The Reel Blog
Washdays - Simon Neal Interview
11/09/2009
0 Commentsadd commentThe August editions of The Reel DVD are winging their ways to lucky subscribers now, but they’re not our usual kettle or … er … ads. Instead of populating the digital and actual pages of the issue with the latest and greatest from the previous month, we’ve gone and created a pair of Feature issues that we’re sure will leave you bursting with creativity (and something else – they’re both over 3.5 hours long!!).Our International Issue is a gala celebration of 25 Years Of The Reel, featuring our pick of the best 40 spots in the past quarter-century alongside talking-head interviews with serious industry movers and shakers. But we’re not here to talk about that now, as the spry UK Edition is jam packed with more shorts than a suitcase from Bermuda in a Rushes Soho Shorts Feature Issue.The Rushes Soho Shorts awards were handed out to their talented filmmaker-recipients last month, so we’ve spent the last few weeks collating and curating a tidy DVD featuring (almost) all of the finalist films in full. Phew!! To celebrate this momentous occasion, we thought we’d catch up with Another Film Company director Simon Neal to ask him what the making of his Short Film category winning piece ‘Washdays’ was like.
Can you give us a brief synopsis of Washdays?It’s about a young lad called Kyle who’s got a bit of an embarrassing problem. His mum’s not much help, in fact she makes it worse. Things come to a head when she writes a note to his teacher about, so he bunks off school and goes in search of his own solution – it’s quite a simple story but it contains themes that I think a lot of people can relate to.Where did the inspiration for the film come from? Is it something you worked on with the screenwriter or did it come as a fully fledged script?I was looking for a short film project so I was reading a lot of scripts. Washdays was just a short synopsis when the writer Graham Lester George sent it to me, but it really stood out from the rest. It was moving, it was cinematic and it just felt like a story that was worth telling.The script went through a lot of revisions before we thought it was ready to shoot, and that process of developing the screenplay, crafting it, stripping it back and rebuilding it until we were 100% happy with it was a really satisfying part of the experience for me. I think Graham enjoyed it too, we’re still friends so he must have, unless he’s managed to blank it from his memory.
Casting must have been very important. How did you find the young lead?Yes, in this kind of story everything rests on the performance of the lead character, and Kieran Dooner was just brilliant as Kyle. I saw about 50 kids, many of them much more experienced than Kieran, who apart from a few Saturday morning drama clubs had never acted before. But before he had even read a scene I knew he was the one. Chatting to him about the script, he just got it. He understood exactly who Kyle was, how he must have been feeling at every stage of the story and why he did what he did. And that to me was more important than acting ability. Turns out he was a natural at that too though, so we really got lucky there.How long was the shoot?
The shoot was three days, and they were pretty hard days. I’d said to myself the ideal short film project would be two or three people in a room, but somehow I ended up with a cast of seven, plus extras, and seven different locations. Fortunately I had a really good producer and a great crew and they got me through it.
Congratulations on winning the Short Film category at the Rushes Soho Shorts event. How did that feel?
It’s the first festival we have entered so winning feels like a massive achievement. Knowing that it’s been judged by people that I respect in both the film business and the ad industry makes it even more special. And it also gives you confidence to go on and do more long form work.
Did anything else catch your eye at the festival?
I thought the other two finalist in the short film category, Hammerhead by Sam Donovan and Si &Ad’s Post-it Love were great, and I liked The Black Hole, which was essentially a gag but a beautifully crafted gag with a brilliant punchline. Also Mary and John, which I thought was a brave, challenging piece of filmmaking.
Have you entered the film anywhere else?
Yes, it’s been accepted by a few now, and we’re constantly entering it into various festivals in the U.K. and internationally. You’ve basically got about 18 months after you’ve finished it to enter as many as you can. It’s a bit of a number but well worth it as your film gets seen all over the world and if you’re lucky you get to go with it. Currently you can see it at the Cambridge Film Festival, the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol and at the Austin, New Orleans and San Diego Film Festivals in the U.S.
We've featured loads of your commercials on The Reel, but this is your first short. Plans for any more?
I do have plans for more yes. Ultimately I want to shoot features but in the meantime I’m enjoying honing my storytelling skills on short films. Graham and I are developing a supernatural thriller that we’re very excited about and I’ve also got a short crime story that I think could make an interesting modern film noir. Watch this space.
What else have you got in the pipeline for us to look forward to?
Well in terms of commercials I’ve hopefully got a couple of interesting projects coming up in the next few months but the production I’m working on right now is my wedding which is taking place next weekend. Organizing that makes a short film look like a walk in the park.
Huge thanks to Simon, Athene and the gang at Another for helping us get the interview sorted ... and best of luck to Simon for his upcoming nuptials!!
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