
Production Diaries
THE ATTENDANT
BY STAVROS PAMBALLIS
GET IT MADE #1 was a short-script competition CenterFrame ran in partnership with the UK FILM FESTIVAL.
We and the UKFF asked writers all over the world to send in 3-minute scripts, to compete for a £5000 budget prize to get their short-film made. We got a great flurry of weird and wonderful stories to choose from.
The readers and team of the UKFF did the hard work of narrowing the 299-strong list to the 10 best ones, and the CenterFrame community, then numbering about 5000 people, voted to choose the winner - THE ATTENDANT, by Cypriot writer-director Stavros Pamballis.
THIS DIARY FOLLOWS STAVROS' JOURNEY OF MAKING HIS SCRIPT COME TO LIFE.
Hop on board!
17/06/2022
It begins.
With a green-light and a deadline (not to mention some excellent script advice) from the good people at CenterFrame, the time has come to start making The Attendant!
Every good production begins with a good breakfast. So before meeting some of the major HoDs, only a couple of weeks out from the shoot itself, it was essential to sit down with my first AD, and the “brains” behind any good filmmaking operation I am ever involved in: Eleni Nicolaou.
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A couple of cups of coffee later. We had a plan. And I’m sure Eleni will hold me to it!
Next, up. HoDs! Media Studios, a great production company in Nicosia run by the fabulous Nicholas Demetriou, will be our local co-producers on the shoot, and they were kind enough to provide their offices for production meetings.
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Sofronis Sofroniou is a very talented cinematographer. We’ve made tons of commercials together, but this will be our first collaboration on an actual film. We’re at the stage where we are discussing what cameras and lenses will suit the look we are going for the best. Watch this space as we run some tests and share the result, soon.
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And last, but certainly not least, the Art Department. Sosee Eskidjian and Annie Vassileiou are also beloved long-time collaborators on my commercial work, so working with them on something that’s a bit more personal is very exciting for me. At this early stage, we are focused on discussing how to add subtle notes of decay to the shiny capitalist facade of our location, and hunting down classic American cars for the first scene in the film.
Lots of great ideas came out of these three meetings, and they will inform the work going forward.
Coming up next, Location Scouting. So stay tuned!
26/06/2022
20/06/2022
Filming
Principal Photography has begun!

More stuff being filmed. Copy from Stavros coming soon.

More stuff being filmed. Copy from Stavros coming soon.

And last, but certainly not least, the Art Department. Sosee Eskidjian and Annie Vassileiou are also beloved long-time collaborators on my commercial work, so working with them on something that’s a bit more personal is very exciting for me. At this early stage, we are focused on discussing how to add subtle notes of decay to the shiny capitalist facade of our location, and hunting down classic American cars for the first scene in the film.
Lots of great ideas came out of these three meetings, and they will inform the work going forward.
Coming up next, Location Scouting. So stay tuned!
16/12/2022
EDITING
Well, good things come to those who wait. After an adventurous summer and fall, I'm finally sitting down with my editor, the awesome Efthivolos Efthivoulou at Media Studios, Nicosia, to cut together the film. Our goal is to lock our picture by Christmas and deliver a finished film in January. Can't wait to share the film with the world

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follow the journey of the script competition won by stavros with "The attendant "
Watch our behind the scenes webseries of the first GET IT MADE competition
Episode 1
Where to begin?
Episode 2
Cutting the mustard
Episode 3
And then there were 10
Episode 4
Half the scripts they used to be
Episode 5
And the winner is...
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