Can you tell us a little about your directing process when it comes to actors?
It may sound obvious but every actor and role is different and the director/actor relationship will vary from role to role.
With Rebecca Gibney, obviously she brings 20 years of experience, and she was executive producer on the film as well, so I would ask her questions and listen very closely.
Rebecca is a very cool and down-to-earth person and she contributed a lot, but would also try pretty much anything, even if it ended up not working at all. That was the one important key for me on this film with the actors: I wanted an environment where we could be fearless and try different approaches. In order to do that you need to have the mutual trust I mentioned before. Very important.
Jordan Selwyn and I had a good one-on-one time together before the film. I sensed he was nervous about the role, and this was the correct response! He's the lead, the "map reader," and by default he was young and relatively inexperienced. I actually didn't want to give him too much direction, I wanted him to find his own way, I thought doing this would contribute to his performance. I would be purposefully vague with him. I think it drove him nuts! I also kept tweaking and sometimes removing completely his lines of dialogue. Jordan has a tremendous natural talent at conveying subtle emotion silently, with a glance or look. So I tried to use this.
Mikaila Hutchison is the perfect embodiment of a natural performer. Her first takes were usually the best (Jordan usually excelled after a few takes, which is fine too of course). She had a symbiotic relationship with her character that still blows my mind when I see it. She has a mysterious and wonderful gift that I didn't understand too well in the auditions. Mikaila may be learning here for the first time how close she came to not getting the part! But thank God we cast her. When directing a talent like that, you generally just get out of the way and let them work. Her toughest scene as an actor was the violent scene with Michael Hurst, she needed more takes there. But of course she nailed it.
Bonnie Soper is another natural talent. Her first audition as a blind person was totally believable, which is quite an accomplishment. We were of course the most nervous about presenting a blind character believably, and Bonnie solved our all problems in one audition. From there it was important to let Bonnie know that she had the freedom to do the many takes, to get the blind aspect right, and deliver a performance. We spent a lot of time in pre, doing research. We had guide dog training. We met with the Blind Foundation and had a script read-through and consultation. We met a wonderful young blind person named Mara Kelland who helped us both understand the nuances of a blind person's world. Mara even came to the set and gave us advice on the kissing scene.

Conventional wisdom seems to be that one makes a film three times – while writing it, while shooting it and while cutting it together. Was this your experience with The Map Reader?
Yes, I absolutely believe that. Those processes are different and distinct. It's like a circle, first it's all yours as a script, then you share it with financiers, with cast and crew, you shoot it, then you edit and it becomes yours again, then you refine the edit with others, then you share it with the audience and it becomes theirs. That's it, really.

What fests has the film screened at so far, and what reaction has it enjoyed?
The film premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October '08. That fest is very industry-oriented so I was actually in a roundtable meeting rather than at the premiere. That was when the producer John Davies texted me that the film had sold out! Austin audiences are very film-savvy so I was pleased that they were positive about the film. The Q&A was to-the-point and really enjoyable.
Next was the Hollywood Film Festival, which was more loosely organised. I attended that screening, at the ArcLight, which has a state-of-the-art digital projection system, just incredible. Attendance was about 100, small-ish but very enthusiastic, a good buzz in the lobby after the screening, which was fun.
I also attended Fort Lauderdale, which had a more elderly but very knowledgeable audience, they really get into their film down there. The theatre was nearly full, and the Q&A was quite a grilling. I had to fly out early to attend AFM so missed the award ceremony where we won the Spirit of the Independent Award.
We play Tiburon in March and Santa Cruz in May, and hopefully a couple more to complete our fest year.

Anything else you'd like to mention?
Big love and thanks to all the cast and crew of The Map Reader.

• The Map Reader is still playing at The Academy and Berkeley, Whangaparaoa in Auckland, The Paramount in Wellington and The Rialto in Dunedin, plus a large number of regional theatres. See www.flicks.co.nz for details.

© Copyright Onfilm magazine, February 2009 www.onfilm.co.nz