Zugzwang (Chris Rej)

CHECKMATE

This production was a great experience. I felt more confident as a Producer following my experiences on 'Venom: Mark the Date' and 'A Mosaic of All Possible Greens'. Chris, the Director and Producer, was also very supportive and great at communicating to Zoë (the other producer) and I what he wanted. 

We secured ample funding which allowed us to be more creative and cater. The locations were a challenge – we needed a library and lecture room – but after emailing many colleges, we were successful. It definitely helped having a team of three producers. This was probably the largest scale student production I have worked on so far. It is also probably my favourite script; it is well written and nuanced. Zugzwang explores classicism in Oxford through a game of chess. The thriller is exciting and unpredictable, and also very relevant.

An additional challenge was sourcing a non-student actor to play the professor. We had to post casting calls on websites like Mandy and Backstage (which I had never done before). This role was particularly difficult to cast because we did not have the budget to pay the actor. We are very happy with the actor we cast, Corinne. She was wonderful and did a great job in the role. 

I was on set for most of the shooting. Filming went very smoothly and it was the most professional student set I have been on. There was not much for Zoë and I to do, which was a sign that we had fulfilled our roles effectively in pre-production. 

This production was a great way to end my second year at university and I look forward to returning in the Autumn and working on more productions. I think I will aim to direct my own short in Michaelmas.

-Emma