Short Films, Big Questions

Fish and Chips with Casting Director Andrea Clark 

In this episode we speak to renowned casting director Andrea Clarke. 

Prior to setting up her own company Andrea co- cast many acclaimed feature films, including Dog Soldiers, Keeping Mum and The Thief Lord, which starred a young George MacKay and Aaron Taylor Johnson. 

As an associate casting director, she collaborated on the casting of blockbusters such as Hellboy, Blade II and Hidalgo.

Since founding her own company in 2006, Andrea has worked on award winning feature films, commercials and short films. She also casts a variety of other projects including video games, corporate films, and new media content. 

We talk about why you should consider using a casting director on your short film, thinking outside the box when casting, the benefits of in person vs. self tape auditions, and much more!

You can find Andrea's website here: 

https://www.aclarkcasting.com/

Andrea's favourite short film: 

https://www.paulcampion.com/portfolio/the-naughty-list

In this episode we interview the inspiring Amos Eretusi. Amos is the founder of The Kusp, an organisation that facilitates accessibility into the film and fashion industries for people from underrepresented backgrounds. They recently partnered with Somesuch and have been running some awesome talks with directors such as Oscar winning Aneil Karia.  

It was fascinating to speak with Amos about his past business endeavours and how they’ve ultimately led him to The Kusp. We spoke about representation, networking for introverts, how best to brand yourself as a creative and much more. There are tonnes of golden nuggets of information in the episode and it was a joy to spend an hour with Amos. This is a great one for anyone who’s frustrated with how difficult it can be to break into the film industry. 

We have linked The Kusp below:

https://www.thekusp.co.uk/

Today on the podcast, we’re lucky enough to be in Hansel Rodrigues’ office to ask him all sorts of questions. Hansel has directed several short films to great acclaim, including Horseplay (Cannes Film Festival), and The Messenger (Norwich Film Festival). He’s just had a large, award winning production company come on board for his latest documentary project, ‘King Putt,’ the story of the current king of British crazy golf, and his bid to defend his world title.

Alongside directing, Hansel is a freelance editor. He has edited everything from documentaries to commercials for brands like Mercedes and PlayStation.

Hansel shares the questions he asks himself before taking on a short film, as well as valuable insight into how he pitched King Putt to production companies, and much more! 

Sit back, you’re in for a treat...

We recommend you check out the links below: 

Concept trailer for King Putt: https://vimeo.com/699052154/683e4505d5

Short film- Horseplay: https://vimeo.com/345744622

Short film- The Messenger: https://vimeo.com/363148307

Hansel’s website: https://www.hanselrodrigues.com/

The Kusp: https://www.thekusp.co.uk/

In todays episode we speak to the incredibly talented Rose Baker! We cannot explain how excited we are about this one. We met Rose at Aesthetica Film Festival in York last year where Rose was screening her latest short film “Lesbian” which was commissioned by Random Acts and made in collaboration with the poet Lisa Luxx. It was also an official selection for the Iris Prize (world's biggest LGBTQ film prize) as well as Broadcast Digislast and the RTS Cymru awards this year. She has also directed TV documentaries, her latest being 'How to make it on Only Fans' for Channel 4.

Rose is an absolute delight to listen to. We go into depth about everything from pitching to her process working on ‘Lesbian’ to self shooting and how she got the opportunity to direct TV documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Three!

‘You can check out Lesbian’ here: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/random-acts-lesbian/on-demand/71306-001

‘Hayley goes naked’ here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09rxbg0/hayley-goes-series-3-2-naked

‘How to make it on only fans’ here: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-make-it-on-onlyfans

Rose's pitch for Random Acts can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZtIU8kLGUc

Today’s episode is a fun one. Get ready for Wouter Verheul and all of his energy. Wouter is an amazing Director of Photography who worked with Will on a commercial back in December. Wouter has shot everything from music videos to documentaries, short films and commercials.

He details his journey so far, from living and partying in Mexico to working his way up to being a successful cinematographer in the Netherlands, before making the decision to move to the UK.

We talk about how he works with directors on projects of all budget levels, why he chooses to work on a project and what it takes to make it as a cinematographer and filmmaker. 

Here are links to Wouter's work that we discuss in this episode:

Disgraced: https://vimeo.com/333621668 (with english subs)

Worthy Music Video: https://vimeo.com/284136734

The Ritual (Commercial Wouter and Will worked on together): https://vimeo.com/667366166

Commercial and Music Video Reel: https://vimeo.com/631242192

The Dinner After: https://www.wouterverheul.nl/project/the-dinner-after/ (viewing on request - send via instagram to '@will.liney' or '@ieuancoombs' we will then see if Wouter and the director will share a private link)

Wouter's Instagram: @wouterverheuldp

We explain a lot of the film role terms in this episode but if there’s any term you’re uncertain about, here’s a helpful glossary of film roles to refer to: https://www.freelancevideocollective.com/filmmaker-resources/film-crew-glossary/

In today’s episode we speak to the super talented Alexandre Do. Alex has made some incredible short films. His latest short, Aniccam, premiered on Nowness, and was subsequently selected by the prestigious online outlets 1.4, Shots.net and Ibbo.

We delve deep into his process and what it really takes to make a short film. He is very candid about his experiences so far and does not shy away from the lows that filmmaking can bring. He also shares his inspiring journey as a filmmaker which has taken him from graduating art school to working at Reuters, funding his own short films in London and into the jungles of Cambodia. 

Here are links to the work that we talk about in the podcast. We would recommend that you watch them before listening to the podcast. In particular we would recommend that you watch Aniccam as we spend a great deal of time discussing that. 

A Monster: https://www.alexandredo.com/a-monster

Aniccam: https://www.alexandredo.com/aniccam

Shea Creams: https://www.alexandredo.com/shea-creams

And here are the music videos he has made: 

GLIMMER OF GOLD - https://www.alexandredo.com/glimmer-of-gold

HARM - https://www.alexandredo.com/harm

FLOATING - https://www.alexandredo.com/zha-floating

In this episode, Ieuan and Will welcome feature film director David Roberts to the podcast!

We cover lots. His background in producing commercials (over 1000), his experiences and opinions on short films, and the way he and his team secured funding for their feature film.

Dave gives specific, actionable and inspiring advice. His knowledge of filmmaking is impressive, and the podcast is well worth a listen for anyone who wants to learn more about an industry that can often be confusing and intimidating.

Ieuan recently worked with Dave, as an actor, in the feature film, "Older Gods." https://wagyufilms.com/older-gods

Find out more about Dave and his projects at the below links:

Wagyu films instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wagyufilmsofficial/?hl=en-gb

Wagyu films youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WAGYUFILMS/videos

From Dream to Silver Screen Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/41mF02Ebnk68h3YovDS2gF?si=f11bae34529c48b8

How to get your Film Funded Podcast (referred to in conversation): https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uS4RvOFMzFC73uwVBbR2J?si=234fcd4f83a7402e

In this episode, for the first time ever, Ieuan and Will welcome their first guest to Short Films, Big Questions!

Ollie Campbell is a professional sound designer. He sound designed both Ieuan and Will's latest short films. You can find out more information about him via his website here.

He's currently working on a video game project, called The House of Ashes (more information about that here).

They cover Ollie's background, the way he likes to work with directors, the resources that he has found helpful, and what both Ieuan and Will wished they did differently in the sound design process on their short films.

Resources mentioned:

Randy Thom's Sound Design Blog

Ieuan and Will are back and they are back with a bang!

This week they talk about editing. They discuss how they got into editing themselves, as well as how important it is for a director to have an understanding of the editing process. They talk about rhythm, pace, cutting for emotion, and the resources they have found helpful!

Resources Mentioned:

Peter Mckinnon’s YouTube channel

Walter Murch: ‘In the Blink of an Eye’

Lee Smith episode- Team Deakins podcast

Adobe Premiere Pro (editing software)

Tentacle (audio syncing software)

DaVinci (editing and grading software)

After a brief interlude, Will and Ieuan are back with another episode! 

They discuss the components that make great acting performances and how you can foster an environment as a director that enables them. 

They tackle casting, rehearsal process, on set direction, and what to do if it all goes wrong!

Resources mentioned: 

"How to tell good acting from bad acting" (the article referred to at the beginning).

Mark Duplass' Keynote Speech at Sundance

Mandy

Spotlight

Directing Actors- Judith Weston