Best Girl Grip

My guest this week is the very well-named Nicole Dorsey, a filmmaker who splits her time between Toronto and LA. Her work has screened internationally and her debut feature film Black Conflux - a haunting exploration of womanhood, isolation, and toxic masculinity, set in 1980s Newfoundland - premiered at this year’s TIFF. She has several short films to her name including Arlo Alone which was a Vimeo Staff Pick and she also makes commercials for clients like Nike, Redbull and Nestlé.  We spoke about the challenges inherent in moving from shorts to features, including maintaining tone and getting funding, the necessity of living frugally as a filmmaker, participating in TIFF’s Filmmaker Lab this year and the influences behind her debut feature Black Conflux from Paul Thomas Anderson to Andrea Arnold.  I really enjoyed my conversation with Nicole, she was very down-to-earth and has fantastic taste in movies, so without further adieu, this is episode 36 of Best Girl Grip.

This week I spoke to Clarisse Loughrey, the chief film critic for The Independent. She also acts as a regular stand-in for Mark Kermode on BBC Radio 5 Live’s ‘Kermode and Mayo’ and runs That Darn Movie Show, a weekly review channel on YouTube. We cover lots and a lot of it is new ground for the podcast because I’ve never interviewed a film critic before - so we talk about the art of pitching, how Clarisse learnt what a good freelance rate was, how she learnt to trust her opinion and put it on the Internet, what her writing process is, the fear you get when your opinion of a movie differs from your peers and fair bit more, which I think will hopefully be insightful not just for people interesting in a career in film criticism, but also to anyone that reads film reviews - if that’s not too audacious - and what goes into that. So thank you so much to Clarisse for sharing that perspective.  This is episode 47 of Best Girl Grip!  

The final ever episode! This week, my first ever guest, Georgia Goggin is back! As a producer, Georgia has been collaborating with writer/director Dionne Edwards for over a decade under their banner Teng Teng Films. Georgia was nominated for the Breakthrough Producer BIFA for her work on their critically acclaimed debut PRETTY RED DRESS. Their previous film, the celebrated 2016 short WE LOVE MOSES won multiple awards, screened at festivals worldwide, has been licensed by Canal+, Netflix, HBO and is now available on Disney+. Georgia’s writing and directing credits include BEND, which was backed by BBC Drama and comes to Short of the Week in December 2023, and SORRY FI DISTURB YUH (written by Russeni Fisher) which was nominated for the Outspoken Prize for Poetry in Film. Georgia has a feature in development with The Electric Shadow Company and a TV series with The Development Partnership. Georgia is an alum of Sundance, EIFF and Rotterdam talent development programmes. She is also Development Executive at The Uncertain Kingdom. We talk about becoming a writer and director in her own right and a whole host of reflections on making a film during a pandemic, making a creative career and well, making a life… Plus! Georgia asks me some questions about how the podcast got started, how it’s evolved and what it’s taught me…   SHOW NOTES Find out where you can watch PRETTY RED DRESS Apply for The Uncertain Kingdom's Short Film Production Fund Listen to our first conversation!  

This is week my guest is Desiree Akhavan!  Desiree’s first feature film was 2014’s APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR, in which she also starred. It came off the back of a web series she made in 2010 called The Slope, with fellow NYU postgrad film student Ingrid Jungermann. After Appropriate Behaviour, Desiree had a guest spot on the TV show Girls, and also began adapting the book THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, alongside her co-writer and producer Cecilia Frugiuele. The film, which Desiree also directed, would star Chloe Grace Moretz and Sasha Lane and went on to win the Sundance Dramatic Grand Jury Prize in 2018.  Around the same time, Desiree also created, wrote and directed a brilliant 6-part TV show for Channel 4 called THE BISEXUAL, starring Maxine Peake, Brian Gleeson, Naomi Ackie and Desiree herself and all set in London.  Since 2018 Desiree has been working on a very personal project which we talk about, as well directing episodes of many brilliant TV shows, including RAMY, HACKS and TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS.  We talk about a lot, and if you’ve ever read an interview with Desiree you know she’s very good at cutting through the bullshit and this is no exception. We dig into how the past five years have seen her working at a different pace and why that is, we talk about the moments after success and the expectations that were placed on her career, we talk about what it actually means or requires to direct an episode of TV, finding a soulmate in her creative partner Cecilia and why learning and having fun is at the centre of everything she does…

This week’s guest is Moss Barclay, an Executive Producer for TV at See-Saw Films, whose shows include SLOW HORSES  and THE ESSEX SERPENT on Apple TV+, HEARTSTOPPER on Netflix and THE NORTH WATER on BBC iPlayer. Moss started her career working for filmmaker Paul Greengrass before co-founding new-writing theatre festival, HighTide. She was also an intern at Working Title and went on to hold positions at Big Talk Pictures and Sixteen Films before spending 10 years at Pulse Films, where she led the company’s expansion into scripted film and TV, developing GANGS OF LONDON for Sky AMC.  We talk about how Paul Greengrass introduced her to the film industry, her love of stories and reading and how that led her towards development, demystifying what it means to be a Head of Development, her time at Pulse Films and how she helped to redefine what Pulse did or could do, and her shift towards television, and what authored TV looks like, as well as her work at See-Saw Films. 

This week’s guest is Leo Anna Thomas, (they/them) who has twenty years’ experience in the Art Department and six as Standby Art Director on projects such as SMALL AXE, TRIGONOMETRY, HIS DARK MATERIALS and BLACK MIRROR.  They are also the first wellbeing facilitator for the Film and TV industry. Having experienced bullying firsthand they stepped away from the industry in 2009 to look after their mental health. They returned in 2013 and as part of that return they began to develop the role of the wellbeing facilitator alongside 6ft from the Spotlight, where they became a full-time facilitator as of 2020.  We speak about their induction into the world of film through the medium of VHS, a full circle 28 Days Later moment, the role of the standby art director and why it’s not just standing by to become an art director, and their work on the film Pride, and then we segue into the work Leo has being doing more recently in the world of wellbeing and mental health, and how they’ve pioneered a new role in the industry that seeks to prioritise care, calm and compassion to ensure that film & TV productions can be more mentally healthy places to work.  If anything you hear in this conversation chimes with you I urge you to check out the show notes, which contain lots of links to further resources and websites about wellbeing facilitation.   TW: Please note, that today’s conversation includes mention of suicide and bullying, so listener discretion is advised.   SHOW NOTES: Film & TV Charity Looking Glass Survey Film & TV Charity Whole Picture Toolkit 6ft From The Spotlight Listen to Leo’s podcast Mental Health in Film Become a Mental Health First Aider Find out where to watch the film Pride Find out where to watch the film Pretty Red Dress Watch the trailer for Saltburn 

This week’s guest is Farhana Bhula, the Head of Creative at Film4, where she  has overseen production on a mix of projects from debut to established filmmakers.  Those projects include How to Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker, Layla by Amrou Al-Kadhi and All Of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.   She joined Film4 in 2022 from the BFI where she was a Senior Development and Production Executive and worked on Scrapper by Charlotte Regan, Pretty Red Dress by Dionne Edwards, Reggie Yates’ Pirates, Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day, debbie tucker green’s ear for eye, Ben Sharrock’s Limbo and Aleem Khan’s After Love.   Prior to the BFI, she was head of development at Wildgaze Films (Brooklyn, An Education) and a development executive at Endor Productions. She has also produced shorts and a micro-budget feature. We talk about how she discovered development was a thing and why she felt suited to it, her roles at Wildgaze Films and the BFI Film Fund, the differences between working for a public funding body and a public service broadcaster, what she thinks makes a good debut feature and how she creates a good working relationship with filmmakers, the impetus behind the recent Future Takes scheme and the book she thinks is a must-read if you work in development…   SHOW NOTES Buy Farhana’s book recommendation ‘A Swim in a Pond in the Rain’ Watch the trailer for ‘How To Have Sex’ Discover the nine projects Film4 and BFI are funding through the Future Takes programme Read an interview with Farhana and the development team at Film4  Find out where to watch Scrapper Find out where to watch Pretty Red Dress  

This week’s guest is Vicki Brown, the Senior Executive of Sales & Distribution at the BFI.  Before the BFI she was at Together Films where she was Head of Acquisitions, Sales and Distribution, a company that is one of the leaders in social impact entertainment. She was responsible for setting up the international sales department and oversaw the acquisition of In Camera the first feature from director Naqqash Khalid.  Prior to her arrival at Together Films, Vicki was the Director of International Sales at Altitude. At Altitude, she represented such diverse and critically acclaimed titles such as Rocks (by Sarah Gavron), Ali & Ava (by Clio Barnard), The Princess (by Ed Perkins), Calm With Horses (by Nick Rowland) and Diego Maradona (by Asif Kapadia).  Vicki has also previously worked at Focus Features International where she handled sales on numerous titles including Cloud Atlas and Moonrise Kingdom.  In addition, she seeks to champion under-represented voices in the film industry. Vicki is the co-founder (alongside former podcast guest Chi Thai) of MilkTea Films, an organisation which looks to shine a spotlight on East and Southeast Asian talent through screenings and events with a goal to building inclusion, communities and audiences. MilkTea was announced as a Film London Lodestar in 2023 and in 2022 and 2023, was nominated for a Big Screen Award. All of which to say, Vicki is incredibly hardworking and a wonderful person to have in this industry, and therefore on this podcast. We talk about how she unearthed sales as the aspect of the film industry that she could be good at, what sales agents actually do, how she copes with the intensity of festivals and markets, working at Altitude when they were just starting out, how she knows when it’s time for a change, founding MilkTea and why that brings her joy, and what better East and Southeast Asian representation in cinema could look like.    SHOW NOTES Listen to Vicki's podcast 'Roll Credits'. Find out more about MilkTea Films and their upcoming events.  Listen to my episode of Best Girl Grip with Chi Thai. Find out where to watch Celine Song's film Past Lives.  

This week’s guest is Tricia Tuttle, the Head of Directing Fiction at NFTS and former Director of BFI Festivals, where she led on both LFF and Flare.  She announced her departure from the role in October 2022, after 10 years at the BFI as Festivals Director and Deputy Head of Festivals. Prior to that, she held the post of film and skills programme manager at BAFTA and events producer at London’s The Script Factory.  We talk about her early and passionate love of cinema, moving to London from North Carolina, discovering an interest in exhibition and audiences, her time as Director of Festivals at the BFI, instating a creative vision as well as galvanising a team to deliver LFF and Flare year after year, as well as how she designs and delivers a curriculum at NFTS that equips a next generation of directors and offers a broad range of models for creativity and success and how she seeks out new challenges in her career. Tricia is the kind of guest I created Best Girl Grip to speak to - she’s someone I’ve admired and been inspired by from afar for many years, especially when I started working at the BFI and attending both LFF and Flare with almost crazed commitment. In fact I started going regularly in 2016 so many of my best memories of the festival happened while Tricia was overseeing it, all of which to say this was a special one for me and I hope you enjoy listening.   SHOW NOTES LFF Screen Talk with Jane Campion LFF Screen Talk with Celine Sciamma Find out more about the BFI Flare x BAFTA mentorship programme and apply now for the next edition! Find out more about the Direction Fiction MA at NFTS Watch the trailer for Anatomy of a Fall, which comes out in cinemas next month Listen to previous episodes of Best Girl Grip with guests that Tricia mentions including Sandra Hebron and Cathy Brady

This week’s guest is Uzma Hasan, a producer known for bringing subversive stories to global audiences.  Her first feature as producer was THE INFIDEL, starring Omid Djalili, David Baddiel and Archie Panjabi.  Her latest feature film CREATURE - directed by Academy-Award winner Asif Kapadia - is a ground-breaking, genre-busting collaboration with Lawrence Olivier Award winning choreographer Akram Khan and sees the English National Ballet perform a story inspired by the play Woyzeck.  Uzma is currently Interim CEO of Ffilm Cymru Wales, the development agency for film in Wales, having stepped down from its board to take up the role. Additionally, Uzma is Chair of the Bush Theatre, home for new writing and talent. She was previously a non-executive director on the board of Channel 4 and a trustee of Bird’s Eye View, a non-profit that campaigns for gender equality in film. We talk about the world event that prompted her pivot into the film industry, her first job working with director Mira Nair, producing CREATURE during lockdown and how it inspired a different way of working, what good leadership means to her, redefining success and many, many more juicy topics - it was a really engaging and thoughtful conversation from my perspective, that I really enjoyed having so I hope you enjoy listening. 

This week’s guest is Laura Zempel, an award-winning editor for film & TV based in Los Angeles.  I invited to Laura to the podcast after binge-watching the series Beef on Netflix earlier this year and being really impressed with everything about that show, but particularly the editing and how it balances the modulating tone and storylines so deftly.  Laura was nominated for an Emmy for her work on that show, and not for the first time, she previously won for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series in Euphoria.  She also worked on Josephine Decker’s film The Sky is Everywhere and the Duplass brothers’ show Room 104.  Most recently she edited two episodes of the new Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry, starring Brie Larson. The first three episodes are available to watch as of today.  We talk about how she developed an interest in editing, her experience of internships and assisting, including etiquette and how to read a room, being obsessive with music and making playlists for her projects, editing an actors’ performance, staying emotionally engaged with the work, Avid being her first language and trusting the process.   SHOW NOTES American Cinema Editors internship programme  Read this great interview with Laura over on The Edit Girls website Watch Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+ Watch The Sky is Everywhere on Apple TV+ Watch BEEF on Netflix Find out where to watch Euphoria Watch Laura’s film recommendation ‘Fresh’ by Mimi Cave. Listen to my Best Girl Grip interviews with editors Louise Ford and Maya Maffioli. 

This week’s guest is Clare Baines, the BFI’s first Disability Equality Lead.  Clare is a blind creative. Unable to recognise her own experience reflected in culture, she uses storytelling to create community and belonging for disabled people. Through comedy and joy, she challenges society's perception of disability, queerness, and all the joyful intersections in between.  She is the BFI's first Disability Equality Lead where she leads community-led action to tackle ableism within the industry, authentic on-screen representation, and advocates for Disabled talent and audiences.  Elsewhere she has recently written and directed her first short film, a rom-com called ‘Blind Date’ - funded by Roundhouse - that confronts the subject of ableism within dating through the eyes of a young visually-impaired woman.  We talk about Clare’s experience of becoming blind at the age of 15, her degree in biomedical engineering and working in tech before joining the BFI. In the context of her role there we talk about where you begin with creating equality and changing certain practices in the industry, finding kinship and community in the industry and how people who aren’t D/deaf, disabled or neurodiverse can be better allies to those who do identify as such.  Clare was a joyous guest to have on the podcast, she emanates hope and energy and passion and she’s someone that makes me glad to be a part of this industry, so I hope you enjoy listening.   SHOW NOTES UK Cinema Association CEA Card Screenskills mentorships Scope, a disability charity in the UK and the research piece Clare mentions Watch the short film ‘My Eyes Are Up Here’ on BFI Player BFI’s preferred terms for inclusive language  Brazen Productions’ resources  A list of companies who can provide audio description for films Watch the trailer for Ella Glendining's documentary 'Is Anybody Out There?' Listen to my episode of Best Girl Grip with the BFI's Industry Inclusion Exec Melanie Hoyes

This week my guest is Cassandra Johnson-Bekoe, a woman who wears many hats - among which are writer, producer, script editor and the current Head of Scripted Development at DARE Pictures.  After working as a bouncer to fund her Screenwriting certificate from the Met Film School, Cassandra's way into the industry was through the Mama Youth Project in 2016.  Cassandra was previously senior development executive at Daniel Kaluuya’s production outfit 59%, overseeing the company’s slate and generating new IP across international and regional markets. Prior to this she worked in scripted development. Her credits include “Ted Lasso” season 2 (WarnerBros/Apple+), “Riches” (Greenacre Films for ITV), “Secret Invasion” (Marvel Studios) and “The Chemistry of Death” (Cuba Pictures Ltd, for Paramount+). Cassandra also co-founded the collective 'Black Women in Scripted' in 2020, and which currently boasts over 300 members - a mix of established and award-winning writers, producers, and execs, as well as new industry talent.  We talk about the difference between pride and self-worth, how to set your rates as a freelancer, how to adapt to working at different companies, how securing an agent changed her career, how she treads the line between writer and script editor, how she gives notes and what it means to be a warm CEO, finding community in the industry and prioritising your mental health above all else.   SHOW NOTES: Mama Youth Project  Black Women in Scripted  Sister Pictures Vanity Fair article about the toxic atmosphere on the set of “Lost”  Find out where to watch Cassandra’s film recommendation I AM NOT A WITCH  For more conversations with women who work in development, listen to episodes of Best Girl Grip with Katie Sinclair and Dionne Farrell.  

This week I'm pleased to welcome to Best Girl Grip talent agent Emma Obank.  Emma joined Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, an industry-leading literary agency representing many of the world’s best-known creatives, in 2014 as an Agent’s Assistant.  At the age of 26, Emma started building her own list of screenwriters, directors and literary properties; today she represents some of the UK’s most exciting and promising new voices.  Alongside her agenting work, Emma launched Casarotto’s unrepresented writer and director surgeries, which act as a platform for unrepresented talent to gain direct access to agents and creatives and freely ask questions about the industry; guests at the surgeries have included Bisha K. Ali, Jack Thorne, Jessica Hobbs and Kayleigh Llewellyn.  Emma is a frequent guest speaker at the NFTS and has been on the panel for writing competitions such as BAFTA Rocliffe and Funny Women. Emma was a mentee on the 2023 Women in Film & TV mentorship scheme. We talk about how she became aware of, and interested in, talent agenting, how she worked her way up the agenting ladder, how she acts as a buffer for rejection and maintains client relationships, how she decides to take on new clients and her recommendations for approaching agents.   SHOW NOTES Follow Emma on Twitter, where she gives lots of great advice and shares useful resources for writers and creatives looking to break into the industry.  A great thread that Emma put together of film industry accounts to follow on Twitter for updates and opportunities. And the thread I reference about ‘how to cold approach an agent’. Check out the BBC Writersroom Opportunities page.  Find out where to watch Emma’s film recommendation ‘Millie Lies Low’, directed by Michelle Savill. For more conversations with talent agents, listen to my episodes of Best Girl Grip with Roxana Adle and Kat Buckle.   

This week my guest is award-winning, freelance foley editor and mixer Sophia Hardman.  Sophia studied Sound Technology at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and started out her career at Twickenham Studios as an intern 9 years ago.  Since then Sophia has worked on a wide range of projects, from high-end TV dramas to Oscar-nominated feature films. Her credits include THE OUTFIT, HOUSE OF GUCCI, THE LAST DUEL, BELFAST, NO TIME TO DIE, ENOLA HOMES, THE TOURIST, STATE OF THE UNION and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH.  We talk about the strange and unique language of foley, the differences between a foley artist and a foley editor, what it means to create impactful, unexpected sound effects, why she made the move to freelancing after working in-house at post house, how she chooses projects to work on and how she stays across technical / technological trends.    SHOW NOTES Find out where you can watch THE OUTFIT Find out where you can watch THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH Find out where you can watch NO TIME TO DIE Watch ENOLA HOLMES on Netflix Watch the trailer for THE INVENTOR Find BECTU’s rate cards here.  Check out Midge Costin’s documentary MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND Watch the trailer for Sophia’s film recommendation EARTH MAMA directed by Savannah Leaf.  For more conversations with women who worked in sound, listen to episodes of Best Girl Grip with Lucy Bright, Ines Adriana and Anna Bertmark. 

This week's guest is producer Helen Gladders. I became aware of Helen’s work through the 2016 short film RHONNA & DONNA, directed by Daina O. Pusic, and then I kept seeing her name popping up everywhere and knew she was a producer to watch.  More things you might want to know about Helen:   She is a graduate of the National Film and Television School having done their MA in Producing for Film & Television. She set up her own company Gingerbread Pictures in October 2016 and was nominated for the “Best Producer” award at Underwire for her short THE WYRD written and directed by Chloë Wicks, in 2017. She is an alumni of the BFI NETWORK’S Producer weekender, Edinburgh Film Festival talent lab, and NETWORK@LFF. Her recent short films include NIGHT BUS directed by former podcast guests Jessica & Henrietta Ashworth and the Film4 & BFI Network backed RUN written & directed by former podcast guest Ruth Greenberg and starring Niamh Algar.  At the time of recording, she was in post-production on her first feature TUESDAY, written and directed by Daina O. Pusic, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lola Petticrew and backed by A24, BBC Films, BFI, and Cinereach. And excitingly, the film has since had two festival appearances confirmed. It will premiere at this year’s Telluride festival in the US, followed shortly after by the BFI London Film Festival, where it will screen in the First Feature Competition.  Elsewhere, Helen is busy working on several projects including debut features from filmmakers Jessica & Henrietta Ashworth, Astrid Thorvaldsen, Morayo Akande and Zoe Alker. We talk about how Helen discovered a knack for producing, her experience studying at NFTS, establishing a vision and a voice for her production company, the short film funding landscape, what it means to package a project, the differences between producing shorts and features, and how Titanic kickstarted both of our fascinations with the film industry…   SHOW NOTES: Watch Helen's shorts RHONNA & DONNA, RUN and NIGHT BUS. Listen to my episodes of Best Girl Grip with filmmakers Ruth Greenberg and Jessica & Henrietta Ashworth.   Read Deadline's review for the feature TUESDAY, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Buy tickets for TUESDAY at the BFI London Film Festival.  Find out where you can watch Helen's film recommendation: JUMBO.  For more conversations with producers, listen to episodes of Best Girl Grip with Jeanie Igoe, Chi Thai, Sarah Brocklehurst, Emily Morgan and Elhum Shakerifar.     

This week my guest is the wonderful Eve Gabereau. Eve is someone whose work and ingenuity I became aware of quite early on in my own career and she is someone I have wanted on the podcast for a good while. Eve is the Founder and Managing Director of Modern Films, a London-based, female-led, social issues-driven production, distribution and event cinema company. It was founded in 2017 and since gone onto to release buzzy titles such as BORDER, MURINA, HAPPY AS LAZZARO, WHITE RIOT, WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY and Oscar-winner DRIVE MY CAR.  Two of their upcoming releases were part of this year’s LFF programme - Emily Atef’s MORE THAN EVER and Kristoffer Borgli’s SICK OF MYSELF, which both speak well to the kind of provocative, spellbinding and whip-smart cinema that Modern Films have made their trademark.  Prior to that Eve was the MD of Soda Pictures for 15 years, where she released such indie hits as TONI ERDMANN, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, PATERSON and MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE. She also executive produced Rungano Nyoni’s directorial debut I AM NOT A WITCH. She is a regular feature on panels and training schemes throughout the industry, and was also featured in Geoffrey Macnab’s 2021 book ‘The British Film Industry in 25 Careers: The Mavericks, Visionaries and Outsiders Who Shaped British Cinema’, so it’s fair to say I approached this interview with high expectations for the wisdom and insight it might contain and Eve definitely didn’t disappoint and it’s truly a privilege to count her among Best Girl Grip’s guests. 

This week my guest is producer Jeanie Igoe.  Jeanie’s big break came when she landed a role at A24, where her credits as a production executive include Barry Jenkins’ MOONLIGHT, Trey Edwards Shults’, IT COMES AT NIGHT, Bo Burnham’s EIGHTH GRADE and Robert Eggers’ THE LIGHTHOUSE. She also served as a producer on their TV series RAMY, and a co-producer on David Lowery’s THE GREEN KNIGHT. She then launched herself as an independent producer, with her first project MISS JUNETEENTH, the directorial debut from Channing Godfrey Peoples going on to premiere at Sundance and receive a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize. Most recently, Jeanie co-produced CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS alongside Catherine Magee and the team at Element Pictures, including former podcast guest Emma Norton and Development Producer Chelsea Morgan Hoffman who developed Sally Rooney’s novel into the series script, alongside the writers.  We talk about moving to New York, getting a job at A24 in its fledging years as a company and then being witness to their exponential growth, making the decision to start producing independently, moving back to Ireland, maintaining a work-life balance, how Jeanie creates an atmosphere of collaboration and care on set and adapts her role to the needs of the project and the filmmaker. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I did having it.

This week I’m thrilled to be chatting with film critic, broadcaster, podcaster and now author Hanna Flint, about her path into the film and media industry, as well as how her new book STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER was born. Having started out in various journalism and media roles for the likes of MailOnline, Metro and OK! Magazine, Hanna has since become a prolific film critic and features writer, with bylines at a wealth of outlets, including Variety, Empire Magazine, Sight & Sound, Time Out, The Guardian, Esquire, Dazed, British GQ and Stylist, and has also appeared as a critic and commentator on the likes of BBC Radio 4, Sky News, BBC Radio 5 Live and TALKRadio.  She is also a host for MTV Movies and the co-host of the Fade to Black podcast alongside Amon Warmann and former Best Girl Grip guest Clarisse Loughrey.  Her book STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER, is out now and weaves together personal memoir with cultural criticism as she reflects on how cinema has been formative to her own identity and the world we live in. The book is sprawling, funny and down-to-earth and manages to traverse topics such basketball, sexuality, sexual assault, colourism, her changing relationship to her Tunisian heritage, eating disorders, social media, family, first crushes and much much more.  Our conversation likewise covers lots of ground as we probe the pros and cons of doing an MA in journalism, how Hanna hustled her way into her career with hard work and persistence, how she established herself as a critic, how the idea for her book developed, the madness of writing it in just under three months and her relationship to it now as it makes its way into the world. 

My guest this week is the incredibly talented and prolific sound designer and mixer Ines Adriana. Ines studied for an MA in sound design at NFTS and has been credited on over 40 projects since 2020, including some incredible short films like Ruth Greenberg’s RUN, Molly Manning Walker’s, GOOD THANKS, YOU?, Theo James Krekis’ PRAM SNATCHER, Nia Childs’ HOME, as well as documentaries such as THE CATHEDRAL and SELF-PORTRAIT. Ines’ work has screened at Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, BFI London Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest. She is a Film London Lodestar 2022, a Berlinale Talent alumni and a member of the BFI NETWORK x BAFTA crew.  We talk about how she discovered a passion for sound, finding the confidence and the skills to call herself a sound designer, her ‘fever dream’ experience studying at NFTS, how her career picked up momentum and how sound design can facilitate and augment story. I always enjoy the craft-centred episodes because I’m such a rookie in that space and it’s such a fun opportunity to learn about a completely different area of filmmaking, so I appreciate Ines’ time and I hope you get something from our conversation.