Eileen Tracey on her BBC Short Film Spinster
Words by Tanya Fevzi
Eileen Tracey is a Northern Irish and South African BAFTA Rocliffe-shortlisted and RTS-nominated Writer and Director. Her work, largely drama and comedy, centres around finding freedom in a world that wants to contain you. Deeply significant personal, social, and climate issues are explored through her screenwriting and directing, highlighting her purpose-led approach to film and TV. Her films, including One for the Road (Short 2021) and A Particular Friend (Short 2022), have been screened internationally and picked up several awards in Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals. In conversation with Eileen, we dissected her most recent writing project, Spinster (Short 2025), which went into production with BBC and Hat Trick Productions last year and launched last month.
At 12, Eileen gave up her wish to be a marine biologist and turned instead to filmmaking. Inspired by the music videos she watched on TV, she was gifted a camcorder and started recording. Her dream to work in the ever-evolving industry of film and TV followed her through education, and she decided to study Digital Film and Screen Arts at undergraduate level. Six years after graduating, she returned to university for a Master’s in Filmmaking at London’s Goldsmiths. Establishing herself in the industry has been a difficult and ongoing challenge; she notes that the world of film and TV she witnessed growing up is not the same today, but it still remains a guiding dream of hers to work within the exciting industry.
The earlier films Eileen wrote and directed, including One for the Road and A Particular Friend, were developed from first-hand accounts of people. One for the Road was created during COVID-19 and explores the heartbreaking experiences of Wales’ first climate refugees who lost their homes after the Welsh government decided not to build a sea wall that would protect them. A Particular Friend was created from interviews with people who had been through conversion therapy. Having grown up in a largely homophobic area, Eileen was both horrified and curious about the nature of these centres and the effect they had on people she knew. Her short film explores hidden sexualities and unlearning deep-rooted shame and internalised homophobia.
After COVID-19, Eileen decided she wanted to try out comedy instead of her usual dramas. She felt pressured by societal expectations that were manifesting around her – marriage, kids, settling down. These milestones were consistently celebrated, but Eileen didn’t want to pursue the conventional path and wondered how lives without these milestones could be marked and celebrated in other ways. Bringing these ideas together to create a comedy, Spinster, felt like an accessible way to critique societal pressures and voice that it is okay both to seek and reject traditional paths.
Spinster is a story of single, penniless poet Ruby who has recently moved back home to live with her mum, Jen. When their strict Presbyterian neighbours descend on the home for her spoilt sister Eliza’s engagement party, Ruby’s only job is not to shame the family. It was produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC, with Derry Girls (TV Series 2018-2022) creator Lisa McGee, Louise Gallagher, Jimmy Mulville and Jessica Sharkey as executive producers. Eileen was particularly excited to work alongside the inspirational Lisa McGee, a fellow Northern Irish, whom Eileen described as talented, down-to-earth, and approachable.
The story for Spinster developed during a short course at the National Film & Television School that Eileen’s boss sent her on. The course involved writing a script very quickly, and during this time, the first draft was completed. Shortly after the course, Eileen submitted the project to Hat Trick’s competition for Northern Irish female writers. It got to the next stage, and Eileen was then commissioned to write a pilot. After winning the competition, Spinster went into production with an impressive crew of established professionals, and soon enough, Eileen was on set observing the creation of her story. Her presence was helpful to the directors and producers because she was the only person who had seen the comedy in her head, and Lisa McGee is passionate about writers appearing on set. Eileen noted that her first draft is certainly different to the final version that appears on the screen, but it is still absolutely recognisable.
The reception since the launch of the short comedy pilot last month has been really positive, with people from all angles of the subject matter enjoying it. Eileen would love to turn Spinster into a full series, focusing on Ruby, Jen, and Eliza, and how each of them grapples with their very different lives. Is marriage everything Eliza wanted? Does Ruby need something outside of her poetry? Will Jen stop people-pleasing?