David Marchese

So J-A-M, that's 24 points.

I'm pretty competitive.

It's fun to beat friends and coworkers.

I've been playing my HR business partner, which is a fun little way to break the ice if there's something you need from HR.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview.

I'm David Marchese.

Chloe Zhao is an anomaly.

At only 43, with just five feature films under her belt, she's already established herself as one of cinema's most distinctive and distinguished directors.

And she's done it at a time when the movie business is increasingly averse to artistic risk and originality, qualities on display in all her work.

She started with independent film, including the sparsely poetic neo-Western Nomadland, which won Academy Awards for Best Picture and for Zhao Best Director.

She then tried her hand at an ambitious mega-budget Marvel movie, Eternals.

And her latest is last fall's heart-wrenching drama Hamnet, an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's historical novel about the death of Shakespeare's young son from the plague and the grief his parents experienced after.

It won two Golden Globes and is up for several Academy Awards, including Best Director.

So how has she done it?

Because as I learned firsthand, Zhao is an enigmatic, even somewhat mystical presence in person.

Not exactly the sort of hotshot personality we often associate with big-time Hollywood directors.

But as it turns out, Zhao isn't much interested in simple or straightforward answers.

Here's my conversation with Chloe Zhao.

Chloe, thank you for taking the time to come speak with us today.

I appreciate it.