Daddy's Girl

Daddy's girl is the story about a freshly single parent - Martin, and his happy and chirpy daughter Daisy.

I got asked by the actor playing Martin, Steve Ward, if I had any shorts I could cast him and his daughter in to start her acting carear. Instead of saying no, I agreed to write, direct, shoot and edit a short specially for them.

The first challenge was to think to myself, "What is this film about?". I asked Steve a few simple questions such as where do you live, what does your daughter like doing ect. I came away from that  knowing that he's a plumber, she likes singing and dancing and live in a sort of temporary home that needs decorating by my understanding. From there it all fit into place immediately.

A plumber is a phsycal and messy job, I had thoughts of instead of a plumber, Martin would be a plasterer. The definition of mucky, coming home exhausted to his energetic little girl. OK, we have a starting point. I began working on the character of Martin: He is a single parent. Why? Either he left her, or she left him. Then the idea sprung into my mind that he's a messy plasterer who was emasculated by his ex wife/girlfriend. She left him, leaving him feeling pretty worthless and as a result, has a head full of doubts and is convinced that he isn't a good enough man, and a good enough father.

Next, all I needed to do was make Daisy the polar opposite of Martin. She is happy, energetic and cheerful. She likes singing and dancing and unlike Martin, can see things for what they are. She appreciates all her dad does for her and loves him dearly because of it. Now we have our dynamic.

Then it was a question of how to tell the story. I thought that the theme we're going with here is a sweet little girl who loves her Daddy, trying to cheer him up. He's feeling low and thinks he isn't good enough. I wanted a film that is extremely sweet and heart warming so I thought: "It's always nicest when someone thinks they're not good enough, but then someone gives them unconditional love and shows them that in fact, they are the most important person in the world." That euphoric feeling of complete acceptance and purpose is magical and an amazing feeling.

That was the basis of the decision to tell the story through his eyes, through what he sees and experiences. When we see the first half of the story through Martin, we feel his pain, his loneliness and his sense of not being good enough. Then, when we get the exact same  story but through Daisy's eyes, that is flipped on it's head and all those intense feelings of suffering, loneliness and pain are transformed. They springboard into heart warming happiness and empathy, not just for Daisy but for Martin. When we see the full picture after seeing his darkness, we see how truly beautiful their relationship is.

I enjoy flipping perceptions on their heads and showing a new angle, a new thought line, a new idea. At the end of the film, it comes down to the simplest concept: He's suffering but doing the best he can, and she knows this and loves him more than anyone. At the end of the day, they both love each other more than anything. That's what the film is about.