Interview (Written): Katie Dippold (“Ghostbusters”)

A Refinery 29 interview with Katie Dippold whose screenwriting credits include MADtv, Parks and Recreations, The Heat, and Ghostbusters (co-writer with director Paul Feig):

So obviously each of your four Ghostbusters — Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig — has their own very unique comedy style. Was that hard to blend together while writing the script?

“We actually wrote the characters first, before anyone was cast. It was important for me to write four distinct characters, think about their dynamics and what they would be like together, and then cast from there. Of course throughout the writing process there were certain people who kept popping into my mind, but I pretty much left that part up to Paul. And there was a lot of improv! Paul cast brilliant comedians for a reason: Because he wanted their minds in the movie so it could be as funny as possible. It was a really collaborative process.”

There are also so many subtle (and not so subtle) girl power moments in the movie, like a sea of men who are frozen while the women save the day, or a ghost who gets busted in his balls — literally. How intentional was that?

“For me, it was important to write this movie as if it were four men or four women starring in it. I didn’t want it to just feel like a gimmick, because that would be thin and pointless. So I tried to look at it as four Ghostbusters who are awesome and smart and humorous, and the fact that they are women would just be a bonus. But that being said: Of course some empowering winks and moments seeped in there.”

A featurette on Ghostbusters

For the rest of the interview, go here.