directed by ita fitzgerald
When a mother reads her teenage son’s texts it triggers an awkward conversation which is way too much information. A humorous and touching comedy about miscommunication and the minefield of modern parenting.
Written & Directed by Ita FitzGerald
Starring Sarah Malin and Kai Medford
Cinematography by Gabi Norland
Produced by Fiona Wright
We are excited to be kicking off our brand new Short of the Week program with writer/director Ita Fitzgerald’s TMI.
Not only was TMI an Official Selection at The People’s Film Festival earlier this month, but our audience awarded it with the coveted Best Picture award, and Ita walked away with our £1000 Film Fund for her upcoming project DOIN’ BUSINESS.
Early this week we caught up with Ita (via email - practicing good social distancing) for a quick Q&A.
What was your inspiration to write TMI?
My kids were 13 and 10 when i made it, so younger than the character in the film, But I was aware that I would have to have candid conversations with them at some stage. Practically speaking, I wanted to make something new for my reel and the idea came to me when I was watching 'The last Leg' with my 13 year old son. Someone on the show made a joke about 'teabaggin' and I shouted out: 'what's teabaggin?' then realised that perhaps I should have googled it before blurting it out. After reading the definition it gave me the idea for the miscommunication.
What's your writing process?
Dialogue pours out of me, it's editing, plot and structure that I struggle with. I didn't really have an end when I started writing it, I just keep redrafting and redrafting it and on one particular draft I thought about the mother's struggle of seeing her son grow up and that feeling of 'shit i was only changing nappies a few years ago' that's when I added the scene at the door. I also wanted to show that Robert is in that in-between stage of 'kidulthood' which is why i added his joy at finding his light sabre. It felt like a nice balance between the physical barrier between them. The mother overthinking and sentimentalising and the young man living in the moment and blissfully unaware of his Mother's panic and pain. It felt like a fitting end.
What was it like to bring the script to life?
Ita: it was a lot of hard work but a joy to see 2 such accomplished actors that were able to perform it so naturally. I really wanted it to feel observed and their acting skills and in particular the rhythm of their delivery did that.
Did you have any creative solutions for working on a small budget?
Write something affordable, shoot in your own house, keep the art direction to a minimum and put a decent amount of money in to the food. I'm proud to say that everyone was fed very well.
What's your favourite part of the filmmaking process?
I do love working with actors and discovering different ways of delivering the dialogue and blocking it to make it work even without the words. That said editing is probably the most satisfying part for me, as the 'hard work' is done and it's just you and the machine and you can finally pull it together and it appears in front of you, hopefully as it was in your head, and if you are really lucky, it's even better than you imagined.
You can check out more about Ita on her website: www.itafitzgerald.work