What was your role in Brothers Day?
I directed the thing as well as I could manage. Helped writing it too, plan it and produce it. Plus I edit too and do visual effects. And make coffees.
What made you interested in the role?
The challenge, I had worked in other feature-length projects in a production capacity, but I hadn't directed one yet, had only directed shorts before. Plus, I really liked the potential of the story of the brothers at the heart of the screenplay.
What was your favourite moment during production?
All those moments in which we all pulled together to get it done in time. As master Sidney Lumet put it, when we were all "doing the same movie". Production is a messy process that you can only hope to control up to a point, so it's great to be there when the right combination of planning and luck happens.
What was the biggest challenge you had on Brothers Day?
The scale of it. For a tiny-to-no-budget production, we had lots of actors and extras, and of course a small army of crew members too.
Can you tell us about something unexpected, or maybe funny, happening on set?
Lots. One day, most of our actors didn't show up in time. It happens, people are just volunteering and have their life, you have to understand and deal with it. We had to re-arrange transport and schedule, start the day shooting cutaways of just crew members' feet posing for actors... And doing shots of the car from the outside, even though only Lewis (Ryan) was inside. Ended up being one of the toughest but also one of the most fun days. The show must go on, they say.
Another good one was the day before shooting the foot chase. Luca (DOP), Gemma (PM), Brant (AD) and me went to the location to scout the most interesting places and actually shot it without the actors, just us standing in for them. It was a fun and it helped a lot in making that especially complicated day efficient the day after. And it was funny to see the footage of the characters temporarily being played by the core team.
Oh, and there was also this day the police showed up, not appreciating some fake-but-real-looking guns we had. We all nearly got arrested, but in the end we were really nice to them and didn't.
Who are your favourite filmmakers or influences?
Roger Corman is to me the most incredible person ever to be linked to cinema. He is a constant inspiration on the just-go-and-do-it way of filming. On the directing side of things, Steven Spielberg is the example of the main qualities I most value in the craft: prolific, essentially a clear, entertaining storyteller and as versatile as to be able to do any genre well. The man is annoyingly good.
Do you have any interesting tips for filmmakers out there making their first film?
Just do it. Don't wait for the right moment. Don't wait to have the money. Don't wait to know more than you do now, or to have a better camera. Write it, shoot it, just do it. And finish it, of course. Takes the big guys in Hollywood years to finish their movies, and it may take you even longer. That's the way it works, no one said it was easy or quick. Finish it though, a movie is not a movie unless someone can watch it.
BROTHERS' DAY premieres in Manchester in February.
You can buy a ticket for the event here.
Next time we catch up with Brothers Day star Leonora Moore aka Vicky
