How Christine Luby Went From Blockbuster AD To Streaming Director

Before she was directing buzzworthy streaming rom-coms, Christine Luby was the one keeping massive film sets moving. Now, she’s stepping into the stoplight with a distinct voice, sharp creative vision, and confidence that’s putting her on the map as a rising female director who’s reshaping modern rom-com storytelling.

Shortly after the Netflix release of her film, “You, Always,” Luby had some time to sit down with The Blast to chat about her journey from assistant director to director, the new film, and what’s next for her. 

Luby’s journey started with her love of dance and has only grown from there.

“My first love was dance, specifically contemporary dance. I was in some dance films and I was looking on the other side of the camera and there was this guy yelling at everyone and being really mean, and I thought, who’s that jerk?” she told The Blast exclusively. “Someone said, ‘Oh, that’s the assistant director.’ So then I inadvertently went and became one, but didn’t have to yell at people and I could do it in a better way.” 

Luby got her start volunteering on student films and productions and managed some documentaries. 

“I was in London at the time, and then the top film school in London ended up hiring me to AD their student films and I thought, oh this is great getting paid for this,” she said. “So that was sort of my first four years in the industry. And then the financial crisis hit London, and it was time to go. I’d done a decade there and was kind of like, time to move on, so I moved to Australia having never been there.” 

Christine Luby Carried On With Her AD Journey In Australia…But There Was A Catch

Many might agree that sometimes change can be really good for one’s career and life in general, and Australia was just that for Luby, but there was a bit of a catch. 

“I carried on with my AD journey, although, I sort of had to start over because the credits didn’t necessarily transfer from England to Australia. They were like, we don’t know those people, you’re a newbie,” she said. “But it was kind of good because I started third AD’ing as they call it in Australia, and I got on some really big projects straight away and that was so exciting.” 

She shared that with her first job, she choreographed and set background for more than 800 extras on a popular Australian television show. This ended up being her big break in her new home. Through the crew there, she landed “Wolverine,” “Aquaman,” “Peter Rabbit,” and “Elvis.” Then she began directing. 

The Transition From AD To Director And The Challenges Of Being A Woman In The Industry

The process from transitioning from an assistant director to a director was a total learning process. Luby shared that she first AD’ed about 10 feature films with first time directors which felt like she did her “first film 10 times over.”

“I kind of learned a lot of what not to do, how not to use all of your time up in the morning and then have to be cutting scenes by the afternoon,” she said. “I kind of learned everything not to do, so I felt really solid on that, and I knew all the departments. So I knew how to navigate a set really well.” 

Luby shared her thoughts on being a woman in the film industry and how it can sometimes present unique challenges. 

“You see very few instances where women will go from a micro budget production to a $25 million production. That just really doesn’t happen for women,” she said. “And I think sometimes men are allowed to fail upwards, whereas women are only as good as their last film. So women are really prepared, and we know we can’t screw up because we might not get another opportunity.” 

The advice she would give a young woman trying to break into the film industry is to not direct too many shorts, get to your first feature as quickly as possible, and specialize in one thing to start out.

“For me, it’s like I’m the rom-com queen so people know to come to me for rom-coms, but if I did 12 other things, they’d be like, how do I hire you?” she explained. “And it’s about communicating your vision to the crew and hiring great people and collaborating with them. And keeping your head up high and saying sometimes it’s alright to not have all the answers.” 

About ‘You, Always’

“You, Always” currently streaming on Netflix, is a love triangle rom-com set in Far North Queensland, Australia. 

“It follows the story of Dr. Jen Bell, who is a single mom and she’s busy, she’s a working mom with two jobs, and a messy house. She’s trying to keep it together, and one of the things that slipped through the cracks is love,” Luby said. “That’s really what’s missing in her life and she sort of tries to see if there is something more with her best friend, and there’s a miscommunication and that doesn’t happen. She has a chance meeting with someone else, and that’s where the story really gets going.” 

The film stars Adrian Grenier, Jessica De Gouw, Yasmin Kassim, and Desmond Chiam. Luby said “it’s about reinventing yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone and believing in love.” 

Favorite Rom-Coms And What’s Next

The rom-com queen shared some of her faves with The Blast. As a viewer, she said her top three favorite movies are, “Always Be My Maybe,” “Pretty Woman,” and “La La Land.”

When asked if she could reinvent one classic rom-com which would it be, she didn’t hesitate with her answer.

“I think probably ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ Not that the original should be touched,” she said. “But I just think there are so many applications for sort of modern day and what that would look like.”

As for what’s next up for Luby, she said that while she loves being the “rom-com queen,” she’s moving into a new genre.

“I’m moving on to a horror next,” she said. “It’s female-driven. There is going to be lots of pink, lots of fun. And I am trying to be genre-agnostic as much as I can be. So I’ve got a diverse slate of genres right now.”

Follow Christine Luby on Instagram to keep up with all she’s doing.