Work it Out
Spotting talent: The Campus discusses the importance of a successful collaboration within the film industry. Isabel Coixet, Mike Medavoy and Stephen Daldry provide the answers.
Isabel Coixet
Who are the people in your neighbourhood? Or in this case – who are the people in your film? The theme of this year’s Berlinale Talent Campus, “Cinema Needs Talent – Looking for the Right People”, was the focus of the opening forum held today at HAU 1 theatre. Programme manager Matthijs Wouter Knol moderated the event that featured producer Mike Medavoy and directors Isabel Coixet and Stephen Daldry, relating their experiences on working with different individuals for their past projects.
Coixet talked about how the right people have helped shaping the landscape of her movies, particularly in THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS: “Without the strange harmony the cast and crew had together, there would be nothing.” She also related her experiences working twice with Pedro Almodóvar as producer. “To tell you the truth, it was a nightmare”, she told the audience who then burst into shocked giggles. “Pedro is so special, he sees things in his point-of-view always. His personality is larger than life, while I’m quiet. His films have people shouting and screaming, while mine are shy and introspective. Every decision I made was against his will. I still admire him, but bye bye, Pedro.”
“I try to surround myself with people who have had more experience than me”, Daldry shared when asked about the relationships he has formed with his team, “and that has certainly worked for me.” In his acclaimed films BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS, and THE READER, he said the secret lied in having his writers participate during the entire production, including the editing process. “Writers are paramount”, he said. “Keep them close.”
Medavoy, who produced this year’s SHUTTER ISLAND, advised that it’s all about making correct choices in choosing the right people for your film. “What is crucial is for you to have people who understand the puzzle and who can complete the puzzle for you”, he said.
“The most important thing is to focus on what the camera is capturing regardless of the drama happening behind the scenes,” Coixet said when asked what one should do when faced with the wrong people. “If you keep on sulking about your nasty crew or you keep thinking about your ego, nothing will happen to you.”
The Spanish filmmaker is currently in the middle of writing her next feature film set at the South of France during the beginning of World War II. Will the project be as melancholic as her past works? “Yes, it probably will. Anyway, I don’t like people making big dramas about their lives – in cinema and in real life”, she said, then laughed. “People say I’m a drama queen, but I’m not. I don’t know – ask the people I work with.”
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