Changing the script: Claire Mooney and Nell Hensey of Pure Divilment Pictures

We started Pure Divilment Pictures to create together. Nell and I met while studying for our master’s in IADT. We quickly realised we had similar tastes in film and TV. I read some of Nell’s early work in college and just fell in love with it. Last year, we made a short film together called Baths. We’ve both experienced this strong sense of needing to create stuff together. Pure Divilment ultimately came about because of how much we love working together and the many meaningful stories we want to bring to mainstream audiences. —Claire.

Representation and creative autonomy is really important to us. We believe artists should have control of their own narratives. For us, the company is really an extension of that idea. —Nell.

The key to our relationship is trust, friendship, a similar work ethic and a desire to make great work. In the film and television industry, no one achieves anything alone. Nell covers the creative and I manage the business but we allow each other to come in and overlap, as inherently the two come hand-in-hand. Even though our strengths are in different areas, we’re very similar as people. We’re both organised and work very, very hard. —Claire.

But we have an absolute ball while we’re doing it. Claire cracks me up every day. We love what we do. There’s a lot of trust and respect and ultimately, we balance each other out. —Nell.

Our first production, Falling for the Life of Alex Whelan, is now available on RTÉ Player. I read the short story collection Being Various, edited by Lucy Caldwell, during the pandemic when I was working for Cartoon Saloon and living in Kilkenny. Yan Ge’s How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alexander Whelan is the first story in the collection. As soon as I read it, I told Nell she needed to straight away. When RTÉ and Screen Ireland announced Storyland, we both knew this story was the perfect fit. It works best as a 30-minute standalone drama and Storyland is the only scheme in Ireland that supports that type of format. —Claire.

The story resonated so strongly with us. It’s so cinematic. And having an Asian-Irish young woman as the lead character was something that was particularly exciting to me as a writer-director. Our incredible cast was made possible with the help of our amazing casting director, Áine O’Sullivan. Our lead, Lila Coleman, is an exciting new talent, and Chris Walley gives the most incredible performance. I’m excited for audiences to see him play a role that is unlike anything we’ve seen from him before. —Nell.

Our next project, What Feminism Is, is based on a short story by Louise Nealon and written-directed by Emma Smith. —Claire.

A version of this article originally appeared in the Winter issue of IMAGE Magazine. 

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