TROIAN BELLISARIO: Hi. Where are you right now?

GLATTER: I am in L.A. on the Universal lot, believe it or not. I’m in the Johnny Carson Building. This is where I had my first deal, so it’s like coming back to the old hunting grounds. Having only shot outside of L.A. for years, it’s a trip to be back on the lot.

BELLISARIO: Does it feel smaller than you remember?

GLATTER: No, it doesn’t feel smaller, but I remember my shock and awe as a modern dancer, choreographer coming on the lot for the first time. I still feel the magic of being a storyteller, and I loved that, but I don’t have the same thing from when I was first here and I saw people in costumes and backlots and sets—the Norman Bates house on the hill, the New York street, the French village. Just the whole fantasyland of it all. One of the things that’s so amazing to me, Troian, is I realized we actually met through your mother.

BELLISARIO: Yes.

GLATTER: It wasn’t the classic, just meeting on an audition; it was a much more personal first meeting. You were really young. Your mother, Deborah Pratt, and I met while I was teaching a class at the American Film Institute—a directing workshop for women. Deborah was one of the women in that program and we immediately connected. I got to know your family and immediately when I met you, I thought, “Who is this young, incredible person?” That has continued as I’ve gotten to know you.

BELLISARIO: I remember coming over to your house or hanging around with Nick.

GLATTER: With Nick, my son, and your brother, Nick. The two Nicks.

BELLISARIO: The two Nicks. I remember being in awe of the work that you were doing. When I found out you were going to be in the room in one of the callbacks for Pretty Little Liars, I remember having a conversation with you just saying, “I’ve never really done this.” I grew up running around the Universal backlot, but auditioning for pilots was something totally new. I’ll never forget the conversation you and I had about what a job like this would mean, what it would entail if I were to do the pilot, and what you saw this story being.

GLATTER: The thing that was so ironic about all of this is [I.] Marlene King, who created Pretty Little Liars, and I had done a movie together, Now and Then [1995]. She had written, I had directed, and we’d had had an amazing experience together. When she sent me Pretty Little Liars, I thought, “It’s just wicked enough and has a really interesting edge to it, and yet it’s about real emotions and has got this mystery to it.” I didn’t know, but they had already read you, and I turned on the tape and there you were. You were at USC and you had done the very intense actor-theater program, so you were a real trained actress. I was blown away by the depth of your work. It’s really exciting to see you develop, now becoming a writer and director.