There are two great moments involved in making a movie. One is when during writing you have an idea which you hope works well. The second is when you edit that idea in the editing room and it does work well. Everything else in between is just hassle. That's not to say the experience of shooting a movie is boring or full of problems it's just when you are at your computer writing that moment, all you want to do is see it there and then. But it has to be shot. Someone's got to go out and get those shots in the can. During the shooting of the movie various problems arise daily but dealing with those problems can be a pleasure because you are forced into being creative and you might end up with a better scene because of it.

When the film is finished it is something of a release because it is all over. However, after working on a film for 18 months, or even 8 days, you're going to lose something when it ends. Your mind is no longer thinking, trying to solve issues that might come up. Even though at the time, it seems like shooting is taking forever, when it is over, the family that has gathered to produce the film, is now separated and go their separate ways. Robert Zemeckis after directing "Forrest Gump", reported going through quite a bad depression after the project was over. The passion that has been flowing through your body for nearly two years suddenly comes to an abrupt halt with the end of the premiere. It's nice to have a project to go on to after but you have to give the project you've just left time to pass. You realise that the family that gathered for that film will never be together again in that way. On the next project a different family will form and a whole new experience will take place.

When Katie's Mission was made, I wanted to end the film on a low note. With an unhappy ending you are able to hit the audiences harder. They leave the film with something to think about. I don't know if this reflects me personally or my outlook on life, but I think, that in life you don’t always get everything. I like to create moments that maybe I've had or would like to have in my life. It is not just escapism for the audience but for me as well. With down beat endings, I think there is more to explore emotionally.

Relationships are a theme I like to feature a lot. It's not something I intentionally set out to do but it kind of found me. Films are a way of exorcising your demons and as everyone has people in our lives, those relationships are what make up who we are as characters. And it's a theme that isn't bound by narrative either. Relationships can be platonic, romantic, or even with a place or object. The start or failure and the process of these are particularly interesting. "Projection" featured a relationship that never began as the two parties couldn't say what they really wanted, "Coldharbour" featured one that was around a young couple having problems. "Katie's Mission" featured a relationship that was over due to the death of a spouse, one between to brothers and one of the brothers and his wife. "The Christmas Eve Snowfall" was all about the beginnings of something as well as dealings with themes of loneliness. "The Perfect Date" is also about beginnings but also past relationships and how others in your family deal with new relationships taking over from old ones.

Stories have to have an emotional core. It is in these emotions that the audiences can relate to and therefore empathise with the characters. Movies are a way people can experience situations and issues without really doing it in their own life. They also show that others can be going through similar problems that you the audience are, and that you are not alone. Making films is, as is watching them, a cathartic experience. You get to do the things you wouldn't normally be able to do in your own life. You can come away wishing and wanting what you have just seen in which case the film acts as inspiration, or thanking that your life isn't as bad. Either way for two hours, you get to go somewhere else, and forget your own life just for the moment. Whether you want to come back is another question.

- Paul Dudbridge