Producer of The Assassination of Michael D Higgins hopes new film catches attention

Sunday World

6 days ago

EYE-CATCHING |
The Assassination of Michael D Higgins is a film title that got cinema goers' attention, and producer and actor Natalie Britton hopes the president likes it
But, with a head-turning name like 'The Assassination of Michael D Higgins', the 84 year-old head of state is, out of curiosity, almost certain to have it on his watchlist.
'We did contact the Áras and invited him to the screening,' the actor and producer tells Magazine+.
'Unfortunately, he had other commitments, but sent back a lovely letter, thanking us.'
The short film, written by Dave Minogue and John Doran, tells the story of a psychiatric patient who believes he is president and the nurse's aid who goes along with the premise on his last day on the job, and premiered at the recent Galway Film Fleadh.
natalie britton
And Natalie - who plays boss woman Mrs Tiernan in the production by Julie Ryan's MK1 Studios - agrees the provocative title may have been at least partly responsible for putting bums on seats.
'Obviously, there's tons of shorts that play down there, but everybody was talking about it or had heard about it, which is a lovely feeling,' says the Dublin woman of the rapturous first reaction to the film.
'It is an eye-catching name that stops you in your tracks, but there's a pressure there; if you give yourself a title like that, then you have to deliver.
'As a producer, you never know how something is going to play in front of an audience until you're in the room, [but] it landed so well in Galway.
'There's a lot of different things going on in this film,' she adds, citing the theme of 'that push and pull between the institutionalism of old Ireland and the hope of new Ireland'.
'But I'm very proud of the journey that we take people on in that 10 minutes.'
Multi-talented Natalie returned to her home city three and a half years ago after more than a decade living and working in Los Angeles.
Natalie Britton as Jane Kerrigan in Maxine
And she explains how she and actor husband Robert Mitchell, a New Yorker, with whom she has two young children, found an entirely different media landscape to the Ireland she left at 22.
'Absolutely, it's buzzier, I mean there's so many things shooting in Ireland now,' says the actor, who played investigative journalist Jane Kerrigan in the controversial Channel 5 mini-series Maxine, about Maxine Carr's involvement in the 2002 Soham murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
'We've always had the tax breaks, so there's always been productions who have come here, but now I think we have the talent, especially behind the camera … and we're able to supply all these productions that are coming in here.
'So I do think it's probably the busiest it's ever been in the Irish industry.
'It's interesting, because I left Ireland when I was 22 and I went to London, and I studied in drama school there, and did that whole journey, because there wasn't, unfortunately, the same kind of resources that there are now for actors.
'Then from there, I went to LA, so I actually never worked in Ireland as an actor or producer up until the past three years.'
Natalie Britton
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'Starting afresh at a later stage in life', continues the founder of Queen's Gambit Films, has been 'a positive challenge' for the creative couple, who have a seven year-old son and a three year-old daughter.
'It wasn't a decision that we made to move back; we came back for a visit during Covid, when everybody's world was upside down, one thing led to another, and we just ended up staying.
'We wanted to be around family and raise our kids here and to be able to give them that lifestyle that isn't there in LA.
'For the last couple of years, I've been going back and forth [between Dublin and LA], which is lovely, and it's actually what a lot of people who have moved out of LA are doing now.
'It gives you that opportunity to dip back in and see your friends and go grab that slice of pizza that you like. You get a top up of LA, but then you get to come home.'
As a consequence, her diverse CV includes stints in some of the biggest shows on American television, including Curb Your Enthusiasm and NCIS, while closer to home, other half Robert has appeared in Irish dramas such as Clean Sweep and Conversations with Friends.
'Whenever a nice gig comes in, the first thing is, 'Gosh, I'm so grateful', and then it's probably a phone call to my mum, saying, 'You can relax, I've got a job',' laughs Natalie.
'Those big studios like HBO and Sony and NBC are machines, and you're a very small cog in the wheel of everything.
'So I suppose, initially, you just feel very lucky to have been given a chance to do your thing, and get to play with wonderful seasoned actors. Read more
'Getting a chance to do that [is] what dreams are made of.
'Of course, as an actor, you're only as good as your last gig,' she continues. 'It took me maybe three years to get my first American TV credit, and then you've got to keep building.
'It's a hard old slog, and the older you get … it's harder.
'When [you're younger] you can survive on a bowl of noodles and bounce around and couch surf. But then you have kids, who need a bit of stability, so you do have to make different choices … and I see why people give up.
'Every year that we can stay in this industry and we can keep making things is a win for me.'
Pot Noodle dinners, for now at least, are a distant memory for the in-demand pair, with Natalie having just wrapped on a new Channel 5 show that will air here on Virgin Media Television, and Robert set to appear in upcoming John Carney comedy, Power Ballad, starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
NBC's reboot of Quantum Leap, starring the Dubliner as Irish character Holly Carter, also drops on Netflix this month.
Meanwhile, she's hoping to have found at least one new fan in 'Miggeldy', as her latest short continues on the film festival circuit across the country.
'We sent the link over, so we do hope he watches it because it's a homage to him, really,' she explains. 'All the hope and all the goodness in the film comes from our idea of the type of person that we want to see more of in Ireland.
'You'd be hard pressed to find an Irish person who didn't love Michael D Higgins - all of us in the team are just kind of obsessed with him, if it's not obvious already!
'I suppose he's a rare icon, isn't he? And you just don't want to take that for granted because he is a reminder that leadership can be humane - and I think now more than ever we all need that as an example.'