Australian Producer, Writer and Director Maggie Miles on Storytelling and Breaking Into the Industry
Posted on: Jul 30, 2024
Photo Credit: Sarah EnticknapIf you like keeping a finger on the pulse of Australia’s film industry, Maggie Miles is a producer worth keeping your eye on. The UK-born, AUS-based, award-winning producer has a gift for producing stories you’re unlikely to have seen or heard before.
Here we speak to the producer behind the feature films High Ground, Guilty and Paper Planes about film school, tenacity and our beloved Matildas.
Can you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a filmmaker?
I grew up in a village in the middle of England, and I was always acting out or dancing, or dressing up or being in all of the school plays. I remember me and my two sisters would act out stories in the lounge room and put the vacuum cleaner back-to-front to make a little wind machine. I loved the ensemble nature of drama. I thought it was incredible to have a group of people so cohesive and working together.
I worked really hard and auditioned and got into [English drama school] East 15, which was the ensemble place. The year I was taken in they were having financial difficulties, and they took on 75 students—which was completely contrary to the philosophy of the school. That was my first experience of an educational institution. It was devastating, actually. It was really terrible to find that they went against their own philosophy by taking on so many students.
Jump ahead to [me] going to the VCA [Victorian College of the Arts] to do a postgrad in producing many years later. I remember in the interview they said, “You don’t think you’re overqualified, Maggie?,” because I had been working and running a production company in the Northern Territory for 12 years. And I thought, “That’s an interesting question when I’m really, really keen to get into this school.” I thought it was very respectful.
One of the strongest takeaways from my time at the VCA was the relationships I formed there. I’m still in touch with many of the other people in my class. We were a class of eight. It was a very different experience [from East 15]. We produced many of the graduating films from the directors finishing their three-year degrees.
I produced Jonathan auf der Heide’s short film, Hell’s Gates, and then Jonathan, I, Oscar Redding and all those amazing actors made the feature, Van Diemen’s Land. That led to one thing and another. I’ve constantly been working in film and television from that point.
Given how the industry has evolved over the past decade, would you still recommend film school as a helpful path into the industry?
Education is always what you make of it. I’d lived in the Northern Territory, based in Darwin, for 12 years. When I relocated to Melbourne, I knew a sprinkling of people, but I didn’t really have a network there. So, I think that’s a really strong advantage you can get from study.
I’ve seen a lot of young people have the experience that I had when I first went to college—being very disillusioned that the education institution wasn’t a place of ideas. It wasn’t a place of fostering conversations, where the mind gets to expand, and a safe space for the individual to learn and grow. I would say that the places that offer more than just the technical aspects are really, really important places.
There are pros and cons to education, but it has to be what you make of it.
Are there any traits or skill sets you feel will become more important for emerging filmmakers as the industry continues to evolve?
I think a flexibility in your thinking. I think to be able to pivot. I think that’s the foundation of the creative mind. I don’t think the “Get a real job” tussle exists anymore. It does in some families, I’m sure, but as a broad societal generalization, that idea of the creative industries not being real work—I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think creative practices, creative thinking and creative work are becoming more and more applied to other industries. I think it’s important to value one’s creative talents—whatever they may be—and not to feel that that’s not a skill that’s admired and required.
One thing that worries me greatly is the instantness of communication, the short amount of time people want to spend communicating. Which I advocate for in some instances—we all want efficiencies—but if we look at the public social platforms, people are feeling a great pressure to have an instant opinion about things or know what they’re talking about. But half the time, we don’t have a clue what we’re talking about. Going into the future, what I think will be important is to spend time really contemplating, really thinking—and for yourself.
You seem to have a knack for identifying stories no one else is telling. How have you honed your taste and voice over the years?
Personally, I’ve had periods in my life where I’ve been learning, and then I’ve felt, “Okay, now I’m leading and initiating.” Then I have another period when I’m learning and taking on a new environment and new information, and then, “Okay, now I get all these hunches and all these instincts.” So, I think that’s a really important thing to remember: we can flow between leading and learning.
But, yes, there’s a radar I have for people that interest me, as well as ideas and stories that interest me. It took someone to point out to me, actually, that I seem to be drawn to projects about the deeper questions in life. I wasn’t conscious of that for a long time. Now I’m in a phase of very strongly initiating projects, leading projects I want to have a stronger authorial voice in. For documentary, directing and writing; for drama, still producing, but writing also.
I have television projects for which I’ll be strongly involved in the development of the story. These are ideas that have captured me because they speak to the ever-present challenges of life and being human. I think if you can find a deeper connection to the work that you are doing, it sustains you through the hard times.
On hard times, I’ve heard you say filmmaking is, in significant part, just tenacity. What keeps you going when the going gets tough?
I’m not very good at leaving something if it’s not finished. Maybe I have to get better at knowing when to just abandon something. I do have some deeper need to finish something, solve something, work something out.
If I think back to the documentary we just finished, there were times when this little thought or idea just wouldn’t go away. I’d keep coming back and saying to the team, “Yeah, but what about this? What about this? What about this?,” until I’d worked out, “Oh, this is what it is. This is what’s not quite right. This is what needs another detail.” I’ve always been like that. Maybe sometimes your most frustrating traits in some contexts can be really useful in others.
You mentioned your recent documentary, Trailblazers, about the Matildas. I can only imagine how inspiring that must have been. Any standout lessons from these pioneers that you’ve taken into your own life?
All of the members of the Australian women’s football community that we spoke to, from the very early days to the kick-ass women who are on the field very soon at the Olympics, were just “of a kind.” They were very tenacious and very focused and very determined to think for the game and the community as much as for their own position in it. They all thought about a bigger picture. I remember sitting down to speak to Caitlin Foord and seeing this steely look of focus in her eyes.
I thought, “Wow, you’re not wasting a second. You’re so switched on and so focused.” And, as my collaborator [Maggie Eudes] likes to remind me, Caitlin wasn’t very well on the day. So, all of the women footballers gave me permission to be clear, be bold, be strong, to say what I think, and to not take a backward step.
Special thanks to Maggie Miles for her time. You can follow Miles on Instagram and X to stay up to date with her latest news and projects.
Tahlia Norrish is an Aussie-Brit actor, writer, and current MPhil Candidate at the University of Queensland’s School of Sport Sciences. After graduating from both The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (Distinction, Acting & Musical Theatre) and Rose Bruford College (First Class Hons, Acting), Tahlia founded The Actor’s Dojo — a coaching program pioneering peak performance and holistic well-being for actors.
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