Lead producer at Candle & Bell, Maria Caruana Galizia, sat down with Rebecca Hardy from High Life North to talk producing and being an entrepreneur.

The article details how Maria got started in television, working at Scottish TV and then working freelance on large productions like Game of Thrones, to what lead her to start up Candle & Bell in the North East. Over the last nine years Candle & Bell has gained a reputation for working across branded content, film and television, winning multiple awards along the way. In the article Maria talks about the filmmaker who influenced her the most, why she started up Candle & Bell and what motivates her to keep going.

I was just mulling around working freelance jobs, but I knew I wanted to be a producer. I realised that something about running a company appealed to me but I knew nothing about what it would entail! I just knew I wanted to tell particular stories and there wasn’t anybody employing young producers looking to tell those stories.

Maria also discusses her aspirations for the future and how she hopes there will be more investment in local companies to help them expand and develop their slate of projects:

It’s great that people are talking about facilities and studios, but bricks and mortar aren’t what make an industry. Investing in people who own the intellectual property, that’s the currency of filmmaking. So, I’d really like to see people care more about investing in production companies here.

When it came to discussing her experiences of working in the creative industries Maria offered this advice

You get rejected a lot. You get disappointed a lot. Everybody has an opinion about whether or not your film is good. So, you need to have a suit of armour and good perspective.

You can read the full article and interview on the High Life North website.

This blog was written Maria Caruana Galizia and edited by Atticus Carter.