Lights, camera, action!
Over the years that I’ve been writing this column, I’ve avoided using it to ‘sell’ my career. But I’d like to make an exception this time to celebrate that my debut feature film, Layla, has just been invited to premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January. Allow me a moment to get my flowers, please.
Making a film is a truly magical, and often nonsensical, process, and I want to describe just what an uphill struggle and occasionally bonkers process the whole thing is. I pitched the concept to Film4 at the end of 2017, and they agreed to finance the development of a treatment and script at the start of 2018. The script-writing continued into 2022 (yes, four and a half years).
Our executives pushed and pushed for rewrites, examining the characters and the story from every angle, making sure every decision was the most surprising and considered, and that no avenue was left unexplored. Most screenwriters become resentful of the development process — including me. We cry, “LET US MAKE OUR MOVIE!” repeatedly. But having come out the other side of it, I am deeply grateful it took as long as it did. The development process is intentionally protracted to allow the characters to be fully realised and complex.
When we got the golden ticket sign-off, we then had to source the finance. We are very fortunate in the UK to have public money invested in new filmmakers. If you strike it lucky and convince enough people to put money into your crazy idea, then comes pre-production.
In making Layla, I truly came to learn how a film is only possible due to the extraordinary diversity of talent that comes together. Production designers, costume designers, makeup artists, production teams, cinematography, camera wizards, sound technicians… each of whom have their own remarkable skill set that is beyond my capacity to understand. When directing, I felt more like the captain of a ship filled with geniuses than anything special myself.
That’s what’s so powerful about the filmic medium — its inherent power is in the collaboration and communication between a whole roster of creatives, and it’s a deeply beautiful thing to watch. Over the course of months, these teams come together to realise every detail of the script, and your words are translated into sets and costumes. It’s humbling.
Once every detail is meticulously planned out, production begins — and all hell breaks loose. Unforeseen challenges arise, meaning you have to change your script on the
