A Lightening-Bolt Shaped Idea
(Rest in Peace, David Bowie)
Towards the end of 2015, I was fortunate enough to be cast in the television show Westside, the Outrageous Fortune prequel. It provided me with an incredible platform to work and learn off, and subsequently was one of the best experiences of my life. The great thing about my character, Chelsea Munroe, is that she was a very safe character to test the waters of the screen world with. This meant that I had plenty of time to talk to all the incredible people on set around me, without freaking out over the scenes for that day. I had so much fun, the cast and crew were all wonderful, and it really inspired me to start creating my own work in the screen world. The only problem was, once Westside was finished, I had little to do with the acting world (all the theatres shut up over summer), and to add insult to injury, I had a terrible case of writers block.
I think my Mother was as pleased as I was, when, one day, I cleared away my empty tea cups, picked tubes of paint and yester-week's clothes off the floor, turned Bowie back on the radio, and confined myself to my bedroom to write. I had had an idea, after what seemed like an eternity of sweat (literally), blood (because I was bound to trip over or break something at some point), and tears (no exaggeration). This summer felt too long, and filled with things I felt I had to do, rather than wanted to do. Aside from a small handful of days spent with friends, my holiday didn't feel much like one at all. So when the idea for elephant daydreams struck, I was more than pleased to have found something to occupy my time in-between work, on bus rides, and on into the evenings.
I've recently spent a lot of my spare time looking into controversial issues in film & television, things that are alive and kicking today: #OscarsSoWhite, the discrimination of women/P.O.C/trans/LGBTQ peopel in creative fields, fights between large distributors such as Netflix and Amazon at Sundance that jeopardized the authenticity and soul of the festival... For so long, the majority of these issues seemed so removed from me, but as I look more and more into them, I realise just how prominent they are in everyday life, in my everyday life. If I want to work in this industry, I figured I could either ignore it, and live a very unfulfilling and bland life, or challenge the issues that mean something to me, and be a small part of the change that needs to happen in order for rich, diverse stories to be shared.
My goal with elephant daydreams is to create a female-led project, where the two main characters are as flawed equally as much as they are strong, passionate, and full of life. Maude and Freya, the two girls, meet on a train one day, and so blossoms their relationship, until an unfortunate and unavoidable catalyst shows that even good people have flaws, hurt the ones they love, and alienate themselves as a form of protection. Therefore the 'sex' scene will not be shot from a male perspective, for the male gaze. Rather, I am choosing to focus on the characters, on the trust and love between two consenting partners, hence my decision to leave the majority of that scene up to the audience's imagination.
I'm currently scouting for locations, re-drafting my script (with the help of some amazing people), low-key casting, and budgeting. However, until I get my hands on my camera, I'm afraid it all feel very surreal. I cannot wait to move on to the next part of elephant daydreams, get really stuck in with a brilliant cast and crew, and produce something we are all proud to be associated with!
Love,
Spinach
