illustration by @jennyziomekstudio . We hope this summons a smile to your lips and reminds you that your creative spirit is never gone, maybe just taking a stroll…
