DIRECTORS NOTE

Lena Stamm and Janin Stenzel have a lot in common. They attended the same Ivy League drama school in Germany, and met on Janin’s first day and Lena’s graduation. Both love to work internationally; they have lived in many different cities, establishing themselves as actresses in countries where, sometimes at first, they didn’t speak the language. Janin has lived in Rio de Janeiro, Houston and London, and is currently based in Paris. Lena’s residential stays include Budapest, Amsterdam and Stockholm, and she has recently moved to London. Despite their years abroad, both remain connected to Berlin and occasionally work there.
After finding out that they are currently based in cities not too far apart from each other, they decided that it was is time for a long-overdue catchup, and Lena hopped onto the train to Paris. The idea for Easy Said Up High was born.

The original plan for this production was to shoot scenes together in Paris and in London, but the pandemic put a stop to this shooting schedule. Instead of postponing the project, Janin and Lena accepted the challenge that the universe had thrown at them, and changed the script and settings. Both London and Paris have been under strict quarantine measures, which made it impossible to hire a film crew or even have friends helping out with the project. Instead Lenas and Janin’s partners became involved with operating cameras, positioning microphones and checking the set, not to mention finding free time in their work schedules. The challenge was not only to coordinate shooting times at one another’s apartments but also to guarantee everything necessary for a fully functioning film shoot.

With this production, Lena and Janin have taken on many more roles than those of the lead characters and humbly acknowledge, once again, how important each department of a film crew is for the creation and realisation of a film.