Below is my conversation with Milana Vayntrub, the director and star of Pickled Herring, a comedic short film being screened at Indy Shorts 2023. We talk about personal experiences that led to the creation of the film, comedic influences, and the difficulties of being funny while being physically restricted. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

[Note: This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike went into effect]

Ben Sears: Tell me a little about the collaborative process with Marina (Shiffrin), after she had written the script. You’ve spoken about how you have a kind of similar relationship with your own father as your character in the film.

Milana Vayntrub: Marina and I conceptualized the movie together years ago, though we were just chatting. We had been friends for a while, we met working on @Midnight, and we bonded over our Soviet dads. She had just gotten hit by a car, and I had just had a baby, which is a lot like getting hit by a car. She had her dad come and help her, and I had mine come and help me, and we were just talking about all the ways we love them, and all the ways they drive us crazy. Which I think is relatable for most parents. Then we were like ‘this is a story, this is too relatable,’ and we came up with the idea for the short and she wrote it all out, and we were able to make it really quickly.

BS: How much of your character in the story came from you and your experiences, and how much came from Marina?

MV: I think we have a lot of common experiences, both our dads are joke-tellers, they’re both hyper resourceful in ways that we’re like ‘how did you do that, and why?’ They have a lot in common, so I’d say there’s a shared story, but in terms of the literal events of the film, I’d say it’s probably 70-30. There are little anecdotes in there that my dad would say, but most of it is her story.

BS: Has your father seen the film yet?

MV: Yes, and he actually helped us get some of the rights. There’s a Russian song in there and he was working with us to help get it all approved. He doesn’t speak English that well, so he doesn’t really care or get it, whereas Marina’s dad, who speaks Russian really well, thinks of it as the best movie in the world, maybe second to The Godfather. He’s shown it to people at all sorts of family functions, so he’s our biggest fan, so I’m sure he sees himself in that.

BS: Were you nervous at all to show it to your dad?

MV: I wasn’t because I’m so straightforward with him. I didn’t really care what his feedback would be. [Laughs] But I was actually nervous to show it to my mom because I knew her feedback would be “when are you going to make a movie about me?”

BS: So is that going to be the sequel then?

MV: [Laughs] Yes! It’ll be Pickled Cod: The Milana Vayntrub Story.

BS: Do you think you could ever expand this material to be feature length? Could you see yourself making a feature film about similar themes?

MV: Yes, I think it could be a movie, but right now I’m focusing on it maybe being a TV show.

BS: Would that be something that you’d likely direct, or star in, or both?

MV: I would be very happy to have either opportunity, but if there’s somebody more qualified to do either of those positions, I’ll allow it.

BS: Which aspect of filmmaking do you find more joy from: acting, directing, or writing? Or is it a totally different experience based on the project?

MV: I enjoy directing the most, but acting is a lot easier, and less time consuming. It’s really nice to show up and act when you can trust the director, and feel like there’s a collaboration. The thing that I was always most enlivened by, as an actor, was when I could go to set and contribute and say ‘what if I said it this way’ or ‘what if we built this scene to have more tension, or more comedy’ and then I realized that’s what a director does all the time, except they’re not normally in front of the camera. So I said, ‘if that’s my favorite part of this, then how do I focus on doing that the most?’ So directing has been a majority of my year, and it’s been so fun. But, as you know as a new parent – and this is a wholly original thought that nobody has ever said before – but being a working parent is hard.

BS: Nope, that wasn’t my experience at all. No changes whatsoever.

MV: [Laughs] Yes, I’m sure for you and your partner, it’s been a breeze, but we don’t live in a particularly feminist industry or world or country. There are a lot of things that are missing in the support of being working people, and I really wanted a heavy hand in raising my kid, so that’s been the biggest push and pull. However, I’m making it work and I’m very grateful to get to direct, and work, this year.

BS: Was there ever a version of the film where you were not planning on acting in it? Did having that firsthand experience, and relating to the material, influence your decision to act as well?

MV: It was a big part of Marina’s decision. Every decision was made in tandem, but when we met, she kind of told me ‘I can’t wait for you to play me in a movie!’ So that’s kind of what this was the manifestation of, but we were also thinking about how many actors do comedy and drama and speak both languages – because I do speak a little bit of Russian in the film – so that narrowed the pool. If I had found somebody – and, to be fair, I didn’t too a very deep dive – and knew somebody that would be best for this, I would love to work with that person, even now.

BS: What are some comedic influences for you? When you’re trying to hone your comedic style, do you prefer dark comedy, or sillier Airplane-esque comedy, or more improv-heavy films?

MV: Step Brothers I think is my favorite comedy of all time. That movie has a little of the slapstick, but a lot of the comedy feels very improv heavy, and the writing is incredible on top of it. I think it’s the funniest movie ever made. I can’t wait until my son is old enough to see it so I can share it with him. Maybe I’ll fast forward through the balls on the drums part though.

I would love to act in a movie like that, and I would love to direct a movie like that. In terms of what I like to make, I love to work with actors who can improvise, and Rene Gube, who plays my husband in Pickled Herring, is that. I met him doing improv, and I was always such a fan of his on stage because he was so grounded and so quick, and his delivery was always so conversational. For years I’ve been thinking about how I can work with him, and that seemed like it was in line with the things that I find most funny. There’s actually a part in the movie where he improvised, and I cracked up, and that is a natural reaction. As a director, working with someone like Dimiter Marinov, who plays my dad, he’s great a taking notes. It was so fun to be able to mold him; Marina and I were writing alts, and throwing them out to him. There was one sequence where I’m on the couch and he’s just a busy-body behind me, which is exactly who Marina and I’s dads are, and we got to give him a different prop and a different line every time. That’s a real gift as a director, to work with somebody who can just roll with it.

BS: You get to do some physical comedy since you’re so immobile for most of the film. Was it a challenge to be funny without being able to move around much?

MV: Well I probably could have done a better job of being immobile, to be honest. We had to cut around some of the times when I forgot. I was recently listening to an interview with Quentin Tarantino where had to play someone with a hurt arm, and he actually had to put pins in his cast to continue to feel the pain. I was already nursing during the movie, and I was already in enough pain that I didn’t feel like I needed to do that, but I respect that and can see why it works. But I love physical comedy; I didn’t even really think of this movie as a fairly physical film, for that very reason, because I am in the wheelchair for a lot of it. I think actually Dimiter has a whole sequence that just feels like a clown bit. He’s incredibly physical and so funny.

BS: Have you started writing your Oscar speech yet, for when you win Best Live Action Short?

MV: I started that when I was 5 years old! I’m been practicing my whole life!

Pickled Herring will screen as part of the Comedy block at Indy Shorts on July 20 at 7:45 in Indianapolis, and virtually through July 23. Buy tickets here.