Interview August 2016 Altea, Spain. Based on Sunday Times format, A life in the day of…
A life in the day of…
The acclaimed Spanish film director, Eugenio Mira.
Eugenio Mira is a Spanish filmmaker and composer. His first long
feature film, The Birthday (2004) became a cult movie after winning
several awards at the first edition of Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX),
where he’s been world premiering his movies since then: the Gothic
tale Agnosia (2010) and Grand Piano (2013), starring
Elijah Wood and John Cusack. Besides his work as director,
screenwriter and composer, Mira has also worked occasionally at a
variety of other jobs, from second unit director on The Impossible
(Juan Antonio Bayona, 2012) to actor, incarnating a younger Robert De
Niro, in Red Lights (Rodrigo Cortés, 2011).
His soundtrack for Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes (2007) was released by
Mondo on a special limited edition vinyl.
Mira is currently developing several film projects.
“There are two kinds of typical day for me an ‘on set’ and ‘off set’
both being completely different. When shooting I tend to wake up
around 6.30 am; I only need around 30 mins to get ready. I get picked
up by somebody from the production office and taken to the set. It can
take half hour to get there or like when I was filming in Barcelona 45
mins. Maybe we start at around 8.30 and like to get there a bit early
and spend time discussing plans and ideas. See how the actors are, if
they’ve had a rough night or not and go in and spread your magic!
I have a coffee in the morning and that’s it for the day. I drink a
lot of water, no coke no other kinds of drinks. That’s my tip and it
makes you feel amazing. I maybe eat some toast for breakfast and eat
fruit at midday.
I try to avoid eating too many carbs in general and
instead eat protein with veg; helps keep me alert and not so sluggish.
We could work for around ten or eleven hours and one hour for lunch.
They announce our schedule the day before.
In Spain you get a ‘bocata’
around 12 (baguette) this is best to avoid-all that bread! When I´m
really hungry I just try and eat one of the two tapas. It works really
well for me to avoid being overstuffed with food-you can always find
pieces of fruit, nuts, soya milk etc on set if you want it. There’s
way more alternative food awareness on set in the USA-Spain is a
country where you are allowed to have beer while you are eating!
In the UK and US for example you have ‘running catering’ so you can
eat whenever you are hungry and continue working. I prefer that. The
psychological aspect of knowing there’s gonna be a critical stop-I
don’t like it. Dinner is off set, perhaps at the hotel.
Maybe there are some friends over, friends of the actors for example. During the
filming of ‘Grand Piano’ Tamsin Eggerton’s boyfriend, Josh Harnett,
came to visit so we went out around Barcelona, got drunk and took
silly pictures like you do! But the next day you have to be fresh as a
rose and keep working so something like that only happens around once
a week.
There´s always that feeling of camaraderie, it’s quite fun! Of
course the best thing is just to go straight to bed but sometimes
people need to talk-generally the team try to protect the director by
not divulging useless stressful information in order to lessen the
mental burden but at times the director can be of help to reduce the
tension and play a conciliatory role.
I´m currently based in Madrid with my partner and baby daughter,
though it’s kind of a triangle between Madrid, Barcelona and Altea
with trips to LA about three times a year to touch base with my agent
etc. Altea is the small pueblo (village) where I lived from my young
teens -it’s where I go to regain balance (though at times I fail
miserably!) I utilise this time to write and answer my emails and have
an almost military regime -getting up at 8 and in bed by midnight.
Running is my exercise-my brain gets very over stimulated so I go
running along the seafront in the evening or early morning to
disconnect. I try and do this 4 or 5 days a week when I’m there. When
you travel it’s almost impossible to keep a routine.
I also use this time to read-everything I read is related to what I`m
doing. I don’t like e-books; I download something then print it off
(of course I often stop and take notes on the realm I’m most
interested in then buy the physical version after so I don’t destroy
it with my colour markers!)
This kind of job is always going to have an impact on your
relationship with family and friends and especially sentimental
relationships, It can be all absorbing and takes a big investment of
energy that can cause jealousy-the bonds you form with new people,
your attention directed elsewhere etc.
It definitely takes someone with enough self- esteem to deal with it. The relationship between
director and producer can also be complex and often comes under
scrutiny. It’s a delicate balance and there can be a conflict of
interest even when there is mutual admiration. I have a big ego but
compatible with common sense; you can be humble and self- confident at
the same time.
I’m aware of how fortunate I am from various perspectives; the era
that I was born in (the digital age even with its down sides-I don´t
want to complain, I’m aware of the miracles). I had total support from
my parents-they knew my film fixation was not just a fad and their
support was paramount. I went to a private film school in Madrid in 95
and everything changed in 2000 with a short film I made,´Fade´ which
drew the attention of film director Guillermo de Toro.
It was Guillermo deToro who introduced me to my current agent, Robert
Newman. Guillermo is like a mentor to me poetically speaking, or
perhaps more of a counsellor.
We´ve come close to making something
together on a couple of occasions and hopefully we will eventually!
I´m currently collaborating on J.A Bayona’s next project (director of
´The impossible’ and soon to be released in October ‘A monster calls’
starring Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones and Sigourney weaver) it’s all a
bit hush hush so that´s all I can say for now.
Amongst my other projects, ´Guernica´ where I worked as second unit director, is to be
released in September, distributed by Sony pictures International. I´m
also working on an Epic adventure with a US company, with an above
average budget.
Ultimately I see film directing as a vehicle of artistic expression, a
performance where the point of view on the subject and the way it's
communicated to the audience is the message, beyond the story itself.
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