The Visual Vocabulary and Intersection of ‘Slip’: A Conversation with Writer, Director, and Actor Zoe Lister-Jones

Restless inside a marriage that totally works, Slip follows Mae through a fantastical journey of parallel universes, as she enters new relationships, trying to find her way back to her partner, and ultimately, herself.

Within the last 4 or so decades, one could easily rattle off a filmmaker that was a voice of their generation. Usually, in most cases, it'd be a male auteur - a director at the top of their game. Well, I'm happy to say, for the millennial generation, we've had an onslaught of female auteurs rise to the top. And one that is making formidable headway is the multi-talented Zoe Lister-Jones. 

Her latest creative endeavor is Slip, a creative, vulnerable, emotional, and comedic undertaking exploring and navigating the journey that is life. Zoe spoke with Script about the intersection of writing, directing, and acting, tapping into the voices in her head to answer her life questions, what she hopes audiences take away from watching her show, and so much more.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: Where did this story idea initially come from?

Zoe Lister-Jones: I generally start from a sort of diaristic place. I wrote all seven episodes in quarantine. So, I think like many of us, I was grappling with some existential queries. [laughs] And I think what quarantine did, was put into hyper-focus a lot of those soul-seeking questions around what do I want my life to look like? And is that what my life looks like now? I think there was a lot of nostalgia that was drummed up in quarantine - thinking about people in your past, or paths that weren't taken. And so, I think all of those questions sort of lent themselves to the narrative.

I was also really interested in exploring female sexuality. And what a sexual awakening would look like in a multiverse. [laughs] And I think like so many of us the idea of like, the element of fantasy or escapism is really exciting, especially at this moment in our world. But I also wanted it to be grounded in the muck of life and how those two things could collide.

Sadie: Everything is always greener on the other side, or so we think. What kind of prep or inspiration went into your directing? Did you have mood boards for the tone of the show?

Zoe: I didn't have mood boards when I was writing, but I think when I write - the beauty of the writing-directing combination is that they're in conversation organically - so when I write I'm always visualizing the shots, so that by the time I'm shot listing it sort of is already pretty locked in. And that is always a really nice thing to be able to play with.

My DP Daniel Grant, and I - generally in television, one person doesn't direct all seven episodes - so we really we blocked shot it, we shot it in 36 days - it was wild. I mean, just shot listing 250 pages was a huge undertaking. But that's why it was so helpful that I already had the vision and the visual vocabulary, sort of in my bones, but obviously, it was a collaboration. And I wanted to push myself directorially to elevate some of that vocabulary from my previous work. And this show lent itself to that so easily.

Sadie: Yeah, you could tell that you guys were having a lot of fun with the camera work and sets. Each of these characters are distinctively their own, from personality, and how they carry themselves to voice – how do you approach getting those voices down on the page?

Zoe: I hear voices. [laughs] Yeah, I really do. I'm a person who's like, really, I get quite stuck in my head in most facets of my life. But there's something about writing and tapping into the unconscious that almost feels like a channel. And it's one of my favorite parts of the process. I try to write distinct voices as best I can. And I think this narrative in particular lends itself to that, because there are so many different worlds and people have such varied backgrounds. I just had so much fun. And I think because I was so isolated, [laughs] they've all become my friends and lovers. [laughs] So, I had a great community in quarantine with my characters. [laughs]

Sadie: [laughs] How much does your acting background come into play when writing and tapping into those voices in your head? I feel like you have this extra superpower of being an actor-director, and how to properly communicate to your actors and team.

Zoe: I also think it's such a beautiful intersection, the directing-acting intersection, because there's something so immediate about directing actors from within the scene itself. And in this show, particularly, I am in every single frame, basically. So, there were very few moments that I could be removed at all at monitor. And I think actors do have certain skill sets when it comes to directing, because they have been on the other side of it. I think any director should try acting too, just to see the vulnerability and sort of challenges of what that takes in that process.

So much of it boils down to casting, I had an amazing cast. They made my lives really...my lives [laughs] you see, these characters [laughs] they made my life really easy. And I would say the most challenging and also sort of thrilling part was directing from within a sex scene. [laughs] That was wild but amazing, and everyone was just so respectful and wonderful. I was very safe. But naked directing it's a whole new ballgame. [laughs]

Sadie: Without giving away too many spoilers here, but there’s the black box scene in which you play two characters of the same. This episode felt so pivotal to the series, in just hitting that theme of home is in your head and the idea of what a woman is or should be, and how to navigate that. How did get to that black box in your head?

Zoe: Well, I think ultimately, the show is about that search for safety in oneself. And I think Mae's journey is so much about grasping at all these other people and lives in order to find herself. And so that dream sequence was her really having to face that it's her, that the answers all lie in her. Which is something that as a human, I'm still working on. [laughs] But aspirationally, I put it into my work, so that I can have some sort of end goal.

Sadie: We could use being Mae at some point in our lives. There are some very fun and interesting turns you have embedded throughout each episode from reoccurring characters to the totem – what was the decision behind keeping those constants?

Zoe: The cool thing about writing the entire series myself in quarantine was that I was able to, like get to Episode Six and go like, ‘Oh, I want to thread that totem throughout.’ So in this process, I didn't outline, it really was just an outpouring of an idea that I just sort of knew that I had to put on the page.

And because I was able to go back and play and then I think I even added Episode Five, which is where the dream sequence is after writing Episode Six, I went back and added another episode. And so a lot of that, I mean, I knew that Gina, her best friend would be in every episode, because I think I did want it to be an exploration of female friendship amidst the sort of mania that we all go through, right, and trying to find the one, that there's that anchor that we hope we all have, that carries us through.

I also loved the idea of a community of actors that continued to return in different roles. That was part of the fun of creating a multi-universe that we could see these people come back as different characters, and I thought it'd be fun for actors but also just fun Easter eggs throughout for the audience.

Sadie: It is fun. For those that have been following your work from the TV space and indie features, as an actor, writer, and director, you can totally see your voice blossom and evolve. Any advice for creatives in discovering or finally tapping into their unique voice?

Zoe: It's so cliche to say write what you know, but I do think in terms of finding your voice, whatever story you want to tell, should feel really immediate to you personally. I think when people go from the outside in and think, ‘What can I get made?’ Or ‘What do people want?’ I just think that's a trap.

I think to find out for yourself what you absolutely need to tell, even if it's just an answer to a question you have about your own life. I think it's like actually much simpler than people make it. And then if you can find a way in that feels new, like I was really interested in Band Aid, my directorial debut, in the way couples fight. But I also wanted to sing songs. [laughs] So, ways to explore the themes that are of importance to you. And then think, ‘What else is important to me? Could I do a little mash-up of something? Or do I want to explore sexuality? But I'm also interested in sci-fi.’ Or whatever it is.

I do think you can write what you know, and still elevate a genre if you do it well. Or at least have your work pop in a new way. I think it just needs to feel really authentic to the questions you're asking in your own life. Because I think the more personal a narrative, actually, the more universal it is.

Sadie: Totally. The vulnerability is the stuff that resonates.

Zoe: Yeah. It's like giving voice to the things that I think are scary for other people to give voice to. It's such an empowering experience as a viewer for myself too of like, ‘Oh my God, that's the thing I've wanted to put words to and haven't known how.’

Sadie: Did you get that at all from watching your show as you were in post, like ‘Wow, that hits different.’ Or ‘That's exactly what I was hoping I would get from this moment.’

Zoe: Yeah, totally. I mean, also, just my evolution as a person in the last few years - we've all been in this sort of hard and fast evolution. That even by the time we were shooting the last episode, that monologue shifted slightly for me in terms of what I was grappling with. And so that's the beauty of making your own work is that you can shift that voice to mirror where you're at in any moment.

Sadie: Yeah, I love that. What do you hope audiences take away after binging your show?

Zoe: [laughs] I guess the thing I always want is just for my art to make people feel less alone. I think I feel alone a lot and I think that's why I write, because some of these questions are struggling with mental health or depression or anxiety. It's so easy to feel isolated or that those feelings of overwhelm are specific to you and you alone. I hope that people see themselves in this and kind of feel like they can laugh but also go on a ride that might free up some heart space.

Sadie: Yeah, it's the show you didn't know you needed right now, but I'm glad you made it.

Zoe: [laughs] Thank you so much.

Slip is now streaming on The Roku Channel.