JULIA VERDIN

JULIA VERDIN

“Veteran filmmaker Julia Verdin is a multi-hyphenate – she is known as an accomplished Producer, award-winning Director and has written a number of screenplays.”

Julia Verdin is a British independent film producer and founder of Rough Diamond Productions, established in 1993. She has produced over 30 feature films and is best known for Stander, starring Thomas Jane, The Merchant of Venice (2004), starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes, and 2 Jacks, starring Sienna Miller and Danny Houston.

Verdin has been serving as a director on the board of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)[2] since 2006. In 2015, she received The Executive Achievement Award from the La Femme International Film Festival.

I met Julia at a local bistro called Cecconi’s in West Hollywood. I was there with my business partner John Campbell-Mac. John knew Julia over the years when he was acting in Britain. She struck me immediately as someone who was oozing positive energy and very personable. When I learned a little about her I asked if I could interview her for RCM. She agreed. We met one more time at her home above Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. She was a delight to talk to. Here’s the result...

When did you first think about performing, writing and producing film as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

My mother was an English teacher and loved theatre, when I was young we went to the theatre a couple of times a week and I saw many wonderful productions. I initially wanted to be an actress. After university, I trained at the Drama Studio in England. My parent’s weren’t keen on me going into acting as they did not think it was a very stable profession. I was very passionate about it so didn’t take their advice and paid my own way through drama school. I am happy to say that I managed to reach a certain level as an actress and was able to support myself.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences.

I was an avid reader and loved all types of literature. We didn’t have a TV in the house until I was 15 years old. I felt like I was missing out at the time but later was super grateful as it enabled me to sail through high school and college as I had already done so much of the required reading. I grew up in Oxford which is a university town and very academic and

was an idyllic and safe place to grow up. We lived right by the river Cherwell in a beautiful environment. I enjoyed great theatre, watched a lot of old movies and witty conversation there. My mother liked to entertain and would invite a lot of playwrights, writers and poets over to the house.

How did you get started?

I started in the business as an actress and fell into producing. I loved reading scripts for friends in the business and they always liked the notes and feedback I gave them. This turned into paying jobs and was something I enjoyed doing between acting jobs. This later led to being offered a job as a creative development exec at a new production company. I found that I loved developing stories and got a lot of what I enjoyed most about acting from that and so got more and more involved in the company and ended up running it.

When and How did that evolve into writing, producing and directing ?

After making a couple of films for the company I was running in London, I moved out to LA and set up my own production company. I was lucky and got my first project up relatively quickly and that encouraged me to stick at it. LA has been good to me and I have managed to produce 36 films. I always loved the idea of directing but it took me awhile to get my courage up to actually believe that I could do it. About 6 years ago, I decided to do a couple of directing courses and an online MA in film with a focus on directing before I jumped in to actually doing it. I took industry advice and started with a short film and loved the

whole experience. I wanted to write a story about a topic that I was passionate about and through volunteering at a shelter for runaway teens, I had met a number of very young girls who had been rescued from traffickers and seeing the level of trauma they had to cope with had become very passionate about the issue of child trafficking. I did a lot of research and talked to many people working in the field including detectives, survivors and NGO’s fighting against child trafficking. This short ended up being used by a lot of non- profits as a fund raising tool and also for education. Seeing the success of this was what inspired me to found the non -profit Artists for Change and continue to create media to provide education and awareness on child trafficking and other key social issues.

Was it hard as a woman to break thru some of the “old boy” barriers of the film industry ?

Yes it was. When I first started producing it was very much a male dominated profession, this has changed in recent years I am happy to say and there are now many talented female filmmakers and more opportunities are now being provided for women.

Your work is serious and content driven, How have you managed to keep working when there is so much demand for commercial hits?

I think you have to be passion driven and find creative ways to get social impact films made. My passion has always pushed me to find a way to make films I really believe in happen and it is often a question of finding the right people to support you.

I have been lucky enough to work with many talented actors and actresses and have made a lot of great friends along the way. I love each and every one of them. When you make a film, especially the smaller budget films, when it is all hands on deck to get the film made, I think everyone involved has a better time as they all feel really part of the process. On bigger budget films when you have a huge crew and all your cast has big star wagons, assistants and drivers, it is often not so much of a personal experience for all involved.

You’ve been in LA a long time now. How has that affected your work as an someone who grew up in the smaller town of Beaconsfield?

I love LA, I love the weather, the positivity, and the healthy life style. I actually grew up in Oxford. LA is a very spiritual place. I do a lot of Kundalini yoga and meditation and that helps my creative energy and positivity. I love being around people with positive attitudes too and there is very much a “Can do anything “ attitude in LA.

How did Artist for Change start? What’s the main mission?

The short film “Lost Girls” about child trafficking that I directed ended up being used by a lot of nonprofits as a fund raising tool and also for education. Seeing the success of this was what inspired me to found the non-profit Artists for Change and continue to create media to provide education and awareness on child trafficking and other key social issues.

Artists for Change is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to create high impact film, television, and multimedia projects to inspire individuals, organizations, and communities to bring about positive social change.

The next film is a narrative feature film Lost Girls: Angie’s story also about child trafficking and the goal is to engage with narrative and then once engaged, we will also have an educational short documentary available too for people to get more facts and info on trafficking and what to watch out for. We were involved in putting on a successful arts and media festival to raise awareness on trafficking too, showcasing a variety of artists work, films and educational panels which was a big success and we will be involved in doing another one in 2020. We also put

on educational workshops to encourage, educate and support other filmmakers in social impact film making. We also help other non -profits to showcase the work they do through visual media which can be a very effective fundraising tool for them.

How did you come to writing a book on film? Is that something you want to do more of?

I had so many filmmakers constantly coming to me for advice on filmmaking that I finally thought the easiest thing to do would be to create a simple guide on how to make an indie film from start to finish, going through each stage in detail and suggesting ways of doing things to ensure the best chance of success. It’s called “Success in Film” and avail on Amazon - https://www. amazon.com/Success-Film-Funding-Finishing-Independent/dp/0692462775

When I can carve out some time, I plan to write a book on social impact filmmaking to serve as a guide for filmmakers interested in this area.

What are your plans for the future? Any special projects in the hopper?

I have so many issues that I am passionate that I would love to tackle. Every time I drive around and see how many homeless people there are living on the streets at the moment, it breaks my heart. I am formulating thoughts and story ideas around that. I have just finished another screenplay which is a darker and a more tragic story on trafficking involving the Stockholm syndrome that often goes on between traffickers and their victims. I also have a film about Honor Killings that I want to direct and an inspirational story about a hearing impaired teen who wants to be a dancer and finds an unlikely dance partner to enter a national dance competition with. I am about to start writing a film about the refugee crisis too. My biggest problem at the moment is not enough hours in the day and so much I would love to accomplish. I am really excited about Artists For Change and hope to bring many other filmmakers on board and enough funding to raise awareness on many different issues through media as I am a great believer that together great things can be accomplished.

“I found that I loved developing stories and got a lot of what I enjoyed most about acting from that and so got more and more involved in the company and ended up running it.”