Personal Experiences Inspire a Compelling Foundation for a Feature-Length Vision
Filmmaker Caroline Creaghead combines her unique perspective and filmmaking expertise to tell stories that resonate on a deeply personal level.
Her short film, Relationship to Patient, follows a woman confronting questions of identity and connection while visiting a man she’s dating in the hospital. Inspired by true events, the film offers a glimpse into Creaghead’s storytelling approach and serves as the foundation for a larger feature project.
In this conversation, Creaghead discusses the real-life inspiration behind the film, her evolution as a filmmaker, and the challenges of bringing personal stories to the screen.
Relationship to Patient tackles a very personal and intimate moment. What inspired you to make this film, and how did you decide to approach it as a proof of concept for a feature?
This film was inspired by true events in my own life. It was an experience that felt so acutely wired to my interest in exploring human behavior and connection — through my work, and life in general — that it kind of left me no other choice than to create something from it. When I say “it” I mean my relationship that inspired Claudia and Adrian’s relationship in the film, and the circumstances that surrounded it. It’s a longer story than what you see in the short, which I am developing as a feature. Since I’d produced shorts before, I knew I could make one that showcased my vision for telling the story as a film but was itself just a vignette with the same themes and tone I want to expand on. So that’s what I did.
“It was an experience that felt so acutely wired to my interest in exploring human behavior and connection — through my work, and life in general — that it kind of left me no other choice than to create something from it.”
The film’s protagonist questions her place in the life of the man she’s visiting. How did you develop this narrative tension, and what drew you to explore this complex emotional territory?
In writing the script, I knew that what makes it a story is the protagonist’s journey towards her goal being thwarted with every interaction, balancing the friction created by each setback with just enough gas in the tank to keep her moving forward. I’m very concerned with realism, because I think we’re pretty evolved creatures who respond differently to things that really feel authentic, so it was also important to me to not have cartoonish obstacles. Real life offers us plenty of blows to our senses through microaggressions, tiny humiliations, and uncomfortable circumstances all the time. I don’t think it serves the tension to exaggerate anything, but instead lean into what a lot of us can relate to experiencing.
“Real life offers us plenty of blows to our senses through microaggressions, tiny humiliations, and uncomfortable circumstances all the time.”
Eleanore Pienta’s performance is raw and powerful, and it has received recognition internationally. What was the casting process like, and how did you work with her to shape this character?
I knew as soon as I started thinking about casting that I wanted Eleanore. If she wasn’t the very first actor I thought of, hers was the name I first wrote down at the top of a list. I have been lucky enough to know her for a number of years, through the comedy scene in New York, but it was seeing her star in Molly Gillis’s marvelous short PLAISIR that had me convinced she was the right person to play this role. In it her character is so sincerely seeking a sense of belonging, continuously reaching out for it while she navigates unfamiliar territory. And though she clearly — deeply — feels every failure to connect, she keeps after it. It’s so moving. Seeing her performance in PLAISIR, I knew that she knew what to do and that the character would be in good hands with Eleanore. After I sent her the script and asked her if she would do it, and she said yes, we talked about the story I wanted to tell. I shared some of my thoughts about Claudia, and then I handed over the keys, so to speak. I was right, of course, about her artistry elevating the whole thing, and it’s been very gratifying to see her incredible work celebrated.
“Seeing her performance in PLAISIR, I knew that she knew what to do and that the character would be in good hands with Eleanore.”
Since Relationship to Patient is based on a true story, how did you balance authenticity with the creative liberties necessary for storytelling?
I’ve always wondered how anyone adapting a story decides what goes in, what gets left out, and what’s changed. I think some of that comes naturally, to anyone telling any kind of story. And then you just have to get comfortable with making a ton of decisions. For me, I love making creative decisions, but only since I abandoned the idea that there’s a predetermined path I have to get right to end up with the best version of the thing I’m trying to make. There is no perfect expression, you just have to approach it knowing the shape of what you want to bring to life, and then go to work moving the bones and arteries underneath the skin. I’m poorly paraphrasing Walter Murch, who talked about that idea with editing. Things have to connect and flow relationally and feel real, in the end. In terms of directing the actors, it was kind of the same idea; have a keen sense of whether something is resonating as true, and make that the target. I don’t think “what really happened” is the target. We are all woefully inaccurate narrators of our own lives, and truth is experienced through a prism — we’re all seeing things from our unique perspective. So we’re dealing with the subjectivity of truth as a theme in the larger story being told, and in the meantime aiming for a tone and aesthetic that says to the audience, “doesn’t it feel like I’m telling the truth?” Whatever gets you there gets you there, and there’s no use trying to shoehorn a line that’s landing as false, or insist on anything that’s just not working. As a director you’re collaborating with the actors and discovering together what’s going to work. It’s really fun to throw out best-laid plans that aren’t serving the scene and let your sense of emotional resonance light the path step by step.
“As a director you’re collaborating with the actors and discovering together what’s going to work.”
You have a strong background in producing, especially in the comedy scene. How has your experience in comedy influenced your approach to directing this more dramatic piece?
I’ve caught some flack for calling this a comedy early on, and I think in general it doesn’t serve me to insist that it is, in its way… but — at least — it can be said that it’s heavily influenced by my outlook on humor. I think life is endlessly funny, in myriad ways, and on levels that keep unfolding as we navigate through it and learn more about ourselves and each other. Making someone laugh is a means to connection, shared understanding, intimacy. I think it’s an essential and exquisite part of life. So yeah, that’s in there and I can’t imagine making something that doesn’t embrace and center a sense of humor, no matter how dramatic the circumstances. In practical terms, my connections made through my work as a comedy producer allowed me to put together the team who made this happen. I’d met both Jon Benjamin and Eleanore Pienta while producing live comedy shows in NYC. The rest of the cast was made up of comedians as well, and a lot of the crew I’d worked with before on the comedy shorts I produced, including Matt Porter (editor) and Patrick Ouziel (DP). Those two I worked with very closely throughout all stages of this project, and having an established understanding of shared sensibilities really helped us all hone in on the tone.
What were some challenges you faced in transitioning Relationship to Patient from concept to the screen, especially with the film’s sensitive subject matter and hospital setting?
Shooting in a real hospital was definitely the greatest technical challenge. It was a simulation center, which is connected to a hospital but only used for training. It has everything a hospital has except the patients. So we were able to book it for a weekend but there were all kinds of restrictions we had to comply with, like we couldn’t plug anything into their electrical circuits so everything was battery powered, we could only have a small number of people in the building at a time so our crew was minimal and people were wearing multiple hats, COVID protocols were still in play and strictly enforced so up until like 12hrs before the shoot we had to be ready to replace anyone who may have come back with a positive test result, etc. As the producer, I knew this was the more difficult and expensive location option and I was adding a lot to our plate by choosing it, but as director I knew that shooting on a set made to look like a hospital would lack the authenticity that I was committed to for this film. I knew from the start that I wanted to have the camera moving through the space with Claudia, immersed in the ambiguity of where she was. In the end I do believe it was worth it, and am very grateful to have had a team who was game to take on the challenges it presented.
How has Relationship to Patient evolved from the initial idea to the final short film, and what are your goals for expanding it into a feature?
I wrote a draft of the feature film first, and I always imagined that making a short was going to be part of the journey of making the feature. I consider myself a director first, but hadn’t directed anything with a real budget before. Trying to get support to direct a feature before showcasing that I know what I’m doing as a director would be very difficult, if not impossible. It didn’t make sense for me to write a screenplay and have someone else direct it — directing is the role where I feel like I’m actually an artist at work. I’d produced short films before, so I knew what to do to produce it like I would for any other director: lay out the timeline and steps to get the resources together to make it happen. The story of the short is essentially an anecdote from my real experience, which I thought was both entertaining and indicative of what the larger story is about. It introduces the central characters and the conflict pretty efficiently. It was satisfying to be able to write, direct and produce the short, but I’m definitely eager to partner with a producer who’s experienced in making features in order to take that on.
What key lessons have you learned throughout your filmmaking journey, and how did they inform your approach to making Relationship to Patient?
Respect! I love that filmmaking is collaborative, and I love being in a position of leadership where you’re setting the tone for how everybody works together on a project. I think the best work comes from everyone feeling respected. That means treating each contributor fairly, honoring their time and their craft, and creating a working environment in which people are listening to and hearing one another. If someone needs something they’re not getting, or has a concern about something that’s happening, that’s not a problem; it’s an opportunity to see something you wouldn’t otherwise have eyes on and respond with due attention. If people feel unheard, they naturally build up resentment, and are less invested in the work. I’ve seen that happen, I’ve been on that end of a working relationship, and I get a lot of joy out of building and nurturing positive working relationships. It feels better and it works out better in the end.
“I love being in a position of leadership where you’re setting the tone for how everybody works together on a project.”
With multiple awards already for Relationship to Patient, including your Best Director recognition at Cindependent, how has this film impacted your career and future projects?
I wanted this film to stand as a showcase of my vision and ability as a filmmaker, and I am very pleased with how it’s being received in that regard. Time will tell how exactly it ends up impacting the trajectory of my filmmaking career, but doors are opening. I think any opportunity will be what I make of it, so I’m doing the work in front of me to advance towards the goal of making the feature film. I will say that having a proof of concept out in the world has been very helpful to me in rewriting the feature. I have a better sense of what is resonating with people and how to communicate the story in a way that’s crafted around its themes. That helped me win a pitch competition, and now I’m like “Ok, I have a great pitch and proof that we can pull it off. Who’s in?”
What advice would you give to emerging filmmakers about translating deeply personal stories into film, especially when working in a proof-of-concept format?
I think the best way you can honor your experience is to honor the art you’re making. “This is what happened to me” is not art. The elements that go into storytelling, and your mastery of them, is the material you’re working with and you have to respect that. The rules apply to your art, as to anyone’s; it’s not about your feelings, it’s about the expression. There’s a craft and it’s in your best interest to understand and embrace the craft. I do not think of my film as a document of my experience, but as a presentation of a story I’m telling. I don’t know if I can explain it better than that, but that feels important to share.
Explore more about Caroline Creaghead’s work and stay tuned for the next projects: Website | IMDb | Instagram
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