Monday 1 August 2011

The man behind The Man Inside

In January 2009 I sat down and wrote The Man Inside in ten days.
I had been planning it for months beforehand, but I was so ready to write it that the story literally just fell out of my brain onto the page.

As the script had so many biographical elements, many of the characters simply spoke through me, and i did not need to keep stopping to think about what would happen next.
It was an incredible process and the most enjoyable writing experience i've ever had.

It was May of that year that i was introduced to Producer Dean Fisher by a mutual contact, and we immediately hit it off and set about developing the script further.

Fast forward to july 31st and we called wrap on the shoot of the feature film in Newcastle. its in the can, and Dean and i are very very happy with what we have.

As the writer and director of the film, I'm obviously responsible for an awful lot of what you will see, and with this film ive been more hands-on than normal, even down to defining costume colours!

But, let me make this clear. there would be no film without Dean Fisher.
His tireless enthusiasm and belief in the film is the reason its now finished shooting.

The Man Inside is as much Dean's film as my own. He has never wavered in trying to fund the film, during some very difficult times, and even when I thought it was all over, he still persisted. He wouldn't leave it, no matter what.

Along the way, he's protected the script, and made sure it all got on screen.
During shooting he supported every decision i made and backed me up to the hilt.
The reason the film looks so amazing, and is not compromised, is because Dean made sure every penny ended up on screen and that i had every resource the budget could afford.

When I changed a scene at the eleventh hour, moving locations and creating a scheduling nightmare, he simply asked me "Do you think its the right decision?" when I said "yes" he didn't hesitate. Despite others being upset.

There were times when I spoke to him or phoned to throw my toys out of the pram, but he soaked it all up.
With Dean it was all about the film, and nothing else.

Whatever happens to The Man Inside, and I hope it will be a success, then it will be down to the incredible Dean Fisher. The best producer a director could ever have by his side.

1 comment:

Phill Barron said...

Dean is one of the few producers I've never heard a bad word said about. Quite an achievement given how many people you have to piss off to make a film.