Lauren Grant has long made waves in Canada’s screen sector as the producer of award-winning films such as Sugar Daddy and Riot Girls under the Clique Pictures banner, but she’s recently stepped into a new role as a writer and director.

Her short film, Things We Feel But Do Not Say (pictured above), had a world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival this fall and recently screened at the Whistler Film Festival, which runs virtually until Dec. 31. The film depicts a couple experiencing their second miscarriage.

Grant (pictured right) tells Playback Daily that she has long had ambitions to move into directing, but initially thought she’d get her start helming a documentary.

In the end she made the decision to create a narrative short. She wrote a personal script about her experience with miscarriage and the feelings of isolation and grief that come with it. “I wanted to capture that feeling of loneliness, even within your own relationship and that feeling of your body kind of betraying you,” she says.

At the time, Grant wasn’t sure if she’d ever film it, but was encouraged after she shared the script with a few confidants. The short eventually went to camera in September 2020 with Ashleigh Rains serving as producer under her C’mon Mort Productions banner and Lori Lozinski and Samantha Kaine as executive producers.

Things We Feel But Do Not Say stars Gita Miller and Aaron Ashmore as the grieving couple. Grant, who has worked with Ashmore on several projects, such as the sci-fi series Killjoys and the features Sugar Daddy and The Retreat, says she approached him because she felt he was a talented actor and wanted to work with people she knew and felt comfortable with.

Miller, an alum of the Canadian Film Centre’s Actors Conservatory, was brought onto the project through casting director Millie Tom and auditioned for the key role. “There was something in her audition, this rawness, that I just felt was so right for it,” says Grant. “When I saw her CFC short, I was really blown away by her range.”

The entire film was self-financed, with Grant pulling together the funding during the pandemic, doing business affairs work while in post-production on two Clique Pictures features.

Grant says her experience highlights a significant financing barrier issue within Canada’s screen industry following the loss of programs such as BravoFACT in 2017 and the Harold Greenberg Fund this year. She maintains that it was not possible for her to access any funds from the arts councils as a first-time filmmaker creating an English-language narrative short, even with her track record as a producer.

“It’s a pretty big barrier to entry for a lot of people. I feel pretty lucky and acknowledge that privilege that I was able to put that money together… not everyone has that opportunity,” she says.

Grant also says that while there are platforms in Canada, such as CBC Gem, which will acquire Canadian shorts, there aren’t many options for pre-financing.

“CBC Short Docs has done such an incredible job on the documentary side and there are so many interesting filmmakers and stories being told through that program, but there isn’t [an equivalent] for narrative shorts,” says Grant. “I would love to see more opportunity to support filmmakers with real budgets… I think it’s a great place for people to explore their voices and their stories.”

With her first short completed, Grant is now pulling together funds for another, based on a collection of short stories she discovered through Ontario Creates’ From Page to Screen initiative. She is also in development on a feature she penned, securing initial funding from the Harold Greenberg Fund, with Rains attached to produce both projects.

Grant says she and Rains have developed a strong collaborative partnership, with Rains’ experience as an actor becoming an asset on set for Grant while she directs, as well as her access to up-and-coming talent as director of the Canadian Film Fest. The two production companies also have a similar ethos, says Grant, as they’ve both signed the Producer Pledge and are committed to creating more opportunities for diverse crews on their projects.