by Fiordi Arapi

F: Hi, Timothy.

T: Hi there.

F: How are you doing?

T: I’m very well, how are you?

F: I’m doing good.

T: Amazing. So you’re studying screenwriting at UAL?

F: Yes I am.

T: How’s it going?

F: It’s good. We’re about to enter the last term, so it’s about to start getting hectic.

T: Yeah, I remember that.

F: In two months we’re doing our pitches to producers, so the time until then is literally just going to be getting ready for that.

T: Sure, yeah, makes all the sense in the world. That’s very exciting.

F: Did you have to do a similar thing at MetFilm?

T: I did, yeah, so essentially my master’s project at the end of the course was to produce a short short film from scratch. We worked with the other courses like the screenwriters, the producers and the cinematographers et cetera. We all collaborated, picked a team to work with across each of the courses to make the final project.

F: So that was Galatea right?

T: Yeah, Galatea was the one that I submitted as my master’s project.

F: What was it was it like working on it?

T: It was great. I’d say that what I I learned afterwards was that I was very grateful for the preparation I did. It feel like it’s a bit of a cliche to say you can never prep enough, but the whole thing about the movie being made in preparation does hold very true. Obviously doing as much preparation as possible helps. When you get on set, it can be completely different and you have to improvise and change stuff.

But I don’t think that means that the preparation is wasted because it gives you a sort of springboard to go off, basically.

F: Okay, so best to be as prepared as you can be.

T: 100%. We had a situation where, because of the way that the SD cards got transferred, we only had three minutes left of footage at the end of the day and we had this whole montage sequence planned out. Although it would have been a lot longer in the way that we planned it, we managed to film the clips within that three minutes of time. It was a lot shorter, but if anything, it came across a bit more punchy. So it’s things like that, you can’t always predict what’s going to happen, but sometimes if you’re all working together and you’re all kind of being there in the moment, you can sometimes come up with something better.

F: Was the idea for Galatea something you had when you started the course or was it something that you were working on before?

T: The idea specifically, I didn’t have at the start of the course. My favourite genre is a dark horror fairy tale kind of thing. So the fact that it fit into that genre meant it was a very me sort of film. But no, I had the idea probably halfway through the course, and then I worked with one of the people on the screenwriting course to bring it to life after

F: Was your whole crew from uni then?

T: It was a bit of a mix actually. My partner is an actress, so she also works in the film industry. My best friend was also one of the actors. My partner also did the editing, because she’s very good at that. A lot of the crew was met film school-based, so it was a bit of a mixture, really.

F: And, have you had any experience making a film outside of the university yet?

T: I’ve not made a film that I’ve released outside. My partner and I run a show reel company making reels for actors so I’ve done that for about a year. What I did do, although I actually haven’t found somewhere to post it yet, is distribute Galatea around the festival circuit and I did win a few awards, so that was cool.

F: I remember we had a whole afternoon one day where they were talking to us about the importance of film festivals, not just in terms of submitting films to them, but how to use them as network opportunities and I was wondering, did you feel that kind of pressure?

T: That is a great question. Because of the circumstances of the time, I couldn’t actually attend any of the festivals that we submitted it in. But in hindsight and in the years since, I would say that, although it’s great to have the laurel of the awards on your posters, I would probably argue that there is a lot to be said for the networking at festivals being really valuable because sometimes somebody that you’ll randomly have a conversation with after a screening or a film might end up being a lifelong collaborator or something like that. In this age where there’s so much content being made all the time, yes it’s important to get those laurels and win the awards and obviously that’s a great feeling and it kind of validates your work, but going to the festivals with the mindset of, oh, let’s find people to collaborate, let’s see who you could work with, I’d say that’s a really strong approach to have.

F: How do you go about approaching people? Whether you know them and their work or not, how do you introduce yourself and try and propose working together in the future?

T: It depends. I’ve been to a film fair, I think it was last year, which is a great thing to do because not only do you get to network with other collaborators, but they have different pop-ups of different production companies or film charities, different ways to get into work. If I was actually pushing myself as a director, I would probably pitch one of the scripts that I’m currently working on, use the log line and everything like that. Obviously you want to know that people are good to work with as well, but you find that out by trying it out essentially. You should also just try having conversations, find people that like similar films or plays, in terms of what you want to write scripts for. Find that common interest, because it is quite likely that, if somebody likes the same sort of films, they might well want to create something along those lines. The classic elevator pitch is also useful to have in your back pocket. Maybe if you have more, you can switch between them but having one ready is important.

F: Great, moving on to the present, are you still working at sky right now?

T: I am, I’m currently at Sky Academy Studios where I help young people making movie trailers or news reports at Sky which is very cool.

F: Do you find it hard balancing your own projects with that? Do you manage to find the time for both?

T: I’d be lying to you if I said it was easy. What I’ve found really helpful is, when I’m at a stage where I’m writing a script and I’m really wanting to make progress, locking off an hour in the evening. I used to really struggle when I’d write for a bit and really want to keep going but knowing I didn’t have the time which would feel really demotivating. What I found is that even if I only have time to write for 15 minutes or even five minutes a day, if you do that at least like four or five times a week, even if day by day, you don’t feel like they’re making progress, it really does build up.  You suddenly realise, oh my gosh, it’s only takes to me like, a month to write that whole script. So if I could, I’d go back in time  and tell myself it’s okay sometimes to write a little bit if you’re being more consistent.

F: On that topic, when you’re trying to write, you’ve got distractions, procrastination, things of that nature. How do you try and give yourself the best environment to minimise those?

T: It’s a great question I can’t say I always nail it on the head. Having a delegated space is helpful. Stephen King talks about the fact that the act of actually shutting the door to the outside world really helps you get in a creative mind space. It won’t work all the time and sometimes there will be distraction, but there’s something quite comforting about going, oh, okay, this is the area in which I write. This is where I can kind of let my creativity run wild. Sometimes you’ll just stare at the paint and nothing will come but if you just sort of let yourself sit in silence and let your thoughts wander, sometimes there will be a spark that goes off in your head. It kind of feels bad sometimes to just sit there and feel like you’re being unproductive, but it’s kind of all ticking away in the background.

F: Awesome. We’ve covered it slightly but, once I’ve graduated, what do you think is the best thing to do to start trying to get into the industry?

T: Great question. I know this might sound like a cliché, but it’s a case not getting demotivated if you feel like there’s a sort of momentum dip straightaway. I feel like it does come with the territory, even for the people that are successful, there’s ebbs and flows in their career. Its about knowing that you have a calling to do this, and some kind of spark will come for you. Its good to put in a bit of time to dedicate to your career whether that’s writing or whether that’s working on your CV or looking up opportunities. I don’t want to advocate too much for the whole “we’ll pay you in experience” kind of thing but there is a lot to be said for just being on set and actually getting to experience it. So if there are opportunities that aren’t your conventional paid gigs and that’s feasible for you, go for it because the more you do it, the more it will feel like the norm and you’ll gain so much from it. Also, try to find opportunities to network and find people that are on the same page

F: Okay, my last question, again I think you touched on it, how do you try and get over those times where you feel like you’re not getting opportunities and how do you try and keep pushing through and have faith that eventually there’s going to be a breakthrough?

T:  There’s days where it feels hard and demotivating but, besides not being hard on yourself on a particular day, you can only do so much. There’s this whole concept of the arts being a very saturated industry but the reason why people like art so much is that everyone’s voices are different. The way to look at it is, “okay, maybe I’m not where I want to be right now, but everything I’m doing, whether that be writing a script I’m unhappy with or something else is giving me the opportunity to understand what I don’t like”.  That’s something that I definitely didn’t do to begin with.

I would write a really bad script and think “ Oh, I’m an awful writer. Why did I even do this?” But now when I write something that I’m not happy with, I’m like “Okay, well, that sucks, but at least I now know that’s not what I want to do”. It gives you a context. I think you can kind of apply that to everything. If you’re writing with a person but it doesn’t pan out because of their schedule or their way of working then at least you learn more about how you like to work. I think that’s a great mentality to have. Don’t think something is a failure or went wrong but instead see it as another notch in your belt to hone in on what you want to do more.

F: So everything’s a lesson?

T: Yeah, 100%. It’s not to say that you shouldn’t be disappointed when things don’t go to plan or if you weren’t happy with a page of script. It just gives you the sort of outlook to go “Oh, that’s a shame but what can I take away from this to write a better page?” Another piece of advice is, if you’re debating whether to go to a film fair or festival, unless there’s a very good reason not to, it’s better to just give it a try and see if you like it or see if you get anything from it.

F: Well, I think that’s everything from my questions. Thank you so much again for agreeing to have a chat with me.

T: Not at all, it’s a pleasure.