[Photo from Isla’s profile on The Dots]
It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about Isla McDade-Brown, because of all her her resilience and pluckiness filming Brock at Cambridge University when he traveled to Britain. Isla had first contacted us about her film dissertation on dyslexia and although there were some challenges organizing logistics along the way, she traveled down from York (with her film partner Ella Clements) to film him. One of the unexpected challenges they had to meet was Brock catching COVID on his trip.
Well, Isla graduated from the University of York, and has already managed to land some work experiences with Netflix and the BBC, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to talk with her about her journey with dyslexia, what she learned along the way, and how she was able to gain experience in film and TV while just barely out of college.
From my interview with Isla:
CHOOSING AND DOCUMENTARY AND REMEMBERING DYSLEXIA AS A CHILD
Isla: “I first struggled to pick what I wanted to do a documentary on. I just kind of got a massive whiteboard and wrote down everything that was about me because one of the biggest things they told us is it has to be something that you have your perspective on, and that is often something that you’ve either struggled with, or something that you know a lot about.”
Fernette: “Looking at yourself as a child and looking at yourself now. What’s changed?”
NOT BEING GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE OF REMEDIATION
Isla: “Everything, I think…there was a long time where it was up in the air when I would get into university and what I would do…I hated, hated, hated, hated my dyslexia lessons, it was the most inferior time. The only good part was my best friend at the time, she was also dyslexic…. But when I was actually in it, it was like, this almost weird mocking of what I couldn’t do… I’m very thankful for my teacher who was trying to help. But we had this very big book, and the only thing I remember from it was either reciting numbers, and I had to remember them and then recite them back to her, which I didn’t understand at all. Or there were words that weren’t actually words, it was just like gobbledygook, it was just like, loads of words put together…pronounce them correctly, but they’re not actual words. So there was no real motivation for me to do it, because it didn’t actually really help…even up until doing the research now, I didn’t really realize that my struggles in maths and mathematics was actually due to my dyslexia at all.
I never, ever got told, when I was taken out of music lessons every week for what must have been a year… you struggle with maths that could be related to your dyslexia. None of that ever got explained to me. I wasn’t really given any coping mechanisms or ways I can actually read real words or anything like that, it was a lot of thought, and they’ll try to trick my brain into things I didn’t quite understand yet. It might have helped, but I couldn’t see it at the time.”
Fernette: “You know, It’s funny that you mentioned that…even in structured literacy, Orton Gillingham, all these kinds of things, multi-sensory instruction, there’s not an essential component where the curriculum says, tell the students what you’re doing, can they can get a big picture of what they’re working on…
I understand why the little picture and the details are so important. But if you also don’t help the students see the bigger picture of what they’re doing…and if you completely disconnect students from their passion areas, areas where, I would think music that you would use in your video production… if you actually disconnect them from all their strengths and learning about the world in creating things, then then that’s a mistake too, and if there’s no time in, in a student’s day for that, it can be counterproductive to a young person’s education and…it’s a miss…
But you managed to get through that with a supportive family, you got to a school when unfortunately, COVID was hitting, and so that was down… It’s trial by fire, you just dropped in there and tried to make it but your questions to Brock were wonderful. Your responses are wonderful, too. You might very well find yourself in front of the camera, as well as at the back. You never know. You have a lot of poise…Storytelling, or finding the story, telling a story with what people tell you, all this kind of nonlinear creation process is a good fit for you and how you think.”
“I’ve always enjoyed stories, but I hated reading.. they always went against each other, and I enjoy telling stories, but I hated writing. It always felt like you couldn’t have both…So I think I was lucky that I discovered film and TV industry where you can do that without massive amounts of writing, or reading. But it was never a skill or something that I thought I would ever use.” — Isla McDade-Brown
Fernette: ” In your interview with Brock, you brought up some very important issues that just came naturally in the conversation. And I don’t think anyone has ever tapped his thoughts about that quite that way. And he’s been interviewed, you know, many, many times…
You had mentioned also that you love working with people. That is just perfect for interviewing, having sensitivity to see where they’re going, also recognizing questions that other people might be interested in. All those things are just wonderful things you bring to your work.”
GETTING A FIRST JOB ON A FILM SET
Isla: ” I was told by someone who I don’t really know well that there was filming occurring in the town next to mine. I just showed up, and I was like, “Hi, can I look around? And then I was cheeky. I was like, Can I come back? I don’t want to be paid. But can I just be here?” (n.b. from Fernette, she did tell them that she was just about to graduate from film school).
“And then I got three days from that, which was fantastic. I spent two days with the cameras, and then one day with the assistant directors. And then after that I was asked back about a month later to do three days paid work in July, which was fantastic. And that was brilliant. And then from that they wrapped on my last day as well. So that production was finished and over. And then I was recommended by two of the girls on that. And I had one single day’s work on a ITV production. And then I’ve got six days work starting this Sunday on a new BBC production.”
Fernette: “So were you a gopher? What did you actually do?”
Isla: “When I was with camera, it was a lot of learning and a lot of being there to help everyone doing their little jobs. Sometimes they gave me really big job to like, see what I would do with it and how I’d handle it. The last few days, when I’ve actually been paid to work, I’ve been a floor runner, which is the lowest level in the assisting directing department where your tasks can range completely across what you’re doing. It can go from looking after cast members, making sure they’re okay to looking after crowds of people and extras or making sure everyone’s in the right place at the right time. It’s a really, really varying job, which I really enjoy.”
Fernette: “Well, do you have any advice for parents and young people?”
Isla: “I had lots of times, even making my dyslexia documentary, where I was so close to just like, I can’t do this,…because it is really difficult…when you find your thing, and for me, it’s like assistant directing, and being in that film and television industry. Once you find it, it is like a piece of gold. And it is the most incredible feeling because you don’t come home and feel like inadequate, or I used to…it’s a nice, slow upwards, like climb to coming to terms with the dyslexia. And I think from a parent’s perspective, like allowing, as much as you can your child to experiment with, even if it’s different instruments, or different clubs and different sports and not getting frustrated that they haven’t found something that they’ve stuck with, because, you know, I did so many instruments, it’s ridiculous….”
Fernette: “and you never know when when it starts coming back again, you know, I mean, some by these kinds of things, you have an appreciation for music. And you also know, the work that goes into making it to and, you know, and, and in film sound and music is all important for creating a mood. So it comes back in interesting ways…”
Congratulations to Isla for her pluckiness and initiative getting her first jobs in the film industry!
