Screenwriter-producer-director Sofia Coppola mixes fiction, stories from other people and her personal reflections in her latest movie, On the Rocks. The film tells the story of a daughter (Rashida Jones) and father (Bill Murray) as they explore New York together in an attempt to mend their fractured relationship.

“It’s very personal to me. But, mixed in with more fantasy. It started really with being at a moment in my life with young children and trying to be a writer. And how to rebalance all that and feeling a little bit lost and kind of a new world of motherhood and different roles. And then also, a lot of conversation between generations, between men and women. And thinking about that through the lens of being a grown daughter and a father of a previous generation and around that world. So, in that way the starting point was very personal,” Coppola tells HFPA journalist Sam Asi.

In the last few years Coppola was missing comedies. “It seems like there’s been a lot of heaviness in life, in the world the past few years. And, I always start with what I want to see or express, but I was missing the comedies that had a little sophistication and hopefully intelligence. I felt comedies have gotten pretty low brow, which I also enjoy, but I was trying to make something that was fun. And I was inspired by The Thin Man series, of the classic comedies where, you know, kind of embracing a certain lifestyle and romanticism while also hopefully delving into themes that I felt connected to.”

How much has gender politics in Hollywood and in the world influenced her film? “It was definitely in the conversation a lot these past few years. I was thinking about that and also how that plays out within a family and having that generational divide in that conversation, but in this kind of different frame. And how you can have disagreements and still have affection for someone. And it’s not so black and white, there is a gray area.”

Listen to the podcast and hear how she describes working with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation and now again in On the RocksThe Virgin SuicidesKirsten DunstMarie Antoinette