Leah McKendrick’s “Voicemails for Isabelle” script first made The Annual Black List – which pertains to the most popular unproduced screenplays of that year, as chosen by a mix of production company and studio executive – in 2019, alongside hits like “Don’t Worry Darling” and “The Menu.”
While it’s a big deal to be chosen as part of The Black List, it’s not a guarantee your film will be picked up. McKendrick tells Variety Australia you need the “thickest” skin in the film and TV business, because it can take a long time to get a project off the ground. “Voicemails for Isabelle,” in particular, took eight years before the rom-com starring Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson made it to Netflix.
“I made other movies in the meantime since I’ve written this script, and I always prayed that my opportunity, my day would come, and I would get this made, but I didn’t sit crying over the script all these years because I knew my day was going to come,” the writer, director and actor – who plays Breeda in the film – said.
“You need to be like a cat and have nine lives. I think that I have died a couple of times and reanimated, and I don’t think you can kill me for good.”
The director likens it to Madonna or Taylor Swift’s career, where you have to reinvent yourself as a creative, otherwise you won’t get anywhere. “If you stay knocking on that same door, you’ll spend your whole life knocking on that door, as opposed to trying to find a window or a side door, or just taking stairs,” she joked. “I really believe in playing the long game, but I also believe in not waiting for permission.”
When it came to “Voicemails for Isabelle,” McKendrick wanted to subvert the rom-com genre and put her own stamp on it. Audiences have responded positively, with many praising the director for her nuanced look at grief and the love between sisters, rather than a one-dimensional portrayal of romantic love.
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“That first true love that I experienced was my little sister,” McKendrick explained, when discussing her inspiration. “When I first wrote it, I hadn’t found my [romantic love]… my sister is alive and well, she is healthy, but it was really just inspired by her being my soulmate and wanting to write a love letter to sisterhood.”
“Voicemails for Isabelle” has reached number two on Netflix Australia’s Top 10 list and is available to stream now.