Aria Starlight | creativity driven by passion

Hope is at the core of Aria Starlight, a new film from screenwriter and director Simon Elvin. But it’s also a story of creative courage, following your dream and building your own success. Simon keeps the magic of storytelling alive

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Tell us about Aria Starlight. It’s a magical, and ambitious film – not least for working with a young main actor. Where did the idea come from and why did you decide on this story to make?

The original idea was to make a micro short film for our young actor, Willow, who has a great deal of natural ability. She had appeared in a couple of my previous projects and I promised her I’d write something for her… a little, simple short. Then the project grew! Theme-wise, Willow is exceptionally kind and attentive to others, so I wanted to reflect that in the story. Kindness is easily forgotten in confusing and troubling times, so this seemed like just the right story idea.

How it came about was: after Talent Camp at Ealing Studios, I asked the group if anyone would like to help me write a series of linked micro-shorts based on the same central character. Each writer would choose a theme and form a writing pair with me for their episode. When we started to work on this, however, I realised that we were looking at multiple shoots with numerous characters, plotlines and locations, and this was going to be a massive undertaking. I therefore decided to combine their story ideas, characters and themes into one Academy Short. I blended some characters and storylines. Other characters and plot lines were dropped until I had something cohesive, which worked on a narrative level. An interesting exercise – I wouldn’t have had the skill to do this before my screenwriting MA.

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Aria Starlight seems filled with innocent hope while being pursued by darkness. Is this a reflection of the creative process, the production company is named Aria Starlight, after all?

The naming of our production company takes a leaf from Steven Spielberg, who named his company, Amblin, after his first film. Whilst this isn’t my first, it is the first for our new company. I think a name should reflect the values of those behind it and Aria Starlight combines music (Aria being a musical form – I was a professional singer-songwriter for many years) and magic, as I do love to use magical realism to look at my themes through a surprising twist. I think the creative process is, for me at least, not so much hope pursued by darkness as creativity driven by passion. This film is being made at a time where many people feel like our world is in unprecedented turmoil, so hope at the core of this story is, I believe, a good and timely one.

The crowdfunder film introduces us to your team. How did you put your cast and crew together?

The story team was from Talent Campus. For the crew, I had worked with our DoP, Coco Bond, on my first feature. He is so talented and such a positive energy throughout a production, that was a no-brainer. We then put the call out for cast and crew on a couple of South West networks, and also on Mandy.com for crew. We’re particularly keen to recruit from within the region as far as possible, as this is the first film in our wider plan to create opportunities for local film creatives to find work here in the South West, so we don’t lose all our best people to other parts of the world. We’re still casting at the time of these questions!

Why did you decide to quit the day job and dedicate your time to writing and filming?

I’ve been telling stories all my life – as an artist, actor, published singer-songwriter, playwright and, of course, filmmaker. For several decades I also had day jobs while bringing up my children. There comes a point, however, when you realise that the most precious currency we have is time, and none of us know how much currency we have left. I had invested in my education to become a professional screenwriter (and have continued to work at my craft since graduating, which is very important), so decided it was time to put my money where my mouth was and return to a life in the arts – where I was always meant to be.

I believe that, to have a true sense of purpose, it’s important to decide what defines a successful life. For me, it’s spending my days doing the things I was made for – to contribute something to the world by telling stories which help us be humans, to make emotional connections that ask questions – and I’m spending my days striving to do just that. That makes my life instantly successful and meaningful.

Love the comment you took from the Talent Camp, organised by the London Screenwriters’ Festival, ‘Don’t wait for permission, make your own success’. How difficult or easy has it been to get those wheels of your own success turning so far, and what’s excited you?

Before giving up my day job, I took three months off to finish editing and scoring my feature. I wanted to know whether I would use the time well or simply lay about in my pants watching Netflix. Happily, it was the former. I was very disciplined, probably because I was incredibly driven. Since quitting the day job for good, it has been the same. I can’t wait to get up and start working, because doing the right work doesn’t feel like work at all. Waiting for someone else to pick up your work, however, can get a lot of people down. I hear this frustration from a lot of fellow screenwriters. So, with the same commitment to going-for-broke which inspired me to go full-time, I started a production company. Definitely a new set of mountains to climb, but the trick is to love the climb.

Going after funding is extremely time consuming and tough, but I’m exploring ways to be innovative with that, to not do what everyone else does but explore how finance can be part of my vision for the region in building something to be collectively proud of. And, of course, I’m not waiting around for anything. I’m halfway up the mountain before breakfast!

Aria Starlight is filming in Plymouth this summer, when can we expect to see it, and do you have any other productions up your sleeves?

Post production is something I don’t want to rush and we have a certain amount of VFX to do. The sound design also has to be right. We want this film to stand out in major competitions, so we need to make it as good as it can be. We hope it will be completed sometime in the Autumn, though.

I also have several other projects in the pipeline, at various stages from development to having funding bids already in. I hope that Aria Starlight will open some doors. The aim is to get proper backing to make my next feature. ultimately, I want to make an original film musical, but I’ll need to build a reputation to get there. I’m reminded that, even after making Jaws, Close Encounters and Raiders, Steven Spielberg had trouble getting the backing for E.T. Can you imagine? But then, what else would I rather be doing?

Thank you! Hope the shoot goes well.

Check out the Aria Starlight on our page, or go straight to the crowdfunder.