How Living in a Small Country Helped My Film Career

Making It

Soft rolling hills stretch endlessly before my bedroom window. The sky is grey most days, but sometimes it explodes in the brightest blue. Just there, beyond the trees, the Irish Sea thrashes endlessly upon the shore, wave after wave, beckoning…

Ah… Ireland.

So far away from anything even remotely Hollywood.

And just a 5 minute walk from where I live, my little village hosted one of the biggest productions of 2021. Disney came, spent 10 million dollars on set design and left my tiny little village looking like a magical wonderland. And just there, just over that hill, I can almost see the set of Vikings, aka the set of The Last Duel. A few summers ago, I went on a tour of where Rey once defied Luke and left to fight/help/kiss? Kylo Ren. And if I drive a few hours - never leaving my tiny little rock in the cold Atlantic, I get to the set of Game of Thrones.

So, so, so far away from anything even remotely Hollywood… right?

And yet, this industry here is booming, blossoming, bursting into a fresh start after it-which-shall-not-be-named. I’ve been quiet around here, been quiet everywhere, because I am up to my eyeballs in production on my first feature, which we are making with a skeleton crew and a fantastic cast, just a stone’s throw from my house.

I am involved in so many productions, plays, shorts, features, scripts, projects… I cannot even count.

Hollywood, you say?

Why Hollywood?

As filmmakers, we know exactly what the promised land is - it IS the shining city on the hills, it is the ever-calling, ever-bright, ever-alluring… the magical place where our dreams come true. Because how else would our dreams ever come true? If not on Sunset, as we stroll down towards the beach. Surely no other Blvd could hold our dreams, surely nothing else could satiate our desire to MAKE IT.

What does making it mean, though? Will you not have made it until you sit on a studio lot drinking the coffee your PA brought you? Or will you have made it when you call cut for the last time on a project you worked your behind off for, and your heart out, to get made? Which will/would you value more?

By my own standards, I’ve made it.

That’s not true. By my current standards, I’ve made it.

By the standards I had as a 12 year old, I’m not even close to making it. For that 12 year old chick, nothing short of Oscar glory and Meryl Streep on speed dial would do. But then again, she’s a kid, what does she know…

No. I’ve made it. I’ve made it because I have people on speed dial who will come together and make a movie with me. I am currently working on 3 features. One in production. One in pre-production. One at a solid script stage. All slated to be made and finished and released in the next 2-3 years.

I began this journey 15 months ago, right here on Stage 32. Yes. Months. MONTHS.

That’s what making it means to me now. I get to make movies.

But how?

Make Friends and Help People

The people I have on speed dial now are producers, actors, casting directors, DPs, gaffers, drivers, directors, and yes… there has been a moment when a PA brought me a coffee on set… and yes, it felt weird.

The people I have on speed dial are not Meryl Streep. But then again, I don’t want to call her. I want to call my good friend Mij, on whom I can rely to create perfect cinematography, capture the mood of every single scene so brilliantly that the picture alone makes me cry. I want to call my wonderful Shane who can play any role I put in front of him with such ease and passion that I am never not amazed at his talent. I want to call Aidan whose perfect comedic timing will always make any script I even think about absolutely spot on…

The people I have on speed dial are the best people on this gorgeous island.

They are a vibrant, beautiful community who all share one passion: making movies. Performing. Creating something that is unique and quirky and satisfying and artistic.

The reason we can do this as such a tightly knit community is that we are all swimming in the same - very small - pond. Nobody is out of the industry completely, even if you’ve only just been in it for 2 seconds. Everyone knows everyone and the good will is tremendous.

The more you work with people - and the more they enjoy working with you - the more you will be sought out.

The biggest asset a newcomer to the field has is their personality. It doesn’t really matter at first what you do best, because chances are if it’s your first set, you’re gonna mess up. What matters is that you are excellent to work with.

And in a small pond, in an industry where everyone knows literally everyone… your reputation as someone who is great to work with is THE currency that will land you your next job. That will help get your project off the ground.

That is why it is so great working in a small industry, in a small country. You do not have to fight through layers and layers of gatekeepers, because there are none. The only thing that matters is gumption, hard work, and a friendly/awesome attitude. Next thing you know, you’re making movies.

Ah, I hear you say… that’s easy for you to say, you’re a super-awesome-over-the-top-brilliant-perfect-in-every-way writer. Nope. No, nah, nopely, nononono, not even for a second.

In January of 2021 I joined Stage 32 with a few festival wins and placements under my belt and nothing else. Nothing at all.

I was starting to meet more actors through the online table reads I was putting together for my scripts. I was starting to think that maybe I ought to be networking if I want to make a dent in my career.

2 weeks later, one of my scripts was optioned. This happened right here on Stage 32. (And here is the blog about that adventure!)

12 months later, I was on set, as an associate producer on my very first feature (which I had written on commission rather than on spec).

The entire cast and crew was there because of me. They were the ones who had been on my speed dial for the last 15 months. They were the ones who had heard of me because if I made even the tiniest wave, the whole pond would feel it.

My two leads came on board with the project without hesitation. The male lead came on board without even reading the script. “You wrote it”, he said. “That’s all I need to know.”

The supporting actors all assembled as if it was Cap calling them, not little old me. They did so because they knew me. Because they had worked with me before on my little table reads or had heard of me through the grapevine. Some came on board because I had once stumbled drunkenly onto the set of another project they were doing (yes that happened - no, do not ever do that ever, ever!), and happened to see beyond that fatal mistake.

The point is: when there are only a few hundred fish in the pond, it is easy to get to know all of them. Build your connection in your native industry before you dream of jumping into the ocean. There’s sharks out there. Learn to fight them before you go swimming in the ocean.

Start Small

How do you prepare yourself for the bigger pond, if you really feel like you don’t want to stop until you have reached the shiny city on the hills?

Learn your craft. Be the best in the small pond - be the biggest fish there is. Be unavoidable, but be (again!) brilliant to work with all the way.

Be a PA on someone’s short. Be a driver, bussing equipment around. Work with people. Have them notice you. Remember you. Be the one they want to have on their speed dial. Only then, when your neighboring fish have noticed you, are talking about you… then you can think of making the jump.

It is easier to make a movie in a small, independent industry. If I lived in Hollywood, or if I insisted on ONLY making Hollywood movies, I would not even be halfway to where I am right now.

But I’m a writer. I don’t want to be famous. I don’t want to be recognized on the street (I am… now… and that’s creepy). But that’s not what I wanted from my career.

Once upon a time, when I was a 12 year old girl watching Lord of the Rings, I said to myself: I want to make movies one day.

Guess what… I make movies for a living.

No, they are not billion dollar blockbusters. No, they are not in cinemas worldwide.

But I get to go to set every morning, script in hand, armed with new ideas and new memories, and new friends.

That’s my dream right there.

And yes… I do still want that Oscar. And one day, who knows, I might have it on my shelf.

But until then, I want my shelf filled with photographs of memories. Scripts that were signed by my friends. I want my shelf to hold props and a clapper board with the last slate on it. I want my shelf to hold snapshots of a life spent making movies.

And I get to do that because I dreamed a dream that was not only achievable, but I happen to live in a country that makes it incredibly easy.

Hollywood is great. But so is your hometown. So is your little country that feels a million miles away.

You’re not a million miles away from filmmaking. It’s… right there.

Make it.

About Ronika Merl

Stage 32 Community Leader.
Screenwriter. Producer. Author. Co-Founder at Aicearra - Ireland's only Screenwriting Management Company.

I work in Ireland as an independent screenwriter and producer, and actively seek to build a new pathway for Irish talent (both on screen and behind the camera) to be recognized internationally.

Having placed highly in both the Nicholl as well as Austin, I am currently working on 3 features, all of which are slated for release in the next 2-3 years.

Author of "The Hustle - A Comprehensive Guide for Irish Screenwriters"
Author of "I Love You, Dave Taylor"

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