Iain Softley - Hollywood Director

Published on www.listedmagazine.com

Iain Softley - director of Inkheart, The Skeleton Key and Hackers – was one of the guest speakers at the Future Shorts film festival at the Pier Theatre on Friday 29 May. He chatted to Listed about British movies, the credit crunch and the best way to get your film into the cinemas.

How important are events like Future Shorts?

Well, I think any opportunity for a festival type environment is a great way to see films - it gives cinema a little bit of the feeling of a live show, which is maybe sometimes missing...I think the opportunities that there are for diversity in films that are shown is a good thing, there’s so much pressure for conformity [nowadays].

Which of the films shown really stood out for you?

I thought Film Noir, the short animation, was incredible – imaginative, beautifully done, witty. I actually liked all of them, I thought they all had merits.

What do you look for in a good film?

I kind of like something that’s original. Good story, but doesn’t have to be a linear narrative. Something that’s maybe out of the mainstream. I do like beautifully made films, but they have to have something fresh and surprising about them, they need to take you somewhere that you don’t expect to go.

Why should we promote smaller films?

Because all that diversity is very important. I think that homogeneity – that’s the opposite of diversity – is really just for the convenience of the producers, not for the convenience of the audience. I don’t think it’s the choice of the audience to have a more restricted choice of films.

Has the credit crunch had an effect on the film industry?

It’s had a massive effect, which is strange because at the beginning of the credit crunch people were saying the film industry is immune. Relatively speaking, it’s a cheap night out to go and see a film and cinema numbers have held up, if not increased. But a lot of people that are financing films have been really hit...businesses were saying ‘we’re not going to invest as we don’t know what’s going to happen’.

Is the British film industry still fairly important?

I think it’s always been important! I mean, there’s an enormous number of directors, British directors, making films. It's a much more international business that it was 20 years ago - British actors are working in Hollywood and I think American actors are working over here. There’s probably more British films in Cannes this year than any in the last 4 or 5 years.

Do you have a favourite film?

I’m very bad at the singular favourite, but probably a film by either Stanley Kubrick or Nick Rogue. I’d probably say Don’t Look Now.

Have you got advice for any budding film makers?

Well, really you need to know what it is you’re trying to achieve. If you just want to tell stories you can do that now with a video camera. If you want to reach an audience you need to convince somebody to back you. You need to have something they want. In my case it was a script – Backbeat.

Want to see the shorts? Go to http://www.futureshorts.com/ and click on the link.