The Future Producers have arrived. The introductions are over, I’ve more or less matched biographies to their living, breathing counterparts and I am excited. Following a challenging, enlightening and all too brief weekend, the highlight for me has to be getting to watch all the films on the Fresh Flix longlist and being in on the creation of the all-important final shortlist. The process of how programmes come into existence has always been a source of fascination and mystery for me – now I know more, I can safely add ‘programmer’ to my growing list of dream jobs.
Out of the four projects we were introduced to, I was initially drawn to the BFI Gothic Season. I have long been a fan of the Gothic genre, from films like Night of the Demon and The Innocents to the work of Edgar Allan Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu. I love the delicious combination of the ordinary and the uncanny – how a mundane event or that benign-looking stranger can lurch into something, or someone, terrifying.
I’d love to learn more about producing a film season like this, as well as how to go about targeting an audience. Something that especially interests me is how old films can be brought to new audiences. One thought would be to juxtapose different versions of the same story – for instance, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula of 1931 shown alongside Christopher Lee’s version from 1958. It would be interesting to see what each film adds to the other and how perceptions of the underlying story have altered over time – particularly given the current resurgence of the vampire genre.
Another idea is to combine a screening with a short fiction writing workshop. Any one of the four themes identified by the BFI (Haunted, The Dark Arts, Monstrous, Love is a Devil) would be an excellent platform for stories. Given the Gothic heritage of the short story (M. R. James , Mary Wilkins Freeman et al.) and the many films originally based on short fiction (e.g. The Birds), a Gothic film would surely inspire some intriguing writing. Plus, the form of the short story is provocative, versatile and very fun to work with – it always leaves space for the imagination to scuttle away into the night, where who knows what can happen…
Of course, much more mulling is needed – and in the meantime, bring on Tuesday.