Andrew Walsh, Writer/Director for “How Deep Is The Ocean” Dives into His Filmmaking

Andrew Walsh was born in a town called Whyalla in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula in 1986. He grew up in a very physically lawless atmosphere where the arts didn’t really exist. But, he fell into filmmaking by accident and have been going after it ever since. That was 19 years ago. Andrew Walsh has written and directed 5 short films, “How Deep Is The Ocean” is my first feature.

“I would describe my work as unpredictable pessimistic and emotionally intimate”, says Andrew. “As my beloved colleague and main lead actor Cris Cochrane summed it up I’m interested in telling stories about “real people” which is true. I’m fascinated by what people do in desperate situations in order to survive and how they navigate their way through this messy world” he continued.

Watch the Official Trailer for How Deep Is The Ocean directed by Andrew Walsh

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indieactivity: How do you choose a project to direct?
Andrew Walsh (AW): I’d written three feature film scripts counting How Deep Is The Ocean. The other two had a lot of characters and a lot of things going on and it would’ve been impossible to make them properly on a low budget without changing half of it and compromising the quality of the story. How Deep was different- a fairly simple story minimal characters-a lot of locations were public so we could shoot for free. Then as we got more into the process it came to the point where I couldn’t live the rest of my life without taking the chance of making this film. That’s how I choose. There’s ones you can live with and the ones you cant live without.

indieactivity: Why filmmaking and screenwriting? Why did you get into it?
Andrew Walsh (AW): Cheaper then therapy. A lot of the stories characters and situations are based on things that have happened to me. I suppose we all process trauma differently. My way of dealing with my fears is to write about them.

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indieactivity: How can a filmmaker, if she so chooses, distribute her film? How do you get it in front of an audience?
Andrew Walsh (AW): By any means necessary. When my first short film “The Comedian” came out in 2011 I couldn’t find any festivals that would help me or any of the conventional paths so I took matters into my hands. My collaborators and I were really pro active. We’d play our short films at art galleries warehouse parties and street events. We’d find any bar with a projector screen set up we’d invite everyone we knew played our films partied and gave all the profits to the venue. We then uploaded the films to Vimeo and YouTube etc. and built a following through that. If we can’t find a distributor for “How Deep Is The Ocean” I’ll go back down that road.

indieactivity: Is there anything about the making of independent film business you still struggle with?
Andrew Walsh (AW): All of it (laughs)

indieactivity: Talk to us about your concept of collaboration?
Andrew Walsh (AW): The key is to cultivate an environment where everybody is free to express themselves and allow themselves to be vulnerable. When people open up you get the best out of them. They will motivate you to do better and You’ll motivate them to do better. Once you’ve established that and everyone has the same goal in mind anything can happen

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indieactivity: What uniqueness do female directors/filmmakers bring to film/tv/cinema?
Andrew Walsh (AW): I think art can only get better when all people have a platform and a means to tell their stories

indieactivity: How do you find the process of filmmaking as an indie filmmaker?
AW: Brutal. People have this romanticized vision of what the creative process is when in reality the creative process is often frustrating, excruciatingly slow and heartbreaking to be honest. How Deep Is The Ocean begins and ends with me. I loved the writing, working with the actors and shooting but loathed the other thousand jobs I had to do to complete it.

indieactivity: Why would you choose an actor, writer or producer? What do you look for?
AW: Humility.

indieactivity: At what period in the filmmaking process, do you need to start planning for distribution?
AW: From day one.

indieactivity: Indie filmmaking is a model of zero or small budget. How do you get a film to the audience with such a budget?
AW: The internet.

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indieactivity: How do you think filmmakers can finance their projects?
AW: One of the many challenges we have here in Australia aside from the geographical distance is that unlike Hollywood we don’t have a huge sector of private investment in film and television. A Lot of people are dependent on government funding and the government only wants a very specific kind of thing made. If you don’t fit into that mould you’re locked out.

On the positive crowdfunding is a great example of the private sector taking power off the government and putting it back into the hands of the audience and the filmmakers. It’s really opened things up. It’s going to be interesting to see how that continues to grow and evolve in the years to come.

At the end of the day I think if you really want to make something you’ll find a way. The tools to succeed are there. Whether you find them  and properly utilize them is up to the individual.

indieactivity: Describe your most recent work, or film, take us through pre, production and post production?
AW: My film is called “How Deep Is The Ocean” and it’s my debut feature film which I wrote and directed. It was co-produced by my good friends Daniela Ercoli and Dia Taylor. The main cast are Olivia Fildes (Eleanor) Cris Cochrane (Roy) Will Weatheritt (Matt) and Adam Rowland (Charlie). Our crew consisted of a small army of some of the best artists and workers in our city of Melbourne. 

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How Deep Is The Ocean is a comedy/drama about a mysterious young woman named Eleanor Grey who moves alone to the city of Melbourne from Adelaide to put her past behind her and begin a new life. 

When Eleanor arrives she thinks she’s found the promised land but it quickly becomes clear she’s now adrift in an urban city filled with crime, unemployment and terrible weather. We follow her misadventures as she spends time working dead end jobs and pursuing a futile affair with her neighbour Charlie (Adam Rowland) while remaining oblivious to the man who actually does care for her.

In short it’s a story of a young woman who tries to outrun her past and fails but in the process finds an inner strength and self worth she never knew she had. 

We begun pre production in 2019 and shot the film across 14 days in 2020 to 2021 during the height of the corona pandemic. Our home of Melbourne went from being ranked the world’s most live able city to the co vid capital of Australia. It was a very traumatic time but we persevered much like the protagonist and made it to the other side despite all the adversity. Now 3 years on, we are at the final stages of post production.

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indieactivity: What is your experience working on the story, the screenplay, the production, premiere and the marketing?
AW: The experience of writing the script was different to anything I’d done before. Rather than a traditional script with a three act structure it was more of an outline each scene being its own episode where things could potentially go different ways depending on the nature of improvisation. The pre production phase was long and frustrating but try making a film is hard enough. Try making it during a pandemic its almost impossible.

The shoot was intense. Mainly because I had not been on a film set since 2014 and felt like I’d passed my use by date and I was wasting everyone’s time.

Really making this film was facing my fears on every possible level. No premiere yet!

indieactivity: How did you put the crew and cast together? Did you start writing with a known cast? What was your rehearsal process and period?
AW: Melbourne is a big city with a very small film industry so we all know of each other. I didn’t start writing the script with anyone in particular. You can give all the credit to my  producer Dia Taylor- 90 percent of the cast and crew came onboard from her involvement.

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None of the cast were really known which was a good thing. Here in Australia you’re forced to watch the same shit actors play slightly different versions of themselves over and over again. We don’t have that problem. There’s a lot of new blood.

This rehearsal period was fairly loose after all we didn’t have a conventional script but more like an outline with each scene having a beginning, middle and end and different possibilities to explore. I just spent a lot of time with the cast just hanging out trying things and bouncing ideas off each other. Once we established the chemistry it made our improv approach simple.

indieactivity: What and how long did it take to complete the script?
AW: I began the first draft for How Deep Is The Ocean back in late 2018 on my own and through pre production and onto the shoot I went through 15 drafts. The script was constantly shifting and changing places as my actors inhabited the characters and suggested things along with my producers as well. I can’t take all the credit.

indieactivity: Did the tight shooting schedule make it harder or easier? How did it affect performances?
AW: The tight shooting schedule made it harder but I think it only served to improve the performances. It’s surreal looking back  on some of those days- we had to essentially shoot 12 hours worth of scenes into a 5 hour block. It was now or never. If we didn’t capture what needed to be captured we’d be screwed and the film would never be completed and we weren’t going to accept that. As a unit every single one of us hit it hard and did what needed to be done. The results on the screen speak for itself.

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indieactivity: What other films have you written and made?
AW: I’ve written and directed five short films. The Comedian (2011) Rearranged (2011) Empire Of Nowhere (2012) Growing Out (2013) and I Miss The War (2014). All are available on my Vimeo page.

indieactivity: What do you hope audiences will get from the presentation of your film?
AW: The other night I was listening to the song “Atmosphere” by Joy Division on YouTube and a comment someone had made stuck with me:  I feel like I’m always in a corner trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me and joy division’s music just tells me it’s okay not to be okay because there’s only so much you can take as a human being”. I hope How Deep Is The Ocean will give people that profound connection.

indieactivity: What are your future goals?
AW: Getting How Deep Is The Ocean on the world stage where it belongs! Cleaning out my garage too (laughs).

indieactivity: Tell us about what you think indie filmmaker need in today’s world of filmmaking
AW: To make good films. That’s all anyone needs.

indieactivity: What else have you got in the works?
AW: Honestly not much. How Deep Is The Ocean is my first feature film but I’ve been chasing this dream since I was 17 years old. That’s almost 19 years without a rest and I’m exhausted. 

As I mentioned I started the script of How Deep back in 2018. I’ve tried getting a couple of other things off the ground in that time but haven’t been able to produce anything I’m happy with. How Deep Is The Ocean may be my only film but that’s okay because I put everything I had into it.

I think if I do make another film again it will be much simpler with a smaller cast and crew. Something shot on an iPhone in natural light. In many respects How Deep Is The Ocean was a conventional film. I think it would be cool to do something a bit crazy like in the vein of Japanese directors Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Terrance Malick or Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue).

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