Film: Beholden
Director: Leon Lopez
Writers: Marcus Kai, Louise Ann Munro
Actors: Adam Deacon, Louise Ann Munro, Danny Midwinter, Ilyas Aouina, Betsy Morgan Toye
Synopsis: Lee’s only hope of escaping prison on a murder charge, is his childhood sweetheart, who is now a lawyer. Will Carlie be willing to revisit the traumatic past, she worked so hard to get away from, in order to save him?
In a new exclusive interview leading up to the Southend Film Festival, I got a chance to ask Writer-Actress Louise Ann Munro a few questions about the short film Beholden.
Beholden will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Saturday 8th June at at 11:00hrs as part of the Mostly Made in Southend part 1 collection of shorts.
Q. Your film ‘Beholden’ has been selected to play at the Southend Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A: A candid look at how difficulties faced in childhood can shape our adult lives. It is also a story of true friendship between two children, who helped each other survive their traumatic childhoods and how their love for each other continues to be their hope of survival even in adulthood!
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script for Beholden?
A. Initially we were interested in why people, who come from the same backgrounds, can end up on completely different paths in life. This led us to a discovery that we needed to tell this story for several reasons. Firstly, to draw attention to the fact that drug dealers and criminals aren’t always bad people, but simply a product of their environment. On the other hand, we want to inspire anyone, who has had a difficult childhood, that anything is possible if they have the right support and work hard.
Q. You play Carlie in the short Beholden. Did you create the character with yourself in mind when writing the script?
A. Not really. It was our director Leon Lopez that suggested that I play the part of Carlie and that Adam Deacon play Lee. But when playing Carlie, I did realise we had quite a few things in common. Perhaps every script that we write has some of us in it or perhaps it was by the time I played her, through writing her with Marcus (my co-writer), I had got to know and understand her very well! This is because Marcus and I had spent a lot of time talking through Lee and Carlie’s life from birth to now even before we wrote the script!
Q. What sort of preparation did you do to portray your character?
A. Both Marcus and I went to watch real life court cases to see what it was like to be a lawyer. I spoke to my friend, who is lawyer as well to ask her many questions about what her life was like and if she really would be able to represent Lee. It was refreshing to hear that my friend was still so down to earth, as she had grown up in a working-class background like us. I asked her about keeping her working-class accent and she said it helped her relate to her clients. That was a huge influence in me keeping Carlie as true to her roots as I could. I also was lucky that I co-wrote the part of Carlie, so knew her childhood inside out and how it may have affected her adulthood like the fact that even though her work life is going well, she struggles with relationships, as she never had any good role models and finds it hard to trust people as the one person she loved the most (her mum) was of course an unstable alcoholic.
Q. Did you any of your own personality into the character?
A. I don’t 100% understand the question. But if you mean did I find any of my own personality in Carlie? Then definitely. I’m a very hard worker and I guess Carlie is too. She must be to be the successful lawyer she is, so I guess we are both career women. I also saw a lot of things growing up that makes me very empathetic and so just like Carlie would probably do anything for those I love if I thought they needed me.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. So many! I think we were very lucky to have a dream cast and crew both behind and in front of the camera! Sometimes I would just look around set and smile and think wow everyone is so great! I guess some of my most favourite moments were unexpected things like how the children we cast became real-life best friends on set, which was great. On their last shot of the day, it was dark, and they were hiding behind a wall about to run on to set. I was standing behind them (because obviously we couldn’t leave two 10-year-old children unsupervised). I think they forgot I was there, as one said to the other, “This is the best day ever.” The other one said, “Yes definitely! I hope we stay friends.” They then ran on set and did a great job. As hopefully you’ll see when watching the film. Two little stars in the making.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Well the director’s car did break down on day one of the shoot, which could have been a nightmare as he was carrying most of the camera equipment in it. But actually, one of our actresses Eloise Dale (who plays child Carlie’s mum) came to the rescue! She had jump leads in her car and luckily, they solved the problem, as it was just a flat battery. It was funny as she was dressed in a mini skirt and heels for her scene, but here she was rolling up her sleeves and saving the day. All the guys including the camera and lighting crew gave her a loud cheer and the shoot was back on!
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. Well I guess not to be so quick to judge people. For example, as the statistics at the end of our film state, 41% of prisoners observed violence as children. That statistic is so high that it can’t just be a coincidence! It seems that if our society could address things like poverty and childhood neglect, we would perhaps have healthier adults and a lower crime rate. But also, we hope that it gives people that have had difficult childhoods some hope that they can work hard to create a better future for themselves and also the fact that having just one person that believes in someone can make all the difference.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. We are actually writing the feature film version of Beholden as we feel like there is so much more story to tell! We also have a comedy feature that we are working towards, which is very different to this film indeed. Meanwhile, do you have the Disney + Channel? If so, you can watch a comedy short film that I co-wrote and co-produced on there. It’s called “Mumatar” Please watch it if you can. I really hope it makes you smile.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. I’m actually the writer and producer, not the director…however as someone who is mainly an actress, who now writes and produces too, I would say just do it! Start somewhere. My first film as a writer was a comedy called Mind F*#k. We made it in our local cinema, with a tiny budget. Thanks to my acting career I did already know a few great cinematographers though, so I asked one of them (Gary Rogers) to come on board. He luckily said yes and helped it look great! So I guess that would be another bit of advice – find a great cinematographer, who you like working with and a great sound person too.
You can find out more about Louise Ann Munro on the Website: www.louiseannmunro.com and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiseannmunro/
You can find out more about the Southend Film Festival on the website
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
