Firstly, congratulations on the screening of Goldbricks In Bloom this month. Will there be any further screenings in the near future, so members of the public can see? Or a platform where people can view it?
The screening really only happened because I wanted to share it with the people involved in making the film, its really for them. However, everyone is divided between London, New York and LA so it means we have to have a few secret screenings.
Hopefully it will be available for people to see in some form in 2016. It’s a small film and made in a certain way, so I think the way it’s shown should complement it.
Can you tell us where you found the inspiration for the film and how some of the key themes came about?
Half the film came from what I see around me these days in my industry. The other half of the film was inspired by the romantic stories you are fed when you start art school. I wanted to tell two stories, the fantasy and the reality –where nobody seems to ever reach the third act.
I also wanted to structure it slightly differently. To me it feels more like the structure of a Daniel Clowes comic book series.
Goldbricks In Bloom is your first feature film – how have you found the reception so far?
The reception has been good so far. I think because the people who have seen it are people that know my work. The film has most of the characters from my short films.
There are numerous links between Goldbricks and my earlier shorts. There’s a timeline but it’s very subtle. For example, this all takes place before my short film No Aloha.
You finished filming in 2014 last summer – how was the post production process?
We shot the film in 12 days, October 2014 (a 120 page script). We didn’t really have a budget that allowed for more time. I actually edited the first cut December 2014. However, it then took a year to finish. Mainly because it relied on many favours and everyone had to do things in between jobs.
We recognise some familiar faces from your previous shorts and the film features a diverse range of talent, including Girls’ actress Zosia Mamet; how did you go about casting the film?
Most of the cast was made up of my usual group of actors. Some reprised roles from other films.
Others took on new roles. The new cast members came on board because they are friends of the cast. Matter of fact, everyone on the film knew each other or came
on board because someone they knew was already involved. This was the same for the crew.
I think everyone knew it was a small project and so people only got involved because they wanted to be there. This is the most important part for me. It was the only way we managed to film in in such a short space of time. Everyone was prepared to dive in.
It was also interesting because I had about 20 short films that the new cast could watch so they immediately knew the type of characters I wanted them to be.
For someone who has yet to see the film, can you sum it up for us?
It’s like the worlds of my short films got glued to together to make a bigger world filled with people you think you wouldn’t get on with. Then you realise you might have more in common with them than you think.
What can we expect from you film wise in 2016?
I have a few fashion films/shorts coming out early 2016. I have two other feature-length scripts finished and ready to be filmed. So hopefully we start filming the next film project next spring.