A word from the director, Ice Neal.
How ‘At Least I found You,’ the romantic comedy, came to be.

After my training in theatre at the white Chapel Drama School and the International School Of Screen Acting in London, UK, my first ever short Screenplay, ‘Up For It,’ was chosen as the end-of-term graduation project, which led me to secure an agent in the graduation night, as my film was the only one which attracted the attention of the agents present. My performance drew the attention of Clive Corner Associates’ agent. After being in his book for three years, neither an audition nor an acting job came up for me. I shared my concern with him, and he said,
“There are no parts for a black girl with an accent.”
God has blessed me with the gift of writing and storytelling since I was a teen. Therefore, I sought to write films with parts for a black girl with an accent, like myself, for it was the only way I could be an actress.

‘At Least I Found You,’ the short film comedy, was initially entitled ‘Twists and Turns’ with the biggest crew, camera equipment and budget a short film could have. Everyone loved the Screenplay. So I looked for a producer who could make the film. But they all said to me,
“Why should we produce your film when we have ours to produce?”
So, my only hope for my first film was to produce it myself. I sought to do just that. Looking for someone to direct it for me, I finally found one, who was a woman, which I was excited about, as I thought we’d get along and understand each other as women. However, we clashed like water and fire.
It all began when I noticed she changed the screenplay, and my character, Mireille Jacob, the lead actress, was now becoming the secondary role. Luke, the secondary character, was now becoming the lead and was the only one whose face was shown on the screen, while the director continuously filmed only the back of my head and profile. I took her aside and explained things to her, saying,
“As an actress, I had not had any role, not even an audition, for three years since my drama school training. Now, I write this film so that I could at least act in it, but you’re only showing the back of my head and the side of my face, changing my story without my consent, and favouring the secondary character, and now the leading actress is vanishing from the story. So, how do you think that makes me feel?”
She was emotional and touched by my words, with tears in her eyes. She responded that she did not know, and it was then that she realised she had been doing so to me. She apologised and said she did not mean it. So I was pleased we sorted things out, and things would now go according to plan.
As filming proceeded, whenever I peeked at the monitor, I noticed the footage looked fuzzy and not in focus, but she continuously told me the monitor was soft, not the footage.

Then again, on set, the footage on the monitor became increasingly fuzzy. I expressed my concerns, and she became angry, attracting every crew’s attention, saying,
“Do you want my hat? Do you want my hat? Do you want my hat? I’m the director on this set; let me do my job!”
As she demanded, I let her do her job, and no longer spoke about the footage’s fuzziness.
Once the filming was finished and wrapped, we were excited and ready to edit since she was also a reputable film editor who had worked with big productions and movies, and finally, it was time to watch the whole footage. But to my shock, not a single shot was on focus. It was ‘all out of focus,’ and nothing could be used. All the big budget spent was gone. Again, she apologised to me for not listening when I noticed something was wrong; she was sincerely sorry. But nothing I could say to her could rescue the movie or refund the big money spent, so I chose not to be angry at her. There was no point. I accepted her apology, and they moved on with their lives, and I was the one left in pain to deal with the mess, with no movie, no money, but debts. This experience made me blame God, but then I realised He was not to blame, so I said sorry to Him.
The pain caused by the whole film being out of focus remained, and all I could think of was, though I had never directed a movie before, if I had directed it, it would not have been out of focus, and I would have told that story, everyone loved, as I envisioned it.
A month passed, and I wondered what would happen to my acting career with no roles for me in the film industry, as my agent told me, and having not even an audition in three years has proven to be the case in London, UK, at that time in 2006. I immediately felt the urge to do the same film again with a different crew and cast and call it by a new name, ‘At Least I Found You.’ This time, I would let no one direct it; I was confident I would do a better job. So, I directed and produced the film successfully with the help of many people who gave me locations for free to help me. It was miraculous, and the Lord God comforted me by providing for the film in a way I could never have imagined, in London just as in Paris.
‘At Least I Found You’ was done successfully from the beginning until the end. I never thanked God then, for I never realised what He did. So I thank Him now for everyone He sent to help me and the good actors He sent me.

“Before I was a film director, I was, first of all, a producer. Before I was a film producer, I was, first of all, a screenwriter. Before I was a screenwriter, I was, first of all, a storyteller. Before I was a storyteller, I was, first of all, an actress. Before I was an actress, I was, first of all, a caring, loving, compassionate girl who had a goal of helping people. Before such a goal consumed me, I was, first of all, a child of God.” Ice Neal.