Thursday

Last day of the sound mix for The Regime, starring Kate Winslet as the tyrannical leader of a fictional European country. Great fun to sit in a room full of talented people discussing how this made-up country should sound.

We spend a lot of time calculating the right levels for the off-screen, unseen war. A deluge of helicopters is silenced as we decide the rebel army can’t be that well-equipped.

Alongside me is editor Paulo Pandolpho. I’ve worked with him for eight years now. An incredible creative collaborator, he always pushes me and the work. No one laughs with quite as much delight as he does at the madness of what we’ve been making.

Saturday

To New York for the premiere. Travelling with producer Tracey Seaward (Philomena, The Two Popes, The Queen), who I’ve been lucky enough to work with. She’s such a force for good in an oftentimes challenging industry. And my daughter. Having missed so much time with me, I want to take her to make up for my months of absence. My son and his wife decide to come, too. It becomes an impromptu wonderful family trip.

Monday 

The premiere. Arrive to a whirl of actors, crew, executive producers and the highly organised HBO team. It’s an excellent night and we are all relieved that The Regime is finally going out into the world.

I take my teenage daughter on to the red carpet with me, thinking it will be fun for her but the ­bombardment of journalists and ­photographers is overwhelming.

I turn around to see her standing frozen behind me. When we can talk she makes me promise, “Never do that again, mum”.

One reporter keeps asking: “I have only one question, ‘Is it deliberate?’” I have no idea how to answer this but there’s a camera in my face. When I ask what he’s referring to, he repeats: “Is it deliberate?” It appears I can’t move on without answering so I resort to a definitive, “Yes”. And spend the next torturous trundle of the carpet imagining how that quote might be misused.

Next day

Press conference. We are duly wheeled into a room in a pre-approved order that I am delighted to see director Stephen Frears ignore. Instead, he pitches down towards me and chooses the last seat. Whereupon we both discover we can’t hear much of anything. Least of all the questions we are being asked.

We’re in a big cinema at Warner Bros. with a smattering of journalists. It looks manageable until it is announced that there are 100 more on Zoom. Relieved to discover we can’t see them. The next 40 minutes pass in a haze of confusion from our end of the group and much laughing from the others.

Thursday

Awoken early to a message from my wonderful agent, Jodi Shields, to tell me that beloved Jenne Casarotto has suddenly died. I’m shocked. Bereft. Find myself thinking that the 10 years I’ve had of her sage advice is nothing compared with her decades representing so many brilliant people. Day spent in a daze wandering Manhattan.

Return from New York into that liminal space of – what next after 18 months focused on The Regime? I cook elaborate meals for the kids three nights in a row and I hear them whispering, “Is Mum OK?”. Fair.

Finish the week with an impromptu gathering to celebrate Jenne at the agency. A joy to be with so many producers, writers and directors talking about their love for her. Everyone felt the same: to have her in your corner was a wonderful thing. She will be so missed.

The Regime is available on Sky and streaming service Now from 8 April. Jessica Hobbs is director and executive producer. She is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.