Michael Keerdo-Dawson and Angie Black

Tallinn University, Estonia and The University of Melbourne, Australia

Exploring & extending character-development via a entangling of production phases

Narrative that is defined through adhering to the written screenplay, filmed, and edited during the ordinarily discrete production phases. In most industrialised productions there are few opportunities for conversations with actors and key creatives to happen during production, or to reflect, discuss the story direction, character exploration and the possibility of changing direction once the production phase has commenced. Our project aims to develop further strategies for collaborative screen stories through the production of a feature film, informed with a diverse cast and co-directors in 2 territories, Australia and Estonia. The research explores an alternative character-development process for narrative films involving an entanglement of production phases in conjunction with improvisationbased workshops where characters are formed. By experimenting with entangling these phases: screenwriting, casting, rehearsal, filming, and editing will all overlap with one another with built-in intervals for reflection and potential changes in direction.

The aim being to create more space and time for discussions and collaborations with key-creatives and cast members as the story develops. Improvisation workshops will run simultaneously in Estonia and Australia from February to May 2024, with the aim to have two-thirds of the production completed by September 2024. Through these initial entangled creative collaborations, we propose to present our preliminary findings for discussion and debate.

Michael Keerdo-Dawson is an Estonia-based lecturer and artistic researcher at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School (BFM) with a specialism in experimental approaches to screenwriting, storytelling, and film production. He is currently a PhD candidate due to defend his thesis on interactive filmmaking this spring; he has published articles in the journals Studies in Eastern European Cinema and the Interactive Film & Media Journal. Michael also has a decade of experience in the British film and television industry for the UK’s largest public broadcaster, ITV. During that time he also worked as an independent filmmaker. He has written and directed a number of short and feature films selected for prestigious film festivals including Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and FrightFest. His latest project is a film co-production with Australia which explores screenwriting and film production through extended character-development workshops and the use of deliberately entangled production phases.

Dr Angie Black is a senior lecturer in Film & Television at VCA, The University of Melbourne. They are an award winning director who specialises in filmmaking as practice-led research. Angie holds a PhD on performance approaches in film production and an MA in screenwriting. Their debut feature film, The Five Provocations (2018) premiered at Melbourne Queer Film Festival, is released through Label distribution, and showcases their dedication to innovative filmmaking and commitment to on-screen diversity. Angie has published book chapters, journal articles and directed a collection of short films, many of which have been awarded, finalists or selected to screen at prestigious film festivals, including Locarno, Frameline and Melbourne International Film Festivals. As a creative practice researcher, their work examines approaches to filmmaking, screenwriting and performance practices, with a focus on gender, sexuality and cultural diversity on screen.