Natalie Krinsky is a self-identified “hoarder of the written word.” Among her boxes of saved hand-written notes and birthday cards are also remnants from past romantic relationships. There’s a collection of mismatched, tiny spoons that were jokingly lifted from New York City watering holes. There is also a tooth whitening tray: “He was very into dental hygiene,” she says with a laugh. These odd momentos “could probably find a home in the Broken Hearts Gallery,” she says.
Indeed, these items partly inspired the writer and director’s romantic comedy “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” which she wrote as a spec script nearly a decade ago. The Selena Gomez-produced film follows budding gallerist Lucy Gulliver, who turns a painful breakup into a fledgling business opportunity with an exhibit that displays items kept from past lovers. The artistic venture offers collective healing for gallery contributors and attendees—and brings forth a new love interest for Lucy.
Geraldine Viswanathan, who plays Lucy, brings humor to heartbreak. “She’s an angel from heaven,” effuses Krinsky, noting Viswanathan’s gift of comedic timing. “I really wanted Lucy to not be the typical lead in a romantic comedy that we’ve seen forever; I wanted her to be someone that I felt like I knew. Geraldine and I were truly partners the entire way.”
The Secret to Writing + Producing Your Own Content The whole cast—which boasts stars including Bernadette Peters, Phillipa Soo, Molly Gordon, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Ego Nwodim, among others—were all collaborative partners for Krinsky’s directorial debut.
“I had so much joy directing this movie,” she says, noting a memorable day of shooting that required 21 setups. “It was really just this magical experience to be out on the streets of New York shooting this movie with this young, incredible cast. That’s one of my favorite nights of the whole shoot… It’s an incredible honor that 150 people gathered together to make something happen that you thought about in your brain.”
Sitting in the director’s chair for “The Broken Hearts Gallery” offered a new vantage point of camera setups and lighting, too. The biggest challenge, she says, was the post-production process. “People say that nothing is ever as great as the dailies or as terrible as the first rough cut, but there’s a jarring moment when you first see the assembly. You’re like, ’Oh my God, what did I do?’ ” Shifting scenes, editing takes, and adding music in post, though, eventually pulled everything together and was as true a display as any of real movie magic. “I didn’t even know the magic that could happen,” she adds.
The Sept. 11 release date also adds to the enchantment of the film. “The Broken Hearts Gallery” is now among the first features to hit theaters since cinemas shuddered due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We’ve all been sitting at home with all our things for quite a while, so maybe there will be some sort of emotional reckoning and purging and some letting go,” Krinsky suggests.
In addition to some much-needed cleaning, she hopes audiences, particularly young women, will take away some of Lucy’s ebullience. “She’s a young woman who asks the world to love her—not despite her foibles, but because of them. She’s a proud weirdo.”
And it turns out, Lucy’s resilience and ability to overcome missteps are traits shared with the film’s auteur, who believes the best way to learn something is by doing it. Her path to TV and film writing was a series of unexpected turns, starting with a gig as a sex columnist for The Yale Daily News while pursuing a degree in history. Her column landed her a book deal, and shortly after, she sold a TV pilot. Along the way she found her way into writers’ rooms for shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Gossip Girl.”
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She concedes that she had no idea how to write a column or a novel or a script. “And I had no idea how to direct, if I’m being perfectly honest,” she says. “You have to bet on yourself, and I think you just have to be tireless in making your voice heard.”
Next, Krinsky will be working to make other voices heard as she adds producing to her résumé. She’s working with producers Bruna Papandrea and Reese Witherspoon to bring Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s novel “Ashley’s War” to the screen, and she’s also partnering with Kerry Washington to produce a film adaptation of Brit Bennett’s bestseller “The Mothers.”
“One of the things that is most important to me is to continue to empower other female voices and find those great stories.”
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