Matthew and Tori Butler-Hart, who run indie production company Fizz and Ginger Films, have just started Creative Screen Retreats at their home of Starston Hall in South Norfolk. Here, the trained actors share their story
Who are you and what do you do?
We are Fizz and Ginger Films, an indie production company run by Matthew and Tori Butler-Hart. We’ve produced ten indie feature films, five of which have been our own, and which have been released in cinemas around the world. They range from thrillers, to sci-fi, to horror depending on what story we find fun at the time!
What led you both to setting up Fizz and Ginger Films? What is your background?
Tori and I both trained as actors (Tori still acts), and we met when Tori was running an 18th century theatre company with her father. But I’ve always loved film as a medium, and we started making short films for us to be in as actors – this led to a feature length version of an 18th century play, and from then on, it’s been strictly film all the way.
What has brought you to Norfolk and what do you love about living and working in the county?
We’d been looking for somewhere to create a space where we could be helpful to other filmmakers as there’s a shocking lack of practical support in the UK these days. After years of searching, we found Starston Hall in South Norfolk and moved in at the end of 2024 – since then we’ve been transforming the grounds into somewhere we could invite creatives to come and do practical work to get their films up and running, as well as teaching my own method of screen acting, which I’ve been developing at drama schools for the past decade.
We’re completely in love with Norfolk, and the folk in it. It feels like there’s space (actual and metaphorical), for people to be themselves and to create, which seems to have been lost in a lot of other parts of the country. The people are supportive and open to new ideas and there’s a real push and motivation to get things moving forwards, but in a very East Anglian way (unique in the best possible way!).
What’s the thinking behind the new Creative Screen Retreats? And who is on the Creative Advisory Board?
This all started because I’d been teaching at various drama schools and realised that there’s a huge gap in technical screen knowledge in actors when they leave traditional education – and it’s just expected to be picked up along the way when you work; but only if you’re lucky enough to get the work in the first place, which is made harder if you don’t know how to adapt for this medium. They know the creative side, but not how to work with the camera – there is still this idea that “if you can do theatre, you can do screen”, which is just not true!
And for the filmmakers, there’s a distinct lack of support for people starting out, and SEEMINGLY only a few old-school traditional routes into making a career out of it. Again, this just isn’t true, so we’re here to bridge that gap of knowledge, whilst also creating a community of directors, producers, writers and actors who all have a passion to go out and make work for themselves (and hopefully with each other).
Our ever-expanding Creative Advisory Board is full of people from both sides of the camera who are out there actually walking the talk. They help us shape not just the courses, but the direction of the whole place to make sure that what happens here is relevant to the industry NOW, not what it was ten, five, or even two years ago. Sir Ian McKellen, Conleth Hill and Jonathan Hyde have all recently signed up to help, with more being brought on all the time.
Where are the retreats based? And what can people expect on them?
The retreats run from the grounds of our home, Starston Hall, in South Norfolk, where people stay in lovely bell tents, eat local food and immerse themselves in a few days of creativity, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Each retreat (acting, filmmaking, writing) is tailored to that specific, small, group of people so it will never be the same experience twice. But the days will be full of lectures/chats, practical exercises and time to work with the new knowledge, with support from our team of active mentors.
What can you tell us about the evening courses for local creatives?
It’s very important to us that we can offer versions of the retreat courses to local people, to help boost the region’s creatives and help build the screen industry up here. It’s full of talented people, and we hope to be a focal point for them to start really getting things moving. We offer screen acting, screenwriting and production (actually putting a film together), classes in blocks of 6, 7 or 8 weeks at Starston Hall, and we’re already getting some brilliant work coming out of them. Very proud of these East Anglians!
Where can people find out more in general?
The main website is – creativescreenretreats.com, and we also have one dedicated for the screen acting too – screenactorsretreat.com, both of which are constantly being updated with new retreats and courses as we listen to what people are really wanting from these courses. So, it will never be a dull moment at Creative Screen Retreats!
What are your hopes and dreams for the Creative Screen Retreats?
These retreats and courses will only run for half of the year, giving us time to go out and make new films so that we’re able to bring back more, relevant, knowledge. We want CSR to be a hub for screen creatives which can be an anchor point for them – it’s a lonely, often very hard, life-choice making films (as glamorous as it seems from the outside!), so to have somewhere they know will always have their back, always try and support the work they do, always try and find the right connections for their projects, I hope will genuinely be of help to our talented, but sadly ailing industry.
Visit Creative Screen Retreats and Screen Actors Retreat. Also, visit fizzandgingerfilms.com.
Featured image of Matthew and Tori Butler-Hart – supplied
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