Ella Greenwood is a 19 year old filmmaker, actor and mental health activist based in London, England. Greenwood has many accomplishments under her belt such as becoming the director of London-based production company, Broken Flames Production. The mental health advocate has debuted her film Faulty Roots, and is currently working on the release of Self Charm to promote female-led stories and accurate mental health portrayal for teens.
[Serenity:] To start off, I think that it’s just beyond impressive that you were only 18 when you created Faculty Roots, what was your inspiration behind the work?
[Ella:] It was my first time making a film, and I wanted to write about something that was important to me and sort of a story that I would be passionate about spending my time telling and that was definitely mental health, so I decided to write a story about a teenage girl with depression.
[Serenity:] I'm aware that you began as an actor first, but at what age did you decide filmmaking was your passion?
[Ella:] So 18 was when I made my first film, even in the build up to where I was still just so set on being an actor and I didn't know and I didn't think that it would become my main passion but after doing it, I just as he fell in love with filmmaking and then decide to spend all my time on that.
[Serenity:] How does it feel to have your work selected for many accredited festivals and major publication names such as “Huffington Post,” “Variety” and “BBC” just to name a few.
[Ella:] Yeah, is amazing. I mean you can make films that you're passionate about and if you're happy with it then that's great, but it's also wonderful to sort of have other people talk about your work and sort of view it and think that you know that it is good enough to get into their festival so it's definitely a wonderful feeling.
[Serenity:] How does it feel to know that you have a global audience that you can reach now?
[Ella:] It's incredible I think with something that I realized this whole process. Based on sort of similar things that I experienced, and I wasn't sure if anyone else in the UK would be able to relate to it, let alone anywhere else so sort of when it's selected for festivals and like Busan and the whole like all the different places. It's amazing that they connected to it even though people are so different in countries and it’s so different that people still have similar experiences to do with mental health.
[Serenity:] You were awarded a Positive Female Role Model of the Year by “Darkus Magazine,” how do you represent that title moving forward with your activism work and charity?
[Ella:] I just want to keep telling stories that I hope will bring comfort to people, and I hope will sort of change opinions or raise awareness on mental health and just trying different things and experiences. As well as really promoting mental health awareness even more and that's what I'm hoping to give my work and also just with my time in general.
[Serenity:] With your role as ambassador for teen mental health with STEM4, what are some responsibilities that that role entails?
[Ella:] Working at STEM4 is really incredible, they just have such incredible resources and they do so much for young people, and I want to promote everything that they can, so much. And to get their advice on the best way to represent mental illness safely and really reach that audience and they have amazing conferences. So, sharing my experiences with people on those and whether that sort of helping parents understand maybe what their teenagers are going through, or I really want to help young people as well with various things.
[Serenity:] Has STEM4 stood out to you compared to the other charities that tried to reach you?
[Ella:] I started struggling with my mental health when I was a young teen and just didn't know what I was going through, and STEM4 focused on early intervention and really raising awareness of what mental health is so that you know you don't get to that point where you're really struggling internally what you're going through. I just feel they would have been exactly what I needed when I was really struggling, so that's why I just think they're amazing and just I want to promote all that they do.
[Serenity:] With your work with STEM4 combined with your experiences with filmmaking, what is something the film industry is lacking when addressing mental health issues or mental health representation?
[Ella:] I think it's just lacking too much; there's a lack of representation. If you look at the literal figures, it's extremely low. But then when mental health has been represented for so long, it's been represented wrong, it's been words like “crazy” that is showing characters with mental illnesses are often criminalized, or they're just shown to be these characters that reflect real life and so it's changing that representation, but also adding more representation of mental illness and mental health.
[Serenity:] What is your advice to younger filmmakers or creatives pursuing a career path similar to yours who are stuck at home in quarantine right now?
[Ella:] So things are definitely looking up now, if you want to start planning shoots, get your friends or reach out to other young creatives. Get a script together, get a shoot or a plan together, or reach out to people and say, ‘when things are opening up again, can I shadow you for an internship.’ If you just want to go and create, then get your phone and make a documentary or just a random short film. The best way to learn is just by doing so, which is how I train anyways because I didn’t take any lessons.
[Serenity:] How are you staying positive and motivated under quarantine?
[Ella:] My work definitely keeps me motivated because I absolutely love it, and I love working on these different characters and their experiences with their mental health. I love it, and to have films of all different stages in development, in pre-production and post-production. Also the thought of being able to hug my friends and family hopefully soon, don't know how soon, but it’s a thought that definitely keeps me positive.
[Serenity:] I was reading that in your upcoming film Self Charm, it's clearly about mental health advocacy following a teen struggling with self harm. Why is it important to display that sort of vulnerability on screen for your audiences to see who may struggle with similar situations as the main character?
[Ella:] I think mental illness and the things that people experience can be such an isolating thing and so many people feel so alone. If you ask people, a lot of the time they sort of say, ‘well, I just felt like I was alone and that no one else would would understand what I was going through,’ and showing those experiences on screen and bringing characters to life, you could have experienced something similar so to the people that are struggling, I hope it will bring a lot of comfort and make people feel a lot less isolated.
[Serenity:] And after Self Charm’s release, are you planning on creating more films that follow in that conversation?
[Ella:] Yeah, so there's so much to say. And I'm working on projects that focus on different aspects of it, but there's still so much to say on each. I don't know what I'll focus on in the future, but I'd love to sort of expand on mental health conversations even more.
[Serenity:] Who are your biggest inspirations in terms of your mental health activism, or the film industry?
[Ella:] In the film industry, I love a lot of different people. Someone whose work I really love at the minute is Reese Witherspoon with her producing work and she created some incredible TV series and I just love her work. I think everyone in the industry--like it's a hard industry--for anyone who's creating work and doing well is really admirable.
You can further support Ella Greenwood via herInstagramandTwitter. To learn more information about her upcoming projects, visitBroken Flames Productions website.
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