As Underwire 2014 approaches, we are still catching up with alumni. This week we hear from Emily Blickem, who won Best Producer at last year’s festival for Grace.

 

How important has screening at festivals been for you?

Getting your work seen by an audience, whether they are fellow filmmakers or just plain film lovers is incredibly valuable. I’ve been fortunate enough to receive very positive feedback after screening my films, with the odd award thrown in here and there. And that’s just brilliant. I have always wanted to make films for an audience, and now that I have the confidence to drive my own stories forward, I can ensure that I make films that I, and a wider audience can enjoy and appreciate. My tagline is ‘warming your cockles’, and that’s what I intend to do with bright, funny and heartwarming films.

What was your experience of screening at Underwire? Did any opportunities arise following showcasing your work?

Unfortunately I was away during the festival so was unable to attend, but my experience from afar was very positive. I tried to stay involved via social media and made some connections with fellow filmmakers who also screened at the festival. It was great to be part of a supportive and nurturing community of female filmmakers. The best part of showcasing my work as a Producer at Underwire was the mentoring I received afterwards. I have produced a number of short films in the past and have been wanting to produce more work based on my own ideas and stories for quite some time. However, I found that because the majority of my filmmaking experience was in production, I was continually pushed towards that when discussing my career path and ideas with potential funders. Because of this, I had somehow managed to push back my own dreams of writing and directing and had started to pursue producing opportunities in features. After a lovely session with my mentor, she helped me to remember why I got into filmmaking in the first place and was incredibly supportive. I had felt that because I had won Best Producer at Underwire that the mentoring would be steered in that direction, but she saw through me completely and instead we discussed how I could steer my career towards writing and directing. I was extremely thankful for this and as a result, I’m embarking on the production of my own feature film.

 

So what are you currently working on?

I’m now nearing the end of the third draft of my feature length script and can’t quite believe how far I’ve come. I’m starting to build a team of people who like my ideas and want to help me push them forward. For quite some time now I’ve been going it alone, assuming that I would have to pull everything together on my lonesome. But my mentor helped me to see the importance of having others on board who want to help drive my ideas into production.

 

Do you have any advice for craftswomen currently submitting their work to film festivals?

Persevere. That about sums it up. It’s a bloody hard ride and there are a gazillion hurdles to leap over, but as long as you believe in yourself and persevere then you can make it. It may not seem possible at times but you gotta just keep on truckin’

 

Lastly, would you like to see more support and celebration of craftswomen in the film industry?

Hell yes. But I’m definitely seeing a lot more support in the industry for female filmmakers these days, and I feel that this will only continue to grow. It’s a hot topic at the moment, and I hope that women, and men, will continue to support and nurture female filmmakers. Hopefully, after some time, female filmmakers won’t have to be singled out and celebrated separately. But it sure is appreciated right now.