Katie Dippold on co-writing the new Ghostbusters with Paul Feig, The Heat 2 and more… Den of Geek: When Paul approached you about writing this, what was your initial response?
Katie Dippold: It was equal parts excited and terrified.
I was just really excited at the idea of being able to do that.
I loveGhostbustersso much and the original was so important to me as a child and adult.
So I have a whole other level of respect for it.
But, for me, I dont know.
One, I love horror comedy.
So it’s possible for you to just identify with them.
I was also a weird kid.
I always loved ghost stories and anything haunted.
To me, comedy aside, it was just kind of my dream movie.
Do you have any other favorite non-comedy horror movies?
For comedy horror I loveShaun of the DeadandAmerican Werewolf in London.
And I also loveCabin in the Woods.
For the pure horror movie, I feel likeThe Exorcistis one of the greatest movies ever made.
The one movie I love watching all the time isHalloween.
That holds a real spot in my heart for me.
Well, we started from scratch, so we started thinking about our way in.
It already felt so different because a college isnt going to have a parapsychology department.
Scientists dont believe in the paranormal today, so it just already felt different.
So I started thinking: What would it be like to be a scientist today that believes in ghosts?
And it just started from there.
What would her life be like?
From there it was like, OK.
So maybe shes been working with someone in a lab.
Thats when we wrote Holtzmann.
I always loved Ernie Hudson in the original.
So we thought having someone work at the MTA just feels like really iconic New York.
We really wanted to hit what feels like iconic New York and have them join up.
So thats kind of like where it started.
What are new scary scenes?
What kind of situations would be fun to see them walk into?
And then we would talk about what kind of stuff we wanted to bring back from the original.
Did anything about the characters change, once the cast came on board?
Did you adjust things differently for any of the four?
There also was a lot of ad-libbing.
Leslie would kind of make a lot of things her own on the fly.
Then they would all kind of improvise and ad-lib stuff left and right.
Paul runs a really improv-friendly set.
So its a pretty collaborative environment.
So its really collaborative.
Of course you have your big scene.
You are the rental agent who gets to show them an iconic piece of property.
But without her the whole thing falls apart, of course.
That was constantly debated.
I mean we talked about Slimer and Stay Puft so much.
And the cameos, it was constantly debated.
We have a lot of nods.
So I can see an argument for maybe that might feel distracting.
We just really wanted to see all those things.
We just really wanted to see all those people again.
We wanted to see Slimer again.
The whole point of this came from a love for the first one.
So it just felt right to just see as much of it as we could again.
Was there anything left out that you wanted to include?
Not that I can think of.
I would have loved to see Rick Moranis again, you know.
But he just wasnt interested.
I feel like theres a couple different groups.
Actually, I completely understand that.
As a fan I would love to see a sequel.
So I get that.
But at the same time, I also personally feel like its more respectful to not touch those characters.
I think everyone has a different idea of what would have happened to them.
I just kinda like them being left alone.
Nothing I could say right now would possibly win them over.
Maybe another 50 years will make an improvement.
I dont think I can do it in this one moment.
How do you and Paul write?
Do you work together or separately and throw stuff back and forth?
Were very similar in that we like meeting and talking and pitching on things.
But then when it comes down to the actual scripting, we like being by ourselves.
So well meet and talk and go over ideas, and then well email back and forth a lot.
And then well each just write on our own and send each other stuff.
Do you enjoy the collaborative process?
Does that give you things that working solo doesnt?
When it comes to sitting and scripting things out, I like being by myself.
I just think that leads to better things.
The film is dedicated to Harold Ramis.
Did you ever get to meet him?
I wish I had.
We met his family.
His family came to set a couple times.
And his son is in the movie.
His wife Erica was really, really lovely and they seemed really excited to be there.
It was really special having them there.
Did you meet any of the other original Ghostbusters?
I met all of the others.
Dan Aykroyd was the first one…
He also has been really supportive in this whole process.
When I first started, he sent me a book that his father wrote.
His family was really into the paranormal.
But most of all, just have fun, which was really nice.
So right now you have another script that is in production?
I actually just came back from Oahu, where its filming.
Were just at the midpoint.
Its a mother/daughter movie.
I dont have a title yet.
I wish I did.
But its with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn.
What is it about?
Its actually inspired by my mom.
My parents divorced when I was in college.
Shes always been so fun and adventurous.
I started feeling like as shes retired, shes just grown a little more cautious.
She used to be a little more adventurous.
So Im always pushing her to do things like try online dating.
To her credit, shes just always like, Im perfectly content and happy.
And so, then I actually ended up writing a script about that.
In the movie, everything the mother feared all happens.
Its basically them trying to get to safety.
Well, enjoy yourselves.
One last thing before we go.
Are you working on that?
The script is written, but Sandra Bullock, we cant get her to do a sequel.
She doesnt want to do another sequel in her life.
But I love her and I think shes so funny.
So Im always hoping she will change her mind because I think shes so awesome.
I really love this sequel.
Its them kind of going after the Red Falls Killer from the first movie.
So its putting them in theSilence of the Lambsworld.
I think itd be really fun.
So Im still hoping maybe shell change her mind at some point.
Ghostbusters is in theaters today (July 15).
