While celebrating her birthday in a picturesque Italian town, Tamsin is followed home by a stranger. Despite escaping this attack, the fear follows her home and onward still, haunting her in the aftermath.
This is Tamsin’s story in I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, but it’s so much more than that. According to UN Women, one in three women and girls worldwide will have experienced violence and/or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. Yet society deliberately steers clear of the long-term impacts that violence has on women, forcing many to choke down the damage done to them.
I sat down for an illuminating conversation with Phoebe Cleghorn, actress, scriptwriter, and executive producer of I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, an upcoming short film that reframes the conversation around the aftermath of gender-based violence. Phoebe is a rising actor and screenwriter based in Cambridgeshire who has starred in The Government Inspector at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and was featured on BBC Maestro’s Acting Masterclass. She has since been recognised as an emerging talent, earning a nomination for Shooting People’s New Shoots: Actors Award 2024.
Her passion for film exudes through the Zoom call. Despite her lifelong interest in storytelling, it was only years into working in the PR industry that she decided to try out an acting class, and fully fell in love. From studying acting part-time at the Identity School of Acting to getting signed as a talent, Phoebe feels indebted to the communities she found along the way, including various drop-in workshops and filmmaker communities like Shorties and Shooting People.
“Seek out [filmmaking] communities and stay in touch with the people that you feel connected to”
“Don’t feel like you have to spend a fortune on drama school or expensive equipment,” she advises those aspiring to enter the film industry. “Take the tools you have at your disposal. I know from my experience that sometimes it can feel impossible to break through, but seek out [filmmaking] communities and stay in touch with the people that you feel connected to.” Most importantly, she encourages those with a passion to focus on their craft. “Try as much as you can to be patient. And allow yourself to crash out every now and then!”
The idea for I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT came from Phoebe’s personal experience of solo travelling in Italy; she had subconsciously carried the trauma with her by altering her own behaviour, not realising that these were coping mechanisms brought on by the violence that she had suffered from. It was not until she heard Darun Henry share her survivor story on podcast The Knife, detailing how an attempted attack impacted her marriage and her ability to feel at home, that the weight of what had happened hit her. The script poured out of her within two weeks, and the team came together like clockwork. “This [team] seemed to fall together, so I think it’s kind of made to be,” Phoebe said.
For this particular short film, Phoebe wants to focus on exploring a single character’s psyche. She draws on Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, both films that place an emphasis on character development over plot and dialogue. This creative vision is shared by Director Andy Twyman, who hopes to bring audiences into a “real experience” that isn’t “overly stylised”.
This is the first time Phoebe has had to balance the triple roles of actor, writer, and executive producer. She finds the first two roles complementary. “As a writer, the more you write, the more you gain an understanding of good storytelling,” she says. “And then as an actor, you can use that understanding of storytelling to make decisions [about your character]. It all strengthens one another.” Executive producing, on the other hand, takes up “a totally different side of your brain”. Phoebe rose to the occasion alongside producer Lucy Jessica, hoping to keep a constant thread throughout the development process. “[The film’s] my baby, and I kind of just want to make sure that I’m involved in everything.”
“We are already doing everything right, but the violence persists”
Even though Phoebe anticipates logistical difficulties of shooting in Rome with a UK-based crew early next year, she is hardly one to back down from a challenge, given the difficult subject matter I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT tackles. The film aims to “raise awareness for the global scale of gender-based violence”, which is so normalised that women have had to change their behaviour to remain safe. “We’re told that if we do everything right, we will be fine, but it’s just not true,” she says. “We are already doing everything right, but the violence persists.” The trauma that survivors carry is exacerbated by the shame surrounding discussions about mental health, which is precisely why Phoebe strives to share her story. “I want to encourage people to realise the weight that they’re carrying from the experiences that they’ve had, and also encourage men and boys to challenge this normalisation.”
Collective action is especially important when new forms of violence like AI and deepfakes have been weaponized against women in ways that cause just as much - if not more - distress. Although online crime is notoriously difficult to regulate, there are still organisations responding to these emergent crises. Phoebe directs me to panel discussions on the United Nations SDG Media Zone, and Womankind Worldwide, an organization conducting research analysis on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. “The better we understand about the threat that exists, the quicker we are to do something about it.”
With regards to lack of governmental support, Phoebe raises an unconventional, but potentially useful, incentive: the economic cost of apathy. “The UN’s 2024 report states that the global cost of failing to invest in women and gender equality is $10 trillion per year,” she says. “I think if we can’t motivate governments to act on the basis of public safety, then we can hopefully motivate them on the basis of economy.”
“Phoebe believes that educational institutions can shift their mindsets “from reactive to proactive”, facilitating awareness campaigns and student conversations”
What about educational institutions like Cambridge? Phoebe’s answer is pensive. “It’s almost difficult to know what’s possible,” she admits. Still, she believes that educational institutions can shift their mindsets “from reactive to proactive”, facilitating awareness campaigns and student conversations. Instead of teaching women to alter their behaviour, there should be a greater focus on preventing students from committing acts of violence, and a stricter zero tolerance policy when victims come forward. A thought-provoking response, and a timely one.
“How anybody chooses to respond to and cope with a sexually violent experience is entirely their choice.” Phoebe says, urging for more compassion with oneself, especially when gender-based violence can take years to come to terms with. She encourages victims that are struggling to heal to remember that they are not alone. “The measures that you take to feel safe are nothing to be ashamed of. If you are able to, talk to somebody about what you’re going through.”
When asked about the next step for I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, Phoebe anticipates its release through film festivals. “I would love to screen at Cambridge Film Festival, fingers crossed for that!” The team also hopes to explore a streamer or broadcasting website that serves as a “permanent home” for the film.
I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT will begin shooting in Spring 2026. More information can be found on Instagram @idideverythingrightfilm, and the crowdfunder can be accessed here.
