| |
| Davina Belling - Film Producer |
Davina conducted workshops at BALINALE 2009 on the trials and
tribulations of more than 30 years in the film industry and how to create and market a
great film script.
Davina brought Gregory's Girl to the screen, said by many to be the springboard
for the modern Scottish film industry and won the Best Children's Drama award in the 2006
BAFTA's for The Giblet Boys. Her IMDB resume is very impressive.
Here Davina speaks exclusively to BALINALE. |
| |
BALINALE: Hi Davina. Please would you tell us a little bit about yourself.
Davina: I have had 38 years of experience I the film industry in both London and Los Angeles, mainly
running my own company with a partner, but I also took time out for a year to be a senior creative affairs
executive with a studio in Hollywood.
BALINALE: How did you become involved with film making?
Davina: I observed the process when my husband was the unit publicist on two important films THE BATTLE OF
BRITAIN and WOMEN IN LOVE. My previous life had been in the theatre on Broadway and the difference in the
two mediums and the logistics of making a movie fascinated me. I was lucky enough to get a job working for
the head of Warner Bros. Europe which was a great learning experience and gave me entrée to many famous
directors and writers and producers. |
|
 |
| Davina Belling with her BAFTA |
|
| |
BALINALE: What motivates and inspires you to create in visual media? Do you think the moving usurps the
still?
Davina: The chance to see something that starts in your imagination come to fruition on the big screen is
both exciting and exhilarating even if it doesn¹t always turn out quite how you wanted it to! I think
that a memorable photograph can have a greater impact than a mediocre movie so the word 'usurps¹ is
perhaps unfair. Perhaps a motion picture has more scope to move you but in truth they are different
disciplines in my view.
BALINALE: Were you encouraged by family members to be creative?
Davina: Only somewhat. My mother was delighted that I wanted to be an actress but there was a lot of
pressure for me to do something more
sensible. But I was taken to the theatre and encouraged to draw as a child so in sense of an upbringing I
was encouraged to be creative. |
| |
 |
BALINALE: What do you think is the role of the independent film maker in Indonesia? Is this the same as in
other countries?
Davina: I am not the most knowledgeable person to answer this but from my brief experience with the
Festival it sounds as if it is very difficult in Indonesia. More so than other countries that have
subsidies for films.
BALINALE: Your seminars during BALINALE were well attended. How do you feel you best contribute to
fledgling filmmakers?
Davina: Hopefully, by being able to share some wisdom that one inevitably gains through a long career in
the industry and at the same
time to be supportive and constructive. Our first 6 films were with first-time directors and it was
immensely satisfying to launch them. |
|
| |
BALINALE: What are the challenges of creating film on a limited budget?
Davina: You need more imagination when there is insufficient money and you need to be decisive and well
planned ahead of time because
time is money. And you need to be able to motivate friends to do you favours i.e. Defer their fees in some
instances.
BALINALE: Tell us something of the process of creating some of your most notable works.
Davina: This would make another seminar! Far too lengthy to answer here and each film has a different
scenario as to how it came about starting always with either the discovery of a terrific script as in
the case of both INSERTS (which subsequently starred Richard Dreyfuss and Bob Hoskins) or GREGORY¹S GIRL,
the Scottish movie which launched Bill Forsyth as a major film maker or the discovery of a great book
like TRUE BLUE about the famous Oxford and Cambridge boat race or a television series ROCK FOLLIES
which we then transformed into a very different story but also set against the rock and roll world of the
80¹s BREAKING GLASS. Audiences do not realise how long it takes to develop a good script out of material
from another medium.
BALINALE: Off the top of your head, name some of your favourite movies!
Davina: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, MEPHISTO... My mind always goes a complete blank when asked this! |
| |
BALINALE: And directors?
Davina: Scorcese, William Wyler, Lindsay Anderson, Kevin Donaldson, Danny Boyle to name a very few
BALINALE: What¹s next for Davina Belling, Film Maker?
Davina: It is always the one you least expect or sometimes one that suddenly appears. It could be a
World War Two movie about the famous battle of Monte Cassino seen through the eyes of two young Texan
soldiers or a television comedy about a female lawyer¹s disastrous journey home one Christmas
Eve in the vein of PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
 |
| |
Davina Belling and Ferdy Kuntoro at BALINALE 2009 |
|
BALINALE: Is there anything else you wish to say, given this 'open mic¹ and a public
platform?
Davina: Nope! Other than the fact that there was a terrific atmosphere at the Balinale. It is always
satisfying to experience movies with an audience that is there because they are willing to try something
new and because they love movies.
BALINALE: Thank you for delighting us with your movies and for answering our questions today! |
| |
| Davina's extensive IMDB listing
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0069001/ |
| |
