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Andrea Calderwood - Film Producer
Andrea's work includes the Oscar nominated Mrs Brown. She is from Glasgow
and was a Guide and a Brownie.
"Particularly if you are a woman, don't wait to be noticed - put yourself forward - give people
the chance to give you opportunities."
Yes, most definitely. I think the best projects I have done have had a Scottish identity, from
Hamish McBeth a quirky BBC series to my current film The Last King of Scotland
which shows a connection to Scotland's colonial past.
The Ratcatcher was about the dustmen
strike in Glasgow in the 1070's and Lynn Ramsay (Cinematic Director) captured Glasgow at that
time perfectly.
I've done two films in Skye, which was amazing. Blue Black Permanent was filmed in Orkney
- which is an incredibly beautiful place in the summer.
You'd assume that
Glasgow was the place to go for gritty and real - but it has had such a transformation in the
past few years that's just not the case anymore. When we were filming Small Faces we
could find only one tenement block that hadn't been stone cleaned!
The producer can be involved throughout all phases of the filmmaking process from inception
to completion of a project including planning, organising, raising funds, developing scripts,
choosing talent, overseeing film creatively to its distribution.
The process can be really long,
for example The Last King of Scotland has taken six years and Cargo was in development
for 11 years. The producer's role does seem to be a thankless job at times as we get all the
blame and responsibility and not the glory! There are many high and lows, but it's always worth
it.
You absolutely can be the creative force behind the film- or it can be someone else's ideas
you are developing. A good example of an excellent producer/ director relationship is Andrew
Eaton (Producer) and Michael Winterbottom (Director) who work together a lot (24 Hour Party
People, The Road to Guantánamo). They have a very symbiotic relationship.
Probably making my job work at BBC Scotland - when I arrived there was some public questioning -and press attention about "wee lassie" at 28 taking over and some thought we would fail. Over four years I trebled the output of the department, got a network primetime series (Hamish McBeth) and BBC Scotland got its first feature film - the Oscar nominated Mrs Brown!
I think any female producer has to have an enormous amount of self belief , being able to stand up in a man's world and say with confidence " this is my vision, this is the we are going to do this". Women still have to go that extra mile to prove that we can do it.
Hamish McBeth - the first time I read the script I was really laughing as it was quirky and different. I was working with a fantastic group of talented people from the director, producer, writer to cast like Robert. There was a certain amount of nervousness about it in London at first, but was a huge success, the first episode got 10 million viewers.
I think mine would be that I am a creative producer - I focus on the ideas, talent, the script. I'm also incredibly tenacious and don't take no for an answer - wherever possible. I think coming from a confrontational and direct city like Glasgow helps as I'm very forthright and tell it like it is! I cut to chase when I've got something to say.
I always loved films - as a teenager I would go to the Glasgow Film Theatre to watch independent
films. Then at Stirling University I did an English, Media and Film degree. I then went to the
Voluntary Workshop in the 80's. Then I did the Scottish Broadcast and Film Training and produced
some short films.
I got a lot of experience with jobs such as Production Assistant and Location
Manager, whilst producing my own projects like short films and documentaries.
Each step I took
every training scheme I could. One extremely valuable training was the European Audio Visual
Entrepreneurs which put me on an international footing and I didn't feel like the poor relation
from Scotland!
It gave me the opportunity to work in a team with a group of girls doing lots of outdoor activities, which I enjoyed. I enjoyed the camping and sausage sizzles.
Yes I do, particularly up to about 14 years. I believe it gives girls a safe space to be themselves, particularly in physical environments like sports. It's good for girls to work together in teams together too.
Being able to multi-task and having a lot of determination. In my industry people are looking for ambitious people with drive and commitment. If you want to do something you have to ask. Particularly if you are a woman, always ask and keep asking.
Don't wait to be noticed - put yourself forward - give people the chance to give you opportunities.
In Scotland - it would be Paddy Higson (Gregory's Girl, Monarch
of the Glen) who has been producing a long time. She's been a great role model for female
producers and not only that she has been incredibly generous with her expertise and time. She
helped train many of us and had she not done that it wouldn't have been possible to achieve
what many of us have.
Others I admire include directors such as Jane Campion (The Piano) and Lynn Ramsay
(Morvern Callar).
My top three films - Rat Catcher, Mrs Brown and The Last King of Scotland! Yes I absolutely can still watch a film and enjoy it. The last one I saw was Brokeback Mountain - really wonderful, romantic film, would totally recommend it.
To find out more about Andrea please see www.us.imdb.com
