An industry professional’s view on Hide & Seek

I’ve been in the film industry for over 10 years, in the production side.   I have worked on over 20 film and television productions brought to the island by Isle of Man Film/CinemaNX but my activity now is in feature development, alongside London-based partners, concentrating on script development, packaging, financing etc.

Earlier this year I was asked by Dave, Christy and Phil to come on board the Mannin Shorts scheme, in the role of initial script assessor to help the writers on development of their screenplays, before their formal submission to the UK for judging.  The next thing I knew, my inbox was fatter to the tune of 30 submissions, in all shapes, sizes and forms.  Armed with my notebook, pencil, post it notes and military strength coffee, I plunged into a myriad of worlds created by some very diverse local talent, and  visited many places in those few days  (I think Michael Palin might have struggled to keep up).  My travels included medieval versions of the island, the sinister London underworld, a Manhattan park at lunchtime, an Gilliam-esque city suburb, a very macabre warzone, a wedding day full of surprises,  and a secluded beach hosting a wardrobe!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this initial assessment process, and was very impressed by the overall standard of material, some pieces really hitting the mark.  They offered a strong testament to the creativity that exists on the island and gave solid foundation to the Mannin Shorts goal of promoting our burgeoning film-makers.  I subsequently met with all the writers to give my critiques, and produced my short list of the scripts that I felt carried the most potential.  It was very pleasing to discover later that, when the scheme’s UK Judge, Screenwriter and story analyst, Danny Stack, made his selection, we pretty much had the same results.

Very much in my choice list was Ady Hall’s HIDE AND SEEK.  To me, it really worked.  The structure and pace were there, telling the story of Alice, a character I could really believe in, irrespective of the bizarre world where she found herself. Indeed my notes to Ady were minimal to say the least.   The emotional core of the story was established from the get-go, the psychological journey she found herself on, and the way it was presented, really made me want to follow it with her. .  And as for that denouement …I had my own idea of how we would ‘fade to black’, but I have to confess I was surprised, and laughing out loud for a good two minutes.  No, not the ‘LOL’ we see in text messaging and hastily sent emails, when we know damn well the sender is sitting poker faced at their keyboard.  I was Laughing.   Out.   Loud…..

When I’m asked what I look for in a script, of course I study story, structure, pace, flow, but my primary focus is ‘character’.  It’s possibly something of a cliché but when assessing characters, and their ability to tell a story,  I need to be able to laugh with them, cry with them and punch the air with them i.e. they must be well drawn, believable, with depth, soul, emotion. If I don’t believe in them, it doesn’t matter if the story is set in period London, the Planet Zog in the year 50 trillion or anywhere (or time) in between.  I have to believe, in order to attach, and in order to care.  And I cared about Alice.

There have been very strong arguments presented as to why certain individual members of the production structure are the most important in bringing a film to fruition.  And indeed, they are all absolutely vital to the process.  But to me, it all starts with a strong script. Compelling plot, structure, ‘heart’, and characters you can attach to. Without them, there is no story to capture, no vision to create.  You might argue that this is all very obvious, not exactly rocket science, but bear in mind there are thousands of screenplays out there, but not necessarily thousands being made.

It’ll come as no surprise to learn, that when Ady, Debs Gwinnell, Laura Jones, Lynda Reiss and John Craine came together earlier in the summer, to begin prep on HIDE AND SEEK, I was thrilled and excited that one of my choice favourites was about to be achieved. I was even more pleased when they asked me to come on board in an official capacity.  The cast and crew recently spent 4 days in and around Douglas, bringing Alice and her upside-down world to life.  It was a lot of hard work, very long hours, and many challenges, but all that was tempered with a team that formed an enormous bond.  No airs, graces or egos, just a great shared  passion and purpose, ‘can and will do’ attitude’, and a really positive atmosphere.  Exactly how it should be and a great launch for the whole Mannin Shorts initiative.

And I can’t wait to see the finished result.

— Rob Craine