You shot the bulk of this series with a crew of 4. That is yourself plus 3? The series looks and sounds as if there was a large crew behind it. Why is that?
For the main shoot we were four people, all in all. The cinematographer Cristian Pirjol is my main collaborator. Without him this project would never have happened. I am convinced that he is a genius, although he won’t like me saying that. What I know for a fact is that it is more important to have one incredible eye behind the camera, than a truck full of lights. The tiny crew – Christian plus a soundman, our DIT Alexandre Forge, who evolved into a general factotum, and myself – made us very flexible. We got help from friends when we needed it, but because we were in the middle of a pandemic, we had little other choice. I am proud to say that all the people around me really rose to the occasion. My own family was truly amazing. You find them all over the credits. Because they were in the process in all ways possible. My husband, my ex-husband, my children, step-child, foster child. The partners of the elder kids, their families. That process was so beautiful it still makes me cry. That love seeped into the series too. My producers from Red Balloon Film and Maze Pictures, Dorothe Beinemeier and Philipp Kreuzer made it possible to turn Sunshine Eyes into a reality. When many others ran away screaming at my idea in spring 2020, Dorothe placed that one call to Arri which got us an Alexa nearly for free. She got us production insurance and shooting permits. There never would have been anything without her help. Philipp and his company Maze have helped us get out in the world, and supported us patiently through the post-production.