I was born and grew up in Connecticut and went to college there as well. I studied History at Wesleyan University, and then a few years after college I began working in electoral politics. Through my political connections, I ended up working on a health care advocacy show for cable access. That is how I got into filmmaking. Now I live in Brooklyn with my partner and our two orange cats. In my spare time I play ice hockey, bake, and read.
indieactivity: How did you get into directing?
Rachel Koteen (RK): As I mentioned, I got into filmmaking originally as an advocacy tool. To try to put a human face on the many horrors of our current health-care system in the United States. At some point during that process, the idea clicked with me. The idea that documentary filmmaking was a great combination of my interests in storytelling, history, and social and political activism. So that’s when I began to pursue it as a career.
How do you choose a project to direct?
Rachel Koteen (RK): I don’t have a single type of project that I like to work on. I’m generally drawn to stories that offer complexity. I don’t like narratives that are too straightforward or pat. I like to explore nuance and gray areas.
The Official Trailer for Take The Ice
What uniqueness can female directors bring to film/tv/cinema?
Rachel Koteen (RK): “Female directors” is a pretty broad category. But, we do know that women remain highly underrepresented in directing. As with the many other under-represented groups, female directors offer different perspectives and gravitate to different types of stories. There is a lot of value in hearing from diverse voices. Both for our own craft and creativity and for our audiences.
Briefly explain your latest work?
Rachel Koteen (RK): My latest film is called “Take the Ice,” it’s a feature-length documentary. It goes behind the scenes of the first season of the National Women’s Hockey League. A new professional league for female ice hockey players and the first one to pay them a salary to play. It’s a typical sports documentary about winning and losing, teamwork, rivalries, and injuries. But, it’s also a look at how difficult it is for women to play sports professionally. The wide, wide disparity that persists in the opportunities available to them.
What ‘thing/situation’ helps you during production?
Rachel Koteen (RK): During production and post-production, I’m most helped by the collaborative nature of the process. I love the way each member of the crew–camera, sound, editors— bring their own expertise and creativity to the process. I like the feeling of everyone on the team supporting each other and working toward a common goal.
What do you want from an interviewee or subject during a production?
Rachel Koteen (RK): As a documentary filmmaker, of course. I always want the subjects I’m working with to be as honest and open as possible. There is one thing that can sometimes be hard for people to grasp. They don’t necessarily come across better when they try to hide the parts of themselves. Or their lives that are not entirely positive. We are all flawed creatures dealing with our own travails. Audiences are well attuned to the fact that anything that looks too perfect is probably fake. And that turns them off. Whereas they will relate and empathize when they see people dealing with challenges in ways that are real and imperfect.
At the same time, I recognize that everyone has different boundaries and differing needs for privacy. It’s a very brave and generous thing to agree to let a film crew in and to share your life with an audience. I strive to honor that by portraying the participants in my films as authentically as possible.
Briefly write about your career?
Rachel Koteen (RK): I was lucky to begin my career working for the multi-emmy-award-winning director David Grubin. I started at David Grubin Productions as an intern. And I eventually went on staff and worked on several different productions including a PBS feature about the life of the historical Buddha, a multi-part video exhibit for the National Museum of American Jewish History, and a narrative project, “Downtown Express.” I got a good amount of on-set experience, and being on staff really allowed me to see all sides of how a small production company operates. I got to work on things like grant-writing, archival research, budgeting, and finishing–areas that I think it would have been harder to learn about if I had just come up as a set PA.
After working with David, I started at a production company called Show of Force where I worked on two PBS series about gender oppression around the world: “Half the Sky” and “A Path Appears.” The films followed the work of New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, and his wife and co-author, Sheryl WuDunn as they traveled around the world reporting on stories about activists who were working to combat problems like sex trafficking, gender-based violence, and a lack of educational opportunities for girls.
Again, I was really fortunate to be a part of these two projects from the time when we were researching potential subjects and looking for stories all the way through post, finishing, and distribution. I got to work with so many talented and inspiring people and learned a ton about verité storytelling, international production, and impact campaigns.
My work at Show of Force was what gave me the knowledge and the confidence to decide to make my own independent documentary about the National Women’s Hockey League when I was introduced to the league’s founder, Dani Rylan, a few weeks before their official kickoff. I started filming with them in April of 2015, and it’s been a long process to finally get the film finished and out into the world. We had a premier at the Queens World Film Festival this past November, which is a fantastic festival which I highly recommend to all filmmakers, and now the film is being released on July 25th by Freestyle Digital Media. It will be available on a number of platforms including AppleTv and Amazon Prime.
I’ve worked on a lot of other productions in the meantime, including an environmental documentary about coal, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” and the Netflix series “This is a Robbery,” which is about an art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. What I enjoy about the documentary process is the opportunity to get really immersed in a subject for a period of time, and to travel to places and meet people I never would have otherwise.
Currently, I’m in development on a film about a Cuban Taekwondo athlete and also writing a narrative script with my sister.
Tell us what you think of the interview with Rachel Koteen. What do you think of it? What ideas did you get? Do you have any suggestions? Or did it help you? Let’s have your comments below and/or on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Socials
Website
IMDb
LinkedIn
Twitter
FILMMAKER INTERVIEWS
