The Greenwich Series: Part 2 – Spotlight on Amelia Hansson

For the second installment of the Greenwich Series, Livvy J Hooper turns the spotlight on emerging filmmaker Amelia Hansson after a preview screening of her short film Milk at the University of Greenwich exhibition day. 

---

At the showcase of films coming out of the University of Greenwich, it was a genuine treat to see a preview screening of Milk, the latest short film from promising talent Amelia Hansson. An artistic, stylised take on society where everyone is beautiful but something darker lurks beneath the surface, Milk employs gorgeous cinematography and expertly composed shots to create suspense and intrigue. With a stunning cast of Marilyn Monroe-alikes and a milk-man with more than a hint of a young Guy Pearce to him, a beautiful score to match the beautiful visuals, and a talented crew that holds it all together, Milk is a true delight for the senses.

Producer Amelia Hansson was gracious enough to take part in a little interview about the project, shedding some light on the process and future plans.

SPOTLIGHT: AMELIA HANSSON

Have you always wanted to be a filmmaker?
Never. I was originally off to be a diplomat, then a surfer, then a psychoneuroimmunologist… so on a whim, jumped into film.

How did you start off in the filmmaking industry?
Honestly, it was something completely spontaneous. I had been floating around working in the fashion industry off and on for 3 years and fancied a change. A few days before deadlines, it came down to studying Indonesian or going to film school. I made a good choice. I met some incredible people, worked on brilliantly diverse productions and everything just fell into place.

Where do you find your inspiration?
I watch/read/hear people. They do the quirkiest little things that are so unique to them. Good characters and story is what it’s all about so I try to chat to as many people as I can, wherever I can. Sometimes the ones you least expect have fascinating stories. I love things that make people think and question their version of reality, so in that sense even a bottle of milk can be inspirational…

We were lucky enough to see a preview screening of Milk, where you filmed on campus at the University of Greenwich, which is beautiful – what’s it like working in Greenwich?
Magical. The location is just stunning and has so much film history itself. I think because of that, the entire area was incredibly supportive in what we were trying to achieve.

So tell us a bit more about Milk – what’s it all about? 
It’s a conceptual, alternate-reality short film set in a 1940/50s utopian society where everything and everyone is ‘perfect’. It follows the story of a woman and the role she aspires to play within this idealistic environment. It’s a fun one; questioning the habitual ways we live our lives while subtly highlighting social, ethical and institutional flaws. As waffly as that sounds it’s all I can say right now! You’ll just have to watch it!

We’ve already mentioned the beautiful locations, but what about that cast! Tell us a bit about the casting process – you’ve got a pretty sizeable roster of extras, and where did you find that Guy Pearce lookalike milk-man?
That’s David Frampton – he’s just perfect and a great guy to work with. I was looking to cast him in an earlier project but until now our dates hadn’t matched. The most difficult thing for casting was that we needed beautiful people for this ‘world’, but they needed to be able to act too! We were so lucky with the cast. Due to the subject matter of the film as well as the era, we looked mainly at Burlesque dancers. Annette Bette Kellow and Miss Banbury Cross – one of our Marilyn-esque nurses – are both big international Burlesque stars and fortunately they loved the script.

Where did the idea come from?
Riding the tube. There was one of those ‘Drink Milk’ adverts with the celebrity milk-tash thing, it got my head going.

From what we saw of Milk, it’s looking fantastic. I understand the crew were fellow students – clearly there’s a lot of talent knocking around this university. What was it like working with this particular crew on this film? 
Brilliant – they were all so keen which helps. I’ve been working with the core crew for 3 years, and the rest were some very impressive crew pulled from the first and second years.

You also directed the gorgeous short film Salt, with New Day Pictures (which is also fantastic, by the way) – tell us a bit about that. 
It was a bit of an excuse to escape to the wilderness of Cornwall for a week! It was a three man crew and only a couple of actors, so we all had a great time exploring down there.

You’ve worked with cinematographer James Butler on both of these projects – and the forthcoming feature by Joe Watkins, South of the River – so you’ve got a really solid creative team by the sounds of it; how does that help when making films?
By now we all know how each other works, which just makes it all so much easier. There isn’t any confusion or second guessing. Work just flows.

What other projects are you involved with at the moment? Anything else exciting coming up?
Finishing Milk and South of the River are the only things I’m allowed to focus on right now! I have been trying to run away with a couple of GoPro cameras to shoot a surf film abroad for a while now, and I’ve got a couple of documentaries in the pipeline, so we’ll see what happens.

We’re in contact with Joe Watkins about South of the River and release dates, but when and where can we see Milk when it’s finished?
We’ll be hosting a screening towards the end of September. After that will be an international film festival run then…. who knows! Lots of options but will make sure to get it out to the public asap.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about while we’ve got you? 
Films can be great but the outside world is better. Don’t get too wrapped up in the hypothetical.

Next up in the Greenwich Series will be more interviews with emerging filmmakers, so stay tuned!

• Watch Salt on Vimeo and find out more about Nordic Visuals
• Find out more about BareCamera, who worked on Milk and upcoming South of the River.