Film : Birmingham director of Nativity! talks about the film
But some of it will surface on the DVD extras in due course and other footage will be released day-by-day throughout December via an innovative online advent calendar website created by distributors E1 Entertainment (at www.nativitythemovie.co.uk)
Although she has found two marvellous young talents in Bernard Mensah (JT/The Angel Gabriel) and Cannock’s Ben Wilby (Bob), aren’t many of the other children going to be disappointed if they’ve hit the cutting room floor?
Debbie says: “Everyone who came to Monday’s premiere in Coventry really enjoyed the film, even if they weren’t in it as much as they thought they might be.
“They were telling me how the shoot had been the best summer of their lives, making new friends who would last forever.
“They gave up their summer holidays to be in this film and brought a lot to the party.
“The way I work means they didn’t have to learn lines.
“But they were so noisy that telling them that not everything would make the cut was the only way I could discipline them at times. I’d say to them: ‘Only the best bits will get in and if you don’t behave I’m going to cut you out altogether!’
“It’s the parents’ expectations you fear will get out of control, but I went to plenty of auditions when I was young where I didn’t get the job and it didn’t do me any harm.”
Debbie’s own daughter, Sydney, now ten, plays the part of Sadie in the film, which was partly funded by Screen WM.
“Unlike me, she’s very quiet,” says Debbie, who now lives in Coventry.
“I put her in it because I thought it would be good for her confidence.
“My mum and dad, Barbara and Peter, are also in it – they appear in all of my films.
“I still go round to their house every Sunday for lunch with my two sisters. I was the difficult, middle child!”
