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Director Nicole Bazuin joins No Film School’s GG Hawkins to discuss the decade-long creative collaboration behind Modern Whore, a hybrid documentary based on Andrea Werhun’s memoir about her experiences in sex work. Bazuin explains how the project grew from a music video friendship into a book, short films, and a feature, while breaking down the film’s mix of interviews, stylized reenactments, storybook-inspired visuals, and post-production discoveries. The conversation also covers self-editing a feature, storyboarding an entire film, bringing Sean Baker on as an executive producer, and making work from the stories already in a filmmaker’s orbit.
In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Nicole Bazuin discuss...
Shooting Modern Whore on the Alexa Mini and editing the film in Adobe Premiere Pro
How Bazuin and Andrea Werhun met while making a Super 8 music video for Broken Bricks
Turning a “creative crush” into a decade-long collaboration across a memoir, short films, and a feature
Why the film uses a hybrid documentary format with firsthand storytelling, staged scenes, and stylized reenactments
Adapting Andrea Werhun’s vignette-style memoir into a cohesive feature structure
Protecting authorship and agency when telling stories about sex work
Building a visual language through hand-drawn storyboards, color, and “storybook come to life” compositions
The nine-to-ten-month edit process and the value of test screenings with anonymous feedback cards
How Sean Baker came aboard as an executive producer after working with Andrea Werhun on Anora
Why filmmakers should look at the relationships, stories, and access already present in their lives
Memorable Quotes:
“Sometimes you have to step in and fill a role.”
“I think right from the get go, our work has been multimedia.”
“I do think the adage is true that you write the film once when you're writing the script. You rewrite it again when you're shooting it and you write it a third time in the editing process.”
“Feel free to make it your own.”
Guest:
Nicole Bazuin
Resources:
Modern Whore on IMDb
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