At WFT Ireland, we are constantly inspired and impressed by the calibre of work being done by our members across the screen industry. So much so, that we love to celebrate their achievements with our Member in Focus segment. We are delighted to feature Claire Frances Byrne in this edition!
Claire Frances Byrne, is an Irish writer and director. Her award winning short films include Sister This supported by Screen Ireland, which emerged as a standout, earning a nomination for a 2020 IFTA, winning Best Film at Fastnet Short Film Festival in 2020 and premiering at the prestigious Dublin International Film Festival. In the same year Claire was awarded the DIFF Discovery Award. Claire’s debut feature film, Ready Or Not commenced production during the summer of 2023. Supported by Screen Ireland, Bankside, RTE and Article1, written by Lynn Ruane and spearheaded by producer Ruth Coady for Gaze Pictures, the film is due for release this year. Claire serves as writer and director on her next project, Daughterhood, produced by Keeper Pictures. This venture underscores Claire’s commitment to telling compelling female narratives from a tender and intimate perspective. Having worked as an editor and served as director of a production company since 2016, Claire brings a multifaceted skill set to her projects. Furthermore, Claire’s dedication to the craft has earned her membership in BAFTA Connect since 2023.
Can you tell us about your journey as a writer and filmmaker?
I had a fairly traditional journey into film because I got to do a masters degree in directing for film, it was a fully practical hands-on course. That year was great as I didn’t have even a basic understanding of how a film came together but in a way the real education began when I started working on set because no amount of study can really prepare you for the scale of operations on some bigger shoots, not to mention the long hours. I was living in Toronto after college and I was lucky enough to get work as a runner and a set dresser on large commercials. I had a BA in fine art and the art department felt like a safe entry point into the industry so I worked in props and set dressing for my two years there. I was actually working a miserable retail job when I first got to Toronto and I ended up selling some jeans to a production designer and got her number and eventually blagged my way onto set with her! When I came home in 2016 I blagged (again) my way into some editing work for broadcast TV after a family friend put in a good work and I lied about my experience! I don’t recommend learning on the job to that degree but It can be done! Editing has been my ‘day job’ ever since and I’ve got to work on so many exciting things. I’ve also learned so much about how a story comes together through editing, so for that I’m forever grateful. Around 2017 I got together with a small network of writers, actors and creatives who were at the same early stage as me career wise and we started making shorts. We had no money and no luck getting funding so we held pub quizzes to raise money for our first short film ‘Spent‘ written by Emma Wall. We made the film for about €4000 and it actually opened a lot of doors for us including some festival screenings. From there it has been a challenging but amazing adventure of making short films (all 5 of them) , some commercials and now, finally, my first feature!
What are the stories that you feel are important to tell right now?
Literally anything original! Whether it’s a film with a social conscience or pure entertainment, I just feel like we’re being starved of original and fresh content. It feels like everything is a remake right now! Any story told from a unique and fresh perspective is always worth telling, in my opinion.
What were the films that you loved and that inspired you when you were younger?
I have always loved a good coming-of-age film. ‘Little Women‘ was on repeat in our house when we were kids and now I feel bad for slamming remakes because I actually loved Greta Gerwig’s take on it. Although, my Laurie will always be Christian Bale! I loved teen dramas too like Breakfast Club, Cruel Intentions and The Virgin Suicides. Some of the films that first inspired me and got me really obsessing over the filmmaking process were sci-fi films like Blade Runner which I still think is just an absolute masterpiece… and the remake for that matter lol! I also loved thrillers and horrors when I was younger because if you begin to dissect them you can start to recognise the tricks they’re using to keep the tension going. I recommend all film buffs watch The Haunting from 1963 because there is so much clever trickery through sound design that’s as effective in my opinion as fancy and expensive CGI.
Do you have a writing process? What does it look like – from idea to filming?
I don’t feel like I have a writing process yet. I’m still very much learning what that looks like for me especially as a solo writer. I have written as a writing team with my friend and co-writer Karen Healy on a film called ‘Daughterhood‘ and that process has been a lot of fun. At the beginning there were a lot of sticky notes and beat sheets and it took us a long time to write any of the actual script. The idea for that film comes from a personal story so we had that starting point to jump off from. We’ve written what feels like a million drafts since and had such amazing support from our producers Evan Horan and Katie Holly all along the way so it has come so far from that initial idea. I’m excited to write more as I have lots of ideas so I just gotta learn how to get them on the page!
Ready or Not is your first feature, congratulations! Would you like to tell us how you put together the resources?
Ruth Coady, who produced Ready or Not was looking for new projects to make under her new company Gaze Pictures back in early 2020 and she reached out to me after seeing my short film Sister This. Around the same time I was talking to Lynn to see if she would ever write for screen and it turned out she was doing a screenwriting masters! I loved Lynn’s book and was so eager to work with her. Ruth really captained the ship from that moment on and she secured Screen Ireland funding from early development to production. Article 1 and RTÉ also funded the film.
How long was the shoot? Any on-set stories?
We shot for 4 weeks, which was incredibly tight, and what made it even tighter was that we were working with the lead cast who were under 16 so even our days were short. Every day was a riot on set though and the young actors all hit it off straight away. Having this gang of really close friends around just made it all so fun. My personal favourite memories on set are of me and the girls (Ruby, Molly and Alicia) singing 90’s pop tunes to each other, which happened every day. There was a lot of Brandy and TLC and anytime I hopped in the cast minivan to get a lift up to set it would turn into a sing song. Oh, and not an on-set story, but teaching the 4 leads some 90’s rave dance-moves was a highlight!
What did you learn in the process of making your first feature?
I learned so much every day from our amazing crew. They were all at the top of their game and so that was amazing. I also learned that the hardest part of taking the leap into feature films is actually getting to the point where you get to make it. Once you are there and you start shooting you really already know what to do. That’s why short films are amazing, if you can make a short film you can make a feature, you just have to keep yourself healthy and focused for a longer period of time. The major challenge comes in the edit where you have so much more hard work in new-territory. I got to work with Nathan Nugent who edited the film and that was by far the biggest learning curve, to watch how far you can push something in the edit.
Give us a little insight into your next project – Daughterhood?
Daughterhood is a coming-of-age comedy about a teenage girl’s identity crisis as an artist after she’s rejected from art college. It’s about that funny time in your life where you’re hurtling towards adulthood after school and your home life and family dynamic is about to completely shift. It’s written by myself and Karen Healy and produced by Keeper Pictures. I think it’s genuinely very funny and it feels like a fresh look at that teen story in a very Irish way! It’s set in 2008 so it’s got a lot of Millennial nostalgia packed in!
What do you hope to see in the industry going forward?
I think right now is a very strange time for the industry and a lot of people have been seriously struggling to cope with the unstable nature of it. It’s possible we’re only now really living the negative effects of streaming giants and how they’ve created these massive peaks and troughs within the economy of film. I’ve heard of so many crew members who have had to leave film behind and re-train because they haven’t worked in over a year. The film bizz is already a very hard space for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to break into and I think this current trough is going to force people out who fought hard to be here. So I’d love to see more government support for people in film, I think more schemes like the artist’s basic income should be rolled out and expanded to all film-crew. Casting from working-class communities was essential to Lynn and to us for Ready or Not so I’d love to see more of that. I admire so much of Lynn’s work, but in particular I am in awe of the work she does with men in the prison system here in Ireland and I’d also love to see access programs for ex-prisoners to work in the film industry. There is a job for everyone in film and a sense of community that I think would be really beneficial to people leaving the prison system that would in turn tackle recidivism.
Do you have any words of advice for up-and-coming writers or filmmakers?
It’s a total cliche but you just have to keep going. I have always leaned on the fact that whether you are talented or not, if you work harder than everyone else you will eventually catch a break. I think the best thing to do is try to keep an even head through it all and try to always think of the bigger picture. Enjoy the highs and weather the lows as best as you can but remember that your journey will not be defined by either in the end.
Thank you so much for chatting with us, Claire!
