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Where's the Money, Ronnie?

" If you haven't got a Robert De Niro hanging around your area, you've got to use somebody people can believe in and make people care. It should be an actor telling you about his daughter or his wife, or his wife's new husband. What will actually make us care is the fact that we know how much it is hurting him and that's the secret to it.
It's not about making this guys saying so and so is a real bastard because of such and such, it's actually seeing the pain in his eyes. The fact that you are filming Jimmy Prophet in a club is one of the most difficult films to shoot because you haven't got people to bounce off.
It's the subject matter which is incredibly difficult to get right. Obviously I want to challenge myself at all stages. A good tip is to put a camera on somebody, for two or three minutes and keep the audience's attention without editing? If you can't master the basics, you should think, about how you can do it, how can you get round it?
With something like Jimmy Prophet, it was about having a story. I have always been inspired by boxing, and touched by stories about boxes who made it, people who haven't made it and boxers who have set up clubs. And I know that the actor's (Paddy) life revolves around boxing in the same way.
There is a story there which we both wanted to say, something which touched us both. If you want to approach a difficult subject, don't touch it for the sake of it, make sure it means something to you. "

" Films work in different ways. I think when you do films on a bigger scale, like with The Poppa Squeeze Affair, you can only really guess at the results you will get because it is going to revolve so much around the music and the editing. But with a film like Three Tears for Jimmy Prophet, you are going to know pretty quickly if you are just shooting an interview with someone or if you are creating something which is emotionally moving.
If it is not working, you should not be afraid to try to rip it up and start again. The reason why a lot of films go down the pan is because people spend so long developing an idea, then they go on set, and not everything works the way they wanted it to. Everything might look great on paper, but then suddenly everybody starts thinking: "What do you do if it does not work?"
You have been developing it for six months, but nothing is going to let you stop now. Whereas, if you have got a camcorder borrowed off an uncle, or you go out with your friends, and it's not right, you have not developed that with anybody. You do not owe anybody anything. You can say: "I'll just cut this, it's not worth working, let's change it, or let's change him or that."
Whereas, if you set your sights too high earlier on, or set your ambitions into developing something, and all the local councils get tied into what you tell them it's gonna be, then it could turn out to be a right let down. So, from my point of view as a creative director, I like to be in a position where if something ain't working I'd like to say: "No, I am not using that. I have written it and thought it would work, but now I am going to change my idea and start something different."
In a way, it is better to make the films by yourself without any help at the beginning and in a funny way that can work back in your favour. I didn't apply for the awards I have won. In the end, people who apply for awards year in year out get none. What tends to happen is if producers think they can't have something you have made, it 's really amazing how suddenly they want to be involved in it.
People want to be part of a secret society with a group of friends that they do not have access to. They want to know why everyone is talking about this and why this is going on. If they know where you are all of the time and what you are doing, they will come and find you.
What can work in your favour is working by yourself in solitary with a group of friends and when they do approach you, or you approach them, you have a style which you have built up and they cannot manipulate. It's about building up confidence. You should feel that you have actually got something to offer rather than slogging away to get yourself an award. "

" I think my ambition for Three Tears for Jimmy Prophet was to try to move people in ten minutes. I wanted them to understand and care about his life. I wanted people to feel that ten minutes previous to that, they had no idea about him. This man just turned up in the film to win you over by the end of it.
When he is lying on the floor in the boxing club, I wanted that to move people at that moment in time. I wanted to try to get across emotions capable in a feature film and touch people in this shorter film - which is really difficult to do in 10 minutes. It's a lot easier to do if the story is incredibly simple. This man is telling his story and telling it from his heart and that's why I went ahead and made it.
I believe that I could bring people closer to that man. Hopefully by the end, the audience can feel something for him. The story is obviously about a man who has killed somebody. If we were to meet him randomly we would probably be quite scared of him and not trust him. However, film is beautiful like that because it allows you to look and examine people that you would normally never give the time of day too.
So, with Three Tears for Jimmy Prophet, we have taken a guy who has been jailed for murder and let him give his story. That's an important thing for me in everything I do, not just shorts, but also in every film I make. I Iike to bring people closer to a community. I enjoy making stories about small time crooks and people who go to the boxing club. I think that all characters have a certain amount of redemption about them and you have to give your characters worth.
There are lots of different filmmakers out there. From my point of view, I make films because I care about people and I want to make films about people. If that's what you believe, it does not matter if you are rich or your background is poor. Just because I am from a working class background does not mean I cannot make films about the backgrounds of other people.
There seems to be a heritage in this country were people prey on people if their film is of a different background. The bottom line is, if you care enough it doesn't matter what community you are from or what community you want to make films about - it's about having the heart to do it and not be put off by anybody. Do not even be put off by Rupert Murdoch, who I am meeting next week to co-buy Man U. We're going in again, but this time we have me as the face and he is in the background. But don't say anything. "