Nora Ephron Interview: On Writing Novels, Screenwriting Success, and Directing

Nora Ephron recalls growing up in Hollywood and how her screenwriter mother proved that you could have both a family and a career. Ephron discusses getting her start in journalism in the 1960’s, dealing with sexism, eventually becoming a reporter for the New York Post, then later a columnist for Esquire, and covering The Women’s Movement. She describes how writing novels led to writing screenplays, which led to her directing films.

Nora Ephron was born on May 19, 1941, in New York, New York. The daughter of playwrights Henry and Phoebe Ephron. She grew up in Los Angeles, feeling much like an outsider. She went east to go to school at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Gifted with a sharp wit, Ephron first made her mark as an essayist. In 1970, her articles were collected and published in 1970's Wallflower at the Orgy and 1975's Crazy Salad. Her first novel, Heartburn (1983), drew inspiration from the end of her second marriage to journalist Carl Bernstein and was later made into a film starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. Ephron wrote the screenplay for the drama Silkwood (1983). It earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. While that film received much praise, she really hit box office gold with her screenplay for When Harry Met Sally (1989), starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the title roles. Audiences and critics alike responded enthusiastically to the well-crafted exploration into whether a man and a woman can be just friends and the relationship that develops between the lead characters. She received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for the film. Later, she wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You’ve Got Mail (1998) and Julie & Julia (2009). She had 2 sons, Max and Jacob Bernstein. Ephron died from pneumonia, caused by acute myeloid leukemia, on June 26, 2012, at the age of 71.

From the 2013 PBS Documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America”, examines how women have helped shape America over the past 150 years, striving for a full and fair share of political power and economic opportunity.

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Nora Ephron, Journalist, Author, Filmmaker
Interview Date: September 29, 2011

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:08 Growing up with a working mother
01:24 A Hollywood childhood
02:14 Mother’s advice
02:56 Growing up differently
04:00 Finding her voice as a writer
05:27 Fear of failure
06:45 Starting out in journalism as a woman
08:59 Working as a reporter
09:49 Covering the women’s movement
11:42 Writing about yourself
11:52 Joining a consciousness-raising group
12:09 Humor and feminism
12:50 Betty Friedan vs Gloria Steinem
14:47 Groundbreaking writing
17:17 "A Few Words About Breasts" essay
17:51 Writing "Heartburn"
20:41 Criticism surrounding her writing
21:26 Getting into show business
23:23 Women in show business
24:43 "When Harry Met Sally"
27:21 Becoming a director
30:55 "Julie & Julia"
31:23 Women directors in Hollywood
32:10 Women today
33:17 Women’s life stages
34:56 Balancing work and family
36:10 Younger women at feminists
36:39 Roe v. Wade
38:10 Most useful advice ever received
39:08 Advice for young women
40:08 Dream job as a child
40:23 Proudest accomplishment
40:42 First paying job
40:55 Q&A

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