IN THE CAN

Filmmaking is a wildly broad term, encompassing everything from juggernaut franchises down to punters recording a few seconds of indistinct waving and screaming at a gig on their mobile. And there are as many different types of filmmakers as types of film: TEN4 gets four distinct takes on the industry.

At 9.30 in the morning on a particularly grey day, an unlikely foursome comprising a 26-year-old no-budget features director, a successful producer of Oscar-winning movies, an Oxford-educated BAFTA-winning veteran of writing and directing for screen and a senior commissioning executive from Film4 congregate in the white leather-lined interior of Birmingham's Chi bar to discuss their careers and inspirations.

#1 THE ESTABLISHED DIRECTOR: Peter Kosminsky.

With a respectable clutch of awards and industry recognition as one of the foremost proponents of thinking people's television, success now looks meant to be for director Peter Kosminsky. He tells us why that wasn't always the case.

Nowadays, multiple BAFTA-winner Peter Kosminsky is one of the most respected documentary makers working in film. As an Oxford graduate who completed a BBC traineeship straight out of university, at first glance his was a conventional route into the industry. But his apparently assured journey into filmmaking was derailed when, within a mere three months of completing his training course with the BBC, he was fired.

"That almost drove me to a nervous breakdown," the softly-spoken director confides. "I was actually in treatment." Although he bounced back, it wouldn't be the last time Peter would suffer for his art, going on to be blacklisted for his involvement in a strike at the BBC in 1984 over the censorship of a documentary: "I'd led a strike at the BBC – on an issue of principle, not over money, or conditions of work. Afterwards, it was made politely clear to me that there was no future for me in BBC current affairs."

Though his early career saw some tough times, Peter is of the opinion that if anything, it's more difficult to break into the industry now: "If you have any doubt about whether this industry is right for you, don't get into it. It is increasingly tough, it is not well remunerated, and it is not a route to being rich and famous or mingling with the stars."

His stance is a not-so-veiled comment on the growing number of people who, in the golden era of reality TV and fame overnight, believe that film or TV-making itself is a gateway to recognition, and to appearing on screen. "If any of those things are any part of your reasons for doing it, don't. It's tough, lonely, difficult, demanding, long hours, very little pay, unpleasant working conditions, often with people you neither like nor respect."

So having made sure we're not wannabe C-listers, what other advice would Peter offer? "Don't ask 'How?' - ask 'What?'," he states firmly. "It's not about how to do it; it's about what you want to say. You should only go into this business if you have something you want to say and you favour film as a medium to convey it."
This is a belief that makes a lot of sense when you consider Peter's CV. From making The Falklands War: the Untold story in 1987, to this year's forthcoming Britz about alienation versus assimilation in the British Muslim community, Peter has always been unafraid to speak out. And he admits it doesn't get much sweeter than being recognised for having so done: "I won the Alan Clark Award – a BAFTA for Outstanding Creative Contribution to television – on the same day that we won Best Drama BAFTA for Warriors, so that was one of the best moments of my life professionally."

One of the worst things about a film career, I suggest, must be that while those successes are public, the failures on display too, permanently and throughout your career? "You are so, so perceptive to say that, and one is acutely aware of it. You're your own worst critic. The first film I made of which I was truly proud was No Child of Mine, and I had been working in television for fifteen years when I made that film."

Certainly, one of Peter's greatest regrets involves one of his biggest projects: the feature film of Wuthering Heights, starring Ralph Fiennes. "Making a feature film that bombed, that's a very lonely moment, when you're left with having faithfully executed the artistic decisions of your executives, had your views overruled again and again and again, and then when the bad reviews arrive, you find your name's on the end of the film and you're carrying the can."

So how would Peter advise that you avoid these pitfalls - what makes a good film? "Don't forget that it's only really about two things: script and actors. It's not about shots, it's not about the selection of lenses and where you put the lights. People don't go into the cinema or switch on their television to watch shots, they watch in largest numbers the soaps, which are appallingly shot, often badly acted, they look awful, the sets are ridiculous - the reason they watch them is that the stories are really good and the characters are convincing."

Looking at Peter's career to date, there's no doubt that his best work - A Government Inspector, No Child Of Mine - has tackled crucial contemporary issues viewed through the lens of private stories, thoroughly living up to his own maxim: "It's about working with writers, and it's about motivating actors to give stunning performances."

So keep an eye out for Britz in the schedules this autumn for what looks on the evidence of a sneak preview to be another piece of compelling filmmaking from a director at the top of his game.

#2 THE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCER: Charles Steele

Producers: they're all about cigars, limos and crushing creative vision, right? Charles Steele, one of the producers behind 2006's Oscar-winning The Last King of Scotland, sets us straight on the realities of a producing career.

Charles Steele isn't from a family loaded with useful media connections. "My family were all in the army," he explains. "Very military, very service oriented, which I ran a mile from. I stumbled into film because a friend of mine working in the industry suggested I try being a runner."

His route into the industry was therefore a steady progression of hard graft in corporate videos - "I worked on a commercial for washing powder or something for two days as my first running job, then eventually moved up to production assistant" - and he's not afraid to acknowledge that it can be tricky if you don't have the connections: "Feature films felt like a very closed shop. I didn't have an uncle who was a producer, or know the right people."

Charles' decision to go to film school in his late twenties marked something of a watershed: "I hadn't responded well to education prior to then, and I think it was the first time I stopped to listen," he remembers. "But I had a mentor then who ran the producing course, and he really helped me to explore film and understand a bit more about myself and what I wanted to do."

So would Charles advise a would-be producer to head to film school as a matter of course? "It's not essential, particularly with producing; maybe more so with directing," he muses. "At the end of the day, producing is more having the confidence to do it." Certainly the image of the contemporary producer is intimately bound up with the fast-talking, hard-nosed, deal-maker in the Weinstein mould – not something easily taught.

However, that image - power, wealth, glamour - does the role a disservice; Charles is open about the fact that "film producing, particularly in Europe, is not a get-rich-quick scheme at all. Most producers I know would make more money with a normal job."

So if it's not about the money, what does it take to make it as a producer? "You've got to have that instinct and ability to roll with it; a stubbornness; a blind foolhardiness. There's a lot of rejection along the way, that's part of the job." But Charles is also keen to emphasise the highs.

"Last King was a very special moment. I went over to the Oscars and did the Oscar weekend and the parties. Then when Forrest got his award, I did the Vanity Fair party afterwards. For three days it was pretty intense. For that moment you're as hot as possible in Hollywood – and then you get in a plane and come back."

#3 THE NEW TALENT: Greg Hall He's young, outspoken and has completed two acclaimed feature films. If 26-year-old director Greg Hall wasn't such a decent guy, you'd have to hate him...

"Since I was 15, The Plague had just been festering and growing in my head." Greg Hall is talking about his first feature film, shot around London on a shoestring budget using non-professional actors. Chosen by British director Mike Leigh - who described it as "very exciting 21st Century cinema" - to receive the inaugural Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Scholarship, The Plague also received the Best Director Award at Portobello Film Festival 2004 and the Audience Award for Best Feature at Raindance 2005.

Greg was just 23 when he shot his debut feature. Now 26, he has a second full-length film, Kapital, under his belt at an age when many are still finishing college. For a living, breathing example of the get-out-there-and-do-it school of filmmaking, you need look no further than TEN4's cover star. As the affable director himself says, "Someone the other day joked that I'm like the Pied Piper of low-budget filmmaking in this country."

For someone so arguably precocious, Greg's a remarkably down-to-earth chap. Rather than looking over his shoulder, constantly worrying about whether he's 'made it' yet, he's still concerned with the message and the filmmaking: "The reason I made The Plague, and the reason I made Kapital - the reason I make films - is to try to say something and do something new, something that's not homogenised and generic."

The politics of film is crucial for Greg, whose idealism is a refreshing contrast to what we are taught to expect from the film industry. I first interviewed Greg two years ago, and am impressed that that the realities of the system haven't affected his determination to "keep a sense of integrity and individuality about my work so that it's saying something, socially, politically and culturally."

Not that Greg's prepared to tread water thematically, intent as he is on developing his work in different directions: "The Plague was based on me and my friends, fundamentally - all the storylines in it were taken from real events. Now with Kapital, I did want to do something different - I took four fairytales as the base narrative and there was no script."

One constant in Greg's work is the DIY spirit he brings to practicalities like financing. For The Plague, he recruited members of the creative collective he had put together with fellow Surrey Institute of Art and Design graduates: "With some of the young people we'd met, who were kind of untrained actors, I knew it was doable for no money, so we just went out and did it in a DIY, French New Wave-esque style. Just go out with cameras and shoot."

He would advise aspiring film directors to adopt a similar attitude - "I'm still out there, promoting myself. The Plague took two, two-and-a-half years. But eventually it was in the cinema; the BBC have the TV rights; the DVD is out and it's sold out on Amazon and Play.com."

One to keep your eye on, Greg's energy and drive are as crucial to his success as his undoubted talent. A director of integrity who has retained final cuts rights on all work so far, when he states without a trace of self-consciousness or irony that "whatever I do cinematically, it has to come from my soul" he's as convincing as any of the naturalistic performers he employs. Long may it continue.

# 4 THE COMMISSIONER: Peter Carlton

Get the perspective of the power behind the throne, as Film4 commissioner Peter Carlton offers his unique insights into the process of green-lighting films.

"The two big misconceptions," Peter Carlton begins with a good-natured but world-weary smile, "are that you hang around the Groucho drinking with your mates, who you then give money to, regardless of whether or not they are any good." He pauses. "And the other thing is that you are deliberately there to sabotage people's careers and that you spend most of your day turning down works of genius."

A Derbyshire resident who takes his family commitments seriously, the Groucho club myth is clearly a red herring in Peter's case, but can it really be true that he isn't frequently responsible for passing up potentially excellent films? Apparently not. "We're bloody desperate for good scripts. Far from turning down an awful lot of good stuff, you're always really anxiously looking for that thing that's fresher and different and better and you would kill to find it."

With unique films like Dead Man's Shoes and This Is England by Shane Meadows on his CV, you can see where Peter's coming from. The quest for innovation has also led down some blind alleys, he's admirably able to admit. "There was a weird film we made last year about conjoined rock-stars - Brothers of the Head - that is probably one of the most commercially disastrous films I've ever been involved in. It's a flawed film, but I think it's an extraordinary piece of filmmaking."

Peter's wistful regret chimes well with his insistence that his job is best compared to a very different role: "It's been compared to midwifery, and that is what it's like. The pleasure of helping films into the world is one of the great things."

With a background in esoteric art-house work, this attitude makes more sense than constantly having one eye on the bottom line, and is borne out in his choices when I ask what producers he would currently single out for praise. "Oh wow; that’s really interesting. It would be odious to choose certain producers over certain others, but I'd like to mention Warp, who we're involved with so there's a literal vested interest there, but I think what Mark Herbert and Robin Gutch are doing with Warp and Warp X in terms of approaching filmmaking differently, working with talent differently, trying to find audiences differently, is very exciting."

Peter chooses his words more carefully when asked about one of the bigger commercial success stories of British cinema - Working Title and indie off-shoot Working Title 2: "I suppose that would be admirable if they did more of the Working Title 2 stuff but it seems to me they do big Working Title incredibly well and I'm not sure the other side is risk-taking enough. I suppose you have to take your hats off to them."

Of his own choices, Peter is less guarded: "I'm still quite old-fashioned and art-school in that I still want things to mean something." It's a breath of fresh air for would-be film-makers despairing of dumbed-down Britain, and an attitude that has allowed remarkable films like 2007's Hallam Foe funding they might otherwise never have seen. Fingers crossed Peter can continue in this vein.

LINKS

www.thelastkingofscotlandmovie.co.uk
www.prodigalproductionsltd.com
www.channel4.com/film

Text: Nick Carson
Photography: John Stewardson