‘Voicemails For Isabelle’ Writer-Director Leah McKendrick Breaks Down Big Script Changes, Hidden Rom-Com References And Pitches To Taylor Swift & Robyn
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- Leah McKendrick's romantic comedy "Voicemails for Isabelle" is now streaming on Netflix, eight years after the original script made the 2019 Black List with six votes, with the filmmaker describing it as the first rom-com she ever wrote.
- Netflix's involvement prompted a full relocation of the story from Los Angeles and New York to San Francisco, a city McKendrick said she wanted to function as a character the way Seattle does in "Sleepless in Seattle," with shoots at Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, and Battery Spencer.
- The lead role of Jill was originally written as a TV writers room worker dreaming of Shondaland with Hailee Steinfeld attached; after McKendrick took the directing reins, Zoey Deutch was cast and the character became an aspiring baker battling a kumquat-prep workload under a maniacal chef played by Nick Offerman.
- McKendrick personally wrote letters to both Taylor Swift and Robyn to secure "Marjorie" and "Dancing On My Own," framing the artists as characters in the film rather than needle drops, and said Netflix's music team, which she called "a bunch of Swifties," backed the pitches.
- Ciara Bravo performed the film's closing Robyn dance sequence in a single un-rehearsed take during the final shot of the day, with McKendrick calling it "exactly what I needed" as the sun was setting.
- McKendrick also appears in the film as Breeda, who tells Wes to run to Jill in the rain — a role she wrote eight years ago before getting married two weeks after wrapping production.
- Sony Pictures has a Shania Twain biopic in development with McKendrick attached, with the director saying her connection to "Eileen, the woman behind Shania Twain" goes beyond childhood idolization.
Why it matters: McKendrick's eight-year arc from a six-vote Black List script to a Netflix release — built on personal letters to pop stars, hometown geography, and her own cameo — illustrates how streaming-era rom-coms are increasingly auteur-driven passion projects, and her Sony Shania Twain biopic positions her as a go-to filmmaker for music-rooted prestige stories.
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