Vanessa Alexander: Magik and Rose, Being Eve, and more...

2009

More than 300 video interviews with Kiwi screen creatives — including directors, actors, scriptwriters and cinematographers.

Vanessa Alexander wrote stage plays before turning her hand to writing, directing and producing on-screen. After making quirky feature Magik and Rose, she was invited to produce hit youth series Being Eve, then directed the opening episodes of Outrageous Fortune. After relocating overseas, Alexander went on to write for Golden Globe-nominated series The Great and Vikings spin-off Valhalla.

In this ScreenTalk interview from 2009, Alexander talks about:

How extreme persistence and optimism got her into the film industry
Working with producer Larry Parr on her first feature, Magik and Rose
Her outrageous efforts to create hype and ensure good reviews for Magik and Rose via sellout screenings at the NZ International Film Festival
The probably reason why John Barnett asked her to produce hit teen show Being Eve
Directing Outrageous Fortune, and why the first episode of the series was extremely stressful
The difference between working on Outrageous Fortune and 'underdog' productions like Magik and Rose and Being Eve

Interview Credit

Interview - Clare O'Leary. Camera and Editing - Leo Guerchmann

“I think I'm really in the film industry out of just total persistence . . . Some people after being rejected three times, they stopped applying. Some people it was seven, some people it was twelve. I was on the verge of quitting after the twentieth turn down. I thought 'well actually I'm not going to apply for short film funding anymore... maybe what I should just do is write a feature'. ”

Vanessa Alexander on the persistence that led to her first feature, Magik and Rose

Copyright

This video was first uploaded on 30 April 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview Credit

Copyright

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