Richard Linklater took the stage at the69th editionof theBFILondon Film Festival(LFF) on Friday to discuss his festival titles Nouvelle Vague, about how auteur Jean-Luc Godard directed his New Wave classic Breathless and starring Zoey Deutch; andBlue Moon, starring Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley; as well as his career.

Among broader industry trends, Linklater mentioned how it is harder to get your film seen these days due to the changing economics of distribution.

After a clip from School of Rock, he lauded Jack Black for being one of the few people who could pull off the scene of a musician pretending to be a teacher and explaining to pupils how he imagines his stage show. But he lamented that his very different Black film collaboration, Bernie, about a small-town mortician, wasnt widely seen. That one got really crap distribution everywhere, Linklater said. Thats the one thing about the indie world. By no fault of the film or your own, just the economics of the world can change. The film world can be very volatile. Linklater was asked about where production stands on his 20-year film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, starring Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein. Its nine sections over 20 years, and weve filmed three of them, he said. So were a third of the way through.

Linklater also shared some personal worries from when he finished one of his well-known movies. I was afraid for my mom to watch Boyhood, he said of the film starring Patricia Arquette, because he worried about how she would respond when seeing parts inspired by his real life, such as the alcoholic stepfather. But she didnt seem to see it, the director said. My sister said: Yeah, we went to therapy. You made a movie.'

Of course, Linklater was also queried about his long-running creative partnership with Ethan Hawke, with whom he has made nine movies. Discussing Blue Moon, in which the star plays Lorenz Hart, the balding and diminutive lyricist of such hits as Blue Moon and My Funny Valentine, Linklater quipped: I was a really nagging director. I mean, if he didnt know me so well and know I was there for him, he would have punched me.

After all, Blue Moon was about taking the actors natural appeal from him. We were kind of dismantling Ethan Hawke, Linklater recently told THR about the film and the role of Hart. Hes really just a brain, a wit, a mouth, but in body form, thats not his thing, he explained.