The Directors: Harriett Maire Works Her Magic in Bringing the Best Out of Performances

Harriett Maire enjoys a growing reputation for being versatile in both short- and long-form formats, not to mention being one of Auckland’s rising casting directors. She has a passion for performance directing, and she accomplishes that by delving into the nuances of emotions.

Harriett’s works have been internationally recognised. Her first short film, ‘Anna’, won the Jury Choice Award at the Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase and won Best Acting at the Women's Independent Film Festival in 2016. Her second film, ‘Lanni’s Space’, won a special category award for Film Best Depicting Benefits to Humanity at the NASA and Houston Cinema Arts Festival.

LBB> What elements of a script set one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?

Harriett> I love performance-driven scripts with three-dimensional hero characters. These scripts can transcend time, style and genre - I’m here for it all! But there’s nothing I love more than when the characters jump off the page at you. 

Thirty seconds might not seem like much time to develop character, but we all know what’s possible to achieve with the right casting, the right look, and the right line. 

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Harriett> The irony of creativity is that it doesn’t work well under time constraints. But the process of putting together a creative treatment is almost always a pressure-cooker, with an uncompromising deadline. 

Tiny details and flashes of imagery tend to come to me first. I trick my creative brain by engaging in a lot of deliberate distraction, like having a shower, going on a long walk, or getting in the car. I find that more concrete ideas come to me when I’m looking in another direction, and not making direct eye contact with the question that needs an answer.

Once I’m at my desk, I’ll shift between writing and imagery sourcing. I have to set timers to keep myself on track. Every 20 minutes, I’ll shift from one section of my treatment to another, to keep the ball rolling and remind myself of the time constraint. 

I save visuals in chaotic folders on my phone and computer as I come across them, and then comb through them when required. It feels like re-visiting old friends. 

In order to bring my wordcount down to a pithy length, I read everything out loud to identify which sentences are waffly. And once my treatment is completed and sent off, I make peace with it all, and move on!

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Harriett> I’ll absolutely do research into the brand as a whole. Collaborating on a commercial project is a two-way street, so I also want to check that my values align with the brand’s.  

I can glean a lot from combing through popular channels, but it all really begins with a solid briefing from agency. The agency is my best friend here. Sometimes the strategy that’s public is not the same as what’s still being worked on behind closed doors. It’s also important for me to hear from the agency what the role of the commercial is, within the broader intention of the brand.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Harriett> For me, irrespective of genre or output, there is no dynamic more important than that of actor and director. Actors bring the story to life; without them, there’s nothing. There has to be so much trust built both ways. My intention is always to be the kind of director that actors are excited to collaborate with. 

Simple and effective communication is key. I focus on directing performance from a place of feeling, as opposed to overburdening actors by intellectualising their character with them. 

I’ve been on the receiving end of a direction on set which was “do that take again, but more sad this time”. I don’t want to be giving actors the end point of the emotion, I want to guide them onto the right path to discover it themselves. This way, the emotion captured is much more organic, memorable and realistic. 

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about? Is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Harriett> My creative work centres around human connection, with a deep focus on empathy and curiosity. My soft spot is Serious Comedy. The genre continues to evolve - think Fleabag, Barry, Better Things. I enjoy tricking audiences into unexpected emotions. 

I also believe there’s something about the landscape in New Zealand that encourages comedy with a dark edge. Aotearoa is so beautiful, but the landscape can be rugged here. You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Papatūānuku (Mother Earth). If you think of the work of Taika Waititi, Jane Campion, Niki Caro… their work shares a beautiful balance of levity and melancholy. That’s what I’m drawn to. 

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Harriett> As a young woman, I sometimes wonder if people assume that my work is always earnest and sincere. I have made work like that, but I also love to direct pieces with zing and cheek. Sincerity doesn’t mean an absence of comedy! 

LBB> Have you ever worked with a cost consultant and if so how have your experiences been?

Harriett> I’ll be honest, I had to google what a cost consultant was. I don’t think they’re very common in New Zealand advertising! 

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

Harriett> I was directing a brand commercial in Singapore for a caesarean scar cream. The commercial was being shown across China and Malaysia, so we had to be mindful of which parts of the female body we could and couldn’t broadcast. We cast real women who had recently given birth via c-section, but in order to create solutions within markets with different cultural needs, we ended up using prosthetic scars. That was a satisfying way to solve a problem through societal nuance and understanding. 

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Harriett> I remember Australian director Jonathan Brough once saying that disagreements are good, you just have to be able to say “and here’s why”. I love that. It’s important to fight what you believe in, and not sweat the small stuff. Ultimately, everything is up for discussion, and nothing is set in stone. It’s also appreciating the deep level of insight that client and agency have into the brand and target audience - they’re coming to the table with their perspective which is just as valuable as yours. 

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?

Harriett> It’s a yes from me - especially uplifting the voices of female, non-binary, and POC creatives, as well as creatives with disabilities. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only director with Type One Diabetes in New Zealand. I’d love it if there were more of us! 

It’s not true diversity unless we’re seeing a broad range of representation behind the camera, as well as in front of it.

Although I don’t regret my formal education in film training, I think on-set learning is incomparable. So yes, I’m definitely open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set. 

LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work in the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time? 

Harriett> Through the pandemic, I established my own casting company, to operate as a casting director between directing opportunities. I’ve been casting commercials for six years now, and cast all my own directing work as well. 

We’ve run a lot of remote castings across the past few years – I think it’s a brilliant way to democratise talent across locations and availabilities. It gives you a much bigger reach, and allows you to see so many more actors than you’d be able to fit into a day of auditions. Of course I love casting in person, but I do like the added flexibility that remote casting offers. 

I like having a variety of work to keep me busy, and I appreciate having a second role which keeps my performance directing muscle in good use. I like thinking more holistically about the film industry, and how different roles can feed into each other in an uplifting way. 

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)? 

Harriett> I’ve approached this question in two ways – when I think format, I think aspect ratios, but I also think genre. 

My work spans across fiction, commercials, theatre and documentary - I love to break down the walls between the rules of these “formats” and genres, and see what happens when they bleed into each other. 

In terms of outputs and aspect ratios, my go-to is 16:9, but I do have a soft spot for 4:5 at the moment. I think it’s really important to establish what the aspect ratios will be, right from the get-go of each project. Sometimes clients don’t understand the ripple effects that different format outputs can have on the visual world of a project. 

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?

Harriett> I haven’t had the opportunity to incorporate much future-facing tech into my work yet, but I’m excited for what’s to come. 

Remote directing helps us shrink the world, which is a pretty cool thing to be a part of. I’ve worked on a campaign where my co-director was stuck over in Australia, and I was on the ground shooting here in New Zealand. That process ran satisfyingly smoothly. I love facilitating new ways to operate in an increasingly connected globe. 

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why? 

Harriett> Dosh is my latest ad campaign for an innovative banking product hitting the New Zealand market. The scripts had so much spark in them, and I’m over the moon with the casting. Such a cheeky, relatable campaign for a younger audience. Loved working with the agency on this one. 

single/single is an ongoing personal project which marries my two great passions together – film and theatre. It’s a series of one-take confessionals direct to camera, creating a shared intimacy between audience and actor. I use these projects as an excuse to work with actors I love, and an opportunity to keep my performance directing muscles supple. 

AWWA is a campaign that I shot and directed last year with a deliciously small crew. We actually made big headlines - Facebook took the commercial off their platform because we showed period blood, as opposed to the weird fake blue liquid period campaigns have used in the past. Felt really good to be on the right side of history with this one.