Women in Film. A Discussion with Olivia.
Yesterday marked International Women's Day and my timeline was filled with inspirational posts, highlighting women we admire throughout history to women we celebrate in our own lives today. Introducing, Olivia Middleton.
Me and Olivia can fully support one another while not distracting each other with constant Whatsapp messages. We could probably keep in touch better but what's the point - it gives us more to talk about when we do catch up (plus, each time feels like we didn't just have a year between the last). Friendships like these are the types I value.
However, we decided to break our usual months of silence track record in order to have a chat about her new short film, Rosalyn, and touch on the difficult industry she has decided to break into.
Since leaving uni, Olivia has spent the last few years working from the ground up within the film industry, crewing on feature films, TV shows and commercials in a variety of departments. Although this has been experience, great for personal growth and has allowed her to grow a valuable network, Olivia felt that she still wanted to take control, and that directing was her passion. She is currently crowdfunding for her new short film 'Rosalyn', a psychological horror set in Ireland.
Jessie: What is your ambition within the film Industry?
Olivia: People inside and outside of the film industry have told me time and time again not to become a director because it is an extremely difficult path, filled with rejection and struggle. Even with all the warnings from very wise and experienced people, I still wanted to direct.
J:How did 'Rosalyn' come about?
O:The story of how I wrote ‘Rosalyn’ is not as romantic as I’d like to be. It started out quite practically. Being low budget filmmakers, we work with what we have or what we can get for free. The producer, Jack Cowhig, has a farm in Ireland and wanted to write a horror film around it. I took this brief and started to come up with ideas. It took a good few drafts to get to the story we have now, but it was born out of my own questions surrounding pregnancy and motherhood, combined with some research from a book written by Barbara Creed called ‘The Monstrous Feminine’which explores the representation of the female monster in horror films. Around the same time as I was developing the story I watched ‘The Babdook’ and really loved the psychological aspect of the horror, which drove my story into a slightly different direction. I’d never written or directed a horror film before, and although I enjoyed horror I wasn’t a diehard horror fan, but I was drawn to the challenge.
J:'Rosalyn' is based on a woman struggling with her pregnancy, what do you wish the audience to take away from it?
O:The intention with ‘Rosalyn’ is to creatively explore the themes of maternal health and motherhood through the horror genre. We want to raise awareness of the mental health problems that women can experience and tell a story with a complex female character at the centre.
J:With recent spotlights on the #metoo and Times Up movements, how do you find the film industry for women, and being a woman in it?
O:I have entered the industry at a fortunate time because although there are problems with gender equality in film, people are at least talking about it and acknowledging that there is a problem. I think there is still a very long way to go, the industry has been male dominant for over 100 years and we are only just starting to see more female directors creating mainstream cinema. I am excited to be part of this movement and I admire the female filmmakers before me who have fought hard to create more opportunities for aspiring filmmakers. 2017 was a very inspiring year, with the release of films such as Wonder Woman, The Beguiled, Detroit, Ladybird etc. there are plenty of reasons to feel positive about the future of women within the film industry.
I'm more than excited for the production of 'Rosalyn' and also very proud of my friend following her passion. Olivia and her team have produced a teaser trailer to support the funding which you can watch below, you can also keep up with their progress over on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RosalynShortFilm/
To support the making of this film, please visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rosalyn-short-film-horror#/
Each donation would be highly appreciated by Olivia and the team behind Rosalyn, thank you.