1. So today we have Paige Parker the writer and Director of the new social realism short
‘Saturday’ with us. And we’re going to ask her some questions about her work.
Some of your work, mainly your short work, including ‘Saturday’ and ‘Smashed’, share a
common main theme, why is it that you so frequently use the subject of alcoholism?
Although alcoholism features as an issue in my short film for me that vice isn't a main focus is it just
coincidence. i would say the main point in which i focus on is Children in dysfunctional families. i have
always had a strong interest in films that show dysfunctional families and through my audience
feedback found that this theme isn’t common but can be found a worth while viewing experience.
when asked if they had seen a social people nearly 50% of the participants mentioned Antonio's
breakfast and later said that they enjoyed this short.
Was there a certain age group that you had in mind as your audience when making the film?
I don't think that there was a particular age of audience that influenced my film but when i was working
on my preliminary audience research i found that people aged 18-29 were the main audience for
the majority of social realism films i looked at and that has always been in the back of my mind while
making the film thought i definitely don't think that it influenced my film in any way that is obvious to
me.
Why did you choose to develop a strong father son relationship and have the mother as the
alcoholic rather than conforming to stereotypes of typical film within your genre?
I believe that the audience to my film would prefer a mother alcoholic to a father because of the
fact that it’s breaking the stereotypes as you said before there is no mainstream demand for shorts
and therefore for my film so i don't have to consistently worry about pleasing my audience by
conforming to stereotypes like other filmmakers. In my target audience research
Do you think that you have a wide demographic for your film considering that it’s a short and
taking into account that there is currently very little mainstream demand for shorts?
there is little mainstream demand for shorts yes but they are still commonly viewed among some
groups. although the isn't a wide demographic there is one and i found out the best way to target my
audience from my audience feedback. although nowadays it is popular for many people to watch films
and even TV shows on the internet i found that there is still a very large audience for film festivals and
i plan on submitting my film into a couple of student film
You used a variety of different methods when carrying out your audience research can you
take us through some of these and explain your reasonings for doing so?
The first thing that i did when starting my target audience research for this year was to look back at
my research from the making of my last social realism film. I did this just to refresh my memory of
what i already know about the genre and its audience. One of the main things i found useful last year
was my questionnaire so i decided that it would be best for me to replicate this idea to help with my
audience research this year. The most useful part of my target audience this year would have to be
the research i did on film sites such as IMDB, MUBI and lovefilm. Looking at the user reviews really
helped me get a clear idea of the audience for social realism was and therefore who my audience
was.
Is there a particular male or female audience for you film?

2. I wouldn't say that there was i think my film is fairly unisex. although another reason why i chose
a strong father son bond throughout my film is because during my preliminary research i found that
males are more likely to watch social realism films then females and thought that the noticeable father
son bond would appeal to them.
Thanks for coming in today paige. that was Paige Parker the writer and Director of the new
social realism short ‘Saturday’ Which is due to be released on Friday