Viva Brighton Issue #69 November 2018

INTERVIEW
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MYbrighton: Eva Riley
Director and screen writer
Are you local? I’m originally from
Edinburgh, but I’ve been living in Kemp
Town since 2012. My boyfriend moved
here to do a PhD at the University of
Sussex. I think I’d only been to Brighton
for half a day before that and I hadn’t seen
my flat when we moved in, but I’ve loved it
since we got here. I studied at the National
Film and Television School in London
and would come home to Brighton at the
weekend. Since I graduated I’ve been living
here full time.
Is Brighton a good place to be a
filmmaker? I spend most of my time
writing and I find it’s a peaceful place to
work. There isn’t tons of directing work to
be had, but I’ve just shot my first feature
film here. The main locations were in
Woodingdean and Portslade. I love the
different areas in and around Brighton, but
I also chose to shoot it here so that I could
sleep in my own bed. The film is called
Perfect Ten, and it’s about a teenage gymnast
who has lost her confidence. When we were
looking for actors, we met a lot of young
people in gymnastics clubs and youth clubs
in the city and around the south east. We
found one of the lead actors in the crowd
at a boxing match in Hastings. I’m very
passionate about casting people who haven’t
been to drama school; there is so much
talent out there. Lots of the young people I
got to know were extras in the film. It was
nice to involve local people.
Are you always walking around Brighton
scouting for locations? Not so much for
locations but definitely for ideas. I used
to work in a café in town, and there were
always interesting people coming in and
passing by. I would sit in the window seat,
people watching.
What do you like most about living in
Brighton? These past few weeks I’ve been
editing my film in London, and I love the
feeling of coming home on the train. It’s
fresh and airy. I’m very much at home here,
and I can cycle everywhere. I’m not that
much of a party girl. For eating out, I like
Planet India and Terre à Terre, and the
Hand in Hand is my favourite pub.
What do you like least about the city?
That there are so many homeless people; I
feel so bad for them. It’s a place where you
can see the disparity between rich and poor.
It’s a great place to be if you have money,
but it’s not so nice for everyone. And train
fares to London drive me insane.
Where would you live if you didn’t live
here? I’d like to live in Glasgow. I love
Scotland. I like the culture, the people and
the politics. Glasgow is quite a happening
place with lots of art and culture and a good
film industry. Things like Netflix, Amazon
and the renewed interest in TV are putting
money back into the industry. It feels like
not a terrible time to be making a living as
a filmmaker.
Interview by Lizzie Lower
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