Nick Whitfield Interview

19 December 11

Director and writer Nick Whitfield muses about his craft and reveals how he's feeling about awards night.

On Filmmaking

In my experience, making stories, whether it be in film or the theatre, is all about collaboration.

I worked in theatre for years, but never in the old tradition where God (the writer) sits in his tower and writes the sacred text (the script) before handing it down to his representative on Earth (the director) who then trains the clergy (the actors)…

You get the picture.

The best theatre I did was made by groups of people (2-many), and the script, such as it was, was always evolving, as was the action on stage. We believed that if it wasn’t changing, it was dead. And this evolution happened through collaboration.

Making stories, whether it be in film or the theatre, is all about collaboration

Whilst filmmaking is different in some ways – not least in the fact that the day arrives when you have to lock your picture once and for all – I have resolutely continued to believe in collaboration as the most effective creative foundation. If anything, it’s even more important in film because there are so many aspects to it, and the level of expertise in the various departments is so high.

On Being BAFTA Nominated

It’s a bit cheeky for me to receive a BAFTA nomination for making SKELETONS, when I was just the person lucky enough to have a brilliant team of people using all their skills to tell my story. Still, I’ll take it. I like the other films nominated in the category a lot, and am flattered that someone might think our film belongs in their company.

I’ve no idea what to expect on the night itself, other than to feel it’s all a bit of a rum do, as they say round our way. I just hope I get through the evening without committing some horrible showbiz faux pas.

It would be nice to be remembered as someone whose ‘I’m-happy-that-person-won-the-award’ face was convincingly generous, rather than the guy who, I don’t know, stood on Julianne Moore’s frock, nicked Christopher Nolan’s drink, tied Colin Firth’s shoelaces together, or something.