In conversation with Veronica Ellis
1. Introduce yourself
Hello, I'm Veronica Ellis. I am an actor, dance choreographer and stage combatant, and a mother of two children, three year old Reuben and ten month old Tadgh.
2. What is your job title?
It depends what project I am working on. ;-)
3. Who looks after the kids when you are working?
Well, this is sometimes simple and sometimes complicated.
I have brought my child to the rehearsal room, both as an actor and a choreographer. I have had the utter joy of production getting a Nanny on-set, which was a unique situation. Normally we use a local nursery and family, who don't live particularly close, but have supported us on numerous occasions.
4. How long did you take off work after having your baby?
I did my first day of filming when my first son was eleven weeks, this was for a production team/artist that I knew well. So I felt supported and knew it would be a single day filming. However, as a breastfeeding mum, I learnt about the importance of regular expressing if you're away from your baby.
Then when he was six months we went to Portugal to shoot a Short Film, With All My Love. It was for that film that he had a nanny. The film was surrealist and dark, all the actors and production team quite enjoyed having a baby on-set to distract them.
I wrote a short film Incubation House while pregnant with my second child, which was filmed four weeks before their due date and is now in post production. Since he was born we had a leisurely first six months together, then when I would have been changing gear and focusing more towards work, Lockdown began. So I haven't really experienced trying to secure childcare for both children.
5. Would you say that you have a good work/life balance?
It is hard to think about this clearly in a post lockdown world. If I think back to finishing my first maternity leave, I remember my new NCT/mummy friends returning to work at around six months. It seemed so simple for them returning to industries they had temporarily left, they had to negotiate contracts and faced individual difficulties but their role was there. I felt immense pressure to secure work and start earning money, however the creative world is not like that. If acting jobs could be generated on a whim, we'd all be doing it.
Overall I would say I do have a good work life balance. The thing about being an actor is the acting job is the easy/fun bit. The work comes between contacts, applying for work, networking, maintaining your craft, keeping skills such as stage combat/dance/singing voice at a working level. These are things that can slip away, from any actor let alone a parent. Getting childcare for a job makes sense, it can feel indulgent to use it for taking class, or it can feel like a financial drain paying for a course and care. I think this is the area I need to find balance. I used to train regularly with RC-Annie, at the moment I miss that.
This quandary of maintaining professional development while needing childcare has inspired one of my friends to develop a parent's acting workshop company. It is currently in a research and development phase but I hope to share details with you later.
6. Are you job sharing or working flexibly?
There have been some amazing breakthroughs in theatre, where actors have job shared roles Twirlywoos and 42nd Street for example. This of course isn't possible on film as an actor, still I am encouraged by Raising Films, PIPA and Mothers Who Make. Who are supporting and championing professional creative parents.
7. What do you think is the hardest part of being a working in media/film/tv industry and being a parent?
This is a hard question, I suppose I used to be really dedicated and hungry, trying to attend multiple events and classes a week. The drive is still there, but I have to be much more selective in choosing both professional development events and projects to apply for.
8. What are your tips for any other women out there wanting to have kids and keep a career in film?
There is never a right, or a wrong time to have children. You will cope and you will adapt.
Always ask - if there is something niggaling you, to do with how you will manage/juggle on a specific job, discuss it with the production team. I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive response I have received when I have queried. I think the industry as a whole is trying to assist parents more. Also if you are calling a production unit before an audition, or before an interview, you have the opportunity to introduce yourself in a positive light; let them know who you are, how passionate you are about helping them achieve their goals and maintain family stability.
9. Any advice for anyone about to return to work after maternity?
On a practical note, if you are still breastfeeding schedule time to pump; to avoid embarrassment, discomfort and mastitis. . . . I once had a producer joke with me 'I'll know in the edit, where we are in the shooting schedule by the size of your breasts'
10. What advice did you wish someone had given you?
Hmmm, I'm not sure. Maybe that it was gonna be fine. It is ok to love your children and love your work.
*11. How did you survive Lockdown?
Lockdown was a unique and daunting experience. After the second day with a three year old and a six month old I thought 'I can kiss my creative life. . .any life good bye' However, a week later creative opportunities began to arise; WFTV began a Table Read group, for which I became a reader, giving me the joy of creating new characters and working on fresh material each week.
A South London Creative Collective I set up began meeting weekly via Zoom. Setting goals and ensuring each member had the support they needed.
I attended Zoom workshops with various organisations, around naps/bedtime or sometimes just keeping my computer on mute.
When I think back to Lockdown with emotional and physical isolation it brings both memories of joyous laughter with my children and partner, and the antithesis of feeling fraught. Still the industry evolved and I have made more connections in the last five months throughout Lockdown, than I believe I would have been able to make with the childcare set-up and course/project availablity pre-lockdown. These new writers and directors are my refreshing silver lining in what was a trialing time.