[3] Amiss was an artist who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, but was unable to complete her training after being hospitalised due to mental illness.
The archive had recently been acquired by Wellcome in 2014, donated by Audrey's niece and nephew a year after Amiss's death in 2013.
)[6] During the research process, she also met with members of Amiss's family and others who knew her in life, as well as speaking with archivists, conservator, and other Wellcome staff.
[7] The title of the film derives from Amiss's passport, where she listed her occupation as: 'typist artist pirate king'.
[9] In November 2021, Monica Dolan, Kelly Macdonald, and Gina McKee were announced as being on-board the project, with Jane Campion acting as executive producers and Metro International handling sales.
Additional funding also came from BCP Asset Management, MBK Productions, LipSync, Genesis Entertainment, Wellcome Trust, and BBC Films.
[17] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian described a "warm and sympathetic film" and that the "casting works with the writing and the black comic and tragicomic nature of their ordeal is often hilarious.