How ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Director Cooper Raiff Forged a Unique Collaboration With Dakota Johnson

thewrap.com:

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” – inspired by something his mom once told him about how raising his disabled sister had shaped her life – was strong enough for him to bluff his way through.“I think I do the best work when I’m just entirely focused on writing one thing and telling people, ‘I can’t talk for two weeks because Dakota Johnson thinks I have a script I don’t have,’” Raiff joked in an interview with TheWrap.In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which takes its name from the classic b’nei mitzvah bop, Andrew (Raiff) finds a kindred spirit in an outcast mom named Domino (Johnson) and her autistic daughter, Lola (Vanessa Burghardt).

As one party blurs into the next, they develop a unique connection: that of two people standing together at different crossroads in their lives.As a filmmaker, Raiff is not only unafraid of the awkward transitions between major life changes – he’s drawn to them.

His first film, “Shithouse,” was about a freshman who struggles with moving away from home and finding his place in college.“I think it’s always those transitional moments, [those] conflicts that tell you a lot about people and about what they’ve been going through,” said the writer-director-actor. “Also, I’m just really interested in making a movie about a time in my life that I haven’t shed yet.”Indeed, the now-25-year-old was a sophomore in college when he tweeted the indie filmmaker Jay Duplass, daring him to watch his DIY project that became the basis for “Shithouse.” After Raiff dropped out of college to make the film, it went on to premiere at South By Southwest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and was acquired by IFC.“Cha Cha Real Smooth” debuted on an even bigger stage, nabbing the Audience Award at January’s Sundance Film Festival.