NYWIFT Blog

By Lauren Anders Brown

NYWIFT member and director Lauren Anders Brown met composer Daisy Coole at a networking event for Women in Film & TV UK, our sister chapter across the pond. They soon began collaborating on Six Year Old Fears, a short documentary from the perspective of a six year old Syrian Refugee as she becomes an older sister.

Director of #6YearOldFears Lauren Anders Brown (left) with composer Daisy Coole (right) meeting at WFTV Networking Event

Here is an excerpt of an interview with Coole that Brown published on LinkedIn:

Lauren Anders Brown: Can you recall the one of the first times you heard a melody and you knew you were meant to be a musician?

Daisy Coole: When I was ten, a classmate played Misty on the saxophone in a school assembly. I had played the flute for three years by then but suddenly knew the saxophone was my instrument. My parents bought me a cheap alto saxophone and I taught myself enough notes to be able to play Misty. I must have driven my family insane playing the original Erroll Garner recording over and over.

LAB: How often are you asked to do unpaid work (whether it be a full project pro-bono or client revisions that are forcibly unpaid)? How does it make you and your [business] partner feel and how does it affect your work?

DC: Far too often. Filmmakers seem to forget to raise money for post-production. Of course we have invested in projects that we feel are important or where there has been an ‘in-kind’ agreement with the director or producer. It’s not an ego thing, it’s being practical: if you want someone to be on call and invest huge amounts of time in your project, you have to pay them, otherwise how do you expect them to prioritize you over paid work? Fast, good and free do not operate in the same universe.

Read the full conversation on LinkedIn.

Lauren Anders Brown is an award winning documentary filmmaker who focuses on global health, women’s empowerment and humanitarian issues. You can follow her on twitter & Instagram @LABCollaborate and view more of her work on www.collaborateideasimages.com.