Dakota Johnson takes control of the ‘unsexy’ side of making movies: Producing

Actress Dakota Johnson has created the production company Teatime Pictures with Ro Donnelly, and has two films at Sundance. Writer-director Cooper Raiff’s “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” premiering Sunday in the festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, features Johnson as Domino, mother to an autistic teenager and engaged to be married. Cooper Raiff, left, and Dakota Johnson in “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” Written and directed by Raiff, the film is premiering in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. What’s going to be both cool but also incredibly accessible.” “She has great taste, and she can speak as an artist when she’s talking to other artists, to a writer or a director or to other actors,” said Erik Feig, whose company Picturestart was involved in producing and financing both “Am I OK?” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” “But because she’s been in this business for so long and she knows it so well, I think she also really understands truly the business of the business. That is kind of a unique combination to see.” Johnson is at an intriguing crossroads as a performer, in an unusual position where she can play relatively carefree characters trying to figure out their lives in the manner of a rom-com heroine, as in “Am I OK?” or 2020’s “The High Note,” while she can also play darker parts reflecting people with more responsibilities grappling with where they have found themselves, as in “Cha Cha Real Smooth” or “The Lost Daughter.” It’s rare to see someone who’s able to successfully navigate both sides of that maturity divide.