that inspired me as to what I wanted to write about. Fast Forward 3 years and with the experience of producing & directing four shorts, I knew it was possible to make this film. I dug up an old copy of the Boy with a Thorn and although the writing was a little immature, I knew I could make it in 17 days. No problem. That's what I thought!
I redrafted the script and changed a lot of stuff and made Billy's parents German and I just tried to write a fun script that would make for an entertaining movie. After that there was no stopping me. It was like I was on some kind of mission from God to get this movie made. I was going to do this and no one was going to stop me - regardless of what might happen along the way.
as much as I could in the creative limitations of a 14-minute no budget short film, I couldn't have topped that film with another short. Sometimes you just have to move on and put the past behind you.
I spent the first half of 2004 applying to various government funded schemes but with little luck. I was working as a freelance editor and actually earning a living - but by the end of the year I would be close to bankruptcy. In March I heard about the Media Vault - a government funded scheme that gives local people in the West Midlands who are working in the media, access to free equipment. Then I found out I could use the equipment for 17 days. 17 DAYS! I could make a feature in 17 days - that thought stuck with me after my first meeting with the Media Vault, and I knew from then on there was only one outcome.
I had written the first draft of 'The Boy with a Thorn in His Side' way back in 2001 when I was starting out as a screenwriter. I remember sitting down and reading Woody Allen's screenplay for 'Annie Hall' before writing the first draft, and I guess
know what I'm talking about. I hate producing but I have good organisational skills.
I gave myself a good three months of pre-production before the start of the shoot and in hindsight I wish I had another month, but that's hindsight for you! I remember the day before the shoot I was still rushing around like a headless chicken buying props and picking up costumes and so on.
Producing a feature on my own was one of the worst experiences I've ever gone through. When you have a budget you can hire as many people as you want to get a feature produced. I had no budget and I sure as hell didn't have no assistants, it was me who had to do all the shitty work, all the running around and making calls and booking venues and locations and getting all the props and…..enough already!!! Just thinking about what I had to go through makes me break into a cold sweat!
This is the perils of no budget film making. You might be thinking big deal, it's only a movie, but you'd be wrong. If you've produced something of your own then you
get this film made and it wouldn't be a turkey.
What budget??? Seriously, I ploughed every last penny I had into this production and on the last day of shooting I couldn't even afford to feed my crew, that's how bad things became. Just for the record, the budget of this movie was £5000. That's not including the camera, edit suites and the rest of the equipment that I got for free, plus not paying anyone who worked on this film. So the true estimation would be more like £25000. That is still peanuts when it comes to the world of feature films. Okay I may be broke and not be able to afford to buy any DVDs for a while but who's complaining?
17 days of pure hell. Only joking, it wasn't that bad but it was very stressful for me. Kind of like the 'My Necrophiliac Bride' experience tenfold. It felt like everyone else was having a whale of a time on the shoot but I was dying a slow and painful death. Firstly, I was blessed with great cast and crew members, all of which worked on this
The lesson I learnt from producing this film is: if you want something doing, do it yourself because no one else is going to help you. No one else truly cares enough about the project as much as you do. You have to have the drive, determination and the balls to want to pull off a feature length film otherwise forget it. I guess I managed it because I cared about the story and above all else I knew 100% that I could make a decent feature if everything fell into place. Call it blind faith, but for every doubt there was a reassurance that I'd
the first half of that week I had to try and hunt down a camera and sound equipment which of course meant more money, but I had no choice in the matter.
There were a lot of times like that when I had to switch from my director's hat to my producer's hat. Despite the odd setback here and there, the production did run pretty smoothly. Lots of long days; early starts and late finishes. Although I didn't say so at the time, I wasn't too pleased with one or two main members of the production who I felt weren't taking this project seriously enough. This was my livelihood on the line here and when you see people around you who couldn't care less about it, it doesn't give you a lot if confidence.
project for not one penny. We had lots of laughs and some great times, there are too many memorable moments to retell here and now.
But of course there was the downside to all this. The morning of the first day of the shoot caused me a huge headache. I found out that I had to return the camera equipment to the Media Vault on the last day of shooting in the morning, despite the fact that I had a whole day of shooting planned for that day. So, for
When you think about it, 17 days is an insane amount of time to try and shoot a feature. Most shoots for an indie feature are still in the region of 30 days, but I knew that at the time. It meant that we had to rush, rush rush numerous scenes and I hated doing that. Sometimes I couldn't communicate or express any direction to the actors because we simply didn't have the time, which is a shame.
There were times during the first week when I wanted to quit. By the end of that first week of filming I was absolutely exhausted; mentally and physically. We had a two week break until the second week of filming and thank God for those two weeks! It was a very demanding shoot, but it was always good fun.
I had my concerns over Alec Sedgley playing the main character; Billy. He looked perfect for the part but I wasn't sure about his acting ability and whether he could pull it off or not. But he did a grand job, I think Alec gives a fine performance and credit where credit's due.
For me, Graham Pollard & Sue Kimberley both steal the show as Billy's parents; Jurgen & Gertrude. Their interview scenes are absolutely classic, most of which was totally improvised by them on the spot. They were both a joy to work with and we had a lot of fun with those characters.
I called on many actors from my short films to appear in the film. Mike Haynes from Death by Chocolate pops up as the angry farmer, as does Gary Stevens from The Money Tree. Rob Leetham is hilarious as the Job Interviewer. We had a great laugh shooting his scenes.
There are many more anecdotes about the production but I won't bore you with them. A lot of times throughout the shoot I was stressed and depressed, full of doubts and unsure about what the end product would turn out like. Now, a couple of months after completion of the film, I have nothing but pride and a huge sense of achievement when I watch or think about the film.
Deciding to make a feature film with little money and producing and directing the film was ambitious and somewhat insane, but I'm glad I did it. I know I've made a good, funny film as well. The story holds up and flows well, the scenes are short and it has a good pace to it. There are strong characters in the film that are quite memorable. Of course I'd change a few things if I had to do them again, one or two scenes don't work, hence I deleted about nine scenes altogether.
The first rough cut of the film came to 115 minutes, which when you remember we shot this in just 17 days, then you can see what a ridiculous amount of work we all
There comes a point where you have to decide if you really want to be a filmmaker. Short films are fun and are useful to learn and make mistakes about filmmaking, but then you have to move on. There's no money in short films, lets face it. I know it's not about the money, but if you really want to make it then features are where you'll get exposure and recognition. You have to set your goals and go out and achieve them.
I'm now concentrating on getting the film out there and shown to the money men. The next year or so for me is all about the business side of the industry, which I loathe but is vital if you're serious about being a filmmaker. It should be interesting times and will either make me or break me. I'm realistic and know this film won't be a commercial success, I merely wish that as many people as possible get to see it, rather than it gathering dust on my shelf. I also hope to obtain funding for my next feature, which I hope to shoot sometime in 2006. It's a million miles away from 'The Boy with a Thorn in His Side' and will prove to be a huge challenge for me, but I'm confident and look forward to the challenge.
That's the thing about making films; it becomes an obsession. After finishing this film I didn't want to make another film ever again. Now I'm getting inspired to write again and have hundreds of ideas inside me. I hope my next project will show me evolving as a confident filmmaker. I want to push my creativity to the next level and see where that takes me. So the mission is only just beginning.
There's a long way to go yet.
did on this project.
What have I learnt most from making this film? Lots. Next time round I'll do things differently. It all comes down to experience at the end of the day. I also learnt that anything is possible. As cheesy as it may sound, it's the truth.I now have a feature film on my hands that is funny, unique, original and of it's own.