A BAFTA Tribute to Sue Bruce-Smith

A BAFTA TRIBUTE TO

SUE BRUCE-SMITH

18 JANUARY 2019

TH E FAVO U RITE (2018)

“Don’t be afraid of embarking on something new that you know little or nothing about.”

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OVERVIEW

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here are very few people as rooted at the epicentre of British cinema as Sue Bruce-Smith. Since the mid1980s, she has worked across finance and production, marketing, distribution and international sales on countless films, developing one of the most respected reputations in the business in the process. And unlike others, she has always preferred to stay in the background, determined to help the numerous projects and filmmakers she has been involved with if her input chimes but never seeking to impose her will.

Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen said as much to Bruce-Smith from the stage at the BFI London Film Festival last October, dedicating the premiere screening of Widows (2018), their fourth film together, to the executive. She works behind the scenes, he said, yet she has been an instrumental figure in all his films since his debut feature Hunger (2008).

Bruce-Smith is currently deputy director of Film4 and it is with the prolific film arm of the public broadcaster that she is most widely associated. But, like many stalwarts in the business, she started her career (in 1985) at Palace Pictures, the rule-breaking independent production company/distributor, which threw a grenade at the established way of producing and releasing movies. Working for current Film4 director, Daniel Battsek, she was initially print and bookings manager before taking on a marketing and distribution manager role.

“I was incredibly lucky to land at Palace,” she recalls. “Everyone was hugely inventive and questioning of the orthodoxy, which made it a dynamic and pretty anarchic environment, filled with highly creative people. I’d go as far as to say that many of their subsequent careers have been strongly informed by that time.”

She recalls going up onto the London Hippodrome stage dressed as Freddy Krueger to promote a Nightmare on Elm Street film

SU E BRU CE-SM ITH

by Mike Goodridge

(“complete with gruesome clawed glove,” she laughs), and parading outside Harrods in a sweaty Critters costume (for its 1986 release). “Daniel left no stone unturned in our marketing campaigns,” she says, citing such classics as The Company of Wolves (1984), Letter to Brezhnev (1985), Hairspray and High Hopes (both 1988).

But in 1989, she changed tack, taking the role of head of international sales for the British Film Institute’s production division, where she worked on more esoteric titles, such as Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), Terence Davies’ Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and Derek Jarman’s The Last of England (1987).

In 1993, she went over to BBC Worldwide, determining its investment strategy in feature film production and encouraging a worldwide theatrical life for such films as John Madden’s Mrs Brown (1997), Stephen Frears’ The Snapper (1993) and Roger Michell’s Persuasion (1995).

Mrs Brown, originally conceived as a television movie, went on to be a huge global theatrical hit, landing Judi Dench her first Oscar nomination and initiating the relationship between Miramax and Madden.

Bruce-Smith spent four years at Film4’s international sales department from 1997 working with ex-Palace colleague Paul Webster, leaving in 2001 to move to Dublin with her family. Here, she joined independent production outfit Little Bird, and oversaw production of Brad McGann’s In My Father’s Den and Marc Evans’ Trauma (both 2004).

Later that year, she was intrigued to get a call from Tessa Ross, who was spearheading a new incarnation of Film4, asking her to rejoin the team as head of commercial development and distribution. The role offered a way back to public service filmmaking, which she was instinctively drawn to with its sense of remit and social purpose.

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It heralded a golden era at Film4, thanks to the creative genius of Ross and the calibre of the creative teams she put in place, most recently exemplified by Rose Garnett.

Bruce-Smith was very conscious of benefitting from the quality of the films she was able to work on, and from the strong talent relationships Ross had nurtured with such filmmakers as Danny Boyle, Shane Meadows, Lenny Abrahamson and Martin McDonagh.

Bruce-Smith not only oversaw financing and distribution strategies, but her understanding of the creative process proved richly beneficial to such films as This is England (2006), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Shame (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Ex Machina (2014), Suffragette, Room (both 2015), American Honey (2016), Three Billboards Outside Epping, Missouri, I Am Not a Witch (both 2017), American Animals and You Were Never Really Here (both 2018).

After Daniel Battsek joined Film4, he promoted Bruce-Smith to deputy director in 2017, and she says she is more passionate than ever about the Film4 mandate of making bold and resonant cinema in a period of such immense change for the industry. Not to mention working with “a truly great team of people”.

Bruce-Smith is integral to the strong relationships Film4 has with all of its industry partners, from the studios to producers, financiers, sales agents and independent distributors, ensuring that each project finds the best home. She notes: “As content across small screen platforms becomes more homogenised and risk-averse, it’s more important than ever that the distinctive work that Film4, BBC Films and the BFI support is seen on the big screen in the way that the filmmaker intended.”

As many in the industry will attest (including this writer), she continues to offer guidance and mentorship to colleagues at all stages of their career.

So what advice does Bruce-Smith – whose own career encompasses so many different aspects of filmmaking – give to newcomers?

“Don’t be afraid of embarking on something new that you know little or nothing about,” she says. “Throw yourself into the work, ask plenty of questions and make sure you work with people who both inspire you and bring out the best in you.”

As for this BAFTA tribute, she is characteristically modest. “I’m hugely honoured,” she smiles. “It is lovely and also surprising to be acknowledged, having spent much of my career trying not to be noticed!” • Mike Goodridge is a former journalist and editor of Screen International

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O PP OSITE (FRO M TO P): SE X Y BE A ST (20 0 0), TH E COM PA NY O F WO LVES (1984); TH IS PAG E (CLO CK WISE FRO M TO P LEF T ): U N D ER TH E SK I N (2013), K I LL LIST (2011), SLU M D O G M I LLI O NA I RE (20 08); H U N G ER (20 08)

SU E BRU CE-SM ITH

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INSPIRATIONS Contemporaries and collaborators offer their memories of working with Sue Bruce-Smith

ROSE GARNETT Sue Bruce-Smith is a Good Woman. She’s the whole package. Funny, sane, creative, collaborative, sanguine, realistically optimistic. She’s brimming with generosity with just the right amount of the filthy.

She never wants or desires acknowledgment – it’s the very least of her concerns – but she’s been the crucial presence behind many great films being made and seen.

Her most amazing gift is that she brings out the best in everybody around her. She’s an enabler, but of the good variety. That determined, persuasive, low-slung voice – still always in my head, even though it’s no longer in my daily working life. She makes work, and so life, easier and better – as well as more fun and fulfilling – for all of us who have worked and work with her. There’s a lot of us. And we all love her.

Rose Garnett is currently Director of BBC Films and worked with Sue Bruce-Smith at Film4 from 2014-2017

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BART LAYTON Sue is simply one of the best people I’ve had the good fortune of getting to know in this business. I imagine most might think of her as a fearsome marketing and strategy brain, which she undoubtedly is, but my experience has been of someone with killer creative instincts for story, character and emotion. She is someone I have called on on a number of occasions when either wracked with the anxiety of pre-production on my first proper feature or lost in the woods of an edit for a feature doc. Her advice has always been bang-on; calming, insightful and seeming to come from a place of total support for the filmmaker, film and their vision – over and above the financial investment that she is also responsible for. Sue rules!

I am thrilled to see BAFTA recognise someone to whom so many directors, including myself, owe such a debt of gratitude.

Sue Bruce-Smith worked closely with director Bart Layton on his BAFTA-winning debut feature, The Imposter (2012), and his follow-up feature, American Animals (2018)

A BOVE: TH E I M POSTER (2012); RI G HT: RO OM (2015)

SU E BRU CE-SM ITH

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MARK HERBERT It would not be an exaggeration to say that if it wasn’t for Sue my career as a producer and Warp Films would not be where we are today. My apprenticeship came through production and in the early days the business side was a mystery to me. Like many producers, Sue took me under her wing and gave her valuable time to educate me and then introduce me to funders, sales agents and distributors.

Sue is an absolutely amazing person to be around at festivals. Her unflappable skill to negotiate between creatives and hard business people is a joy to observe; I have no doubt that Sue could sort Brexit out in 10 days.

Her care and passion for films have helped launch so many filmmakers’ careers with Warp, being an essential cog in getting the first films from Richard Ayoade, Paul King, Chris Morris and Yann Demange into production. It didn’t stop there as she was supportive right the way through, often years after, adding her invaluable insight into such things as Turkish SVOD offers.

One special memory I have, which typifies Sue, is at the London Film Festival and the premiere of Submarine. The after party was in full flow and we were having some issues with the release of another film in the US. While everyone was partying, Sue was by my side, in the cold, helping me navigate through a tricky situation. We sorted it after an hour and went inside and had cocktails together. After work, Sue is great fun to be around.

I am thrilled to see BAFTA honour Sue with this tribute, I can’t honestly think of anyone who deserves it more.

Mark Herbert is joint CEO of Warp Films and has worked with Sue Bruce-Smith for more than a decade on such titles as Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), This Is England (2006), Submarine (2010), Four Lions (2010) and ’71 (2014)

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ED GUINEY & ANDREW LOWE We have known Sue for many years and have long regarded her as one of our closest friends in the industry.

We have worked with her on more than 10 films at Film4 including Room, The Lobster and The Favourite.

Sue is a person of immense personal integrity, charm and kindness. Her advice on creative, financial and distribution matters is invariably wise and persuasive, and she can be a tough (but fair) negotiator when necessary. She has always been a champion of filmmakers and producers, and manages to balance this with a protective eye on Film4’s interests and ethos. She has been immensely supportive of us over the years – never more so than on The Favourite, where she played a typically low-key role behind the scenes, which was crucial in steering the film to production.

We are delighted that BAFTA is honouring Sue’s unique and amazing contribution to the British film industry – a richly deserved tribute for a truly remarkable woman.

Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe are joint CEOs of Element Pictures having first worked with Sue Bruce-Smith on Garage (2007), going on to collaborate on films including Frank (2014), The Lobster (2015), the BAFTA and Academy Awardwinning Room (2015), The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Disobedience (both 2017), The Little Stranger and, most recently, The Favourite (both 2018)

YANN DEMANGE Sue Bruce-Smith has been the secret weapon at Film4 for years. I feel so fortunate to have worked with her on ’71; she was instrumental in making my debut and the film would not have reached production without her. Her support was incredible. There was a point where we could not get any pre-sales for the film and the market was essentially saying that the film shouldn’t be made at the price point we were aiming for. It was Sue’s insight and faith that helped us, Tessa [Ross] and Film4 double down and make the film. More importantly, it’s the belief, wisdom and generosity she showed me through the process, and when it came to the release, that I will never forget.

If I was faltering or wasn’t sure what to do, she would pick up on it and offer wise words whenever our paths crossed. Not many people realise that she is a fluent French speaker, and this allowed us to have private moments while in public over the years. She has given me confidence and strength when I have needed it the most; I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me to know she is in my corner. What I love the most is whenever I meet a filmmaker who has worked with the Film4 family and we discuss the experience, Sue’s name gets mentioned with respect and affection, without fail.

Her contribution to British cinema has been immense and I am so happy BAFTA is honouring her with this tribute. It couldn’t be more deserved.

Sue Bruce-Smith worked with director Yann Demange on his BAFTA-nominated debut feature, ’71 (2014)

O PP OSITE (FRO M TO P): Õ71 (2014); 9 D E A D M A NÕS SH O ES (20 04); SU BM A RI N E (2010)

MIKE LEIGH Although her usual CV doesn’t actually list all those of my films she has been involved with in one capacity or another, Sue has invariably been a quietly unobtrusive presence, always positive and supportive, eloquent in her comments and observations, and never without her warm sense of humour.

I have enjoyed working with her, both at the BFI, and more particularly at Film4, but I have also had the pleasure of collaborating with her in quite another context. Sue served for a number of years as a valuable member of the Board of Governors of the London Film School, of which I was Chair. Despite the

enormous challenge of fitting us in alongside her very full Film4 commitments – not to mention her impressive commute to and from Dublin and her family – she always managed to be with us at crucial times, providing a uniquely wise voice, sensitive and pragmatic.

Sue Bruce-Smith is a very special one-off.

She is an inspiration and a joy. • Mike Leigh and Sue Bruce-Smith have worked together for many years across such titles as High Hopes (1988), Naked (1993), Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), Another Year (2010), Mr. Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018)

NA K ED (19 93)

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WITH SPECIAL THANKS Sue Bruce-Smith THANKS Phil Cairns Alice Clenshaw Hannah Saunders Alison Thompson And the Film4 team CONTRIBUTORS Daniel Battsek Yann Demange Rose Garnett Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe Mark Herbert Bart Layton Mike Leigh Ben Roberts Tessa Ross BROCHURE Editor Toby Weidmann Design Joe Lawrence

Published by British Academy of Film and Television Arts 195 Piccadilly London w1j 9ln T: 020 7734 0022 E: info@bafta.org www.bafta.org

A BOVE: 12 YE A RS A SL AVE (2013) OVERLE A F: TH E LO BSTER (2015)

EVENT PRODUCTION Event Producer Cassandra Neal Film Programme Manager Mariayah Kaderbhai Director of Learning & New Talent Tim Hunter Learning & New Talent Officers Julia Carruthers Alexa Tamsett

Learning & New Talent Coordinator Emma Nicholson Learning & New Talent Intern Emma Tarcy BAFTA Photography Director Claire Rees Event Photographer Danny Cozens

Image credits: Cover portrait by Nikki Wills. The Company of Wolves, Hunger, and Kill List images c/o BFI. All other imagery provided by Film4.

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