With a seemingly never-ending pandemic and a rare chance to get out anywhere at all, especially theatres, which is unfortunate. Most people go to pantomimes or theatres for Christmas traditions. Except for me. I do all my holiday celebrations in solitude. So with everyone staying home, instead of getting people to the theatre, Lianne Collinson and some close associates of hers in England have gotten the theatre (or rather, the show) to people, in the comfort of their own home. It already stars people like Chris Rankin, Jessica Ellis (Hollyoaks) and Kimberly Hart-Simpson (Coronation Street), among others. It is being streamed on Pantolive.com where they will showcase the story of Cinderella. I spoke with Lianne over a zoom call in late UK evening time and asked her some questions about her production and some of her background in film, which can be traced right back to here.
HNMAG: How did you become involved in the producing?
Lianne: Me and my business partner, we run a live-streaming company in the UK. We were just thinking about theatres, how a lot of the theatres have closed, and how there weren’t going to be any pantomimes. Both our backgrounds are in film. I shot and directed my first short film in Vancouver, and so we’ve got quite a creative streak. Then we were thinking “How could we make live-steam an interaction and creative?” and pantomime seemed to be a great way to keep tradition with Christmas. Since a lot of theatres are closed, which means children aren’t going to be able to see a pantomime this year and we really wanted to keep that tradition for them.
HNMAG: As a producer, what were some of your primary responsibilities?
Lianne: (laughs) Finding money is always the main task of the producer and making sure they find good crew. Making sure everyone is looked after and I suppose we had the overall vision and components to make sure that the production team are doing an amazing job. The director Charlotte Peters is doing an amazing job, we got Chris Rankin from Harry Potter, because he liked the idea of Pantomime and doing it live and interactive. He approached us. It’s just fitting the pieces of the jigsaw together to make a picture.
HNMAG: How did you secure the funds for this major production?
Lianne: Well, we’re actually funding ourselves. We run a commercial live-streaming company, and decided just to go with it. We were looking at grant funding but at the time we started the idea, funding wasn’t going to be an option, so we’ve been primarily sending to kids.
HNMAG: What were some of the biggest issues you came across while producing?
Lianne: I suppose the biggest issue is wanting to go big, but having this huge production and knowing how scaleable it is. We started small, sold a few tickets and then we scaled up a little bit. We sold a few more tickets and so we can scale up a little bit more and keep scaling bigger and bigger as the funding keeps coming in rather than just going big and panicking. But that’s been the biggest challenge, knowing when to scale.
HNMAG: How did you manage to keep things within the budget and scaled?
Lianne: Well, when we started this project in September, we did a short promo video and we are always looking at the break-even mark. When we know we can reach break-even, then we scale up again so we always know we can cover production cost which is naturally important. You can’t have people on a production that won’t get paid. That’s the process we’re taking.
HNMAG: What were some of the most important resources you invested in?
Lianne: I think people. People are always the best. Bring in a good team, and you’ve got people around you willing to see the vision that you can see. Then it’s the best investment you can make. If a person doesn’t have the heart or the drive, you’re not going to get the same result. I think bringing people into a project that they enjoy and want to work because they believe in it. I think that’s really important.
HNMAG: And how did you manage to find the right people for the job?
Lianne: A lot of it was people that we know, that we’ve worked with before. But we have had to advertise a few times and that’s been over social media because that’s how we’ve been scaling it. It has been very flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, so to speak. We needed to scale and fill the gaps in production and I suppose if we were to do it all gain and we had a million pounds, we’d be able to fill those roles very easily. But that’s not the case, we’ve had to virtually manage on what’s been a micro-budget for a huge production that we’re doing. It’s been very scary but very fun at the same time.
HNMAG: And how does it feel to have it being showcased in a creative new way?
Lianne: Yeah, it’s been funny because we’ve just done the school run. It’s been going into schools across the world actually. Schools in France watched it. We’ve had schools in UK, schools in Ireland, and it’s been nice to get feedback especially over social media when people have been saying that they’re happy and they’ve been posting videos of kids reacting to the actors because the actors are alive. They can actually react to something if it goes wrong. Kids find it hysterical, they can press buttons as well to be able to boo and cheer. That gives them the element of that theatre world.
HNMAG: Now to change things up a bit, I understand you have some previous experience in Vancouver directing your first short. What was the film about?
Lianne: Yes. That was a little ambitious project I wanted to do. I was working in film and telvision at the time and I always wanted to direct and be a part of a bigger production. So I wrote a film that had 3 plot twists in 3 minutes. It was about someone who got their car stolen, but the thief doesn’t just steal the car, they steal the dog and it’s funny so many people’s priorities change. So many people fret about their car being stolen, but when you put something of higher value into there, that person’s priorities shift and you don’t care about the car, you care about the dog.
HNMAG: How was the experience filming your first short?
Lianne: It was really amazing. We shot near Kitsilano, we shot on the beach, and it was a very cold day. I remember that, and it was very windy. But the crew was REALLY good and the actors were really good. Lauren was the lead and she’s gone on to do quite a few Hallmark movies. But what’s beautiful about Vancouver is that there’s always someone filming something. You don’t realize how much is actually filmed in Vancouver until you stop and take notice. Then you recognize Vancouver in so many different films. You don’t realize that it’s Vancouver, and that’s why it’s classed as Hollywood North.
HNMAG: How did you get involved with Thunderbird?
Lianne: I was in Australia working in film and television over there. I really wanted to be in bigger productions other than television. I wanted to work in film and so I went to Vancouver to pursue the dream of being a film director over there. I knew I had to get on set to work on bigger productions so I worked at Sepia films with director Vick Sarin and I worked as his assistant for a while. Then having worked on a few films with him, I felt like I needed to learn a lot more about the distribution process in film and television. So I applied for a job at Thunderbird and it was a really great company to work for.
HNMAG: Would you ever consider working in Vancouver once the COVID crisis has gone?
Lianne: Yes, definitely. I love Vancouver, it’s so picturesque and the fact that you can shoot just about anything there makes it a great place to film. You can shoot a beach scene AND a snow scene in a weekend. It’s very unique and I don’t think you can get the same results anywhere else in the world. You can just feel that there’s film energy. Everyone you meet seems to be working in film and it’s really nice. When you come in from another country, you’re just embraced into that world and as you soon as you get into it you just don’t want to stop.
Go ahead and check out their live shows. Pantolive is pure magic and mustn’t be missed. Especially if you’re missing live theatre performances and musicals.