The BUFF Blog (February 2013)

Happy February one and all. This month’s edition of the BUFF Blog is guest-written by award-winning writer/director Stephen Lloyd Jackson whose film ‘David is Dying’ premiered on the opening night of the 2011 British Urban Film Festival. The film continues to win awards in the UK and across the globe, most recently on February 17 when Lonyo Engele triumphed in the best male performance in film category at the 2013 Screen Nation film and television awards. Follow @davidisdying @iamsljackson and @buffenterprises on Twitter…

Stephen Lloyd Jackson

Auteur

February 2013 BUFF BLOG

The making of ‘David Is Dying’

It’s a rainy Friday night and I’m in West London. To be more precise, I’m in Aroma, a Chinese buffet joint in Shepherds Bush Green. I’m with Mr BUFF himself, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe.

I haven’t seen Emmanuel for nearly a year and then some and it was good to see him wearing his signature smile. We got the food in and it was great that we didn’t start talking shop until we were well on the way with our second helpings.

After discussing BUFF’s next tour of duty at the Genesis cinema in East London this coming Spring (which includes the encore screening of multi award winning ‘David Is Dying’ [‘DID’]), we went on to talk more in depth about the state of the UK film industry and other film matters. That’s when Emmanuel kindly asked if I would write the February BUFF Blog. I said it would be a pleasure.

In 2010 I founded SAR Productions as a vehicle to produce a trilogy of intense dramatic movies. The trilogy will mainly focus on relationship themes such as sex, race, love, infidelity and power. Examining human stories, which resonate and transcend through to all cultures and races.The trilogy will particularly focus on characters from the Afro/Caribbean diaspora living and working in London.

Several years prior, I completed my debut feature film entitled ‘Rulers and Dealers’. It was a very ambitious project, shot on 35mm film stock. After a year or so, ‘Rulers’ got picked up and went straight to DVD. The distributors went bust and I have since deleted it from the market with a view to re-edit and release it sometime in the near future.

For the next few years, post ‘Rulers’, I knuckled down and wrote about six movie scripts. 

I then decided to try and get one of them made. This was to be quite a big budget, psychological, action thriller.

However, after a lot of meetings and negotiations with international producers and financiers which seemed to be going around in circles, plus the onslaught of the mighty global recession in 2008/9, I decided to ditch the project.

At the time, I felt that I had wasted four years chasing ghosts. I soon realised that it was all part and parcel of the film-making process. From time to time one will drop the ball and make mistakes, or things will go pear shaped through no fault of your own.

I contemplated my next move. I thought there must be another way around the gatekeepers and financiers. So I went back to the drawing board and decided to produce films where I wouldn’t have to ask anybody for finance or rely on any “big name” actor to carry my movies.

I would deliver totally independent movies, using passionate crew members, the most talented cast I can find and the latest technology. I would write scripts that are powerful, daring, insightful, and connect with audiences throughout the world on different levels.

Around that time, I was in discussions with a producer called Andy Mundy-Castle. We were having talks about shooting a feature documentary about couples and their relationships. After many meetings and discussions we decided not to go ahead with the project. But I liked his [AMC] passion and methodical approach to things. So I told him about another project I had been working on. It was a dark intense story about a guy who frequently sleeps with different women and goes on to contract HIV. The lead character would be possessive and controlling over his fiancée. It was also based on a script/treatment I worked on a few years prior entitled ‘The Pregnant Predator’.

AMC read it and showed a lot of interest in the project. So I brought him on board. I completed the screenplay and entitled it ‘Romeo Is Dying’. I later changed the title name to ‘David Is Dying’. AMC and I will produce the picture, and I would direct it.

Long story short, we put in place all the relevant pieces of the building blocks to get the pre-production process started. I hired a cinematographer, Olympia Mytilinaiou, from Athens. I met her about five years prior while cutting a movie there. She had a lot of experience of shooting intense human stories and her work was very good too. Whilst there, she showed me around some interesting parts of the city and we spoke a lot about working together on my next picture.

As well as other crew members, I recruited Sheila Nortley. Sheila had already produced a few shorts and is a multi-talented filmmaker, one to look out for. She was one of the last crew members to come on board. We needed a production manager and I was determined to bring on another female. Part of the ‘SAR’ philosophy, which is integral to its ethos, is to try and incorporate an international flavour of crew members, with females both in front of and behind the camera.

Incidentally, 90% of the ‘head of departments’ on ‘DID’ were female.

A few weeks before principal photography, we were still trying to get the main players for ‘DID’. We had seen over 150 actors. There were times when we thought we had the lead sewn down, but for one reason or another, it didn’t work out.

At an audition we held in Brixton, South West London, we had about 30 actors there for a reading. I saw a couple of actors that I liked, but nobody that really did it for me. I was very precise in my thinking of what ‘David’ (lead character) should look like and what attitude he should convey. And add to that, what should ‘Carla’ (second lead character) be like?

Nevertheless, we were auditioning all morning and after lunch, began seeing more actors. Then the second actor to come through the door was this very confident, clean-cut guy, with a street edge but Lonyo Engele also had a professional look to him.

AMC later told me that Lonyo was a major UK garage star. I didn’t know that at the time cause I wasn’t a big UK garage fan. But when I made enquiries about his music career, everybody knew of him. What planet was I on? ‘Summer of Love’ was a massive hit in the UK. I went on to watch all his music videos on You Tube and other media stuff he was involved in. Put all that to one side, what I did know was that this guy awoke my spirit. He sure can act. He’s what I was waiting for. And apparently, Lonyo only came down to the audition to drop off an actress friend of his. In the audition, I thought Lonyo breathed life into the ‘David’ character and everything was going along just fine. He had a natural understanding of the character’s beat and arc.

The sun was beginning to shine and my day was getting brighter. Then from out of the blue, Lonyo’s mobile phone begins to ring. A couple of the production crew looked at me nervously, (Houston, do we have a problem? What now? REALLY!?). They were probably anticipating me putting a halt to proceedings. But I gave them a quick look and a quick shake of my head to indicate to them to carry on filming. I’m an old dog at these auditions and nothing surprises me. I wanted to see where we were heading with this. And in fine style, while in improv with his fellow female actor, Lonyo answered the phone in character, in the character of ‘David’. This was an organised effort on Lonyo’s part for him to stand out in the audition. And it worked.

I had no hesitation signing up Lonyo. I knew 100% that he was our man for the job. But like everything in this film game, nothing’s for sure. You can’t take anything for granted. I knew the scale and intensity of the ‘David’ character, so I had to make sure he [Lonyo] wanted it as much as I wanted him and that he had the mind set for the gig. Lonyo was invited to an informal meeting at the SAR office in Tooting, South London where he, AMC and myself chatted about the character, the film and general light hearted man stuff, you know football and music, etcetera, etcetera.

The meet went well. I then hooked up with Lonyo a short time after that in west London for a coffee and chat about the character. Although I was still sure that he was the man for the job, I knew it would be important for him to seal it for me. Why? Because it was a tough and special role, one that commanded and demanded nothing short of 100% commitment and focus.

So I told him, if he takes this gig and gives it a hundred and fifty percent, there’s no other role out there that he won’t be able to do. With that said, Lonyo looked me straight in the eyes and said that I can rely on him. I’ll give my all, one hundred and fifty percent.

As a director, that’s all you need, to hear and “feel” from your actors, especially your lead players. You just need to know that they can trust you and that they know you’ve got their back and once that bond is sealed between artist and director, you are half way there on the journey to creating something quite magical.

A year later Lonyo won the grand jury prize for ‘best male actor’ at the 15th American Black Film Festival in South Beach, Miami. And only this month, Lonyo scooped the ‘Best male performance in film’ award at the 2012/13 Screen Nation Film & TV Awards.

The other main cast members were still to be cast. I already had my son, Stephen Samuel Jackson Jnr on board six months prior. He was already enrolled into acting classes before I even thought about  using him for the movie. I cleared it with him and his mother and got him an acting coach to particularly work on the character of ‘Young David’. He done a splendid job and I could not have worked with a more focused and calm child actor.

After auditioning nearly sixty or seventy female actors for the part of David’s fiancée ‘Carla’, we finally struck gold. On a summer’s Thursday afternoon, AMC and myself were conducting auditions in Tooting. Lonyo was also there too to read with the actresses. We just had three or maybe four female actors to see. A couple of them were ‘call backs’.

Nevertheless, after the second or third actress, in walks this petite young actress. Isaura Barbe´-Brown read with Lonyo. She actually really slapped him in the face, part of a scene that I asked them to do. Apparently, they both instigated the slap whilst I was momentarily out the room.

After reviewing the audition rushes a few days later, I was impressed by her performance and the ‘on screen’ chemistry between them. I saw something dynamic, something special about them both fronting the movie. So AMC and myself met up with Isaura at the Soho Hotel for drinks and chitchat. She was humble and professional. I knew that she was our gal for the job. So a few days later we signed her to the picture.

I then realised that we needed someone to play ‘Roxanne’, David’s mother. Originally, that was the main role that Isaura was meant to read for. So we summoned another meeting with her in Soho. She didn’t have a clue what I wanted to see her about and seemed rather apprehensive. So I reassured her that everything’s okay, but I would like to know if she wanted to play David’s mother as well. Isaura was happy to accept both roles and I was confident that she had the acting range and ability to do it. So I signed her on for that role too. A year later, Isaura went on to win best female actress at the Los Angeles International New Wave Film Festival for her two roles in ‘David Is Dying’.

One of the final main cast members to come on board was Brigitte Millar. We actually saw her months prior in one of the first auditions. She was to play the ice cold psychiatrist ‘Amelia Holland’. Brigitte was such a pro to work with. She had about four straight days of shooting her scenes. A year later, Brigitte won best female support actor at the Los Angeles International New Wave Film Festival. I also won best screenplay at the same festival and the film also picked up best film score too.

After shooting ‘David Is Dying’ I had a small break. I hadn’t seen any of the rushes as yet and wasn’t looking forward to doing so until I got the film out of my head. I needed fresh eyes to move on with it. I recruited Italian editor and photographer Francisco Caradonna to cut the picture. For the next six months we worked tirelessly on it. The original running time was just over two hours. Too long! Way too long. So we cut 35 minutes. I then got the movie graded and the sound fixed. Film complete, job done.

The next step was to get the movie into international film festivals. The 15th American Black Film Festival (ABFF 2011) is where ‘DID’ had its official international premier screening. This festival was on the top of my hit list. I heard a lot of good things about it. ‘DID’ got accepted and Lonyo and myself flew out to South Beach, Miami to represent the movie. The Americans loved the movie, especially Lonyo and his character ‘David’. The festival lived up to all expectations and more. As well as some cool movies, the parties were doing it too, along with the food, the beach and the beautiful weather.

So, on awards night, ‘DID’ won two awards. The Grand Jury Prize for best male actor (for Lonyo) and Grand Jury Prize for best director (for myself). This was a first in the 15-year history of the American Black Film festival to present two major film awards to a UK feature film.

After the success we had at the ABFF, ‘DID’ went on to screen at a further 18 international film festivals and scooped a further six film awards and I was presented with a ‘Focus On Filmmakers Honour’ at the 6th Cleveland International Film Festival.

In September 2011, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe invited ‘DID’ to open the British Urban Film Festival. This was ‘DID’s UK premiere screening. By this time, ‘DID’ had such a buzz behind it that it had to be screened over two days at the BUFF film festival in central London.

The night was crazy. A large turn – out. The film was well received and was the first independent feature of its’ kind to hit the UK in years; “No ‘N’WORD, NO GUNS &NO GANGSTERS!” In my humble opinion, this was a relief for cinephiles who want to watch movies with leading roles for Afro Caribbean British actors.

The BUFF screening was important too. It opened a lot of doors for ‘DID’ in the UK and beyond. Lonyo went on to sign for a top actor’s agency, ‘The Identity Agency Group’ (IAG) off the back of that screening.

On the 4th of July 2012, ‘DID’ was released on DVD on Amazon. I chose to release it independently so SAR Productions could have total control over its longevity in the marketplace and enable a maximum return to plough back into making more movies of this nature.

‘David Is Dying’ is also available to purchase on DVD from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and is also available to download or stream from the all-new Amazon Instant Video player.

Download ‘David Is Dying’: http://www.amazon.com/David-Is-Dying/dp/B00B6XXJ3K/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1359500152&sr=1-4&keywords=david+is+dying+-

Purchase ‘David Is Dying’ DVD:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A21TLW0

WATCH TRAILER:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGWyfau_yIw&feature=channel

We also intend to launch a movie distribution channel in a few months time where ‘DID’ and other independent movies, short and feature length will be available to purchase.

Last, but not least. SAR Productions are in the second phase of editing their second feature film from the ‘Sex And Race’ trilogy, entitled: ‘SABLE FABLE’. The film is a beautiful story exploring the complexities of love, sex, race and hypocrisy through different couples whose lives intertwine through a series of unfortunate events. Due to be completed this summer.

© Stephen Lloyd Jackson/BUFF Enterprises Ltd MMXIII (All rights reserved).

Those of you who would like to submit a script or a film for board consideration for this year’s British Urban Film Festival please visit the BUFF SUBMISSIONS 2013 page at http://www.britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

The BUFF Blog (January 2013)

Happy new year (just about!) This month’s edition of the BUFF Blog is guest-written by actor/writer/director Femi Oyeniran whose first film as a director (‘Fresh Off Da Boat’) was screened at the 2009 British Urban Film Festival. Follow @femioyeniran and @buffenterprises on Twitter…



The Difference between making a Short and making a Feature Film

I’ve had the question put to me a few times- what is the difference between making a feature film and a short film? I have identified a few key differences but this is not an exhaustive or exclusive list. There are many factors at play but for me, the key factors are: the purpose of the screenplay, raising finance and the role of talent. I will also give more insight into how my first feature “It’s A Lot” came about.

The Purpose of the Screenplay

“Fresh off the Boat” (hereafter FOTB) is a short film based roughly on my experiences of moving from Nigeria to England as a ten year old. And that’s where the differences begin. When I was writing my first feature film “It’s A Lot” (hereafter IAL), I wanted to create something that was commercially viable, so the basis of the story was more external to me. Me, my co-writer Nicholas Walker and the rest of the team had studied successful eighties classics that we liked and we wanted to create a film that mirrored eighties feel-good movies. Screen writing as a medium is influenced by one’s experiences, either through research or visceral, but it doesn’t have to be directly based on those experiences. Subsequently as opposed to FOTB, IAL was to serve the need of the market for a feel-good comedy film that was aspirational as opposed to the violent, kitchen-sink approach that has been taken to teen movies in the UK. The final screenplay of IAL was a homage to my time at college and the youthful exuberance, which buzzed around the place. Initially, I even wanted to shoot at my old college. So IAL was to serve the need of the market and FOTB was to serve my need to gain experience.

Raising Finance

Another area of difference is funding. FOTB was funded through a £1000 grant from three East London boroughs. I found out about this fund through a friend who was temping at Newham Council at the time. I applied on the last possible day and I received the funding. Whereas IAL was funded after 18 months of trawling round central London trying to procure the best deal. It was hard work. Many travel cards, coffee tabs and hard work went into raising the funding. I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone by saying doors were closed in my face as they weren’t but once the doors were opened people wasted my time. A lot. Raising the funding for a feature is not easy. I commend anyone that has achieved this feat. If you’re ever in a bar and you meet someone that has successfully raised money to make a feature film, buy him or her a drink, as it’s not an easy path. One piece of advice, I’d like to give to anyone trying to do this is have confidence and believe in your project, have the audacity to pick up the phone or write an e-mail to a stranger. Stick to it but be prepared to allow other people to shape your project as long as the key themes, soul and ideas are not compromised.

The Role of Talent

Another massive area of change is casting. When you do a short, you use actors that you know. Usually, hardly anybody’s getting paid; people are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. However, with feature films, you cast to get talent that will put “bums on seats”. At times, one is under intense pressure to get certain actors involved. You can even have a situation, where funding is dependent on getting certain actors involved in the project. Feature film talent, particularly in key roles, is very much about commercial value. You pay actors more and you have higher expectations. Additionally, the production team on a short film is incomparable to a feature film. Feature film sets are much more professional and things work to a tighter schedule and work with greater synchronicity. Inevitably, things go wrong but everyone involved is skilled and adept enough to react to things more efficiently.

Key Lessons

The difference between feature films and short films is mainly that the former is usually done to achieve creativity with half an eye on commerciality and the latter is done for a myriad of reasons, including: getting experience, recognition, practice etc. These factors affect the process of getting into production. If you have a Canon camera and you have friends that can act, you can probably make a short film. However, making a feature film comes with more due diligence and more scrutiny. Feature film financiers don’t give out grants they make investments. Therefore, one is under the same pressure that comes with any form of investment. It is a lot harder to make a feature film but it is not impossible. Look out for mine in Spring 2013 – “It’s A Lot”.

IT’s A LOT as a case study.

Back in 2008, my co-writer Nicholas “Nicky SlimTing” Walker approached me to help him make a feature film, which he had written. He also gave me a treatment for a film “It’s A Lot”. I was immediately drawn to this project because it had strong 80s references and had at it’s core a reference to the ACLT. As an outsider, I had seen many of the ACLT’s campaign work and I always wanted to get involved, this was my opportunity to do exactly just that. I can’t give away the plot of the movie but the ACLT acts as a key reference point in driving the film. A few years after meeting Nicky SlimTing, I contacted him to say, I really want to write the treatment into a screenplay. After a short while, I did exactly just this (when I’m into something), I write really quickly!We pitched the film to distributors, producers and sales agents for about 18 months. In that time, we had and lost about 4/5 deals but eventually through perseverance, fasting and prayer we got to make our film in October/November 2012.

I became a director because making films intrigued me. On the set of “Anuvahood”, I would ask Paul Van Carter (the producer) questions about everything from scheduling to costs of equipment. I also knew that I had to become a director in order to continue to work as an actor. I had seen what “Kidulthood” did for Noel Clarke’s career and what “Anuvahood” did for Adam Deacon’s career. These are people that I’ve been around and been privileged to work with but off the back of the success of their directorial debuts they both won BAFTAs. I knew that in order for me to get to another level as an actor in the UK, I needed to write and direct otherwise I’ll be waiting – everyone else but me would be in charge of my destiny. Besides that I love writing and directing – I truly enjoy it. Watching Spike Lee films and seeing the messages he was able to put in his films inspires me. You can create your own worlds, with your own messages and motifs. It’s a more powerful medium than acting politically and socially – don’t get me wrong, I love acting but you have more power as a screenwriter and director. As an actor, you’re simply a hired gun. You don’t control how you’re being shot.

“It’s A Lot” is inspired by our time at college. College was fun – you were growing up, you wanted to be around girls, you wanted new clothes to impress girls, you wanted a car. At college, you are not old or young – you’re in that weird place between adulthood and childhood. The lead character Shaun embodies this, he is very insecure but as the film goes on, he grows more and more into his own skin and makes decisions by himself rather than being steered by friends. The film also draws inspiration from 80s films “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off”, “Risky Business” and other films that we grew up watching. We wanted to create something cool and about likeable teens. Americans did that well in the 80s but we haven’t really done it much in the mainstream in the UK let alone as Black British People. We wanted to make a film that wasn’t about drugs, knives and guns but was still entertaining and engrossing. All of these things I believe make the film commercially viable because it means it appeals to a broad range of audience – it appeals to my core teen audience, people that grew up in the 80s and so on. To be ‘commercial’ is to appeal to the broadest possible audience, I think, and this film I feel will.

We were fortunate to have a free casting for the film. We were able to cast anyone that we felt was good and that’s what we did. We have a very strong cast that ranges from actors, to comedians and musicians. The film stars Red Madrell (Kidulthood), Roxanne Pallet (Emmerdale), Jack Doolan (Cemetary Junction), Jazzie Zonzolo(Anuvahood), Richie Campbell (The Firm/Anuvahood), Tim Westwood, DJ Ace, Sarah-Jane Crawford, Eddie Kadi, Kojo, Miss London, Slim the Comedian, Jammer, J2K, Sincere and so many more. We discovered three amazing actors at auditions Charlie Palmer-Merkel, Roxy Sternberg and Miles MacDonald. I am really excited about unleashing them on the market. The cast is strong, a mixture of new and old, and as it’s a comedy it was important that we got actual comedians so we’re blessed to have so many in the film.

© Femi Oyeniran/BUFF Enterprises Ltd MMXIII (All rights reserved).


Those of you who would like to submit a script or a film for board consideration for this year’s British Urban Film Festival please visit the BUFF SUBMISSIONS 2013 page at www.britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

The BUFF Blog (November 2012)

With the exception of Kate Herron, Ugo Onwutalu & Nadia Denton, 6 board members have guest-written the BUFF Blog in the 3 or so years since its’ inception in April 2009 which, at the time, lauded the film ‘Adulthood’ as a watershed for urban independent cinema. A lot has happened since then...  

@buffenterprises sent out its very first tweet in April 2009, 3 ½ years on @SpikeLee no less is retweeting BUFF NEWS ALERTS. Also back in 2009, @NoelClarke was still churning out films, Arsenal still hadn’t won a trophy and Chelsea had an interim manager in charge though he’s the only one (Gus Hiddink if you must know) who walked away from Roman Abramovich as opposed to being fired. And being fired (or at least being reminded of it) crops up on more than one occasion in the blog you’re about to read - only in the BUFF Blog will you see Roman Abramovich and Noel Clarke co-exist in a parallel universe – welcome to the world of BUFF!!

And in doing so, please extend that welcome to BUFF’s newest member of the British Urban Film Festival board and this month’s guest writer of the 30^th BUFF Blog (post the Leveson Inquiry), Jesse Lawrence...

Having recently directed my feature debut - romantic comedy ‘The Knot’ - Emmanuel kindly asked me to be guest writer for November’s edition of the BUFF monthly blog. I foolishly agreed, forgetting how much like school homework this would be. Remember the homework that you put off until the very last minute and so nothing but a final 24-hour-Dostoyevsky surge of madness can save you from missing that deadline? Well this time I was saved from that particular type of pain by the fact that I did keep a loose diary on ‘The Knot’, chronicling my experiences from day dot when I was lobbying to be the director, right through production, culminating with its’ eventual theatrical release.

This two and a half year journey has felt long but is actually nothing compared to the years many filmmakers sacrifice to get their debut off the ground - check Lawrence Coke’s entertaining yet sobering account (BUFF Blog - August 2012). 

Anyhow, I think the best way of approaching this blog is to revisit one of my diary entries and fatten it up for public consumption. It should be one that gives a little flavour of the business as well as highlighting some of the typical anxieties experienced by a first time director. Okay here goes…

6th August 2010

So here I am sitting in a swanky restaurant in a swanky central London hotel. It’s breakfast time and I nurse a bitter pot of green tea and wait for a well-known trans-Atlantic actress. She’s late. Thirty minutes late. She’s thirty minutes late even though we’re meeting her at her hotel. You know, where she’s staying and stuff. All she has to do is skip down those marble steps and voila! here we are. Or, if she’s not in the mood for skipping, she could saunter into the art deco elevator and have elevator man press the Ground floor button for her. What can she be doing? Getting ready I suppose. Powdering her nose.

Until a couple of days ago I’d barely heard of her - but this means nothing. If you’re looking for someone plugged into up-to-the-minute popular culture, it’s not me. But yes even I can comprehend the magnitude of this meeting. She’s big; basically a star and it would be a real result if we bagged her. Securing stars or ‘named actors’ was an important part of ‘The Knot’ recruitment process; important because they lifted the profile of the brand which, in turn, had knock-on benefits like unlocking a missing piece of investor finance or attracting other stars to the project or making it easier for the wardrobe department to secure designer dresses for example. But mostly, stars were important because they shouted out to the world our mainstream intentions - that this film was a full fat, bona fide commercial one. To be clear, stars do not audition. They are offered (the part). If they accept, all that is left is to negotiate the details of their fee and schedule and this is when the producers put their serious face on. But this is really about the agents – and the agents are in pig heaven. This is their opportunity to demonstrate their clout and the best ones will play poker; feign disinterest, make a counter offer, invite you to bid with a competing project and any other play that secures the most advantageous contract for their client. Then the papers are signed and that is that. Mostly. Sometime, before an agreement is reached, the star will want to meet. They’ll want to meet the team behind the project. They’ll want to meet the director. 

The risk here is that this meeting can turn into a kind of audition - not for the star of course but for you the director. What is your vision for the film? But I saw it this way don’t you think this way would be better? How are you going to shoot this? How are you going to light me? How do I know that your first film is not going to be some amateurish bullshit where my skin looks bad and my career takes a nosedive? All valid questions of course and ones I’d prepared for. A director, especially a ‘hired gun’, which essentially what I was, is not really going to get fired for one bad meeting, for one scoffed opportunity. “Don’t worry man, the chemistry wasn’t right. It wasn’t meant to be. It’s probably for the best anyway.”

But filmmaking, directing in particular, is often about perception. Are we in a safe pair of hands? Is he competent? Yeah he made a couple of good shorts but this is different. When the shit hits the fan will he crumble? Does the man helming this actually know what the fuck he is doing?!!

So yes, one bad meeting is not going to get you fired – but it will taint you. It will open doubts in the minds of decision makers, doubts that you don’t really want them to be entertaining. One more bad meeting, a wobbly first shooting day and that’s it. You are out, relieved of your position. Fired. I’ve seen this happen. If you’re directing a script that you don’t own then it’s the law of the jungle. It’s political. It’s about diplomacy, relationships, alliances. Things might be just fine, ‘hunky-dory’ as they say, before the sudden arrival of a new character upsets the equilibrium. They have influence. They want their mate in the director’s chair. They scheme and await their chance. In the bush, yellow eyes watch your every move, each set with a different agenda. Meanwhile you are out in the open, butt naked up there on the hilltop, a target for every jackal and joker to take pot shots at. So these are my fears as I sit here sipping this now cold beverage. Actually they are not just my fears - they are Noel’s too. 

The most singularly powerful player in the production, Noel Clarke, is in my corner. I think he likes me. He saw something in my shorts, he saw talent and potential, the glimmer of something special and he wants this to be my coming out party. He wants this to be my big break. But before we get too sentimental, make no mistake, Noel has calculated all the angles, all the plays and all the repercussions. He has the most riding on this venture and if he decides, for whatever reason, that I am jeopardising this venture, I will be dropped in a heartbeat. Noel was taking this meeting very seriously. Earlier, when we’d met up, there was probably something about my Hawaiian shirt and unflustered disposition that alerted him to the fact that I was failing to appreciate the full gravity of the task at hand. So he decided to force my appreciation and he did so in quite a clever way.

After joking about my weight, “are you sure you can squeeze through there?,” when he stood up at Bar Italia to let me pass, he became grave. 

“No nervous giggling,” he warned. I was to “take the lead” and impose my “vision” on the meeting. This was actually music to my ears and I was more than happy for Noel to take a back seat. Noel was still driving his point home though. 

“I mean I can take the lead bruv, I can talk but I’m not the director…”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” I conferred. “Don’t worry, I get it. It’s about reassuring her, letting her know that she’s in safe hands and that, you know, we’re serious.”

Noel nodded vigorously. “Exactly.” Then Noel did his clever thing. He recounted a meeting he’d had recently with a major Hollywood studio. Things had been going well. 

“They were like, great, like the script, like the project, let’s just have a quick meeting with the director. And you know what he did bruv?”

“What?”

“He fucked it.”

I laughed out loud as I am prone to. Noel wasn’t laughing.

“It would be funny if it wasn’t tragic.”

 

By now we were strolling up Greek Street towards a member’s club and strolling is the correct description as our lead producer, Enrico Tessarin, was literally pushing a stroller with one hand and Blackberrying with the other. I’ve been conditioned not to bring kids to meetings but here was Enrico rolling with his tiny bambina like it wasn’t anything. If this was how they roll in Italy then they’d definitely won a fan in me. But as Enrico later put it, “I’m hiring you (the star) and you’re gonna tell me I can’t bring my child to a meeting? You can fuck off.” 

We paused outside a nondescript door. I was keen to know how the director had fucked the big studio meeting. 

“Shit what did he do?”

We got buzzed through and Noel continued. 

“He was stammering, he was nervous. He was interrupting himself to take a glass of water. He was like…” 

Noel proceeded to act out the director in question stuttering and mumbling before taking a long pause to down an imaginary glass of water with shaky hand. It was a funny impression but it had the desired effect. I suddenly started to feel nervous. You could say that I began to appreciate the full gravity of the task at hand.

“No pressure,” Ros winked at me. Ros is Noel’s reassuringly down to earth personal assistant. She’s also one of the producers on The Knot. We settled down on sofas. 

“Get your shit together,” Noel advised before disappearing upstairs with Enrico to hold a conference call with a key investor. Fast-forward 90 minutes and here we all are, waiting in this swanky hotel. My shit is together and our star is thirty minutes late. Her chair sits unoccupied between Noel and myself. Around the marble table Enrico sits to my right and feeds bambina while Ros sits besides Noel checking something out with the obligatory iPad. Noel swills freshly squeezed orange juice from a wine glass and breaks Enrico’s balls regarding a financial transaction that has failed to materialise. The banter is playful and Enrico takes it in his stride, weighing the options the tax credit may or may not have on delayed investment. There are details but behind the technicality is a general sense of frustration at the ‘nailing jelly to a plate’ exercise that is securing private equity.

Enrico and his partner Junior Quartey have done a fine job raising money, performing out of their skin to get us this far. But six weeks away from production and we find ourselves about to propose to a major Hollywood actress without actually having the budget to afford her. This is not a good look. We risk looking like a bunch of jokers – Noel most of all. But Noel is looking past Enrico now – and doing his best attempt at a smile. I turn and follow his gaze. Yep, here she comes striding towards us. Here comes our star*...

(Ends)

* Note from the editor: the alluded to star does not relate to the final cast of ‘The Knot’.

‘The Knot’ is available on DVD from February 4, 2013. Online, on-air, and in person, BUFF is the home of urban film coverage in the UK. The 8^th British Urban Film Festival returns in September 2013.

Aml Ameen & Jesse Lawrence to join British Urban Film Festival board

(from left to right: Aml Ameen, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, Jesse Lawrence)

 

26/11/12

For immediate release:

 

The actor Aml Ameen and the director Jesse Lawrence will both join the board of the British Urban Film Festival on December the 1st. The appointments are the latest shake-up in a series of announcements by BUFF Enterprises as it looks to further consolidate its’ position as the home of urban film coverage in the UK.

Ameen (who lives in Los Angeles) is currently filming ‘The Butler’ with an all-star cast including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo. Already a familiar face to UK audiences having starred in ‘Kidulthood’, ‘The Bill’ and ‘Harry’s Law’, the actor (who launched his own production company in 2010) has more recently turned his hand to directing with his short films (including ‘Drink, Drugs & KFC’ and ‘12’) screened by the British Urban Film Festival. Equally busy has been Jesse Lawrence who recently made his feature-length directorial debut with ‘The Knot’ and has also had his short film (‘Much Ado about a Minor Ting’) screened by the festival back in 2009.

Preparations are already underway for the 8th British Urban Film Festival in September 2013 and comes off the back of BUFF 2012 which included the UK premiere of ‘Sparkle’ starring the late Whitney Houston. A new company ident has been launched together with the streaming of 5 short films chosen by the British Urban Film Festival board including ‘Closure’ starring Richie Campbell and ‘Jack Sparrow’ for which the director Suli Breaks received the inaugural Knice short film trophy at BUFF 2012.

Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, founder of the British Urban Film Festival, said: "I'm hugely excited about the future of urban independent cinema in the UK and greatly look forward to the new year with both Aml Ameen and Jesse Lawrence at the helm bringing their passion and commitment to the board and the festival. Whether you’re a paying customer or an aspiring filmmaker, its’ a great time to be a part of the industry”.

Ends:

Contact information:  info@buffenterprises.co.uk / pressoffice@buffenterprises.co.uk

The BUFF Blog (October 2012)

 
With the exception of an alluring red carpet, its' safe to say that BUFF has pretty much rolled out everything else in its power to deliver this year's annual showcase of British urban filmmaking of which, at the time of writing has been 1 week removed. 

A showcase is of course nothing without the undoubted stars of the show - the filmmakers. It has been a blast this year with 3 UK premieres ("Sparkle", "12" and "Melvin"), 2 venues packed out to the rafters and 1 night on the telly and all in the space of 10 days. As is the custom there are quite a few other people to thank for making BUFF VII possible (you know who you are anyway) but for the moment, there is the small matter of this month's BUFF blog which is guest-written by one of  the many stars of the aforementioned showcase. Those of you who were there to sample BUFF Shorts UK will have seen his directorial efforts (along with Shola Amoo) with 'The Prayer' - one of 11 shorts that were shown back-to-back, and for some provided one of the highlights of this year's British Urban Film Festival. He certainly had his say on the day and once again, he obliges once more this time on these hallowed pages. Prepare to be enlightened by the award-winning director Nosa Igbinedion...

I kind of feel like Clint Eastwood in the dollars trilogy, the man with no name but great shooting skills (cameras not guns). My name is Nosa Igbinedion and I am an award winning independent writer/director.  After working in film for the past few years, observing the industry closely and developing my style, I feel it’s time to open up a little more about myself.  

I am looking at new models of doing business and making films. I am a scientist in this lab of chaos, mixing solutions and EXPERIMENTING. I feel BUFF and the films that it chooses to show epitomises this independent energy and I am happy to have been a part of the festival this year with the premiere of ‘THE PRAYER’. 

They say the grass is greener on the other side (the USA being the ‘other side’ for us) but sometimes it takes someone standing on the outside to look in on what is special here. FLASHBACK: It’s 2011 and I am in a filmmaking workshop in Virginia, USA. Based on my show reel, I have been flown over as the only British participant by distributor, exec producer, actor and director Tim Reid (you probably know him as the father, in the sitcom Sister Sister, but trust me, this man has done a-lot more!). At the Legacy media institute, it’s been 4 weeks of working alongside 12 other USA filmmakers and one Nigerian documentary filmmaker. It’s been 4 weeks of being mentored by some of the best people in international film business and production, people who have stayed relevant in the business for up to 40 years. It’s been 4 weeks of shooting in sweltering heat that consistently is at 40 degrees. After an all night editing session, I sit down with Tim Reid and discuss the next frontier of film. 4 words pop up consistently in our conversation, UK URBAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA.  Interestingly he compares us to the 90s US Indie revolution, which saw filmmakers like Quentin Tarintino, Robert Rodriguez and Richard Linklater emerge. This makes me go back home and think long and hard about this comparison, hmmmmm...

BACK IN THE UK: I feel that as film professionals, actors and actresses, we sometimes feel our destiny in the hands of others. We may feel our talent is not recognised and our star not as bright as it should be, quite a few people express these feelings to me. My take on it is if there are barriers; find a way around it, across it or KNOCK IT DOWN! I feel very excited and you should be too! There has never been a time like this. 

Information is widely available and technology is rapidly accelerating (see Moore’s law); filmmakers have the potential for more control over their future than ever before. Independence is the order of the day.  In hindsight I realise I have been living by this philosophy from day one. I started taking filmmaking seriously in late 2009. 

Frustrated at the lack of practical opportunities for ‘actual filmmaking’ at my university, I came up with a concept for an urban neo noir film. I contacted my friends, Sheila Nortley and Shola Amoo to collaborate; I got hold of a camera, bought some editing and FX software with student loans and started shooting. The film went on to win the best short at 2009 BFM (Black Filmmaker Magazine) festival. Both Shola and Sheila are doing great things and I am proud to have sprung (metaphorically speaking) from the same embryo as them. Shola is currently finishing his MA at the NFTS (National Film & Television School) and Sheila is working at Kingdom Entertainment.

There is nothing better than seeing a packed audience, collectively go ‘oooh’and ‘aaah’ at the points you want them too. Emotions become the musical notes on my visual piano. That’s exactly what happened at BFM and that feeling was a drug which I was immediately hooked on! From there I went on to an internship at Film 4, where I read various scripts in production and sat in on meetings about film productions. 

In these meeting commissioners discussed whether to green light or not green light certain productions. For me to go from shooting my movie for next to nothing to hearing people casually discuss whether 5 million should go into a film or not, was quite surreal. 

At the end of it all, I realised that the amount of money and the positioning isn’t everything. Attitude is most important.  The veil and mystique about these commissioners was removed. I saw them for what they were. Human beings with a high level of experience but just as human as anyone else. They were human, as in subject to ‘human error’. The only thing that we must have, regardless of whether we are working on "Slumdog Millionaire" or a low budget production, is conviction in our own decisions and ideas. It’s taken me a while to get there but I really feel that deep in my bones now.

During this time, I set up the production company Precise Pictures with Shola. It was an eye opener and took a different skill-set to manage. The first short under Precise Pictures was called "Reparations for the Soul", an urban supernatural thriller (we like playing with genre). The film starred Ashley Walters, Kyla Frye and Michael Maris. Like every project has been, it was a development in technique and it was the first time I shot on film . 

It instilled in me a new level of discipline.

Since then I have stayed busy (extremely so) by dividing my time between shooting music videos, commercials and running various youth workshops on film. Speaking of the youth workshops, it’s been great to see so many young people inspired by the success of ‘youth/urban cinema’. Times have changed and they feel they have the ability to tell their stories. When I say ‘their stories’ I don’t mean stories confined to knife crime and gang culture. For instance at the youth film school we facilitate, we have young people coming up with films as wide reaching as ‘vampire movies’ to ‘romantic comedies’. 

The future looks bright! Mine and Shola’s third directing partnership was on ‘THE PRAYER’, which got its UK premiere at this year’s BUFF Festival (cheers Emmanuel!). With limited resources, our ‘resourcefulness’ shone through. 

More important than any funds was being able to work with so many amazing people. 

From Fiona Lamptey, (our wonderful producer) to a great cast of actors and a crew that mostly hailed from the abundantly talented NFTS. What I enjoyed the most was being able to explore and immerse myself in a whole new culture, Bangladeshi to be exact. 

What I found was that behind each peculiar situation that one experiences is a basic emotion that is universal. Once myself and Shola tapped into that, we felt we had a great story to tell - a story that deals with issues about love, spirituality and culture.

So that brings me back to where I started, out in America. What I noticed there with regards to films from the UK, was a lot of admiration. Obviously in recent years we have seen a lot of actors, feeling marginalised by the UK industry, go 'over there' and find success. I feel this is because they are in some ways fascinated by the culture in the US. By the same token, UK black culture is in some ways still an unknown quantity over there (raise a hand if you been there and still get the ‘ya’ll got black people in England?’). 

I get a sense from my American counterparts that they feel there is something special going on in the UK. Unconstrained by some cultural inhibitions that they may have, independent UK filmmakers have something fresh and new to offer them...

What that means to me is that the diversity we have here and its' connections to the rest of the world give independent UK filmmakers the ability to promote their work and find audiences globally. I saw examples of this pioneering spirit all throughout this year’s festival. Sunny King, (who I have known since the BFM festival) and Edith Nwekenta (wonderful actress/writer) have brought their unique British sensibilities to the Nigerian market (‘Nollywood’) with their film ‘Unspoken’. As a British/Nigerian I have a keen eye on the way Nollywood is developing and its' relationship with us 'over here'.   

There are many parallels, notably that they are feeding a market that hasn’t been previously served properly. Regardless of the discussion of quality issues, the entrepreneurial spirit is something to be admired and applied to our own situations. 

So what am I up to now? I am currently finishing up a documentary for Islington black history month, called ‘The importance of black history?’. Islington’s tagline this year is ‘educate and innovate’, two of my most favourite words in the English dictionary. 

This brings me to my final point. During this documentary I have interviewed various people but 2 of my favourite interviews have been with people who have acted in BUFF featured films. Mikel Ameen (Drink, Drugs and KFC) and Kyla Frye (Where’s my Supermalt?). Both, very eloquently, speak about the role of social responsibility and how that plays out in their performances; they speak about being teachers, carriers of culture in the work they do.  I think this is a very pertinent point. With the opportunities to create the output you desire to see and tell the stories you want told, come great power. Anybody that’s ever watched "Spiderman" knows what comes with great power......  

Speaking of power, I am also in the pre-production stages of one of the first superhero movies based on West African deities called ‘Orishas’ - OYA: RISE OF THE ORISHA’S will commence with a crowd-funding campaign by the end of the month and your support will be gratefully appreciated!  P.S. If you are a good actress/ actor with a martial arts experience, I would love to hear from you.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog and as I am sure you will agree, it’s a bold new world for independent filmmakers. There are new ways of reaching audiences and new skills that are needed to reach these audiences.  I am determined to learn and harness these skills and I am always interested in people who see the world for what it could be as well as what it is.  So basically, if you feel it like I feel it, get at me.

Or I may get at you.

(c) Nosa Igbinedion

www.precisepictures.co.uk

The British Urban Film Festival is the home of urban film coverage in the UK. 

Submissions for BUFF 2013 open on Friday November 2nd. For more information visit the site www.britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk