DISCORD
Written & Directed by Jen Lim
Produced by Emily Bowyer
At a young girl's first lesson with a new piano teacher tensions rise.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Jen first began filmmaking at the Beijing Film Academy before graduating with a degree in Film & TV from the University of Bristol. Her short films include the award-winning Apocalypse Anytime Now, supported by the Roundhouse and Ex-Animo Foundation, and the award nominated and BIFA-qualified Discord, winner of the Emerging Voices Film Foundation. Alongside writing and directing she crews on the sets of Film and TV. Jen attended Reykjavik International Film Festival’s Talent Lab in 2024 and is developing her debut feature with the inaugural Great Migrations development lab delivered by MilkTea and supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund. She is a member of BAFTA Connect, Cinesisters and Directors UK.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JEN
Welcome to our Weekly Pick! Let's dive straight in.
Discord first caught our attention when you applied for Post-Production Funding during our Spring 2024 Funding Round. We shortlisted the project, and while ultimately we didn't support the film with hard cash, we did come onboard to support with some in-kind services. First-off, good-on-ya for persevering in the face of not landing funding dollars.
Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience of being shortlisted?
We know how competitive funding applications are and we were really excited to even be shortlisted. At the point of applying we had a draft cut and the news gave us more confidence in our work so far. Our interview with Kino highlighted how much they wanted to support independent productions, and there was immediately an understanding of what might be possible in terms of alternate support regardless of the outcome.
Can you chat about what in-kind support via Kino looked like for Discord?
Kino was really helpful from the moment we received the outcome email where we were immediately given the possibilities for in-kind support. Given that we were in post-production, of course the production options would not apply to us, but we were looking forward to being able to plan for distribution together, a stage that I personally felt most uncertain about. However, Dustin at Kino put together a tailored festival strategy based on the budget we had available at the time. I was extremely grateful that I could rely on his experience and expertise having navigated the festival circuit himself many times before, and he was always willing to share his first-hand experience doing so. I think without this I would have felt incredibly overwhelmed about the next steps after completing the film, and am thrilled that we are about to have the online release with both Kino and Centerframe!
Now let's go back in time... We weren't the first production company to offer support. Can you talk about your relationship with Other Brother Studios and their involvement in producing Discord?
I was incredibly fortunate to be one of two winners of the Other Brother Studios film fund (now renamed Emerging Voices Film Foundation) in 2024, and immediately felt the support and encouragement of the executive producers who came on at that point, Matthew Lawes-Wickwar (Other Brother Studios) and Marlena Hellebø. I also received invaluable guidance from the brilliant mentor they matched me with, Emily Greenwood. Throughout the process I felt I could turn to them at any point with questions or concerns, and I received so much helpful feedback. But I also felt a real sense of trust in myself and the project which was a lovely feeling to have. Since then I have become one of the trustees for the Emerging Voices Film Foundation, and it has been wonderful seeing more underrepresented filmmakers also greatly benefit from this experience.
Let's chat about your cast.
How did you go about casting Discord?
I worked closely with our Casting Director, Niamh Broderick, but also involved our Music and Sound designer, Sarah Playford, from very early on. We needed to find not just a brilliant young actor but pianist too. Therefore, not only did we go through the traditional avenues but also reached out to youth theatre and music groups. We then held a few rounds of auditions which all involved some form of piano playing, before finally doing a chemistry test between the shortlisted applicants for the teacher and student roles. We were over the moon to find a great duo in Mila and Maja and could not have found better performers to encapsulate these roles.
Can you chat about your experience working with a young performer in the co-leading role?
Absolutely, I really love working with young performers and I think it helped that it was not my first time doing so. Mila displayed such a great acting range in the auditions that I had the utmost confidence going into the shoot, and never felt like she needed much guidance from me. We made sure to have a short rehearsal prior in which we went through the music, and the points where we needed to interrupt her playing for the story. I think this process, and having met up by then a few times before, ensured that we were all comfortable around each other and with the material by the time it came to the shoot.
During its festival journey, Discord got BIFA qualified. Congrats! Can you tell us a bit about your festival journey with this film? The highs, the lows, the in-betweens.
Thank you! As many filmmakers can sympathize with, the initial waiting period for the first selections can be tough, but as mentioned previously having the festival strategy in place was so helpful and preventing me from overthinking the outcomes. I really enjoyed attending as many festivals as I could make, and am thankful to all of the festivals and programmers who saw something in Discord that they wished to share with their audiences, and it was truly wonderful to see the whole team's hard work displayed on these screens. During the circuit you end up crossing paths with many of the same films, and it was inspiring to finally meet some of these filmmakers and watch each other's work. It creates a real sense of community in what can otherwise be a quite isolating process.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
I just received one of those memory notifications saying it had been three years since I had been on the set of Discord, and I had to remind myself that directors especially are unlikely to spend every day on set, as much as we may like to. Therefore, it is important to trust in your team and collaborators-the people you have chosen to go on this journey with you because, as exemplified by the notification I received, the process can take years, sometimes decades. During this time many of the team will have been working on other projects, accumulated way more days on set or in the post house than you and they will be able to bring this wealth of experience to your project too. Luckily I also think there is as much to be learned off set as there is on (or at least that is what I am telling myself when I'm itching to step back on)! I believe that if want our films to connect with audiences, we can only do so by connecting with people in our daily lives. Whichever role we fulfill, I think it is our personal experiences and perspectives which we bring to a project that make those stories on screen that much richer.
What are you working on now?
I am working on my next short film being made in association with Age UK: a comedy drama called "Leftovers" about isolation and loneliness among ageing immigrant communities. I am also working on my debut feature, "Ripples", a supernatural horror which I am developing now whilst on the Great Migrations lab which is delivered by MilkTea and funded by the BFI Creative Callenge Fund.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
The films still replaying in my mind are my two favourites from last year, Rental Family and Pillion-very contrasting films but both absolutely brilliant and witty!
