Lead producer at Candle & Bell, Maria Caruana Galizia, talks to Rebecca Hardy at High Life North Magazine about running a production company, her beginnings in Television and what she hopes to achieve in thee future
“I can hardly believe that I’ve been selected, and I’m extremely thankful to BAFTA for this opportunity. I’ve benefitted so much from being mentored by Ciara and Rosie, and having the chance to network and exchange ideas with other mentees.”
A painter holds a paint brush in front of a canvas, a dancer is in a studio dancing and a filmmaker is on a film set next to a camera. It’s always an interesting conversation when I tell video production clients that a lot of film and video production doesn’t happen on a film set. It happens in the production office. It happens in quiet moments sipping coffee or while walking the dogs. Filmmakers are working, even when we’re not holding a camera.
Candle & Bell are creating all the visuals for the project and it’s been an amazing experience for us. The tiny dragon team indulged our sci-fi nerdiness and gave us the freedom to experiment and push the boundaries a little. We filmed scenes with the actors at the Pride Media Centre in Gateshead over the course of a day.
In April 2021 we were commissioned by Newcastle Castle to create a number of videos for them. Like the cast majority of heritage sites, the castle had been unable to open to the public during the Covid 19 pandemic. The team at the castle were eager to make the public aware of their re-opening but also remind people of the many uses the castle presents to members of the public.
At Candle and Bell, something we value is the pushing of boundaries. We ask ourselves, on a near-constant basis, how can we take what we already do and make it bigger, better, more ambitious? We are always looking for new challenges and with that, we are so excited to be branching out into VR technology and storytelling.
We’re excited to announce that we’ve officially begun pre-production on our upcoming short film ‘There Are Lights’. The film is written and directed by Yorkshire based filmmaker Nadia Emam. Caitlin Bramwell and Maria Caruana Galizia are producing the film. The film is being funded by the BFI NETWORK and private finance.
Ashraf has been a political refugee in London for some 30 years, content with spending his days in his study or at his local social club. One day he receives a phone call from his friend in Palestine, telling him that his son Moataz has been fatally wounded in a protest. His friend pleads with Ashraf to return home.
By creating Above The Line we want to share advice from experienced film professionals and give a new generation of filmmakers all the knowledge they need to make really good short films, and get a better understanding of how the industry functions without having to break the bank and move to London.
For the past couple of years I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book about film producing. Specifically, how to build a career as a producer, starting out making short films and progressing to feature films. I didn’t want to write something that was an anecdotal, and just talked about my experiences, but one that went into great detail about every aspect of film producing…
