Director's interview

Why did you wait so long to commit to directing, when colleagues in the industry had been advising you to do it for years?
I wanted to wait until the time felt right. You don’t get too many opportunities and I wanted to make sure I was ready to take them when they arose. I’ve spent 15 years or so on sets watching and working alongside numerous award winning directors and screen writers including Anthony Minghella, Stephen Poliakoff, Simon Beaufoy, Alan Bennett and Frank Cottrell Boyce. I’ve also worked with Oscar, BAFTA and BIFA  nominated technicians, and all this experience has been invaluable in allowing me to see what differing skills can be used to command different performances and what can be achieved visually and through sound first hand – and of course how to keep your crew happy. Now I feel ready!

Having a short film script written by a BAFTA winner is quite a feat, how did you manage that?
Yeah, Adrian Mead is a great storyteller, whether you listen to what he’s saying or read his work. We met about 10 years ago at the Edinburgh International Film Festival through his partner Clare Kerr. We gradually became firm friends and he even introduced me to my husband!

How come it only took 3 weeks to go from deciding to shoot the film to having it in the can?
When I put my mind to something I’m very focused! Adrian sent me the script, I liked it; Chris Wilcox who plays Terry Taite was available, as was Jo Hutton the Producer; and Simon Dennis, the DP, who is a good friend, was free that weekend – so circumstance dictated really. It was pretty full on to get everything ready but the shoot went extremely well and we all had a good time.

Where did you find Chris Wilcox, star of the film?
My background is in Sound and I’d been working on a series of TV commercials. Chris had been bouncing around set in a full kangaroo suit all week. I was very taken with his professionalism and the fact that he never complained about the heat whilst all the crew were complaining how hot they were whilst wearing vests! Over lunch one day I asked him if he ever did short films, to which he replied yes. I showed him the script which he loved and so he got the part – no auditions necessary. He has excellent comic timing.

How did you come to shoot the film in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria?
Having lived in London for 15 years we moved to the Lake District as a family for a better quality of life. I wanted to continue my work in film and was determined that the fact I lived rurally should not hinder that, but in a way enhance it. (The English Lake District has a long history of providing creative inspiration). I planned to shoot locally, and so Jo Hutton, the Producer, did a great job in finding a newly opened radio station in Barrow who was very happy to help out. So it all worked out very well – apart from them giving us the smallest studio on the day having assured us we’d have the larger of the two. Anyway we managed to fit in and get it done.

The look is fantastic, how did you achieve that?
It was with Simon Dennis, DP. He’s shot loads of features, is very quick and uses minimal lights. I described what I was after and Simon interpreted that exactly. He’s great.

How did you achieve such great production values on such a tight budget?
Using all my contacts we got together an absolutely fantastic crew.  I was very specific about what I was after and as a short I wanted the film to be commercial, slick and exciting. We ensured that what little budget we did have went on the screen – and I think it shows.

How did you get an editor with credits such as Cold Mountain, The Hours, Spycatcher and Goya’s Ghosts involved?
It was through an old friend of mine who’d worked with a colleague of Dei’s (Geraint Huw Reynolds, Editor). I have great respect for him, as I do for all of the crew. We were very fortunate that we seemed to have the same vision from the outset and we understand each other very well. It greatly helped as we live so far apart!

How did you manage to edit the film being 300 miles apart?
I found the post production process really interesting as it’s the area I know least about. I first met Dei (Geraint Huw Reynolds, Editor) when I handed over the rushes to him in a crowded patisserie in Soho around Christmas. I hoped he was the right person! It was. He would then put up various cuts on the web for me to view and we would discuss it over the phone. I did go down to see him for the final cut and we sat in the same room together with the film for the first time and just kept saying “yeah I agree”, so really it was quite straight forward!

The music and sound design really adds to the telling of the story, how did you decide on those?
The main track “I am, I’m Me” by Twisted Sister I have loved for years. The lyrics fitted perfectly with Terry Taite’s personality and what he was going through, so that was decided before we started shooting as it really brings something to the story. Jo Hutton, Producer has some good music contacts from which we selected other tracks. Also Dei (Geraint Huw Reynolds, Editor) snuck in some tracks from his best mate’s band, Guarro that worked very well. The sound design took a bit longer as Keith Nixon (Sound Design) is a busy man! I spent a couple of hours with him one evening in London and we did a rough mix and then Keith worked on it for a few more days. We discussed what we wanted the sound to bring to the piece and how it could help in telling the story.  I then went down again and we finished it off. I drove a round trip of 600 miles, did a 14 hour day in the studio and got home to have an Easter Egg hunt with my sons!