#104: Ruth Greenberg, Writer & Director

My guest this week is Ruth Greenberg, an award-winning screenwriter and director whose directorial debut RUN, a short film starring Niamh Algar from CENSOR, is currently showing on Short of the Week. The film was backed by Film4 and BFI NETWORK and was long listed for a BIFA in 2021. 

As a screenwriter, Ruth’s prehistoric horror, THE ORIGIN, is in post-production with Escape Plan Productions - the company who made SAINT MAUD and she’s also working on a medieval horror with director Nora Fingscheidt (SYSTEM CRASHER, THE UNFORGIVABLE) and producer Philippa Tsang at DCM.

Ruth and I had a great chat about completing a PhD in screenwriting, getting an agent and what that relationship is like, how she prepared to direct RUN and collaborated with director of photography and former podcast guest Molly Manning Walker to achieve the subjectivity and kineticism required of the story, what a writing day might look like for her, how she likes to situates herself in the setting or place of a story and how she deals with rejection. 

I think there are some really vital thoughts that Ruth expresses on writing genre and writing in general, and not being hemmed in by how you ought to write. 

**TW: discussions of assault**

There are few housekeeping notes before we get to the interview. The first of those is that there is mild discussion of violence against women in the context of Ruth’s short film Run and we mention the death of Sarah Everard, so if for whatever reason you don’t feel comfortable listening to that, feel free to skip the episode or rejoin us around the 20-min mark.

The other thing to say in relation to that film is that it’s on Short of the Week and to coincide with that launch, Ruth its raising money via JustGiving for Woman’s Trust who provide mental health and support services to women affected by domestic abuse. I’ve linked to that page in the show notes, so if you’d like to donate, you can do so there. And I would obviously also recommend watching Ruth’s very powerful short film.

This was recorded via zoom and there are occasional background noises, but otherwise I hope you enjoy this conversation.

This episode 104 of Best Girl Grip.