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Meet Elizabeth Blake-Thomas of Mother & Daughter Entertainment

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Blake-Thomas.

Elizabeth, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
“You should be a director.”
“How?”
“Just say you’re a director.”

These words changed my life. I had always felt lost, and different, I never really fit into any crowd. I was always trying to do things differently than how people assumed they should be done. I remember trying to fit in on so many occasions. If only I could marry the right person, have the 2.5 children, live the “normal” lifestyle. It never really worked that way for me.

My journey in entertainment began when I was five years old. I was living outside of London, and there were frequent drama festivals in our area. I would compete in the poem recitation competitions. As I got older, I started taking classes through LAMDA, the London Academy of Dramatic Art. The idea was that you worked up from grade 1 to grade 8 and then developed your skills so you could teach these classes to others.

My “big break” came when I was ten years old. I auditioned for the role of Laura in Larkrise to Candleford at the Nottingham Playhouse. I was given the role alongside another girl, who I shared the role with for eight weeks. I don’t really remember anything about it other than I got told off one night for having the giggles on stage. I didn’t really understand what I was doing or what the results of my behavior would mean.

In hindsight, I wish that I had someone that understood the career path I was on and how beneficial this could have been for me. I was on my own, as I felt in so many areas of my life. Whilst hormones and teenage drama were raging on, my parents were going through a messy divorce. I realized that I wanted to be responsible for myself, so I set up a theatre company at the age of 15 and continued ran it for ten years.

It meant I had a regular income, I could produce and direct plays that I had written, and I could make a difference in young peoples’ lives. I finally felt a sense of belonging that I had sought out for so long. Amidst that happiness of being accepted by my peers, it came to my attention that I should probably get a degree. I didn’t want to attend university at all. But I was told this was something I had to do.

If I was to go back in time, I would have told myself not to go, to instead, be out in the workplace, the industry. However, I didn’t have anyone to guide me. So there I was, enrolling at University. I didn’t attend any of the classes. Another place that I didn’t fit in. I didn’t want to be out drinking and living a student life. But please know I’m not sitting here with regrets, merely observations.

If I hadn’t attended Uni, I would never have met my ex-husband, and we would never have had our beautiful daughter. This was the beginning of learning to listen to my gut and believe in what I know are the right decisions for me. After many years of running theatre schools and consulting for start-up companies, I had my daughter, Isabella. She was the change I needed. She was the one thing that kept me totally focused. I brought her to my theatre classes when she was young, and she showed a lot of promise.

We took a leap of faith, and I brought her to an audition for a BBC kids show. Needless to say, she got the role, and that whirlwind began. While I was on set, I had a lot of downtimes, so I decided to write books. I had so many stories to tell since I had created several children’s plays when I had run my theatre company; it was the perfect time to turn them into something real. I also had stories about myself and my life, so I started a blog.

My husband at the time kept telling me that I wasn’t a very good writer (great guy, huh?). His disapproval just fueled my desire to do it even more. I would constantly be writing ideas down and using them for stories or my blog. The more Isabella worked, the more I would watch the process on set and be intrigued, but it never really went beyond that. I was so enveloped in the theater world, I knew nothing about the film industry.

When she was seven, she booked the lead role in a film, Little Glory directed by Vincent Lannoo. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was when I started to develop my directing skills for the screen. I was asked to help out on set, so I dove in head-first. I started to learn the language on set and get more comfortable in a somewhat foreign environment.

Isabella’s next film took me even further when I was asked to direct the female lead in Let Me Survive. Not only was I now learning on set and being forced to figure it out, I was also meeting crew and cast that in the future would prove to be connections I could use on my own sets. I became more and more involved in my daughters set’s and learned more and more on every set I worked on.

Suddenly, there was a shift in the tides. We started hearing talk about this place called Hollywood. This was a place I had read about in books or seen on the TV. It seemed unattainable. However, if we wanted to take Isabella’s career a step further, we were encouraged to go. So, with the help of my mom, we managed it. We fell in love with Los Angeles as soon as we landed.

The warm air, the people, the buzz, the lights. The place seemed like anything was possible, and I knew in an instant that Hollywood was where I belonged. After a couple of years, Isabella and I were able to move to Los Angeles full time. As a single mom with no career, packing up and moving to a state in a new country 6,000 miles from home meant that I simply had to make things work.

There were three years of finding a home, helping my daughter get an agent, getting all the correct paperwork and visas that we needed in order to make a living in Los Angeles possible. She was working, but I quickly realized we needed more. You couldn’t sit around and wait for other people to bring you jobs. So I began to do what I do best, think outside of the box.

This was when I decided to research film festivals. There were hundreds of them everywhere, and I knew about them because Isabella had attended them for her films. I started off by attending smaller local ones and then looking further. The American Film Market was a good starting point. I went with Isabella, just see if I couldn’t start building some relationships. If I could do it at Cannes then why not here?

Then, something great happened: a director in England asked us to attend the Worldfest Houston festival in Texas for her so we could collect an award on her behalf. I jumped at the chance for a road trip and a new experience. While we were there, I met Shawn Welling. He was so kind and positive.

I attended his panel and was able to get to know him better. He was a true indie filmmaker. Shawn asked Isabella to be in his next project and from then on we became good friends. Another year passed, and Shawn contacted us again to ask Isabella to be in a short film of his; and I was asked to be everything from line producer, to script supervisor, to 1st AD.

As these indie projects often work, you get to play every role. I even acted in it! By then, after spending time on sets doing various jobs, I still hadn’t figured out that I should be a director yet, though. I thought that I should produce instead. If I was able to run theatre companies and put on plays, then I was able to put together a group of talented people and produce something for my daughter to act in.

So that’s what I did. I produced my first short called Broken Wings. It went on to screen at Cinequest in San Jose and then at Sunscreen in Hermosa Beach. I met Sean McNamara (a producer) at Sunscreen. After a few months of friendship and many visits to his sets, and Isabella working lots, I realized that it was my time.

Isabella was 14, and my divorce was going through, and Sean helped me decide to direct. It was all down to the words of Sean: “just say you’re a director.”

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has not been easy. Because I’ve been a single mom for so many years, I always have had to put my daughter first. She and her acting career had to come before my own directing aspirations. Once she turned 16 and passed her driver’s test, I was finally free from being her chauffeur and could focus on my career even more!

It’s not always been that simple though since I decided against getting a “proper job” we had to learn to live frugally and within our means. We always attempt to live modestly and save up as much as we can. And when we first got out here, of course, it was so hard because we had no connections out here.

We really had to work our bums off to network and get ourselves out there; and on top of all this, I had family and friends trying to sway me with their doubts and negative preconceptions about the American film industry AND I’ve been in the process of applying for a work visa which FINALLY got approved! It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been a gratifying ride.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a full-time Director, but I set up Mother and Daughter Entertainment with my daughter so that we could write, produce and direct all of our projects.

We are most proud of the fact that we are able to do everything on our own. We can do a project from start to finish, from inception to post-production with help from our fabulous crew.

What sets us apart is that we are focused on telling unique stories, and I personally, love mentoring and having young artists shadow me on set, I am always trying to give opportunities to the next generation of filmmaking.

What were you like growing up?
I had a hard time fitting in, really. The only time that I felt fully accepted by my peers was when I was running my theater company that I started at age 15.

I was very unique and always finding a different way to go about doing something. I never took no for an answer – I was determined to do whatever I wanted to do, no matter the cost. I still have this attitude even now, nothing is impossible. If you want it, take it.

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Image Credit:
Brooklyn Wilde

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