Thank you! Only fellow filmmakers understand the gravity of completing a film and letting it be, so I appreciate the acknowledgement! I feel very seen. I’ve felt an array of emotions, in all honesty. Hopeful, devastated, overwhelmed, powerful, but above it all – grateful. The topic is delicate – it deals with inappropriate relationships and power dynamics between a young woman who is still coming of age, and an adult teacher.


To write a story of such delicate subject matter came with a much bigger purpose. Despite identifying as somewhat of an intellectualiser of social behaviour, this wasn’t just an explorative piece. Allegedly was born from an experience of my own that I wanted represented on screen. Throughout my childhood / teenagehood, I leant on films to give language to the problems I was facing. I simply couldn’t articulate or attempt to communicate how I felt, so I felt very seen by watching movies. The one movie I didn’t see was Allegedly, I think it could’ve taught me what grooming looks like, and possibly changed some things for me.




I’ve learned a lot, but still have so much to learn. The greatest skill I had was simply knowing how to work with my phenomenal cast and crew. I’ve made invaluable relationships, and having Calum Riddel as our DOP, right hand man and hand holder truly transformed what was once a hopeful script into something layered & beautiful – something I could not have achieved alone.





I’ll never forget this one class I had in acting school which cemented my appreciation for sound. We were shown the same clip, one with a blurry image and a crisp sound, another with muffled sound and a crisp image. Everybody disengaged with the clip that had poor sound but withstood the poorer image. I wanted to capture people with sound throughout the film, and Luke Fuller, our insanely talented sound genius did exactly that. From the get-go, I knew I wanted to use sound as a vehicle, whether it be the birds in the bush or the resonance of the phone. Both had a heavy weight symbolically and in the final edit we decided to really dial it up.

I’ve always appreciated the power of music, I’m really sensitive to how it can make me feel, so I tried to use that sensitivity throughout Allegedly to my advantage. Luke really jumped on that wave immediately; it was kind of unspoken how he weaved emotion so effortlessly from moment to moment. In regards to score, I wrote the film to a particular playlist I had and gave Bryn some references. I wanted something to sound like that transient part of your life moving from childhood to adulthood.


I think sound, apart from the story itself, is possibly the most emotive aspect of the film. A lot of Clover's inner-world, conflicts and emotions are hidden. So it’s only through sound that we get some insight as to where she's at. And that sort of parallels grooming. Sometimes it's not what is explicitly said or done, it's the disguised intentions. The underlying feeling that something isn’t right - inexplicable but deeply sensed. So the transitions are mostly auditory expressions of unspoken thoughts and unseen emotions.

The final scene of the film—an unplanned finish—is possibly my favourite scene. Luke and I played with increasing the phone vibrations to really hit into the audience. Watching that scene—particularly in the cinema —was so rewarding.



Initially that wasn’t the ending that was written. Our editor Peter Skinner really championed that final scene. Once we had the picture lock it was Luke dialing it up a notch. Just one of those things that fell into place.


I’ve written the feature of Allegedly, which hopefully will get off the ground soon. The feature delves more into Clover’s subconscious and the context that got her into her dynamic with Ferg. It's a true coming of age story and I’m excited to share it. I’m toying with the idea of a new short, which is completely different to Allegedly, heavily stylised and fun. I don’t want to reveal too much, but let's just say it’s possibly my favourite project yet.