A businesswoman embarks on a quest to unravel the mystery of who’s trying to destroy her reputation in Director Austin Peters’s thriller, Skincare.
Peters’s film tells the story of Hope Goldman, a famed aesthetician who suspects her skincare business is being sabotaged when a rival, Angel Vergara, opens a boutique across the street.
On September 1, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Peters discussed the making of Skincare during a Q&A moderated by Director Mimi Cave (Fresh). He also spoke about the film in a conversation moderated by Director Anu Valia (We Strangers) following the New York screening on September 8.
During the Los Angeles conversation, Peters revealed why he chose to shoot in in this city.
“I really wanted to make a movie that felt like Los Angeles and Hollywood, for real. Specifically as a neighborhood, not as this idea that people around the world think of when you think of the word Hollywood. So, we were really excited about shooting in LA and shooting this really gross sunlight. Obviously, there’s a couple scenes where the sun is right up here, and Elizabeth [Banks] has those nice sunglasses that you can see the side of her face and see how she’s emoting even though they’re covered. But it just felt like the dark, underbelly noir ideas once they get heatstroke and things sort of go on tilt and things start making less sense. People become more unreliable. That was kind of the energy we wanted to capture. I think ultimately shooting in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd blocks away from here [DGA Headquarters] was incredibly chaotic, but I believe ultimately to the benefit of the film and creating that feeling.”
Peters’s other directorial credits include the feature Give Me Future; episodes of More Than an Athlete; and music videos for Bastille Lil Xan, Orville Peck and Diplo. He has been a DGA member since 2016.