Written & Directed by Hannah Nixon
Produced by Natalie Wetherall
When Cassie's dismissive boyfriend refuses to take her home for Christmas, it looks like she's going to be stuck in her flat, in more ways than one.
ABOUT THE FILM
“Stuck” played at Sunday Shorts, and this is its online premiere.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Hannah Nixon is a writer/director who has been hailed by theatre critic Lyn Gardner (stagedoor) as a “real talent”. She graduated from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with an MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media. In 2016 she produced a short play night in response to Donald Trump’s election called ‘This is happening’ which raised over $800 for Planned Parenthood. Hannah is supported by the Peggy Ramsey Foundation and The Arts Council. She previously wrote the short BARNEY which was nominated for Best Script at Underwire Festival. STUCK is her directing debut.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
I'm predominately a writer and STUCK is my first time directing. I did my MFA in Playwriting at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and then off the back of that I had a short film I'd written get made called Barney. The experience of that made me realise I wanted to try directing.
Tell us about the genesis of Stuck? It's somewhat based on a personal experience, right?
Everyone thinks it's my personal experience but it's not! It happened to a friend of mine, Loretta almost 10 years ago. I remember when she posted the photo of the door on facebook and people were making jokes like, "I would have taken a bath" but I could tell from the state of the door she'd been frantic and terrified. I thought it was such a strong story about saving yourself when no one is coming to help you. I saw it as a story about female strength and almost a rebirth. When I got the chance to make a film years later I got in touch with her to ask if she'd be up for me making it and she said yes, though that was a week before Covid so it obviously had to go on hold for a couple of years.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Stuck and how did you overcome them?
The main obstacle was finding a producer. Once Natalie agreed to be the producer, everything fell quickly into place because she's highly skilled with strong industry relationships. I think that it's a real slog to find someone who is as excited about your project as you are and who can see solutions and not just problems.
In order to demolish the door did you guys have to do a set build or did you still shoot in a real location?
We had four doors because we knew they were going to get hammered. Georgina Pragnell is a set designer who works in fashion and this was her first set that was going to be interacted with. We had three people standing behind the door helping to brace it when Michelle was kicking it. Our biggest worry was the set would wobble and ruin the effect. When we had our rough edit that was one of the main questions we asked everyone, but no one noticed a wobble so I think it held together - just.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
I've put Stuck in to film festivals but I think that my attitude to them has changed recently. As wonderful as it is to see your film on a big screen, I also want as many people to see it as possible and online platforms deliver that audience.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
You don't need a huge amount of money to get a short made. My boyfriend used stills and a voice over and made one of the most inventive and scary shorts I've seen.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
Funding and distribution. In an ideal world short films would be played before features at the cinema so if you were into it you could watch them before a film. I think that would encourage more funding as well.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
I tell everyone to watch After Hours by Martin Scorsese. It's got Griffin Dunne in it (Joan's nephew), as a man who can't get home. It was made in '80s New York when SoHo was still grimy artists lofts and it's incredible to see how NYC used to be before it was cleaned up. I also love the story, it's basically another Stuck, he has to get out of the situation he's in even when everything is conspiring against him.