October 2015

'It's a comedy! We start off with a girl who wakes up to realise that she's leaked blood all over the
bed...'
The elevator pitch. We've all heard countless times how important it is to get your ideas heard to
be concise, to be clear, to get to the heart of the story. I'm currently in a 'Celebration Event' with a
collection of creative arts funders and the young people they've supported over the course of the
year. Truth be told, whilst I'm currently eating cookies and wearing a fancy-dress hat, I'm not really
here to celebrate. Whilst we've just completed our first short film 'Run Rabbit' in association with
our funders, I'm actually here with another motivation I'm aware that for a select group of us, a
larger pot of funding is on offer, and the submission deadline is rapidly approaching. In this room
are several people who sit on the funding panel, and by the end of today I intend for my face, name
and twitter handle to be etched into their minds for the next few weeks.
I charm my way though the event, until I get the opportunity to speak to a few of the panel
members. The first one is a young man I've met before, only a couple of years older than I am. Let's
call him 'Harry'. Harry is lovely and very supportive, however as I go to explain the pitch for the
new film, I realise that whilst I've happily discussed this topic in depth with my female producer, I
suddenly feel a little uncomfortable in explaining the premise to a guy. He's not going to like this, is
he? I instinctively soften my language, avoiding any 'crude' words, such as 'period', 'leakage' and
'tampons'. Once I finish my pitch, he looks a little.. well.. frozen. Without much to lose, I smile,
waiting for him to respond. Harry hesitates, then begins discussing the logistics of how we might
approach our submission pack. No comment on the film content.
November 2015
Our funding application has been successful, and 'Girls on Tour' is officially out of development and
into pre-production. Thanks Harry!
Up until now, I have been thinking about how strange it's been, trying to explain the plot of a film
which centres largely around period spills. At this point, I've now explained the plot to several of
my male friends. Reactions range from morbid fascination to gross discomfort, all of which I
monitor with interest. My dad finds out we've won the pitch and asks me about the plot. I tell him.
He pauses for a moment, wearing same frozen expression as Harry a month previously.
'Oh. So do you think they'll pay you?'
In a way, I suppose I'm lucky that rather than shut me (and my film) down altogether, the men I've
encountered tend to politely swerve the topic of feminine hygiene instead. I then think about how
depressing it is that I construct that as being 'lucky'. Whilst we've probably all watched a boy knock
one out on screen in the name of comedy, private 'female' moments are still not often stories that are
welcome to the cinematic screen, in any type of genre. I keep thinking about a comment one of my
film professors mentioned in passing during a lecture:
'How often do you ever see a woman on the toilet in film? And if you do, what are the filmmakers
trying to tell you about her?
December 2015
After months of discussing the plot of 'Girls on Tour;, I have settled on using the term 'Menstrual-

related mishap'. Perhaps the alliteration will seem less frightening.

My producer Lauren Evans and I are now in the process of recruiting cast and crew for the film,
partly through word of mouth, and partly via the internet. Naturally, 'Menstrual-related mishap'
makes it into the plot synopsis. After months of softening our language to keep people on board, we
suddenly encounter a seismic shift in attitude. It begins with the casting process. We're looking for
four girls, and as the responses to the casting call start dropping in my inbox, the thing that really
gets me is how all these girls comment on how funny the idea is. It's almost an unanimous comment
in every cover letter and it becomes even more frustrating that these 'feminine' issues barely make it
to screen. Periods? They can be pretty hilarious. It's just a shame that half our population never get
to hear why.
January 2015
Somehow, my sister has this magical ability to move into houses which are more like sororities than
student homes. I love visiting her for this reason, and at present we're all squashed in one bedroom,
getting ready to go out for the night. Avril Lavigne's classic album 'Let Go' is blaring out a laptop
and last minute make-up is being applied. I'm not sure how, but the conversation moves to periods.
With no warning, these girls proceed to blow my mind. Without prompting, they begin to re-enact
one of the core moments of the film, where our four protagonists swap period horror stories. I
contribute a few stories of my own, one of which, incidentally appears as dialogue in the film. I
appreciate the meta of the whole situation. The conversation draws to a close and we sit there in
contemplation, feeling more like a sisterhood than ever. After a moment, one of the girls pipes up:
'It's funny. I guess we all have those stories, don't we?'
The others murmur in agreement. In this moment, I know exactly why I choose to tell the stories I
tell. All of my screenplays, in some shape or form, are my own stories. As a woman, I didn't think
twice when I sat down to write 'Girls on Tour'; it was a theme I felt comfortable writing about, and I
thought I could get a few laughs with it along the way. For the media-consuming society, however, a
film like ours is still a rarity. I look forward to the day when Maya Rudolph shitting in the street in
Bridesmaids isn't considered an absolutely outrageous moment in female comedy, but instead
merely a predecessor of all the brilliant moments explored through female stories in film.
Hopefully, it's only a matter of fearlessness, and a matter of time.
Olivia Cole is a young writer/director. Her film Girls on Tour will be released later this year.
To follow its progress, follow @TeamAwesomePr on twitter.