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Hannah Berry George: From Courtroom to Film Set

23/02/2023
Production Company
London, UK
287
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Merman’s writer and director speaks to LBB’s Zoe Antonov about her wild career transition, love of people and inability to sit still

Writer and director Hannah Berry George has a real soft spot for comedy – stand-up, sketch, improv, you name it, she’s done it. Her award winning work is silly and witty in the best ways possible, but that’s not the end of it. Hannah also explores themes of mental health, female empowerment and family – all topics that she has dabbled in prior to her directorial career, when she did journalism. 

However, the journalism to directing career jump isn’t the only one Hannah’s done, and not the wildest one either. The writer-director grew up with the dream of becoming a barrister and since she was only eight years old, she saw a courtroom in her future. Definitely far from a director’s shabby chair on a dimly lit set. And so it happened – Hannah pulled through with her promise to herself and picked up law at university. Although it might sound paradoxical, this is where she found out she had to give up on the courtroom dreams. In fact, if it wasn’t for her restless pursuit of law, Hannah would have never even thought of becoming a creative. 

“Whilst I was studying law I was filling out an application for a vacation scheme at a law firm that simply asked me why I wanted to do this,” begins Hannah, “It sounds lame as fuck, but my life really did flash before my eyes - all the times I’d put huge academic pressure on myself, the reactions I had, the things I said - the penny dropped and I knew in that moment, I needed to pursue a different path.”

But, as many people who dedicate their young adulthood years to law, Hannah had no plan B. This led to the next ten plus years, of what she calls the era of ‘figuring shit out’. “I fell into publishing, subediting, copywriting, and did some creative directing whilst dipping my toes into acting and comedy,” she says. “Eventually, I ended up with a jumble sale of content – random things I’d written or directed for clients, plus my own sketches. I didn’t know what to do.” Usually when we least know what to do we’re most likely to listen to any advice thrown our way, and so it happened with Hannah. A friend of hers said that she should be doing music videos and commercials, so without giving it a second thought she threw herself in and gave it her all.

“This career was very much not planned,” Hannah continues. “But I remember the first time being sat down in an edit suite for one of my sketches and absolutely loving that feeling of seeing something through from nothing to the final thing – it put a massive smile on my face. And I’ll choose happiness over money any day.” That experience led her on the journey that is today her job.

Along that journey, Hannah admits that everything she has done so far – every piece of work no matter how small or big – has taught her something about the world or herself. “At first I tried to run away and hide from comedy,” she says, “And it took me a minute, but I eventually realised that’s who I am – a complete clown. But do I think I’ve been able to stretch my surreal and silly wings to the max? Absolutely not – I have so much more I want to bring.” 


That ambition of hers is also reflected in the work Hannah loves doing most – important causes meeting comedy halfway. She is in love with a spot she directed for the Social Mobility Foundation with Fern Brady about the class pay gap. “What I’ve always loved about comedy – long before I was directing – is how approachable it can make something. Rather than pointing an accusatory finger, you’re inviting people on this journey where we laugh and create an environment that makes it perhaps easier to discuss what we’re already getting at.”

It is exactly the approachability in comedy that draws Hannah in, and helps her do what she loves best – question things. Question why we do, why we say or why we think certain things, ‘with a healthy dose of laughter along the way.’ Her inquisitive personality is not dimmed by her humour, but on the contrary, allows her to go deeper into the problem through laughter. Using that approach, Hannah has in recent years looked at gender disparity for the British army and also shone a light on endometriosis for Bodyform. 


However, one piece of work holds a special place in the director’s heart – the short documentary Hard Rain, tapping into the subject of mental health in the drag community. “Depression is something I’ve had since childhood, but my first exploration of my depression in film was telling someone else’s story which is something else entirely,” she says. “I am forever grateful for Edward [Davis II, the drag performer that the film is centred on] being so open and putting that trust in me.” Hannah has remade the film into a three-screen art installation called ’The Breakdown’ – which she’s currently trying to find a home for. 

Still from 'Hard Rain'

Looking ahead to the future, Hannah is excited about her first ever TV show and docuseries named ‘HERSTORY / قصّتي (My Story)’, about women coming up in the music scene in Saudi. The show started airing last week on Shahid. “In fact, it is also the first ever docuseries commissioned by the platform, so that’s a thing.” While doing that, Hannah is looking to get funding for her first comedy narrative, has another female-empowerment-focused docuseries to put out to pitch, and has a photo series she plans on making this year. “As you can tell, I’m not very good at sitting still.” And it seems she’s found the perfect job where sitting still is never a requirement.

Since the beginning of Hannah’s career when she took the risk and swapped lanes for good, she has never lost sight of what keeps her true to herself – her beliefs and her love for people. “I will always fight for what I believe in,” she shares. “That has played into all of my work – be that creative, the crew, or the casting. In recent years.” That becomes evident from the wide plethora of social issues that Hannah works with, while still dipping them into her own sense of what creative should look like. And there’s much more to come.

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