Taylor Swift Dishes On Directing Her First Feature Film

Singer Taylor Swift is a singer, songwriter, and a master of human emotions, but is she ready to direct her first feature film?

The "Gorgeous" singer was behind the cameras for her music videos "The Man," "Cardigan," and "Willow" before she wrote, directed, and starred in "All Too Well: The Short Film," which also starred "Teen Wolf" actor Dylan O'Brien and "Stranger Things" alum Sadie Sink.

On Friday, September 9, the "Delicate" singer was in attendance at the Toronto International Film Festival, where her short film was screened in 35mm for the first time. While at the event, Taylor talked about the possibility of directing her first feature film.

As The Hollywood Reporter shared late Friday night, it's possible that the "I Bet You Think About Me" singer is looking to direct a feature film. In addition to screening her "All Too Well" short film, the 32-year-old singer also appeared in an "In Conversation With..." event to discuss her potential future career plans.

“If it were the right thing, it would be such a privilege and honor,” Taylor said at the event, revealing that she would rather focus on films about "human emotion" than any big-budget action sequences.

“I will always want to tell human stories about human emotion,” she said, before praising fellow female directors like Nora Ephron, Chloe Zhao, and Greta Gerwig, as influences for her own directing career.

“It’s really beautiful that we’re in a place where the idea of a female filmmaker doesn’t make you roll your eyes or think as skeptically as it once was,” she continued, discussing her "evolution" into a film director by first writing songs, and then trying to coordinate words and music to storyboards and a shot list.

During the conversation, the "Cruel Summer" singer openly admitted that she didn't go to film school, revealing that much of her hands-on experience actually came from being on the set of her own music videos.

“I didn’t go to film school. I’ve been on the set of around 60 music videos and I’ve learned a lot from that process,” she said at the event. “But when I did it on my own, I really began to learn everything, because you have to.”

Taylor explained that "establishing visuals" was "always a part of the process" and she liked to involve herself in the creation of her music videos very early into her career, saying, "The more responsibility I took on, the happier I was."

She also discussed a little bit more about her influences, specifically her album 1989, which she said was inspired by repeatedly watching John Hughes' iconic film "Sixteen Candles." She also said that she was "impressed" by Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape Of Water," which she watched during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

“In my mind, there was a period in the 1970s where you started to see romantic films where the characters are so beautifully woven together, and then they unravel,” Taylor said, pointing to "Kramer vs. Kramer" as another one of her inspirations.

As part of the event, the "You Belong With Me" singer screened her "All Too Well: The Short Film" for the first time on 35mm. Taylor had nothing but praise for Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink and specifically referenced a fight sequence that takes place at a pivotal point in the film.

“You can tell a lot about people based on how they fight,” she said of their fight. “She feels out of place and he feels unequipped to handle that.”

Although Taylor has seen her own film countless times before, she felt that she learned something new from watching it on Friday, September 9, at the Toronto Film Festival.

“I feel like watching it this time, there was a depth to the color and the contrast that I haven’t seen when I watched it before," she said, adding, "I’m grateful to have shared it with you guys."

Taylor Swift's "All Too Well: The Short Film" can be seen in the video below.