This month we speak to Catherine Laine — an assistant director on Cornwall’s own Doc Martin, Hollywood blockbusters such as Solo: A Star Wars Story and Wonder Woman 1984, and the suspenseful thriller Brackenmore, which she produced through her studio, Caragh Lake Films.
‘What makes a good assistant director?’, I ask Catherine. It’s a potential rabbit hole of a question, but a welcome distraction from the gruelling task of stripping old wallpaper from her new home in Newquay.
Catherine has worked as a first, second and third AD — all distinct roles in terms of specific responsibilities, but requiring the same key attributes: ‘Organisation, time-keeping, being in the know, and being a people person’. Her top tip for anyone new to the job? ‘Keep listening to your radio and have all the knowledge of what’s going on that day, because you will be asked — by everybody.’
Prior to Doc Martin, most of Catherine’s work had been on London-based productions. So what brought her to Cornwall? ‘I met a man at my best friend’s wedding!’, she says. Fast-forward a couple of years and, ‘I got a call saying there was a job going on Doc Martin. I decided that was a sign I should base myself down here, and I’ve not looked back!’
Catherine spent the summer of 2019 working as second assistant director on Doc Martin’s ninth series: ‘I was responsible for letting the cast know the schedule — which days we were shooting their scenes, their call times, and any changes. I would greet them in the morning and make sure they were in makeup and costume and on set on time.’ She was immediately struck by how different the role felt in Cornwall, compared to London. Here, she says, ‘everyone has got the work/life balance nailed’.
Unlike some other sets she’s worked on, Catherine found that crew & cast were ‘happy to be here, because they’re still living their lives as well as working a job that they love doing’. The local actors were very welcoming to those who’d travelled down, and most of the non-local cohort opted to delay their journeys home so as to enjoy the area and hang out after-hours. ‘On wrap, everybody would socialise together. We’d go to the beach and play rounders, or go swimming.’ There was even a weekly pub quiz, organised by one of the drivers, which was a huge hit for cast and crew. ‘They become your friends, rather than just your colleagues’.
While the promise of friendly people who are a pleasure to work with is probably reason enough for productions to consider shooting in Cornwall, Catherine is eager to stress that they’re not just happy; they also ‘know everything, and know everyone’.
Furthermore, she’s not the first person to tell me how the positive local attitude to filmmaking is a refreshing change. ‘In London, people get annoyed that you’re in their way…but here everyone wants to get involved, because it’s exciting and interesting’. This is helpful when it comes to sourcing extras.
Having worked on huge productions like the Star Wars and Marvel movies, which are predominantly studio-based and necessarily rely heavily on CGI, Catherine would welcome a return to filmmaking that emphasises ‘the original beauty of things’. Cornwall is built for this. ‘You’ve got all the landscapes. You don’t need green screens. It’s all there.’
While she acknowledges that the remoteness of certain locations within Cornwall can present logistical challenges, Catherine highlights a hidden benefit for film projects that attract a lot of attention: privacy. It’s a tempting proposition, to be able to set up a production hub that’s a little out of the way — ‘Especially for productions like Star Wars, where they’re having drones fly over the studio trying to take photos of costumes and things like that, because everybody knows they’re there. If you want a more low key production base, here’s perfect!”
For Catherine, Cornwall has opened up new career opportunities. ‘Moving down here has helped me focus on my producing.’ She’s shooting a short film in late spring and has a feature in advanced development, a suspenseful revenge drama set in the Cornish countryside, called The Cull.
Finally, we discuss Catherine’s predictions for Cornwall’s future as a production hub; she’d love to see another long-running series set up, to build on the success of Doc Martin and fill the void left by Delicious and Poldark finishing. Of course, there’s no reason why this won’t happen. ‘Everything that’s come out of Cornwall has been a huge hit, so I expect more and more!’
Written by Alex MJ Smith, with thanks to Catherine Laine.
