How 'Practical Magic' and 'Heathers' became cult classics from producer Denise Di Novi, despite initial criticism
"I think male critics now don't feel allowed to say the things that they said at the time," Di Novi said
From producing movies like Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Practical Magic, A Walk to Remember, Little Women and countless more, to directing as well, Denise Di Novi is an absolute Hollywood legend. While still producing films, like the upcoming Practical Magic sequel, Di Novi has also found another expression of her creativity through painting. She is set to have her first gallery exhibition on August 10 at The Honarker Foundation.
But with all this success, Di Novi still credits Canada for beginning her impressive career. Her first job was as a writer for the Canada AM morning show, then she worked as a reporter for CityPulse (now CityTV), where she began reporting on stories about movies filming locally.
"I owe it all to Canada," Di Novi told Yahoo Canada.
From there she was offered a job as unit publicist by a Hollywood producer, eventually moving into script development with Quebec producer Pierre David, before going back to Los Angeles to work on movies as a producer.
Denise Di Novi recalls 'polarizing and controversial' response to 'Heathers'
The first movie Di Novi worked on as a producer was Heathers directed by Michael Lehmann, starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Kim Walker, Lisanne Fal and the late Shannen Doherty. While the movie has really stood the test of time, now being called a "cult classic" by many and blazing a trail for dark teen-centric and women-centric films, it was a film that was ahead of its time.
"The first time I read this script I thought, this is either going to be fantastic or a total disaster because it was utterly original. I had never read anything like it," Di Novi said. "Everything about it, the concept, the dialogue, the way the dialogue was written, everything was so completely original."
"This was the era of the kind of cheesy exploitation teen movies, and then the John Hughes movies, which were great, but didn't push the envelope that much. This really kind of reinvented the teen movie. And also, it was a real indictment of exclusion, homophobia, prejudice, sexism. It turned so many things on its head and I knew that it was going to have a big impact. And it actually was extremely polarizing and controversial. We had a preview screening in Newport that I will never forget, where people were like, 'What the heck is this? How can you be funny about teen suicide?' It was risky, but it paid off because the people who wanted to hear the message heard the message. And to this day, I would say once a week, someone will say that movie saved [their] life as a teenager."
While Di Novi may have started with Heathers early in her career, she continued to work to create movies that kept women at the centre of the narrative, including Little Women, which was her first film after her partnership with the "genius" Tim Burton ended.
"I felt some responsibility at the time to do female-driven material, because there was hardly any," Di Novi said.
'Practical Magic' sequel will 'go to new places,' while honouring original
Di Novi's most highly anticipated project in the works is the sequel to 1998's Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. It's another film that sits in that cult classic territory.
"We do feel a responsibility to honour the first movie," Di Novi stressed. "We're not going to reinvent the wheel, and Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are producers on it, they really understand the movie and their characters and we're going to go to new places, but we're definitely going to honour the first movie."
"Both of them are major producers in their own right in the intervening years. So it's wonderful that we have the three of us really steering the ship."
While Practical Magic has amassed a strong group of fans, it's a film that was initially panned by critics. The question of why the movie wasn't initially well received, but is beloved now, is something Di Novi has thought about.
"I've wondered about it over the years, because it's just grown every year," she said. "Like half of Pinterest is Practical Magic."
"So it does behoove us to really look at, 'What is it?' And at the time where we did not get a great response, ... that was a time, 26 years ago, where 97 per cent of film critics were men. So that explains it right there. The movie was about female powers and empowerment and sisterhood. ... Everyone's entitled to their opinion artistically and it wasn't a perfect movie, but there was that."
While there has been progress over the years, every woman who is a film critic or entertainment reporter is aware that gender equality is still far from being achieved in the field. A 2022 study by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen titled "Thumbs Down 2022: Film Critics and Gender, and Why It Matters" found that of print, radio, television and online film reviewers in the U.S., 69 per cent were male, 31 per cent were women and 0.3 per cent were nonbinary reviewers. Looking at published reviews, 74 per cent were from men.
"I think male critics now don't feel allowed to say the things that they said at the time," Di Novi said. "There was a critic who actually said at the time, 'How many women can you fit in a movie?' In Practical Magic. 'Too many.' Because the six main characters were women. No one could write that now, so times have changed."
"At the time we knew that people, primarily women, loved the movie. ... The movie did well despite the not great reviews and then the movie took on a life of its own generationally, of women sharing it, and men love the movie too. That's the really interesting thing. If you look at the TikToks a lot of guys and a lot of people who feel that they are outsiders, ... feel like they don't fit into mainstream culture, they love the movie. And it gives them kind of hope or makes them feel like they're not alone."
Healing through painting
While still working as a producer, Di Novi has also moved into painting as a new form of both creative expression and personal healing.
Her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away the night before lockdowns started in southern California due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tragic combination of events created a particularly difficult environment for Di Novi to find support in a time of grief. But a new form of art is something she turned to.
"For some reason I don't fully understand to this day, I started doing very small kind of mosaic, pen and ink drawings," Di Novi said. "I was living in my house in Laguna Beach ... and it's just kind of an art town, and we have a small art store in town and I just thought, I need more expression. I need a bigger canvas, literally. So I started painting."
"I'd always been creative as a producer ... and I had directed, ... but I never thought I would make the transition to painting and doing something that was a direct expression of my creativity. A solitary, direct expression. I started painting and I didn't know where it came from, and I just kind of went into the zone every time I painted."
Di Novi says paining has been the "most healing" outlet for her and has decided to share her art publicly after seeing the effects her art journey can have on others.
"It kind of gave them permission to talk about their own grief, which I think in our culture is uncommon," she said. "People feel that it's a private, unspoken thing, and that they have to move forward, they have to stay busy, they have to be tough ... and deal with it very privately or alone."
"Secondly, I think seeing that something actually beautiful can come out of something so painful inspired people. I feel very blessed in so many areas of my life and particularly by my second husband, by my relationship with my husband, and I wanted to share my art to inspire people on those two areas. That grief is to be shared and expressed, then that creativity in any form, whether it's gardening, sewing, cooking, ... the creative spark is a human need. And it's something that's been given to us as a healing process."
