A big thank you to Kate Woods for taking to answer some questions about the upcoming Fighting Season, a six-part event drama that will premiere Sunday, October 28 at 8.30pm on Fox Showcase or streamed On Demand.
Kate Woods has enjoyed a long association with ABC TV drama directing multiple episodes of GP and Phoenix (1991 & 1992), her episodes were nominated for four AFI Awards including Best Director; the NHK co-production Escape From Jupiter (1993) which won the Children’s Audience Vote for Best Children’s Television Drama at the ATOM Film & Television Awards; Janus (1994), her episodes were nominated for two AFI Awards; Police Rescue (1993), Heartland (1994), Corelli (1995) which received a BANFF International Award for Best Episode in a Television Series, Mercury (1996), Raw FM (1997), Wildside (1997) Something in the Air (1999) and MDA (2002/2003). Other television credits include the CoxKnight children’s series Worst Best Friends (2002), Jim Henson’s Sci-Fi series Farscape (2002), Blackjack telemovie (2006), All Saints (2008) and City Homicide (2009). Kate directed the feature film Looking For Alibrandi (1999) and has been directing television in the US since 2005. Her many credits include Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Bones, Crossing Jordan, Shark, Law and Order SVU, NCIIS LA, Private Practice, Past Life, Underground, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Blindspot, Castle, The Magician, Hand of God, Unsolved and Rizzoli and Isles.
She was awarded the 2008 Australian Director’s Guild Michael Carson Award for Excellence in Television Drama Direction.
– What can you tell us about Fighting Season?
Fighting Season follows the lives of a group of soldiers returning from a tour of duty of the Afghanistan War, leaving a terrible secret behind. It is about the lasting effects of modern warfare. In any war, even if a soldier suffers no real bodily injury, he/she will more than likely carry the effects of that battle in their psyche forever. For all too many this becomes a totally debilitating lifelong journey.
– Have you worked with anybody involved with the production of Fighting Season before?
I have been working in the United State for the past ten years and haven’t worked with Foxtel or Goalpost Pictures before. I feel privileged to do so. Foxtel is our premiere cable network and I am a big fan of Goalpost’s work. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them. I have also always loved the work of Blake Ashford, the writer, and really wanted to work with him.
– Has the approach to authenticity changed the way wartime is portrayed on Australian screens?
I think the approach to authenticity has always been important. Twenty years ago I made another wartime miniseries called ‘Changi’ about WWII prisoners of war in the infamous Japanese prison camp. Our approach to the authenticity of that narrative was exactly the same. There is no excuse for lack of authenticity in anything based on fact, let alone wartime stories. Too much rides on getting it right. It is not just getting the facts straight and the details correct. The most important thing is to capture the spirit of the experience of the soldiers and their emotional journeys.
– What was the most memorable scene in Fighting Season that you filmed?
There is a climactic moment in the story where the meaning of Fighting Season becomes totally and instantly apparent. All the ‘why’s’ fall into place and the reason this story is being told becomes clear. It is a very powerful moment. It was in the hands of our amazing actors, and talking of authenticity, this was the ultimate!
– What have you learnt from making Fighting Season?
You learn so much from every production, but the most memorable learning curve is always about the story itself. This is a very personal story, seen in minute detail. I learned so much from the soldiers who shared their own experiences, their battles both external and internal. I also learned a lot about how the Armed Forces is responding to their plight, especially their internal struggles, or not actually responding, no matter the rhetoric. I hope it changes, if we are going to send young people to war, to teach them to become killers, we need to take responsibility for the cost of this on each individual.
– What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a ten-part Netflix series called ‘Messiah’ due out around this time next year.
– What can you tell us about it?
It is an international Geo-political series that looks at religion and belief in the modern world in a unique way. We have completed filming in the U.S. in New Mexico, Nashville and Washington and are currently moving to Jordan, filming wraps up in mid-December.
– Did you really give Cate Blanchett and Hugh Jackman their first screen roles
I had the extreme pleasure and honour of working with both of these extraordinary actors on their first roles in TV. You knew instantly they were very very special.
– Now, the question I usually ask everybody What is your favorite movie?
Always a hard question as there are so many memorable movies that have a lasting effect. But I am going to say The Godfather. To me it is as close to perfect as you can get.