Here at Flash Frontier, we know Rachel Smith as one of our careful and insightful editors – and of course writer of flash and microfiction. But she has recently added screenwriting to her successes. She was screenwriter for the feature film, Stranded Pearl, released nationwide in September. In a review, James Croot said the film had “heart, pluck and ambition” (The Post, Sept 2024).
This month, former editor Gail Ingram talks with Rachel Smith about this experience.
Gail Ingram: Kia ora Rachel – and congratulations, what wonderful achievement! Can you tell us about the origins of Stranded Pearl as a story and a film, and your role in it?
Rachel Smith: Kia ora Gail! As with many life opportunities this one came down to good timing and a willingness to try something new. I was living in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in 2013 when Anand Naidu, then CFO for Edgewater Resort, approached me to work on a film script with him. Anand is an actor and co-founder of Mahayana Films Ltd; he produced and starred in the 2011 film Vindaloo Empire. Anand had a clear idea of the genre and basic storyline of the film, which was to be set and filmed in Rarotonga, with the intention that he would produce and act in it. I had experience in writing flash fiction, short stories and poetry but this would be my first time as a screenwriter.
GI: So working collaboratively is a big part of the process for a screenwriter – working with the director in this case, but also working alongside the film team. Can you tell us a bit about that?
RS: Writing Stranded Pearl was very different in many ways from my other writing. Typically I write alone and seek feedback from trusted readers – I usually describe my writing as ‘darkish fiction’. Stranded Pearl is a completely different genre and it was a collaborative process right from the beginning. Anand and I worked together to come up with a detailed storyline, plot and characters which I then wrote into the screenplay over a year or so. There were many drafts along the way as we shaped the story we wanted to tell which also had to take into consideration the limitations of filming in Rarotonga where the usual resources may not be so readily available. Both Anand and I were aligned in our love for our adopted home of Rarotonga – the movie is a recognition of the wonder and beauty of the Cook Islands.
The script developed further as we collaborated with the directors, Ken Khan and Prashanth Gunasekaran, the final version completed only days before filming began – a four-year journey from when the script began.
Ray Woolf, Rawiri Paratene and Aunanda Naaido
The process from writing to filming to what ends up on screen is not a linear one – changes are made for many reasons. I was lucky enough to be included in reviewing the film as it progressed and was able to provide feedback on ensuring important points in plot and character arc were included.
One of the plot lines that was very important to me to be included was an environmental theme and the far-reaching impact of extractive business models on the Pacific Islands. This is increasingly obvious since writing the script with the ongoing impact of the climate crisis.
GI: Tell us about some of the big names starring in this film. How did it feel to be working alongside household names?
RS: The cast of Stranded Pearl is amazing – Aotearoa legends Rawiri Paratene and Ray Woolf, lead actors Kirsty Wright (from Home & Away fame), Robert Reitano and Aleisha Rose from Australia, as well as Cook Islands locals Stan Wolfgramm and Tiana Haxton. They all brought dedication and professionalism to their work in sometimes challenging conditions.
I was living in Rarotonga when the movie was filmed and was able to be on set for some of the filming. It was a totally new experience for me and one I enjoyed very much. I learned a lot – making a film is really hard, particularly so when it’s a small-budget indie film and you are filming on a Pacific Island where resources are not so readily available. This is everything from equipment and props to feeding and accommodating cast and crew and filming outdoors in changeable weather conditions. We pulled in a lot of favours and knowledge from the local community right down to loaning a coconut crab from a wildlife centre. Without their support the film wouldn’t have been able to happen.
As far as working alongside household names, I’m very much a quiet behind-the-scenes writers so I was totally in awe!
GI: As a screenwriter, what practical things do you need to know around formatting, presentation, pacing (plot to film time)? How does it differ from the other forms of fiction you’ve written?
RS: The script is written using software which sorts all the formatting and presentation for you and has tools to help assess story and character arc. Basically you are writing the feel/description of the scene and then lots and lots of dialogue. It also provides estimates on the running time of the film. Of course this will change depending on decisions made by the director on how it will be shot.
I have always felt that all writing contributes to the other and this was no different. Plot and story line are paced as you would a longer piece of fiction (I’m thinking more novel or novella here than flash obviously). Characters need to be well-formed with clear back stories, and the main characters need to have a definable arc or change to provide momentum and interest. And they need to have their own ’voice’ which will come through in their dialogue.
GI: How did it feel to see the script come to life? How well do you think your characters fit the cast?
RS: From the very first I felt the cast embodied their characters. It actually did feel like the script coming to life to see them on set being these people I had written – these lead characters of Julia and Sid in the flesh. With Sid we have this man who is essentially a recluse, hiding from pain of his past, who ends up alone on a deserted island with Julia, a successful and self-important businesswoman. Both are forced to reassess who they are and what is important to them, with their connection growing over time. The scenes are shot out of sequence so it wasn’t until the film had been edited that I had a real sense of how they grew and connected together as a whole.
GI: What surprised you when you first watched the film? Were there any parts of the writing you would have changed in hindsight?
RS: I was surprised by how funny it was and I think a lot of this comes down to the genre. I particularly liked the ‘funny cop’ scenes where they’d made the dialogue their own.
And of course there were parts of the writing I would change – when is there not?! The genre is by nature a bit cheesy and I found dialogue in the romantic scenes challenging to write so on reflection, and with another decade of writing experience, I would probably change some of this. I tried really hard to watch the end product without a critical eye and to just enjoy it. It was difficult, though.
GI: What were some highlights and lowlights of life as a screenwriter? Would you do it again? And what would you do differently, if anything?
RS: Highlight – when my daughter Olive ended up with a small speaking role. She was only 7 years old and did such a great job.
Lowlight – the stress of completing the final version of the script in a very short time frame while also working and parenting. Very high stress!
I’ve asked myself many times if I would do things differently. Knowing nothing about the film industry had its positives and negatives and I wonder if it would have been better to talk to more people within the industry – writers and directors – before I started out. Or maybe it’s best to have leapt in without knowing as I might have been put off by the amount of work ahead of me and never had this opportunity. And yes, now that the film has been completed, I would do it again.
GI: Has writing a filmscript made you look at other films differently?
RS: Yes! I analyse more than I did previously, looking at films more critically and taking tips from their strengths. I do this with everything I read though as well.
GI: Do you have any tips for future or budding screenwriters?
RS: This is a hard one as I didn’t follow the usual route. I was fortunate to do a short writing course with very talented playwrights Hone Kouka and Mīria George in Rarotonga.
I have found for all types of writing, that writing workshops and courses, for example, are a great way of expanding your practice. As is reading and watching and deep critical thinking about how a story or character is created in a scene or across a work.
GI: Apart from Stranded Pearl, what films have you been watching? Any recommendations?
RS: I am very keen to see the Aotearoa film We Were Dangerous. It tells an important story about how girls who didn’t fit the Pākehā mould were treated in the 1950s. And it manages to be funny as well. It also has one of my favourite actors Rima Te Waiata. Other than that I’m enjoying TV series Yellowstone at the moment – the characters are so good and bad and complex.
GI: Besides the film, what else have you been doing? Any new projects on the go?
RS: First up, after the film was completed, was a trip with my whānau back to Rarotonga for two weeks. It had been five years and we were so looking forward to it.
This month I was shortlisted in the Mslexia flash fiction competition which was very exciting. And have just completed a novella-in-flash that I’ve been working on for the past year. A good way to end my writing year.
The trailer for Stranded Pearl is here.
Rachel Smith has been widely published in journals and anthologies including Landfall, Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction. She was fiction editor for takahē in 2017-18 and contributing editor for Best Microfiction 2021, and writes for Bergman Gallery, Cook Islands. Rachel placed second in NZ National Flash Fiction Day in 2017 and has been shortlisted for Bath Flash Fiction Award, Reflex Fiction and TSS Flash Fiction 400. IN 2024 she was shortlisted in the Mslexia flash fiction competition She was a recipient of the NZSA Complete MS Manuscript assessment in 2021 for an adult novel. Her book reviews have appeared in takahē and Landfall Online Review.
Gail Ingram is the author of poetry collections anthology (n.) a collection of flowers (Pukeko Publications, 2024), Some Bird (Sudden Valley Press, 2023) and Contents Under Pressure (Pukeko Publications, 2019), and the editor of two anthologies, The Unnecessary Invention of Punctuation (2018) and After the Cyclone (2017), both published by the New Zealand Poetry Society. She holds a First Class Masters of Creative Writing from Massey University. Her poetry and fiction are widely published in New Zealand and internationally.