Teething Problems

Like many people I spent lockdown getting irrationally annoyed at the people I lived with over very insignificant and mundane things. The film basically asks, “What would happen if you actually tried to get revenge on someone for stealing your toothpaste?”

I loved the idea of shooting on Super 8 film to give Teething Problems that old home movie footage feel, with a touch of creepiness. I’m very inspired by 80’s B-movie horror films, as if shot through the lens of Wes Anderson. I wanted a sickly-sweet colour pallet so that you almost don’t notice how nasty this film is until it’s too late.

I also always knew that I wanted to make this a 'straight8' super8 film, that is with only in-camera 'editing', as I hadn't tried that before, even though I knew it would be doubly difficult working knowing we couldn't fix it in post.

Luckily, I was blessed with an amazing cast and crew, and the fact we only had one chance to get each shot gave a real sense of camaraderie to the shoot day. There’s also a moment where we see spit hitting a sink and I was very specific over where I wanted it to land, which meant directing a scene with a mouthful of gross blue liquid. That was pretty memorable.

We planned for the worst, so the shooting day actually went really smoothly, even though we were shooting during the pandemic. Big lesson there is not to sleep on pre-production. Big thanks to my Producer David Freedman, Cinematographer Nicolas Lejtreger, Production Designer Zoe Cavendish and all the crew for their amazing work on Teething Problems. Not to forget Composer Danyal Dhondy for his both comforting yet demented score.

Georgie McGuigan and Lydia Hourihan, who play the two housemates put in some wonderfully memorable performances and Richard Savage's Narrator is brilliantly funny! My main thing is that I want people to walk out with a smile on their face, but there is a little bit of me hoping that I’ve created some awkward conversations for any housemates watching together.