Se7en Questions with Producer and Writer
Sarah Daly
Who are some of the artists or some of the works
that inspired you to get started in your field? Of today’s current artists, who do you draw inspiration from?
My inspirations are very, very diverse as are my creative inclinations! But, in terms of horror, and becoming a horror writer, there are a few notable influences that stand out. I read a lot of Stephen King as a young teenager and that definitely gave me a taste for the macabre and fantastical. Even as a small child I preferred stories with a slightly darker or more subversive edge, from Roald Dahl to the often supremely unsettling fairy-tales of Hans Christian Anderson. I also loved staying up late to watch The Twilight Zone, even though it gave me nightmares!
I’m not so great at keeping up with current artists, but there are some fantastic women working in the genre right now that certainly inspire me, people like Aislinn Clarke and Kate Shenton.
What have thus far been some of the negatives of being an indie artist in your field?
Well, as with any creative field, it’s extremely difficult to make a living! There are often compromises you have to deal with and choices you have to make in terms of how you personally want to make your work sustainable. You constantly have to assess and reassess what it is you want to achieve as an artist and try to focus as much of your energy as possible on the creative work itself, rather than the pursuit of funding, or all the admin, logistics and other work that comes with filmmaking. It’s a very tricky balance to find. I’m definitely still working on that!
What have thus far been the positives of being an indie artist in your field?
For a long time I worked a regular nine-to-five job, and hated it! Although I definitely work more hours now, it’s on my terms, and my schedule. This freedom is extremely liberating and I’m grateful for that every day, even now after eight years as a full-time artist.
Working in indie film, and in horror in particular, also invites a lot of wonderful chaos, and interesting people into your life. I’ve had all kinds of adventures on film shoots and at festivals, that a more ‘normal’ job would rarely offer.
The particular benefits of being an indie are having much more control over your own work, of being less beholden to the demands of outside influences, and of retaining more of a feeling of ownership of the things you create. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
What have been your favourite completed projects to work on up to this point? Can you tell us a little bit about them?
I’m very proud of all the features I’ve made with Hex Studios, which is an independent horror film studio in Scotland that I run with my partner Lawrie Brewster.
We’re now on our fifth feature film, and I think we’ve upped our game with each one as we’ve learned and grown. My favourite one is almost always the newest one, so at the moment it’s our Gothic chiller Automata, the wild and twisted tale of a notorious clockwork doll, that spans centuries. We’re in post-production on that one right now, but I’m very excited to see what folk will think of it, as it’s an extremely odd film, but I think, quite special.
I also worked on a couple of surreal, animated short films with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his production company HitRECord a few years back. They concerned a character called Morgan M. Morgansen, and featured a very unusual language style which was a ton of fun to write. The films went on to show at Sundance and South By Southwest, and they’ll always have a special place in my heart.
What projects are you currently working on or have planned for the near future?
As I mentioned, I’m currently working on completing the horror feature Automata. We’ve got a few more shooting days coming up, then the film will go into post-production.
I’m also working on a short film with HitRECord called The Humble Shack of Jacques Clic-Clac, which is a quirky, animated short about an insecure puppetmaker. It seems I’ve got a bit of a running theme of puppets and dolls going on!
Where do you see yourself in a few years and what would it take for you to consider your career a success?
Oh gosh, that’s a big question and I’m not sure I can answer it! My idea of what success is shifts constantly. The egotistical part of me would of course love my work to be respected and admired, to win awards and all that sort of thing. I think every artist is driven to some extent by a desire for approval or affirmation.
Deep down though, I know that those kinds of successes don’t count for much, and honestly aren’t really even attainable. You win one award, you want another. Real success, I think, is about living a day-to-day life that feels balanced and fulfilling. If I can continue to support myself doing mostly work that I want to do, and telling the stories I want to tell, then that’s my idea of success.
What I love most about what I do is how unpredictable it is. So, as for where I see myself in a few years, I really can’t say, but I’m perfectly fine with that.
If you couldn’t do this anymore, what career path do you think you would have followed and why?
I think it would always have been something creative and/or entrepreneurial. Maybe I’d run an Etsy store or write children’s books. Or both. I’ve never been very good at doing just one thing!
