 Stillman, in an AOL interview following the twenty-fifth anniversary of "Metropolitan", refers to himself as having been put into "director's prison" for more than ten years before he made "Damsels".His 2016 film, "Love & Friendship", a comedy based on a Jane Austen story, was a box office success, grossing more than $20 million worldwide against a production budget of $3 million.Stillman wrote the screenplay for "Metropolitan" between 1984 and 1988 while running an illustration agency in New York, and financed the film by selling the insider rights to his apartment (for $50,000) and with the contributions of friends and relatives.