Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Early Days’

Review Fix chats with “Early Days” director Nessa Wrafter, who discusses the film and the impact she’d like it to have on audiences.

Review Fix: How did you get involved with this project? 

Nessa Wrafter: I first wrote this script a couple of months after giving birth to my son, then developed it for about a year, (my editor Iseult Howlett was on board from very early on as a script consultant), then found Clancie Brennan and asked her to come on board as producer. As soon as Clancie agreed, her drive and enthusiasm meant the project took on a whole new energy and we crowdfunded, gathered the rest of the team and shot the film within four months. It’s not quite a year since the shoot and we’ve already been selected for seven festivals. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes! 

Review Fix: What attracted you to it the most? 

Wrafter: Postnatal mental health was a subject I had never seen on screen before. I wanted to highlight an area of mental health which is under-represented, which both women and men need to be more aware of. 

Review Fix: How hard was it to work with this subject? 


Wrafter:
It was really tricky to try and find a way to approach a topic which is so sensitive. Every mother has a different experience of the “Early Days” of motherhood and I wanted to try and create a story and character that would feel relevant to most Mothers…

At its core, it needed to be a story about humanity. In that way, I hoped to overcome the assumption that your gender would define your response to it. I hope it’s a story that anyone can relate to because ultimately it’s about someone who is struggling at a difficult time in their lives – and we’ve all been there! 

Review Fix: What was the research process like? 

Wrafter: The research process was actually fairly straight-Forward because this story was based so much on my own experience, and of the women, I knew who were having babies around the same time. So this was a topic we all talked about all of the time anyway… I had a lot of fuel in the tank.

Review Fix: What have you learned from it? 

Wrafter: I learned that the more talented people you have around you, the better your end product. I learned that every mistake or misunderstanding teaches you a valuable lesson and that sometimes happy accidents happen…there’s magic in that if you keep yourself open to it.

Review Fix: What was the feeling like on set? 

Wrafter: It was incredible – we had set out to have as many women as possible in the crew, due to the sensitive nature of the material…and as obvious as it may sound, all that feminine energy was really nurturing. I think it made it easier for our lead actress when she had to perform some of the more difficult scenes, too. 

Review Fix: How did this film affect you? 


Wrafter:
This film has changed my life. It has shown me the importance of telling stories that are deeply personal, no matter how close to the bone that can feel at times. Making a film you are proud of is a long, arduous process, and it has confirmed that I love filmmaking so much, that all the hard work is more than worth it. 

Review Fix: How do you want people to be affected by this film? 

Wrafter: I’d love it if people felt that it managed to express how the mind works when it has been through a traumatic experience – whether that be childbirth or something else entirely. I’d like it if men who have watched their partners give birth, felt they understood the journey to motherhood a little better. And I’d love for mothers to feel they saw a little of themselves in Early Days. 

 Review Fix: Who will appreciate this film the most? 

Wrafter: I assume women who have had traumatic birth experiences will appreciate it most, and women who have suffered from post-natal mental health issues… but I hope that anyone who has experienced anxiety or PTSD could feel a connection with the story. 

Review Fix: How would you like it to be remembered? 

Wrafter: I’d like it to be remembered as part of a new wave of films which places the female gaze up front and center, whilst also being interesting and enlightening to viewers of both genders. 

Review Fix: What inspired this film? 

Wrafter: My own postnatal experience, and my desire to turn that difficult experience into something beautiful and meaningful. 

Review Fix: What’s next? 

Wrafter: I’m making a drama podcast this Autumn, about three friends who decide to have their own 20-year school Reunion but uncover a dark secret from their past… which I’m also adapting into a feature film. I’m working on a TV series based mostly in Ireland, and I’m chatting to a few writers about directing their work. Directing something I haven’t written myself is a challenge I’m keen to take on as soon as possible!

Review Fix: What else would you like to add? 

Wrafter: There is a lot of discussion about diversity in the industry at the moment and that is brilliant.  We need a more diverse pool of people telling stories, across the board – it makes for more interesting viewing if we have filmmakers with lots of different voices.

I’d like to encourage more women to direct. I really didn’t believe it was something I could do until I tried it. And when there are women working as executive producers and heads of studios, making the decisions about which projects get greenlit…real change is going to happen. So reach for the stars… 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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