Meet The Beacons Makers: Mac Nixon

Mac Nixon’s dark drama Jackdaw follows a mysterious and troubled loner, who is called upon to assist terminally ill people end their lives. This heavy burden unfolds as a nightmare when the time comes to deliver on a promise he does not want to keep.

Ahead of the screening, we sat down with Mac to chat about shooting during a pandemic, authentic casting and what he plans to do next. 

Hi Mac, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 
Of course! I’m a writer/director from south Wales who has been making films in one form or another since I was about five years old. I’ve been lucky enough to make a career out of filmmaking, whether that’s been running on film sets making incredible (if I may add) cups of tea and coffee, or more recently directing TV commercials for high profile brands - I’ve done it all and I’ve loved every single second of it! However, my passion has always been cinema and I’m most fulfilled when I’m telling weird, interesting stories and connecting with audiences through the art of storytelling.

What inspired you to make Jackdaw? 
Jackdaw is a story I have been incredibly eager to tell for some time. The sensitive and controversial subject matter is one I feel immensely passionate about but is also one I am still extremely conflicted over. The inspiration really came from that emotional and philosophical confusion - I was fascinated by the two halves of me that were at odds and the impetus to tell the story came from me trying to find an answer to a question. A question… I still do not have an answer to. I was excited to explore that journey through the cinematic medium. What was most intriguing to me, was the potential this film had in sparking an interesting conversation, not only about the issue of euthanasia but the notion of love, loss and connection as a whole. For me, this film is really all about understanding and our ability as human beings to be empathetic toward the decisions others make – even if we may not fully agree with them. 

What was it like to shoot a film during the pandemic? 
It was incredibly challenging and many moments throughout pre-production felt very isolating. The thing I love most about filmmaking is the collaborative nature of the medium and a world-wide pandemic made collaborating very difficult. However, we quickly adapted as a team and overcoming that obstacle was a rewarding experience. Everything was done virtually - casting, designing and script development was done through Zoom and it took five months for me to even meet one of my producers in person. However, I feel like the challenges we faced only emboldened our love of filmmaking and storytelling as a whole. Everyone put their talents and commitment toward this story and took safety incredible seriously. Ultimately, I found that being able to write, develop, shoot and finish a film during the limitations of a pandemic was a rewarding experience. 

The production team and yourself worked hard to ensure authentic writing and casting; can you tell us about your experience with that? 
Jackdaw is ultimately a universal story, and it was incredibly important to me that the casting and crewing of this film reflected that. I took the subject matter very seriously and researched the topic thoroughly - reading up on real stories, speaking to people who had experiences with euthanasia and even meeting people who had lost loved ones in one form or another. The short film features several people throughout and ensuring we had a talented and diverse array of gifted actors was something myself and my casting director worked incredibly hard on. It was about fitting a jigsaw puzzle together with the perfect pieces. It was a daunting film to cast but I really believe the finished article speaks for itself and I am so grateful to the actors who gave me so much. The film boasts an impressive line-up of both experienced and fresh-faced talent - including living with disabilities - all of whom helped inform and reshape the story that’s on the screen.

What kind of support did Ffilm Cymru & BFI NETWORK give you? 
Ffilm Cymru and BFI NETWORK were incredibly helpful during every stage of production, particularly script development - but what I was most impressed with was how much confidence they instilled in me and my team to crack on and follow our vision.

What do you have planned next? 
I have recently produced and directed a couple of shorts and music videos as well as working on a number of commercial projects, but my main creative goal now looks toward developing a feature film. I have a number of ideas but I’m exploring one story in particular that was inspired directly by my experiences making Jackdaw.