Beneath The Surface With Skin Diver Creator Katya Abedian | Part One

This episode of Orms Air, the Orms Podcast is split into two parts, this is part one. 

Join us as we dive beneath the skin of Katya Abedian; writer, producer and director of breath-taking short film Skin Diver. 

Referred to as an ode to the tender hearted, this coming-of-age short film sheds much needed light on the power hidden beneath the surface of the empathic at heart who are unapologetically themselves. 

In this episode Jess Semple the producer of Orms Air takes the lead in the conversation and discusses Katya’s pre-production, shooting and post-production from one filmmaker to another.

Haven’t watched Skin Diver? We would highly recommend that you do. Preferably on a screen bigger than your smartphone! It can be found on Vimeo with a simple title search or by following this link. 

In Part One of this episode Katya mentions:

The cast and crew of Skin Diver in order of reference;

• Liam Solo, Cinematographer for this short film whose work can be found here.
• Tony Gum, who plays Amazi and whose work can be found here.
• Demi Van Der Westhuizen, who plays Saffron.
• Thami Cumngce Giyose, who plays the young girl at the open and close of this short film.
• Holmes Awa, Editor & Colourist for this short film whose work can be found here.
• Caroline Mackintosh, who shot the underwater scenes for this short film and whose work can be found here.
• Max Richter, whose piece On The Nature of Daylight which you will recognise throughout this short film and whose work can be found here.
• James Harvey, whose original score plays throughout this short film.
• Daniel Thackwray of Big House Recording Studios who did the Sound Design and Final Mix for this short film. 

Katya touches on the following filmmakers whose work she drew inspiration from when creating Skin Diver;

• In terms of the central framing you’ll notice throughout Skin Diver, Katya references Wes Anderson as an inspiration for the symmetry and her interesting use of framing techniques. You can find out more about Wes Anderson here.
• Xavier Dolan as a constant inspiration in her work whose latest release Mommy Katya encourages everyone to watch immediately! Find out more about Xavier Dolan here.
• Terrance Malick whose work inspired the ethereal bubble and water scenes in Skin Diver, you can find out more about his work here.

Bahá’í Faith: Katya references her faith that inspires and drives her to striving to make a difference and extend her helping hand towards those outside of and therefore within her own community. You can find out more about the Bahá’í Faith here.

Katya mentions Tyla Mason the artist who designed the movie poster for Skin Diver in a beautiful homage to one of the films inspirations Wes Anderson. You can find more of Tyla's work here.

Allison Swank of the Swank Group who advised Katya on handling production companies and staying independent.

The site that Katya used to submit Skin Diver to international film festivals, FilmFreeway.