| Where Are They Now?
She moved to London to take her first employment at Big Talk Productions; a comedy production company run by Producer Nira Park, as Producer’s Assistant and Writer’s Assistant on such series as Spaced and Black Books for Channel 4. Following this Claire had a brief period as Assistant to Advertising Directors Frank Budgen and Chris Palmer at Gorgeous, and then worked as Assistant to the Creative Director at Universal Networks on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Following a chance conversation during which Claire heard that ‘Mike Leigh was looking for someone capable who spoke French’, she found herself working as his assistant on All or Nothing and then Vera Drake; French was required to liaise with financiers at the Paris-based Studio Canal.
In 2004, Claire went on to work as assistant to Mike Leigh’s long-time Producer Simon Channing-Williams on The Constant Gardener, which included working in Kenya for three months on the film. On returning to the UK, Claire took the position of Development Producer at Potboiler Productions (Simon Channing-Williams’ production company) and now helps to source and develop future film projects.
Following filming in Kenya, Claire helped Simon Channing-Williams with Rebecca Leigh to set up The Constant Gardener Trust; this organisation aims to help the two communities where the film was based by providing better sanitation and education opportunities for people in extreme poverty. The Trust also hopes to promote responsible film-making across the industry. |
