What’s the premise behind your short film, First & Second?
First & Second is about grief. For me it was a way of dealing with my own experience of death – prior to writing, I’d had three people from my life pass away in as many months. It was an attempt to speak to those small texture moments that go hand-in-hand with grief, where it’s those unexpectedly ordinary things that can leave you most gutted in a moment – a package addressed to them, someone’s handwriting, a voicemail.
The main characters, Kate and Dan, are old school friends. They say school friends are the closest friends you’ll ever have – do you think this is true?
No, not at all! I don’t have many ties to my school friends today, but there is something about those formative years that makes us feel like we have an insight into someone’s basic nature. My film kind of ruminates on that – Kate and Dan are effectively strangers today but they are pulled together by some bond that existed years ago.
The film employs the ‘mystery box’ trope – without giving away what the characters eventually find inside, how important is it as a narrative device?
I didn’t approach the writing with that device in mind at all – for me, it was always about these two characters reconnecting and an unfolding intimacy; the ‘mystery box’ was simply a good story turning point, and one that incidentally had inherent dramatic questions. I’m usually not particularly prone to genre devices, I’m far more interested in starting with character and building drama from there.
You also act in the film – how was your working relationship with your co-star, Julian Shaw?
Julian and I are old friends from AFTRS days, where we both studied directing – so you get the added bonus of working with another director whose sensibilities you trust, and of being free to have conversations about the script that go to a very personal level. Jules and I share a love of dialogue, so we had many conversations to get the beats right and then opened ourselves up to respond organically as actors. He’s a wonderful friend and a lovely actor – I think a big part of our chemistry probably comes from our genuine friendship.
First & Second will make its world premiere at Flickerfest – are you anxious, excited or otherwise emotional about it?
Pretty nervous! A lot of my other work is comedy and this is my first foray into a straight drama, so I hope people don’t totally misread the subject matter and laugh anyway.
First & Secondis showing as part of Flickerfest 2016. The festival runs at Bondi Pavilion from Friday January 8 – Sunday January 17.
