"The film industry in Trinidad is booming and young filmmakers want to know more about the professional side of filmmaking," says Roma Zachemba, who describes herself as a skilled and multitasking assistant director (AD).With more than 30 feature films, short films, music videos and commercials under her belt, Zachemba is from Poland, where she also studied film before leaving to work in the field throughout Europe.Her credits include the Bafta-nominated film Keeping up with the Joneses (2013), the internationally distributed film London, Paris, New York (2012), and the film festival-circuit hit Lunch Date (2012).
"I got a job offer from the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) to work as a filmmaker and guest services co-ordinator," Zachemba explained in a recent interview. "My original plan was different. I was supposed to work in London and go on to Asia, but I like new experiences and I really liked people from TTFF, so the decision was actually simple."She added, "Also I have noticed that the film industry is actually very vibrant and I could use my experience here. Plus the weather and the sea: that's the recipe for happiness for me."Zachemba first hosted the workshop How to Produce a Professional Film: The 1st Assistant Director's Point of View in April. She will repeat it this month. The workshop is designed to give local directors and others working in film and TV production a thorough knowledge of the basics of working on a professional film set.
"I felt the need to share my skills I gained internationally during the years I spent of various film sets. I realised there was a need for this during the Film Festival and [through] meeting various students from the University of the West Indies."Zachemba said the first assistant director on a film set is "the director's right hand and producer's left hand. The AD's role is making sure the producer's monetary vision and director's creative vision meet in the golden middle. "The AD allows the director to focus on the creative aspect of filmmaking, by taking care of and checking all the details of what the script needs."
She also emphasised scheduling as one of the main responsibilities."It is crucial for a first AD to liaise between director, producer, crew and cast on set. He/she is the person who has all the information from every department to run the film production smoothly. During the shoot, the first AD is a main problem solver. Also [he or she] is responsible for health and safety on set, among many other responsibilities."While in Trinidad, Zachemba also worked on local projects and assisted local producers and directors with film projects."I call one 'Trini Kill Bill' and the other one is 'Paramin drama,'" she said, not giving the films' real titles. "They are both in preproduction stage. The directors are super talented artists with strong visions and I am helping them with all I can."
The workshop takes place on July 15-16, from 5.30� 8.30 pm, at 199 Belmont Circular Road, Port-of-Spain. The cost is $500 for both days.