Private Project

To Olivia

In 1962, Roald Dahl (Hugh Bonneville) was a upcoming children’s author, his wife, Patricia Neal (Keeley Hawes), was a Hollywood movie star. This unlikely pairing retreated to the English countryside to bring up their expanding young family, only for their lives to be turned upside down when their daughter Olivia contracted the measles virus and died. Her death devastated the couple, yet, their shared grief became a source of redemption and strength, Neal going on to win an Oscar and Dahl writing the book which made him a household name.

  • John Hay
    Director
    There's only one Jimmy Grimble
  • John Hay
    Writer
    There's only one Jimmy Grimble
  • Dave Logan
    Writer
    Lost Christmas
  • Donall McCusker
    Producer
    The Hurt Locker, Death of a President
  • Hugh Bonneville
    Key Cast
    "Roald Dahl"
    Downton Abbey, Paddington
  • Keeley Hawes
    Key Cast
    "Patricia Neal"
    The Bank Job, The Bodyguard
  • Sam Heughan
    Key Cast
    "Paul Newman"
    Outlander, Bloodshot
  • Conleth Hill
    Key Cast
    "Marty Ritt"
    Game of Thrones
  • Geoffrey Palmer
    Key Cast
    "Geoffery Fisher"
    A Fish Called Wanda
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    8,000,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Saboteur Media
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - John Hay

John Hay is a two-time EMMY, Berlin Bear and BAFTA award-winning writer/director. After reading Film at Reading University John graduated with a Distinction and then worked extensively in British film and television. Notably, his credits include Cause of Death, a feature-length hospital drama which took top-prize at San Francisco, Stig of the Dump, which won him his first EMMY and Autogeddon, starring Jeremy Irons, which was described by The Independent as being “As close to genius as television gets” and went on to win seven international awards. John also worked with Al Pacino producing the British segments of Looking for Richard for Fox Searchlight.

John’s feature film work includes,The Steal, starring Alfred Molina, Helen Slater and Stephen Fry, which was produced by Gary Kurtz (Star Wars). The film was picked up for theatrical release by Warner Bros. in the UK. John subsequently went on to win a Berlin Bear for There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble which starred Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone and Gina McKee. The film also won the Griffin at Giffoni and ten other major awards. John also wrote and directed, The Truth About Love which recouped its budget in its opening weekend in a just one minor territory internationally. In addition, John co-wrote The Admiral, the highest home grown box-office grosser that Russia has seen to date. John’s film for BBC/ImageNation film, Lost Christmas, which starred Eddie Izzard and Jason Flemyng, won him his second EMMY.

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Director Statement

To Olivia | Director’s Notes

Set in 1962, To Olivia focuses on the period in which Patricia Neal was making Hud and Dahl was writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; the period in which tragically they lost their daughter Olivia to measles. That said, this is not a film about death but a film about life and how the power of the imagination and creativity can be a guide through the darkest of times. Indeed, if it is ever dismissively referred to as “a tearjerker” that is a label I will be very proud for it to have been given.

To Olivia tracks the tears of a family going through the five stages of grief in different ways. A “true story” but not in anyway a bio-pic. As such, Patricia isn’t portrayed just as a “glamorous movie star” or a mother who loves her children deeply, but also someone as equally creative as her husband trapped in an English village very far from home while Dahl is consumed by his failing career. A woman whose own journey allows her to reinvent herself and come out with an Oscar in hand having, like so many women of her time, fought to repair her broken family while all the time being forced to compartmentalise her own grief for “the greater good”.

Roald Dahl I wanted to portray as an adult with the sensibilities of a child; garrulous argumentative; private and elusive. On the surface aloof but underneath a man with great kindness. In fact one of his famous quotes was: “I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I’d put it before courage, bravery or generosity or anything else. To be kind is what’s most important”.

The film “suggests” the period using things like formal composition, a Bernstein-inspired score and a Saul Bass title sequence but also chooses to tell its story in the “historic present” tense. Something designed to make it both melancholy and uplifting all at once. Also, with its character-led design, rigorous use of a colour palette and mid-winter setting I feel I have been able to chart the shifting moods and calamitous changes in the Dahl’s lives in such a way that audiences will feel they are watching something fundamentally cinematic and on a scale far greater than its budget. A handsome film; “different” enough to make its mark but also never afraid to “deliver”.

Ultimately this is a picture that will speak to the cinema-goer because we all know from experience how much a film about love and loss can strike a chord with the person in the dark. Indeed, by being a film about a family coming together when in other circumstances they could have fallen apart I think To Olivia has great relevance to these dark times.