TALKHOUSE: Back to School Writer-director Sabrina Jaglom on returning to her teenage years for her latest film, the high-school thriller JANE.
August 25, 2022
On September 26, 2021, my alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning. Not a time of day you want to hear that sound. But, uncharacteristically, I jumped out of bed. It was the first day of production of my first feature film, JANE, and my excited and anxious thoughts had kept me awake for much of the night. It wasn’t long before I walked onto set: Sandia Prep High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I entered the large, glass atrium as the sun began its ascent, shining a spotlight on a large banner hanging from the ceiling that read: “Greenwood School for Girls.” I had to do a double take. The font and color scheme were eerily similar to that of my own high school, the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles. Then, laughter echoed from a group of background actors, teenage girls all sporting the “Greenwood” uniform I’d created alongside my costume designer. I don’t have to tell you what they resembled.
At that moment I realized, “Holy shit, I just sent myself back to high school.”
