Keep it simple

“What you managed to do is just take it from all your ideas extract just one really simple story of one person.”

Katharine Nicholls on Towels

Katharine Nicholls And I remember you showing me that photo Prawta, and I remember you talking that you just thought it was quite amusing, the idea of somebody claiming their territory with a load of towels. But I think there was a kind of a zeitgeist at the time wasn't there with Trump building his wall?

Prawta Annez And, yeah, that impacted me quite a bit. Yeah.

Katharine Nicholls Yes. And it meant something to you, I think that was a little bit deeper.

Prawta Annez Yeah. I think I think it was a combination of I had this idea, you know, this kind of seed planted from the workshop already. And then the inauguration happened, I think only a couple of months after that. And I remember at the time

Camilla Kjaernet It was Brexit that happened.

Prawta Annez Yeah, it was Brexit and then. Yeah, and then the whole, it was a lot of things. There was a lot of a lot of older people making decisions for our generation that it's just. Yeah, a lot of things that were a lot of people making marks in the world territory marks in the world came out. Kathy, do you remember the specific conversation?

Katharine Nicholls I do remember discussing the picture with you. And I do remember that you had had an idea before that which was very complicated about people being in boxes and..

Prawta Annez Oh, yes, the first the first idea. Yeah. I remember. There was an original image that I had when we had to do the small pitches. And for me, the first thing I was going to go for was like a personal story I wanted to tell about how you don't try and make other people...so it was almost like a bunch of little people with different colours and then this giant factory person was like painting them and changing them into one colour, one block. So it was like that idea of like enforcing your opinions and your ideas onto someone, even though you think it works well and it applies, you know, it works for you and it is the right thing doesn't mean that it will make everyone happy and it works. So it was already going in a, I guess, political route. And then I remember trying to pitch the idea. And because the idea was not even close to being refined, it was a big mess. It was huge, it was way too much. I remember Derek's face just being like, OK? I mean, like I remember him saying that if you do want to do that, good luck! But and I think yeah, I think it was that that I was like, OK, so I want to do something..turns out that I want to do something I guess more on the political route, but I need to find something more simple. I think you both you and Derek suggested going for a more simplified and possibly something that could be applied to daily life. And I think it was on that kind of thought, that path that I then thought of the towel's image and how that was an interesting comment on society and then. And then I remember that I even had this thing where my first storyboard pitch, my first little thumbnail was using what are they called again.. the wind breaker barrier things that people use in the summertime?

Katharine Nicholls It's called windbreaks, yes.

Prawta Annez Yeah, The windbreaks. I remember thinking, oh, the windbreaks could be the wall. And in the end, having a character that looks a bit like Trump up here and put the windbreaker in. Well, and I remember I think a couple of people were like, oh, that's really cool! You should go for it! And then I think you came over and you're like, but it would be kind of nice to I mean, even though I think you suggested, like, even though the imagery would be quite a strong statement and it would be interesting. But you did say that you did suggest which I actually I completely agree with and I think it works for the benefit of the film in the end, is that not having Trump at the end actually left the film almost a more of universal. Yeah. Kind of left it open to different applications so people can apply it to their own personal country or personal political situations because it's like, was it Luis Cook who saw it? And it was like, oh, this reminds me of Brexit. So it was just interesting that, yeah, not not having that one final thing made it very. Yeah, it was, it was.

Katharine Nicholls I think it's it's, it's nice because it's a personal story and about a particular character who could be male or female anything. And there's no, there's no particular thing that that person is, they're just somebody who really wants this thing. And I think what you managed to do is just take it from.. from your, all your ideas extract just one really simple story of one person that, yeah, it became a universal thing that resonated with lots of people and they could interpret it in their own way.