Chanya Button made her start in the industry at an early age, working as an Assistant Director on the “Harry Potter” franchise. Button has since worked extensively across both the theater and film industries, blending writing and directing her own work with working on larger-scale features. She has worked in the Creative Department at Warner Brothers in LA, for the UK Film Council (now BFI) Film Fund, as an Assistant Director for the Bush Theatre, the Tricycle Theatre, in Development for Heyday Films, as well as continuing her work on studio features, including the “Harry Potter” franchise, “Sherlock Holmes,” and “Edge of Tomorrow.”
“Burn Burn Burn” hits theaters in the UK October 28. The film is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. and in Canada.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CB: It’s like “Thelma and Louise,” plus “Casper the Friendly Ghost.”
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CB: “Burn Burn Burn” is a message in a bottle from the U.K. to the brilliant work that we’ve seen coming out of the U.S. these past few years. Everything from Lena Dunham’s “Girls” and “Tiny Furniture,” to “Broad City” and Noah Baumbach’s films inspired “Burn Burn Burn.”
I was developing the film at a pretty pivotal time in my own life, when my Mum had been very ill, and my friends rallied around me in the most incredibly way, including our brilliant screenwriter Charlie Covell. So “Burn Burn Burn” is also a bit of a love letter to friendship in that sense. For a director, I think the films you make always capture something distinct about the moment in your own life that you created it. “Burn Burn Burn” is very personal for me in that way.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
CB: I’d quite like people to leave the cinema and call someone they care about. Call your Mum! I’d also like them to leave thinking they’ll give other independent films a shot, because this one was a banger.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CB: Actually shooting the thing felt like it was the easiest bit! It was a total joy. Shooting a film is like hosting a really joyous, really organised party. Which I love. Because organised fun is the best kind.
I produced “Burn Burn Burn” as well as serving as director. So raising the financing was definitely a huge challenge — figuring out how to make an independent film in the U.K. where there’s not a great deal of this size and scale film being made. And securing distribution has required a huge amount of time, positive energy, and resilience! I think platforms like Netflix are an amazing space for the future of projects like this.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CB: The best decision I made was committing to being a producer on the film. Instead of waiting for a producer to pick up the film and make it happen for me, I committed to learning how I could get the film financed and distributed myself. It was a steep learning curve, but an absolutely amazing education in what it takes to be a part of every moment of bringing a film to life from script to screen, and beyond.
Creative England, a publicly funded body under the umbrella of the BFI, were the principal backers of “Burn Burn Burn,” and it was their confidence in me as a filmmaker that made it possible to raise finance from the rest of our investors. I feel very lucky that in the U.K. we have access to public money for the arts.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CB: “Don’t take it personally,” oddly enough, is the best advice I’ve ever been given! You need such an enormous amount of resilience to bring a film to life. You’ll hear the word “no” ten times more often than the word “yes.” If I took every “no” to heart I don’t know how I’d get out of bed every morning!
And I can’t think of any terrible advice! The creative process is so subjective — if anything ever sounds like terrible advice it’s only because someone works in a different way to you. I think you have to just try to develop a strong sense of your own process and what’s right for you.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
CB: Don’t be afraid to talk about being a female director! Of course I’d so much rather we were just “directors” and not singled out for our gender. But whilst we’re still working in an industry where there’s such a profound lack of diversity in the director’s chair, I think it’s important we’re all cool with talking about it until things change.
More diversity of filmmakers means more diversity in the stories we get to see on screen — and that can only be a great thing.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CB: I think Patty Jenkins’ “Monster” is a remarkable film. I’m incredibly excited to see what she does with “Wonder Woman,” and I think it’s a huge step in the right direction that talented filmmakers like her are finally being given the opportunity to step up and make films of that size and scale.
W&H: “Burn Burn Burn” screened at Inside Out 2016. What does it mean for you to have your film screen at an LGBT festival?
CB: It’s fantastic! Two of our three leading characters aren’t heterosexual, but that’s not really part of their narrative. It’s not really discussed as a tension in the film. They just are who they are. That felt good — to make a story where a character being gay isn’t a defining thing for their story arc.
So in that spirit, I’d say being at an LGBT festival feels just as great as being at any other festival!
