About The Filmmaker

Eric's Secrets is the first film that I directed, after many years spent working on other peoples’ ambitious documentary films for both broadcast (BBC, Channel4, ARTE) and cinematic release (Arts Council England, UK Film Council, and private funding).
I have since directed for broadcast (The One Show) and for independent projects, and am always particularly keen to follow social issue and current affairs stories. Amongst other projects, I worked on the HYPERLINK "http://www.familiesontrial.org" www.familiesontrial.org, interviewing prisoners’ families for Wired Video.

Summary

What keeps you going until you are 91? Dr Eric Frankel reflects on the last 53 years in his house with his wife, and reveals his secrets of marriage and cooking.

Questionaire

What did you shoot and edit on?

I shot this on the first camera I could borrow for free- a VX1000! And edited it on Final Cut Pro.

How long did it take to make from conception to completion?

I interviewed Eric Frankel in early 2005, a few months after I first wrote to him to ask if I could interview him. My first rough cut (that I’d attempted to edit myself) stayed on a shelf for three years before Raj at Wired Video told me to “just get on with it” and make a version for festivals. He edited what became Eric’s Secrets. Thanks Raj! The Drones kindly let me use their track for the music. So it took about 3 1/2 years from conception to completion.

Where did the idea for this film come from?

Eric is my friend Lucy’s grandfather. I was invited to have lunch at his house and the interior of the house struck me as worthy of a celebration on film as Eric. I felt it was time to make a short documentary of my own- this film was to be about someone who had been doing the same thing for 50 years… Eric had lived in this house since 1951, so was a good candidate. In the event, this wasn’t the focus of the film.

What do you think this film did in terms of helping your career?

This film has given me the confidence to set out as a new director. It’s also made me realise that even if the film is unfunded and supported only in kind, it’s always worth finishing! Winning the awards for the film was a big confidence boost. A short clip of the first cut had also helped me get to the Berlinale Talent Campus as a participant in 2006, which changed my world. I also met two people there who helped me to finish the film.