Elise Valmorbida
First-time producer Elise was awarded the honour of Trailblazer by Skillset and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. She is a published writer and a member of 26 and NPA. Her microbudget film SAXON will come to UK cinemas in summer 2008, after collecting laurels in Edinburgh, Israel and the European Independent Film Festival.
What kind of projects attract you?
I love films that dare to do something different, not as gimmickry, but with integrity. A script that is dangerously, truthfully, freshly, beautifully written.
You can produce the film of your dreams. What and who would that entail?
The film of my dreams right now is SARAGOSSA, the sequel to SAXON. It would star Sean Harris – he is utterly compelling as the haunted character of Eddie. Unlike SAXON, the film SARAGOSSA would have a proper budget. We’d be able to pay people proper fees, and laugh with (not at) our P&A potential. As for who: Greg Loftin writes/directs. Michael Portman and Vincent Browett compose the music. Steven Priovolos is the DoP.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a producer?
• Read The Guerrilla Filmmaker’s Handbook all the way through, then repeat small
• doses daily.
• Interrogate the script. Nothing will save a film from a dodgy script.
• Ask anyone and everyone for anything and everything — their advice, cash, skills,
children’s children… If they say no, that’s OK. They might just say yes.
• Say thanks.
• Don’t mess with the law: underpin all that creativity with proper contracts.
• Don’t listen to the doom-mongers and gloom-buckets. (Look at their sad faces!)
• Brace yourself for a marathon, only longer. Don’t give up.
Most significant moment in your career so far?
The Edinburgh International Film Festival. First, SAXON was selected. Then the Trailblazer award. Then SAXON was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature. Between the film and the day-jobs, the emotional and the financial burden, I was totally spent… but suddenly it was worth something beyond our little world.
You’ll die happy when…
I’ll die happy any time
