Show Me Shorts Q&A with filmmaker Liam Maguren

The Show Me Shorts film festival starts on October 7 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary, 
Director Liam Maguren has been nominated for Best Director for his short The Charm of Magpies, and he generously took some time to answer some questions.

Tell us about your short film

It's one part identity drama, one part political thriller, and all birds. The story centres on a young tūi raised by a family of magpies. Just when she finds her place amongst them, the pack's leader looks to declare war, putting the tūi in an unbearable position: she can either fall in line or find her voice and speak up.

Where did the idea come from and how was the journey to making it happen?

I had the idea roughly a year before I got the grant to make the short. I can’t spoil the ending, but a childhood memory of magpies in a tree triggered a major part of the film’s trajectory and I was drawn to making a film featuring a native bird that was darker and not family friendly. I’m also deeply interested in split identity, language recovery, and illustrating the interior worlds of characters. 

Before I got the grant, my only realistic means of making films were to animate them myself. I’m rubbish at drawing birds, it turns out, so I shelved the idea. Then I won 48Hours, which is how I got the prize grant, and suddenly this golden opportunity presented itself. 

Do you think it's harder to make a short film or is it a discipline you revel in?

When I’m making short films largely by myself, I’ve come to revel in it. I’ve got my own, slow, comfy, stress-free, admittedly impractical way of doing things. But this film was harder in the sense that I was working within a proper production framework and with a team of professionals for the first time. There was so much to learn but I was hugely grateful to be surrounded by skilled people in the craft who could guide me. Especially my brother, who was the animation director and my rock through all this, and my superb producers Daisy and Simon.

What was the best part of making this?

The boring answer: all the lovely chats I had with the various people at Mukpuddy who put hands on this film, trying to elevate everything beyond my imagination with their visions and expertise.

The exciting answer: doing sound at Park Road Post was like a filmmaker's Disneyland. It was crazy to think we had this incredible post-production house working on our short film right after they'd completed work on A Minecraft Movie.

Conversely what was the worst?

Waiting. Just all the waiting. Another boring answer, sorry, but it's the truth. It's no-one's fault. Just the nature of the beast. But when you've got so many moving parts reliant on (understandably) very busy people, you end up waiting for a vital email or a work slot to open up so you can push forward. There were whole months I had itchy feet and we had solid ideas of how to progress—bundles of energy with nowhere to go. 

You've had success in the 48 hour film festival and now a sms nomination, but do you still get the fear bringing an idea to life?

I'm currently doing a techno cosmic horror about a spider trying to outrun a vacuum cleaner, so that probably answers that question. I am doing that one solo though, which means the only person I could disappoint is myself, and the only way I could disappoint myself is if it doesn't come out in the way I've intended. Fortunately, I'm very happy with it! If I get the chance to make something with studios again however, I think there would be fear or pressure of making sure I do right by the people attached to the project.

What's your best advice to those thinking of doing this and what's the one thing you wished you'd known?

In terms of directing, I think it's a good idea to give all the fundamental aspects of filmmaking a go when you're first starting out. If you want to make animated films, try animating. If you want to do live-action films, try shooting something yourself. Make your own sound effects. Perform a little. Do some editing. The tools are so accessible nowadays and you don't have to be particularly amazing at one of these things (I know I'm not). But down the line, if you're in a position to helm a proper production, the conversations with people skilled in these areas will be far more fruitful because of your experiences—as limited as they may be.

I learned all this in my many years doing 48Hours, where being against the clock saw us scramble to help out in every department and panic-searching YouTube tutorials to get things done. It's pretty much where I learned to make films. If there was one thing I could tell my younger self, it would be to avoid making films you think the crowds want to see and make the films you know you want to see. Ever since I did that, my films have been better and I've enjoyed making them more.

Whose other short films do you admire and why?

I really love Alyx Duncan's short films The Tide Keeper and The Sea Inside Her. I find so much beauty in the way she melds puppetry into her metaphorical stories. I count myself lucky to have seen those on the big-screen and can't wait to see Growing Still in this year's fest.

What's your favourite short on this year's programme?

I haven't seen any other films from this year's programme except for Regarding Our Previous Conversation, which is directed by my literal boss Paul Scantlebury. He's not one for ass-kissing, so I won't overhype the film, but I do think it's a great encapsulation of his dryly comedic mind and his ability to widen the holes in deeply flawed people's personalities.

And just finally, when will we get a Stickman short film, given he's one of your greatest creations?

I'm currently working on a 10-hour opera about the life and death of The Stickman critic. Unfortunately, the lead soprano pulled out a month ago, delaying production by at least a year. We've currently received interest from The Met and are in talks with André Rieu to compose.

For more on Show Me Shorts, visit showmeshorts.co.nz The festival runs from October 7 to October 27 around New Zealand.