How many people know Greta Gerwigs name?

Its a question Ive been pondering over the past few weeks as her new movie, Lady Bird , debuts to near-universal praise.

Gerwig has been branded an it girl time and time again over the past several years, but her highest-grossing movies , No Strings Attached and Arthur, arent known as Greta Gerwig movies. No, Greta Gerwig movies are things like Frances Ha and Mistress America her collaborations with indie honcho and romantic partner Noah Baumbach as well as talky dramedies like Hannah Takes the Stairs and Lola Versus, both of which belong to the so-called mumblecore genre. None of those topped $5 million at the domestic box office, though last years 20th Century Women did manage nearly $6 million in revenue. Gerwig, 34, has plenty of art-house cred, but do mainstream audiences examine her sensibilities with the same enthusiasm?

I think and hope were about to find out.

Lady Bird, a wonderful coming-of-age tale starring Saoirse Ronan as a middle-class teenager longing to flee California for an East Coast college, has the potential to become a considerable hit as it opens in more theaters across the country throughout November. It heralds Gerwigs foray into solo directing she also made 2008s Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg and serves as a distillation of her sensibilities. The articulate, witty characters grow up, grow apart, seek contentment and learn lessons not through the manipulation of movie melodrama, but through the natural increments that accompany lifes progress.

At indie distributor A24s offices, I sat down with Gerwig last week to discuss her career evolution, Lady Bird, the support shes received from her industry pals and the movies depiction of middle-class weariness.