Black Pond began two years ago.

We didn’t spend too long looking for the usual funding because it became clear that we weren’t going to get any. Instead, we wrote hundreds of letters and emails and made use of the EIS Scheme, which is a brilliant thing. We called in a few favours of course, but our strategy was more about not spending money on things we didn’t need, than spending less on things we did – we didn’t pay ourselves.

To be honest, we found our constraints were actually a blessing. We had to think more creatively and ended up with a better film. The first draft of the script had burning castles, crashing helicopters, was much less interesting and infinitely less achievable. We tailored subsequent drafts to use very few locations and always ones we knew we could get for free; most of the film takes place in Will’s parents’ house.

We were lucky to have such a brilliant cast. We knew some of the actors already. They had to be good (obviously) but also willing to muck in and not find it strange that we were working with such limited resources. We were particularly lucky to have the brilliant Chris Langham. His character in The Thick of It was always a reference for the part of Tom Thompson, but we never expected to end up with him in the film. We sent his agent the script and Chris liked it.

With no studio forcing us to hit a deadline, the film could evolve naturally. We shot in three weeks but chucked about a third of the footage because we didn’t feel it was working somehow. We liked what we were left with, but it seemed incomplete. We shot a few days of pick-ups and found that answers started to emerge. The final piece of the jigsaw was Simon Amstell’s character: an unconventional, sinister therapist, totally new to the script.

We had no marketing budget, and no distribution deal. It’s a chicken and egg thing: you don’t get a release without reviews and you don’t get reviews without a release. So we hired out London’s Prince Charles Cinema for a week and, thankfully, our reviews were very positive. From then on we could call up indie cinemas around the UK. Some places were harder to convince than others, but it’s ended up having a decent run.

Our advice is to make the most of what you already know. For the rest, don’t wait for someone to tell you how to do it. Find out for yourself. Everything we learned – which was a lot – we learned by making mistakes. If we get a slightly larger budget for our next film, we’ll be very careful not to get carried away. Some of the decisions we made on Black Pond out of necessity, we’d be wise to make again out of choice. It’s easy to become overly ambitious in a very boring and unrewarding way.

Interview by Emma Murray.

The BAFTAs are held on Sunday 12 February. 

Black Pond is screening at the BFI’s Future Film festival on 19 February, with a Q&A. Find out more.

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