In conversation with Oscar-winning film producer David Parfitt

In October, we were joined by Oscar-winning film producer and co-founder of Trademark Films, David Parfitt, who spoke to executive producer Lincia Daniel about his life in film.

Across a career that spans over five decades, David has produced globally acclaimed titles like The Father, My Week With Marilyn and Shakespeare in Love in addition to holding Chairman roles at both BAFTA, Film London and North East Screen.

The hour-long webinar explored what it takes to become a successful film producer, how to have an enduring career in film and the importance of developing a varied skillset. It ended with an audience Q&A which you can read below.

What makes a good, productive relationship between the director and the producer?

I like to be very close to the director, and in the perfect circumstances, that's somebody who's been with you through the development process and pre-production. I tend to be a producer who is on set, not to interfere in any way but to be there as support and to try and spot in advance if anything's not going to plan so that I can deal with it before it affects the director. So, the perfect relationship is one where the director's happy to welcome you on the set, that they don't see it as a threat.

In the case of Simon Curtis (dir. My Week with Marilyn), that was perfect. I didn't need to be there at all, really. He did a perfect job on that film, knew exactly what was going on the set, and I could help here and there, but not hugely. In the case of The Father, that was a first-time director, Florian Zeller, who enjoyed having you there, even though he didn't need us. He was absolutely clear about what he wanted to do, but he liked to have us on set, we could generally answer and sort out anything that needed sorting out. That, to me, is a perfect relationship.

Do you have any recommendations for a latecomer looking to break in as a producer, especially if you've got to hold down a full-time job as well?

That's really tough. I would say it is about doing it, and I think the way to break in in that case is to maybe a short film, to put something together and actually do it. But I think that for late entries into the business, often producers come with something in their back pocket. Either it's the brilliant project or it's money – which is the hardest thing to find – but I would say doing it is the only way. That can happen over weekends and holidays.

Have you ever been tempted to move into animation?

We did Loving Vincent, which was an animation. But it was an unusual animation in that it was live action, overpainted, frame by frame, in oils, which is a remarkable experience. But yes, if the script was right, absolutely, it's a lovely area.

Any recommendations for a lookbook? Especially if you don't have any pre-shot images or cast officially attached.

We are working on one at this very moment. Generally I'd leave the creation of a lookbook to the director, often working with cinematographer and production designer, if you can. One of the nicest lookbooks we had was on My Week with Marilyn, and our DP produced some gorgeous images that were pinned all over his office. That was such a great reference for all of us and I think helpful to our director, Simon. But I would say, I'd much rather hand over to the cinematographer and the art department to produce really beautiful images with the director, and then I would help them edit.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced on a production?

I think assembling the money side of things is tough. Casting at times too. But of course the challenges on the set can be absolutely anything. We had a project at one point, which I won't name, where the art department, without our knowledge, had overspent so heavily that I had to cut every other department just to keep the film alive at all. It all worked out in the end, everyone helped out, budgeting had just gone wrong and we had to find our way through. Those are the challenges that you can respond to every day on the set.

Where do you look for new equity investors?

Equity investors, they're rare beasts. We were very lucky on The Father in that we ended up with one investor who did about 80% of the finance on that film. Very, very unusual. And having done that they did well but then went on to another project that didn't do so well and I don't think they're in that business anymore, because as we know, equity don't necessarily get the best terms unless they come in late. So the honest answer is, I don't know. I'm always looking.

How do you look for writers to work with?

I keep an eye on theatre as a routine. One writer I'm working with a lot at the moment has a background in theatre and she's moved into screenwriting and I think she's fantastic at characterization. We are on the lookout but as we are taking on a limited number of projects there are a limited number of opportunities. But theatre’s where I look. If there's anything that's tied my career together, so many of the things that we've done have been influenced by theatre, or have come directly from theatre. I think that’s slightly unusual in our business but a lot of our projects have theatre at their roots.

Are funders more likely to be interested in tangible scripts rather than ideas that come from producers or are there other ways to secure financing?

Financiers love IP, don't they? If it's from a novel or some other source it just gives them reassurance. There was even a case in the past where someone came to me with an original script that they then repurposed as a novel and got commissioned on the back of that and had the screenplay in their drawer, ready to go. Honestly, when we're looking at cases like that, we're often asking a writer to invest alongside us, i.e. do something on spec, or for a very low amount of money to allow us to then put that together and take it forward. Sadly, at our end of the game, that still happens quite a lot. I try not to do it, but, you know, it does happen.

Are you often actively involved in finding the stories you want to bring to the screen, or do people bring them to you?

The answer is both. There was stuff that we developed that I've had less success with overall. A lot of the successful stuff has been developed elsewhere and we've helped at the end of the process. And I like to think we've had an influence on some of those things, sometimes not. In the case of The Father, that came as a ready-made script, and I don't claim any credit for developing it.

Do you have a particular casting director you like working with in particular, or do you work with several?

We have worked with a number of casting directors over the years, so I wouldn't like to rule out anybody, because I'm open to everything. Last couple, we've worked with Orla Maxwell at Casting Pictures, who's a great casting director, good friend, and has been doing quite a lot with us recently, but I don't rule out any others.

How do you choose your teams? What's your approach to, you know, building your team for production?

I've been really lucky in that there's been people who've been with us a long time that I've worked with over the years and have done multiple projects which is great. A good example of that is somebody like Martin Childs who is a terrific production designer and came up as an art director, then production designer, and all the way through. That was a great relationship to have, and there's a few people like that who we've seen move up through their roles and that's great. As I often do slightly lower budget projects you're often asking people to act up. Seeing people who are just ready to step up to that next role is great, and I'm always looking out for that.

If there's one big thing that stayed with you over the years, what would that be that you learnt?

Learning to trust your accountant, and keep an eye on the POs. There you go, this is a very boring answer.

Do you think you can transition from writer to producer?

Yes, I do. If you've seen actors, directors, writers, I think absolutely you can. It's like when people say, can directors move from theatre into television or film? And you go, yes, because when you move out of theatre, you surround people with brilliant heads of departments who will support them in every area. And I think that's the same with producing. I rely on really good people.

Closing the finance on a film can be very challenging, what makes it so?

Every time you think you know what's going to happen on a closing, it's more complicated than the time before. You can get three different law firms representing different elements of the deal and there's always a variable that makes that difficult. Like many producers, we've closed two or three weeks into shoot. it's very scary, and it gets more and more complicated, that I do not understand the reasons for it.

What advice would you give a producer starting out?

Infinite patience is top of the list. Stick to quality if you can. However, as an actor, I always used to think, take whatever you're offered, because on that side of things you learn on every job. If you're starting out and someone gives you an opportunity to shadow or to get involved in a project that would not be your particular taste, you'd still learn something doing it.