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As a music video director, Floria Sigismondi has worked with various artists like David Bowie, Marilyn Manson and The White Stripes.

For "The Runaways," her feature-film debut about the pioneering '70s all-girl rock band, she had a different task: teach young actresses Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart how to rock.

Luckily, Sigismondi had a plan.

"I didn't want to rehearse a lot," Sigismondi said in an interview during the Sundance Film Festival, where "The Runaways" had its world debut in January. The movie opens in theaters Friday. "I wanted to keep it very spontaneous to the day. So Kristen would come in and hang out in the production office. I had books that I collected and binders and thousands of images of what the kids were doing and what the music was like. I would give her CDs of the music that was happening at the time and talk about Joan (Jett) and her character.

"I had more time with Dakota, so I put her with a band. I wanted her to feel what it was like to be fighting against all these sounds on the stage and these huge amps. I wanted her to feel what it was like, because you're filming playback and we rehearsed as a band. They hung out all the time, and I gave them more direction of where I saw the characters going."

In the film, Stewart plays Jett, the iconic Runaways rocker who went on to have a successful solo career. Fanning plays Cherie Currie, the band's self-destructive lead singer.

At the Sundance premiere, Jett and Currie took visible pleasure in the limelight and outpouring of affection from the crowd.

"I love you, Joan," Currie said in front of the capacity crowd.

Jett complimented the soft-spoken Stewart on her performance and shared stories from the Runaways' early tour dates. Who was the fictional headlining band that ridiculed the Runaways in a scene set at an early concert in the film? That, Jett confirmed, would have been Rush.

Still, Sigismondi, who wrote and directed "The Runaways," admitted that neither Fanning nor Stewart had ever heard of the band before the movie. So Sigismondi set out to teach her co-stars about the importance of Jett as a rock pioneer; fully aware that her movie would be doing the same for audiences.

"We went through all the YouTube videos and lots of stuff," Sigismondi said. "While I don't think they were familiar with the Runaways, they grew to like the music as they learned to play it.

"I also think they came to see Joan as a great role model and see how she paved the way for Hole and L7 and all these great bands. She's a pioneer and has helped changed music for women in terms of possibilities of what they can do. . . . She's one of a kind."

The movie's stars - especially Stewart, who's become a tabloid phenomenon thanks to the "Twilight" movies - have brought plenty of attention to "The Runaways," but Sigismondi says the young actresses' performances in the film are more important.

"I think Kristen's performance is exceptional. I hope it receives critical acclaim that's all I can hope for, and not some bubblegum stuff. I think Dakota Fanning is amazing," the director said.

The challenges the real-life Runaways faced, and how audiences react to their story today, make Sigismondi sound optimistic about the future.

"A lot of the boys I talk to love the fact that these are strong women. I hope we have moved forward on that issue."

Ready to rock

Read Journal Sentinel film critic Duane Dudek's review of "The Runaways" in Friday's Weekend Cue.