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Your upcoming film Gaslight - in a few words, what's it going
to be about?
Gas lighting is a form of emotional
abuse and psychological manipulation where the victim starts to question
their own sense of reality. Be that memory, perception, or sanity, this
unfortunately often leads to deeper and potentially more dangerous mental
health problems.
Could you explain "gas lighting"
in a little more detail, and without wanting to be too personal, have you ever experienced something like this
yourself? Gas lighting is a term that not many
people are aware of and often they don’t understand it. I was a victim
of gas lighting myself and this film was written whilst trying to deal
with the PTSD I encountered afterwards. At the time I had no idea what was
happening to me, I only realised what had happened a few months after. I
felt like a spectator watching my life pass me by and the lines between
reality and fiction became blurred as I was convinced I was acting
inappropriately and things were all in my head. I didn’t understand the
power of emotional manipulation. I didn’t understand that physical abuse
is more than a ‘hit’ or a ‘punch’. All I knew was that I was
exhausted and I was losing myself. As
far as I know, Gaslight's your first stab at screenwriting - so
what prompted that move, and why did you choose to tell exactly this
story?
The film was never set out to be a
film. It came from a time where I started to write my feelings and
thoughts down as a coping mechanism. As a way to make sense of what had
happened. I was suffering from insomnia and major anxiety, and writing
enabled me to explore what happened rather then bury it. It was quite a
while down the line I looked at all my scatty notes and thought… I think
I can use this as a basis to tell a story and to raise awareness of a
subject very close to my heart. And here we are. I feel extremely exposed
but I have to remember why I wrote this story and why it must be told. How would you describe yourself as a writer, and
writers (for whatever medium) who inspire you? Stories about people, current anxieties
and real contemporary issues that push boundaries inspire me. Writing that
is written with the aim of change that evokes thought. Obviously I am a
hug fan of Black Mirror. What can you tell us about Gaslight's
director Nicole Pott, and what's your collaboration with her like so far? Nicole is the most hard working person
I have ever met. I met her on set of the short film Choice which she
was a producer on some years ago. I always remembered
her passion and hard working nature. We stayed in touch via social
media and I kept an eye out on the work she was producing and then
directing. She has a beautiful artistic approach and sincerity to her work
which is definitely needed in this project. It was weird, I knew straight
away she was my director and I was keen to get her involved before she
became too big and would say no, haha! She is going places! Since
collaborating it has been confirmed that we have a very synched aesthetic
vision for the film which is incredibly important. You
also play the lead in Gaslight - so do talk about your character,
what will you draw upon to bring her to life, and did you write her with
yourself in mind from the get-go? She was written from my
experiences and I debated for a while if I should play her or not, mainly
due to fear. I was scared - scared of what people would think, of judgement
and of being vulnerable. However, this is all part of the journey I guess.
What is the point in half-exposing a story? For me, there was no other
option. I needed to tell this story myself, so that it remains sincere,
honest and above all else it is the last hurdle I will need to jump
through in moving forward from this experience. In showing that victims
will not be silenced and we are not ashamed.
What can you tell us about the rest of your cast, and why exactly
these people? Anthony Quinlan is the last cast member - he is a well known soap actor and an absolute gent. I was
introduced to him by writer Paul Butler from Book of Monsters who actually
became a bit of a script writing mentor for me throughout Gaslight. As
soon as I saw Anthony I knew that he was perfect. He has this beautiful
sincerity but can play something a little rough around the edges and
darker. I really hoped that he liked the script. Luckily he did and so we
were able to move forward. As
far as I know, as we speak Gaslight is still in its
fundraising stages - so what can you tell us about your campaign?
We have just launched our IndieGoGo campaign.
In order to make the film, we are
looking to raise £5250. This budget, while tight, will allow us to cover
the basics – feeding them (very important), sleeping arrangements and
transporting our cast and crew as well as paying for locations and
covering insurances.
indiegogo.com/projects/gaslight-film
Once
the budget's in place, what's the schedule? And any idea when and where
the film might be released yet?
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We aim to film the last weekend of
August. As of yet, we are hoping it hits some of the bigger festivals. We
are aiming high! Cannes, Tribeca and Sundance would be phenomenal. Any future projects
beyond Gaslight? At the moment a few potential projects
coming up which I cannot yet discuss but I am very excited to be a part
of. Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, IndieGoGo?
indiegogo.com/projects/gaslight-film
Twitter: @filmgaslight
Instagram: gaslight short
Thanks
for the interview!
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