New BBC crime drama Mint produced by House Productions and Fearless Minds comes from writer and film maker Charlotte Regan. Here, she writes about working with executive producer Theo Barrowclough on the upcoming series.
I met my producer Theo back in 2018. This is the first email he sent me…
Since then we’ve made our first feature Scrapper together. Three short films – one was a documentary, No Ball Games, for the Guardian where we travelled all round the UK, it was probably the time in our lives when we were closest to killing each other. We’ve known each other through big life changes – he’s had a baby, joined House Productions and learnt that wearing button up shirts on tech recces isn’t a great shout. He’s seen me through 5 house moves, meeting the love of my life – my dog Eddie, and a high score on NBA 2K.
Theo and Eddie below…
I describe Theo as my work best friend. Not sure if he describes me in the same way but he f*cking better.
So when it came to making Mint I knew he was someone I wanted go on this journey with. The project started years ago with producer Jolyon Symmons (who is an absolute legend and sensational at every racquet sport you can imagine). It was born through an obsession with gangster films. I bloody love em. Gangster seasons at cinemas is where you’ll catch me. I remember thinking about some of my favourites and feeling there was something that I wasn’t seeing. I wanted to know about the women of these families. What’s happening at home? What do their Christmas dinners look like? I wanted to make something that focused on that. I’m obsessed with the kind of clash of cultures within these families, in a way their kids have led sheltered protected lives but are also so exposed to a world few of us know anything about.
Theo shared that fascination. We’d always spoke about that world whilst making Scrapper. The way we work together feels unique in that I feel there’s nothing we are precious about. Everything is on the table. Theo can tell me my ideas are absolutely awful and I can do the same to him. From the outside I’m sure it just looks like we are outrageously rude to one another. But its the way we both love to work. And that was the same across Mint…
Theo usually starts by sending me a script schedule. To which I reply ‘creativity isn’t endless don’t try and schedule my creativity’. Then a day later I usually agree to the schedule but demand a reward based process. I’m hooked on digital medals and that kind of shite on Garmin. Script writing is no different. Endlessly patient Theo has to work out some sort of chocolate or football game based reward system.
With Mint we started by sitting in a room with a whiteboard and just really working out our central characters. What journey we wanted them to go on. What we wanted to say about those characters. That’s always the anchor and starting point.
Mint is a really visual show. We see what the characters are feeling. So tone and visual storytelling style followed our character work. We’d throw lots of links back and fourth. We went on super early recces to Scotland where we were always keen to shoot. These recces are more like writing adventures. We go and spend a day or two in the places we are thinking of filming in. Just to get a sense of the space and let it inform the writing. Its usually done quite early in our scriptwriting process. I think its a favourite period of creativity for us both. Where anything is possible – pre budgets and all that ai.
We found some of our key locations on these early recces. The Denson’s garage being one.
I think our process together is a system we try to recreate with every HOD / through out the entirety of the project. One where anyone can throw ideas into the mix and there’s just an open- ness. We are the same with actors, we have a similar approach and appreciation for them I think. I’ve always thought acting is by far the most vulnerable job on set. So we make sure to get scripts out early and have as many discussions as we can with our cast about their characters. The whole process is one where I hope everyone feels a part of what we’re creating.
So yea. Thats an article with me banging on about Theo for you.
I hope people love the magic of Mint that was created by a whole bunch of absolute legendary human beings.
And I hope I get to work with Theo forever.
Mint is available on BBC iPlayer and BBC One from 20 April and is a co-production from Fearless Minds and House Productions.
main production image: Ben Coyle-Larner
Pippa Considine
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