The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) at the University of Birmingham is currently involved in ACRE, a major EU research project, involving researchers, people working in creative and knowledge-based industries, and policy-makers, in 13 cities across Europe. One of the main aims of ACRE is to better understand what it is that attracts talented and creative people to work, or to start businesses, in specific cities or regions. Mark took part in an interview with researcher Caroline Chapain to discuss what factors play a key role in his decision to locate Sepia FIlms in the West Midlands region.

Caroline Chapain: Essentially we could start with more info about you, and your career as a filmmaker to date?

Mark Jeavons: Okay, well I decided to become a film maker about five years ago, because my big passion has always been films. I wanted to write and direct my own films, basically, so I did a City & Guilds course in Wolverhampton in 2003 and that was in TV and video production and I got to make lots of short films, so after that I set up a limited company, Sepia Films in 2004 and it’s just a one man band kind of company and I’ve been making feature films since then. My first feature film was in 2004 and I took that to the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and I’m half way through another feature now, so that’s basically it really and I use local crew members from Birmingham and I do film a lot in Birmingham and I have a lot of contacts with actors and crew members and yes, I'm just trying to make films, that’s me.

CC: Okay, so you are from Wolverhampton initially?

MJ: Wolverhampton, yes. I’ve made films in Wolverhampton, I do tend to make films more in Birmingham just because a lot of us film-makers are based in Birmingham now, it's kind of like a little community. If you don’t know who they are then you won’t know, it’s making the contacts, building a relationship with other film-makers - I help on their films and they help on mine, so it is like a little community.

CC: So how do you advertise for crew members?

MJ: There’s a number of websites where you can advertise for crew members like Shooting People which is a national film website where film-makers can advertise, so you can make contacts that way with networking events as well in Birmingham, like Creative Networks and the Lighthouse in Wolverhampton as well, so you see the same faces again in, get to know other people and their skills and, I guess it takes a number of years to build up a team of people that you can trust and work with, collaborate with so it’s not a quick thing, I’d say it takes time.

CC: That’s interesting. I’m interested in how many people there are in this filmmaking community?

MJ: I’d say maybe twenty people, maybe more, I see them as friends, it’s like people who I’ve worked with before, some move onto London, there’s a lot of film work in London, but there is an awful lot going on in Birmingham, just people making their own films off their own back with no money, because they want to make films and have a career in film. We have Screen West Midlands in Birmingham and a lot of people go to them for funding, but a lot of people who aren’t successful in getting funding from Screen West Midlands, they just end up making the film by themselves, just because the money’s not there so they have to either make a film or not, kind of thing, so, yes, I’d say about twenty or thirty, maybe, but it’s ever expanding because you’re always meeting new people who you can work with.

CC: So why would you say you are located here, I mean, is it because you were born here or because of what Birmingham has to offer?

MJ: I would say it’s a bit of both, really, it’s probably because I’m born locally and this is where I live and the fact that I just know a lot of locations in Birmingham as well and I know a lot of people who could probably help with filming at locations. And, as I say, crew members who are willing to work for free, I don’t think that that would ever happen in London, I don’t know. In Birmingham, once you make the contacts people will help out and that reduces your costs in making films. So I guess a sense of community and location is why I make films in Birmingham, yes.

CC: What about distribution companies in Birmingham?

MJ: I don’t know if there’s companies in Birmingham that can help distribution, I tend to look for London based companies or international based companies. I know there are a few companies in Birmingham who maybe might be able to help with that but I don’t know if there is anyone who can help specifically with distribution in Birmingham, I don’t know if you’ve come across that?

CC: No, I’m just wondering...

MJ: No, no, it’s an interesting question, they do tend to all be based in London unfortunately, but there’s lots of little DVD distribution companies that’ll take on your film and distribute it on DVD or online, there’s a lot of online websites as well.

CC: Would you consider moving to London to help further your career?

MJ: Possibly, I mean, the successful film-makers who stay faithful to where they were born and make films like Shayne Meadows who’s made a number of films and he’s got really successful but he makes his films in Nottingham, because that’s where he started so he won’t go down to London and make a film, you know, he’s got contacts in London, who help get him finance, but he always makes his films in Nottingham, because that’s where he grew up and he knows the area. I guess one day I might be tempted to move elsewhere, definitely.

CC: What is it you like about Birmingham as a city?

MJ: I think Birmingham’s very vibrant, particularly being the second city say, culturally and, you know, multi-cultural as well and there’s always stuff going on and the architecture as well in the city centre I think is just really visually, really interesting for cinema as well, it’s a really visually interesting place. And that’s why I like making films here, because it’s kind of like London but it’s not so congested you know, London is packed with people whereas Birmingham is more spread out, it's a bigger area than London so it’s not as cramped.

CC: Okay, that’s interesting. I mean, when you think about living in your region, what comes in mind first, or doesn't anything coming to mind?

MJ: In terms of?

CC: In terms of the quality of life as an individual or being a film-maker?

MJ: I don’t think either one comes ahead of the other, you know, I think it’s equal. I mean, it’s a very good standard of living here, definitely. Whether it’s wise to have a film-making career just in Birmingham, it’s very difficult because there is a lot of localised film-makers who just make films in the area they’re brought up in but they don’t make films outside of that, and there's the danger they could fall into where you just make films locally and your films are never distributed, so you have to look at the bigger picture like when I went to the Cannes Film Festival, it was a big eye-opening experience because you could see the entire film industry and you realise you’re just a little fish in a pond, you know, whereas in Birmingham I might be well known as a film-maker, there is a trap you have to try not to fall into that regional film-makers have to realise that there’s an international industry and a business and, you know, it’s great to make films that reflects Birmingham and the region, but, as I say, you have to look at the bigger picture and explore different markets. If your story’s just focusing on a region of Birmingham then you might be limited in terms of distribution in terms of how many people around the world want to see your film. As I say, it’s the universal language of film-making and cinema, so it’s a bit of trap to fall into, just being a regional film-maker.

CC: Tell me about the film you took to Cannes?

MJ: Well, it was my first feature film I made and was called: 'The Boy a Thorn in His Side'.

CC: Okay.

MJ: And it’s a coming of age tale about a teenager who doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, it’s kind of like a Woody Allen comedy, but with a teenager instead of Woody Allen in the lead! And it’s just about him trying to find out what he wants to do with his life, trying different careers and him trying to get with his ex-girlfriend as well, and the first shot in the film is him walking towards camera and the cityscape of Birmingham in the background, the Bullring and the BT Tower so it’s really localised in that first shot, really. But that was shot for no money whatsoever on a DV camera and for about two weeks we filmed and it’s a ninety minute film so it’s proper feature length and then I took that to the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and that was like, wow, my God, you know, I’ve got this little film and, you know, Star Wars wasplaying on the same day and I'm thinking ‘oh my God’ you know.

CC: [laughing]

MJ: It was a big eye-opening experience, but the film never got distribution, probably because of the fact that it was very low budget and didn’t have any known actors in it, so that didn’t go anywhere unfortunately. It got lots of good reviews online, giving it four stars and really good write ups, but off the back of that film I got an investor onboard to fund my next film, basically, and that’s the one that I’m producing at the minute and it’s called ‘Whatever happened to Pete Blaggit'. It’s a comedy film, it’s about a guy going through a mid life crisis and it’s got some real sci-fi elements in there as well. And that’s a bigger budget so it looks like a proper film whereas my first film was on a DV camera so the quality’s kind of stepping up in my career with each film, and I kind of feel like I’m progressing with each film and my first film was shot in Wolverhampton, and this film was exclusive to Birmingham, every location was in Birmingham basically. So that’s where I’m at now, we’ve been trying to finish ‘Whatever happened to Pete Blaggit' for a couple of years, because we haven't had the finance to finish it, it’s quite frustrating but we're hoping to finish it this year and then take it to Sundance and Cannes next year. So, that’s where I’m at now, yes.

CC: So where was the investor from, was it coming from the area?

MJ: No, she was actually based in London, because we struggled to get funding locally from Screen West Midlands, we weren’t getting anywhere with them so we started advertising on my website to anyone who wanted to invest in the film and she was actually an actress who turned up for the auditions in London and I mentioned to her, well, she was asking how it was all going with the film and I said ‘well we’re struggling with the funding’ and it’s like ‘well how much do you need?’, and it was literally a serendipitous kind of moment, you know?

CC: Really? [laughs]

MJ: Yes, and she’s got an Executive Producer credit so, yes, it was off the back of the good reviews for my first film and she thought ‘well he’s made one film and he’s gone to Cannes and he’s got good reviews’ so it’s a continuous process, you know, one film leads to another kind of thing. I’ve been quite fortunate in that respect.

CC: So it’s interesting, I mean, having to take your film to international festivals to get exposure.

MJ: You have to because that’s where the big distribution companies pick up lots of independent films and, as I say, if you make a film regionally that’s great, but it’s still got to get seen, you know? It’s almost like the job’s not over when you make a film, the hard part is actually getting it seen by the right people and advertising it and the internet is a great tool in terms of getting films across, putting trailers on YouTube and stuff like that but, yes, you have to go to the big film festivals because it’s an international product that you’ve got. Films in Birmingham can be seen by someone in Australia so, you have to look at the bigger picture.

CC: So the investor is an actress and she’s from London – do you work with other actors outside the West Midlands?

MJ: There’s a few actors for that film who are based in London. I wanted to get the best actors for my film so I auditioned locally in Wolverhampton and in Birmingham and then a lot of people suggested ‘you’ve got to look for actors elsewhere’ so we did an audition day in London and saw lots of actors and, yes, there’s a few in the main cast who were from London but the lead actor’s from Worcester.

CC: What I was talking about, to do with you in Birmingham and, you know, your type of sector, how would you characterise the kind of support that you get from the area?

MJ: Okay, do you want me to be honest?

CC: Yes of course! [laughs]

MJ: I’ve found it really difficult for support. Screen West Midlands tend to specialise in funding projects that are budgeted at a million, or, over a million and that’s, in the industry sense, that’s peanuts, a million, that’s nothing, but, when you’re starting out you’re making a film for, like, a couple of hundred pounds then it's not easy We have short film funding and schemes where you can get ten grand to make a short film and that’s really good and for local up and coming film-makers but for feature length films, it’s really difficult to get funding. But that’s been my experience, someone else from Birmingham might tell you something different, but I’ve had to rely on private investors and looking elsewhere for funding, because prior to my new film I’d funded all my films, all through myself, and I've spent loads and loads of money just to make films and you can’t do that because you have to earn a living. So for feature films it’s very difficult, unless you go to them and say ‘yes, I’m going to make a million pound film’, so it’s difficult but you have to keep on knocking on their door and keep on calling them.

CC: Is there any other organisation that could help in the area?

MJ: Yes, there’s Advantage West Midlands which is another funding scheme, they’re quite big. There’s the Arts Council, there’s the UK Film Council which is nationwide, so there’s lots really to go and apply for, but it’s very difficult when you’re starting out as a film-maker, you’ve only made films on a mini DV camera, it’s very difficult to get noticed, you know, to show people what you’ve done, to prove that you can make films, to have a proven track record. It’s a very difficult market to make money back as well, a lot of films don’t break even on the money that’s put in, so, a lot of investors won’t have faith in a low budget film, even the film-makers know that they won’t see their money back, so from their point of view, it’s totally understandable why they wouldn’t want to fund local film-makers who are nobodies in that sense. It’s very difficult for them to put their money into film-makers who haven’t got a proven track record but young film-makers won’t be given that opportunity to show they can make good films, so it’s catch 22 kind of thing.

CC: In terms of nationwide, how do you think Birmingham is seen in terms of your sector?

MJ: Well I guess it’s got a bad reputation, really, it’s Brummies as well and, you know, I guess even though it’s the second city, I don’t think unless you’ve lived in Birmingham then you don’t know what it has to offer. If you lived elsewhere you might have a negative view of Birmingham because you haven’t been here, it’s only until you visit here that you see it's a vibrant, exciting city, you know, so I think it is perceived as quite negative, or maybe that’s changing, I think more people elsewhere in the country are maybe slowly realising there’s lots going on. In terms of film as well, the main industry in the UK is London and then probably Manchester, but I don’t know how many people know about the community of film-makers in Birmingham where so many people are making films that I know about, that other people in Birmingham don’t know about. But that’s the same in every city up and down the country where people are making films that you don’t hear of, that get finished but never get distributed.

CC: Do you think there has been an increase in film activity in Birmingham over the last ten years?

MJ: Yes, yes, I think from ten years ago, most definitely, yes, there’s been a big increase in activity probably from younger film-makers as well. And in terms of how many films are getting made here, there's a hell of a lot, and Screen West Midlands have a lot of money to put into local films, so the opportunity’s there, and the amount of films being made are probably increasing year by year in Birmingham so there’s more growth in that sense. But I don't think local films have been that successful or being seen, and that could be down to several reasons; a film has to have a very good story, a very good technical production, it’s like a big mish mash of little jigsaw puzzles that you need to get right for a film to be successful. It doesn’t matter if it’s been made in Birmingham or elsewhere, there’s a number of reasons why Birmingham films haven’t been that successful but I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time, because the more films that are being made in Birmingham the more chance that one’s going to be really successful.

CC: Did you start making films on digital camera?

MJ: Yes, that’s how I started off, just digital, but my last film was shot on super 16mm which is a lot more expensive but it's a proper film and I can call myself a film-maker now. So there’s that and there’s HD as well, which a lot of people are using so, yes, there’s lots of different formats that you can use, and it comes down to costing really, what you can afford. I'd like to shoot on film all the time if I could but it’s the expense, it’s too costly. So if your budget’s not there then HD is probably the way to go. Because it’s cheaper and you get a good enough film look.

CC: In term of training, do you have to, is it something you try to learn, you know, just by doing, or are there any other training needs like that?

MJ: Yes, but I know people who go to university and do the three year course in film studies and what they’re doing is studying film and then they want to go and make films but they don’t have the actual experience of making films and the course that I did was, like, 70% practical, so we had to actually go out and make films and learn how to point the camera, how to light and how to record sound, and you get that experience. Having done that practical experience you learn, you know, so, once you’ve got that knowledge you keep on learning as well, every time you work on a film shoot you learn and get that experience to know how to make a film.

CC: In terms of, making your own film and with you, it’s your own script as well?

MJ: Yes, yes, I do a lot of script writing as well, which I really enjoy, it’s a kind of passion of mine so I write my own scripts, yes.

CC: Is it something you learned by yourself or did you have some kind of training?

MJ: Kind of, I think the more writing you do, you get better with each script. I have read several screenwriting books, all good knowledge, but, again, it’s a case of sitting down and writing. If I looked at my first script now, it’s not very good whereas my new script is a big improvement, so, it’s just down to the more you do the better you get, like anything but, yes, you just have to do it. You can learn from books and learn from features but until you actually sit there and write, you don’t know how to do it, so it's the same as filmmaking in that respect.

CC: Are the collaborations you have with other filmmakers very important when it comes to making your own film?

MJ: Oh, yes, yes. Because they’re all working for free, pretty much, and it’s their own time, four weeks, they’re just going to commit to work on your film and you need crew members, you can’t make a film just on your own you know. You’ve got this collaboration, and you can trust people and it’s kind of like a handshake, you know, ‘I’ll work on your film’ and I know further down the line I’ll work on their film for free, so it’s a trust relationship.

CC: How about music, do you collaborate for the music in your film?

MJ: Yes, there’s a music composer who’s local as well in Bewdley, that’s just north of Wolverhampton and he’s a full-time music composer and, yes, I just contacted him and used him to score the music. Once it’s all finished he’s going to score it, he’s got his own studio and there’s several other music composers in Birmingham that you can go to, so you don’t have to go elsewhere, to London or anywhere, you can find it all locally. It’s all here.

CC Excellent. Would you say there's everything in Birmingham you need to succeed as a filmmaker?

MJ: Yes, the opportunities are there to succeed and have a successful career, I think it just gets difficult, as time goes on, there’s so many film-makers nowadays, but you have to just keep on being persistent with each film you make, you progress and more people get to see your films and you become successful in time. It’s a slow process, you’re not going to make a film one day and be successful the next. I’ve been making films for five years now, my God, five years, so, it’s a long process. A lot of film-makers aren’t successful until their mid forties, at the earliest really, there are young film-makers but they don’t get successful until later on in life, so, I kind of feel fortunate that I started quite early. I feel like I’m on track to be successful, so I’ve got a few years ahead of me.

CC: Is there anything about Birmingham that is missing for filmmakers? Should there be more support?

MJ: Yes, probably more support, not just from Screen West Midlands, although they are the local film agency so I guess it lies with them, their responsibility in terms of support for local film-makers and more opportunities for funding, but Screen West Midlands offer that but it’s very difficult, as I say, so I’d say more support to get films made locally by local film-makers. Even though Screen West Midlands will say that’s what we do, in terms of the contacts that I know, and the film-makers that I know about, they don’t get that support, they have to do it themselves, they have to find investors elsewhere or fund their films themselves because no-one else will, so it would be great to get funding to make films and then for the films to be publicly seen, but no one’s going to come and see a Birmingham film unless it’s well publicised. So I guess there’s the publicity of the films as well, of local film-makers and getting the films out there, more work, I don’t know, whether if that’s, like, Screen West Midlands again but then you have to look at how important is film in Birmingham? It’s not the main be all and end all, it’s not that important, you have to look at what films contribute to society? Unless it’s a film about Birmingham, then I don’t know why the Film Council or Birmingham City Council would want to get behind a local film, it’s just a film, at the end of the day, a universal product that could have been made elsewhere, so it’s not the vital component to Birmingham City Council or Birmingham, even if it’s a great film about Birmingham. So I don’t think it’s high up on their priority list.

CC: What kind of schemes do Screen West Midlands have at the moment? They won't fund projects with small budgets?

MJ: Yes, yes, they call it micro budgets; anything under a million. That’s still a lot of money, I mean, we went to them saying we need, like, twenty grand and they were almost laughing in our face, saying 'we don’t normally bother with films with that budget' because they know a film with that kind of small budget isn’t going to make them any money and it’s not going to be successful because it is a low budget film. But unless it’s the greatest film ever made, that’s the only way it’s going to make serious money. Screen West Midlands have a production fund that is more focused on budgets of one million upwards and what normally happens is production companies from London or elsewhere will come to Screen West Midlands and say ‘we want to make 30% of this film in Birmingham’ so SWM say ‘yes, okay' but it’s a London film, it’s not local actors, it’s not local crew, well it might be, but, you know, it’s not a local film. So that’s how it works really, but in terms of support for small films, there's not a lot really there, not for feature length films. It’s there for short films and that’s great because they support local film-makers making short films, but in terms of features it’s really difficult.

CC: And in terms of short films, can they be distributed internationally?

MJ: Not really, no, the short film industry is where you can get noticed, and where you can get finance for features, if you make a really good short film then it's a really great place for film-makers to progress to features but but that’s not where the money is, you’re not going to have a career as a short film maker, you’re only going to have a career as a film-maker making feature length films. So it’s kind of limited in that respect and there’s not any distribution. There’s great online websites where you can put short films online and short films get seen by a big audience and that’s good. Short films don’t get distributed on DVD, nor in theatres, there are awards you can win for short films, so there are great opportunities to progress as a filmmaker.

CC: Okay, well, thank you very much, do you think there is anything else you wanted to say?

MJ: No, I think we’ve covered all bases, yes, brilliant!

CC: Well thank you very much.

MJ: No, no, thank you.