Lucy Heath Swaps Hats on Pragma as both Actor and Producer

Well, the inception of Pragma was somewhat of a tragic tale, I had recently left an 8-year-long relationship at the same time as my parents’ marriage came to a sticky end, so after many tear-stained coffees with my friend Phil Dunster (co-star & producer) philosophizing over love, romance and constantly quoting Esther Perel, I became fascinated by the concept of finding an algorithm for ‘secure love’. Phil and I decided we wanted to make a film together on the subject, so I set about creating a ‘School for Love’ that I (and virtually all of my friends) so wished existed. The story was written as a love letter to my generation of hopeless romantics who can’t help but fall in love.

indieactivity: Did you start writing with a cast (You or any) in mind?
Lucy Heath (LH): Phil and I had always wanted to work together so I knew I was writing for the both of us, then once I started writing Professor Francis, Phil suggested Nick Mohammed (fellow co-star from Ted Lasso) would be perfect for that role, so during the redrafting process I wrote with his voice in mind.

How long did you take to complete the script?
Lucy Heath (LH): Even though this was a mere 20 pages, proof-of-concept, short film it still took me a whopping 8 months to write and I believe we shot draft 20. I’m an avid re-drafter, I would always rather work out the rhythm and fine-tune the beats whilst writing the story, rather than doing a precise beat sheet in advance and rigidly sticking to it.

Watch the official trailer for PRAGMA as written by Lucy Heath and directed by Ellie Heydon

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When did you form your production company (do you have one?) – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
Lucy Heath (LH): Silver Rose Productions was born in 2020, as a result of an adorable little thing called lock-down. It was a means of taking some control over my own career and remaining creative during the lethargy of it all.

What was the first writing project that you were involved with or that was out of the gate?
Lucy Heath (LH): My first writing project was a short film called Better, directed by BAFTA Award Winner Michael J Ferns. Better won the prestigious Iris Prize, screened at Raindance Film Festival, and featured on Channel 4 and Apple TV. The film also received 5 stars from Indie Shorts Mag, which described it as “Sublime, evocative and moving”.

During the production of the trailer or proof of concept, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot?
Lucy Heath (LH): From an actor’s perspective, my hardest scenes to shoot were the big group scenes as most of the SA’s and runners were friends of mine who offered to help out on the shoot, so balancing needing to focus on the scene and making sure they weren’t being neglected was unexpectedly stressful (classic people pleaser).

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What have you learned from each project you’ve done so far?
LH: I think my main learning curve from making my own films is to be more assertive, as a young woman I think we can shy away from making our voices heard through fear of being seen as bolshy or arrogant. But when everyone is working on your brainchild the reality is no one will know this story as well as you do, so own your role and don’t apologize for taking up space. Self-doubt is a waste of everyone’s time!

You wrote and directed the film, what measure of input did it take to don these two hats?
LH: I wrote the film and Ellie Heydon directed it.

Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
LH: I think thus far I would say swapping hats between being an actor and a producer on set is a really tricky one. When you’re in character and about to go for a take and someone’s asking you about the the crew’s lunch requirements, that can be a little distracting – however, the reality of a short film is everyone has to muck in until you start making the big bucks!

Where do you think your strengths line as a filmmaker?
LH: Storytelling! I think both as an actor and a writer I can hear the rhythm of how a story should sound/ feel to create the required stakes and there’s no better feeling than when it all clicks together in perfect harmony. I have absolutely “0” organizational skills, I’m the kid that never had a pen in class, so certainly not the logistical side of things.

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Let’s talk finance, How did you finance the trailer, for the film?
LH: We did a fat old Kickstarter Campaign led by Phil Dunster. Phil did such a brilliant job of it we became Kickstarter’s ‘Choice Of The Week’ and managed to get 8 people to come on board as Executive Producers.

How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?
LH: Our producer Phil Dunster and Fay Mohamed managed the budget and I think we only went over by £2000 which isn’t too bad, as there were a few people we hadn’t begged for contributions yet.

How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
LH: Luckily for us, Phil Dunster is currently starring in Ted Lasso, so having Nick Mohammed and Jason Sudeikis attached to the project helped us enormously with marketing, which we’re very grateful for as it’s easy for a short film to slip by unnoticed.

What do you hope audiences get from your series after you finally make it?
LH: I would absolutely love for people to reference episodes to their partners, as a way of passively-aggressively getting their partners to discuss current issues they have in their relationships (I’m not joking). I would also love for people to feel better understood in matters of the heart, love is complicated and no matter how ‘by the book’ you try and live your life, people are messy and fallible and that’s glorious.

Tell us about how you intend to make your pitch for the feature to the studios interested?
LH: Ellie Heydon and I have been working on our pitch for the last year and a half and it’s finally ready for studios and networks to read!

Do you have the feature script written? If you have it, tell us about it? How do you expand a short into a feature-length script?
LH: We are currently in development with Monumental Pictures on the series now.

What else have you got in the works?
LH: As previously mentioned, I’m currently writing PRAGMA the television series with Monumental Television. Then my most recent short film The Painter and The Poet, starring Tyler Conti and Mirren Mack, is currently in post-production with my production company Silver Rose Productions and I am now developing two feature films independently. 

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