Chichester Filmmakers are building on an impressive start after showing their first short film The Barn at the Chichester International Film Festival this summer.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely today
00:08to speak to Jonathan Brooker. Now, Jonathan, you've created something really rather special
00:12this year, the Chichester Filmmakers, and you've just brought out your debut short film,
00:17The Barn. It's an exciting time because this is something that you're really hoping is
00:22going to take off to the point where you're perhaps producing two or three films a year.
00:27That's ambitious, isn't it?
00:30I think it's ambitious, but unless you shoot for the sky, you don't get anywhere. I like
00:35to try and over-succeed, but kind of underplay, if you like. So if we do one film a year,
00:45I shall still be very happy. And I think the team that I'm working with will be very happy
00:50as well.
00:51Absolutely. And to go back a stage, explain to me what Chichester Filmmakers is all about.
00:56What is it you're wanting to achieve?
00:58Okay, so we set up in January this year, we launched in January this year, we set Chichester
01:05Filmmakers up essentially to see how we could utilise or tap into the local skills and
01:12the local talent around Chichester, what kind of films and productions we could develop
01:17and maybe shoot in around Chichester, which we did with The Barn. Ultimately, we want
01:22to reach out to the community beyond Chichester and start drawing in more professional skills.
01:29Why professional skills? Because we utilise those skills to essentially create and produce
01:37the film, but also to start drawing in unprofessional, not unprofessional talent, I think it's the
01:43wrong word, but let's say green talent, people that want to get into the film industry or
01:48want to understand how a production takes place all the way from development, pre-production, production.
01:54So as you were saying, mentorship and coaching within the crew, within the company is key
01:59to what you want to do.
02:01Absolutely. And I think the reason for me personally why that's important is because
02:05I find that there's so much energy to tap into. People want to do something, they want
02:10to create. And to do it, you know, as an individual, it's quite a hard thing to do. To do it with
02:16a bunch of individuals that have the experience and want to learn, then the whole team comes
02:23together and makes something really special. It's a bit like a one plus one equals five
02:27equation essentially.
02:28Yeah, when you say create something special, you've done that with The Barn, which is the
02:32debut film. The key task now is to get The Barn out to the film festivals, isn't it?
02:39Absolutely. The film festivals are very key for us because it provides exposure to what
02:45we can do as a group of filmmakers, essentially, and as a group of actors. But also it demonstrates
02:55what Chichester can do with the talents available in the local area, in the neighbourhood, whatever.
03:03And also the locations, the locations around Chichester are amazing. And we should be doing
03:07more to tap into those. You know, Weald and Downland Museum is an amazing place to go
03:12and shoot at. What, 52 individual buildings, all from the Tudor times or medieval times.
03:18We've tapped into that. We were very lucky. And then we're finding also that we're starting to,
03:25through the film festivals we're reaching out to, we're starting to attract more attention,
03:29not just from press, but more importantly from well-known professionals in the industry.
03:35So cast, actors, actresses, I think even, I can't remember his name now, I call him Beacons.
03:44He's one of the leading DOPs and cinematographers worldwide. He's British, of course. The Brits
03:50always have something good to offer. And we're starting to get some of these echoes coming back
03:55to us. You're doing something really special. So it sounds like you've made a very encouraging
04:01start with the Bond then. So good luck. Good luck with everything that's yet to come.
04:06Keep me posted and lovely to speak to you. Thank you.
04:09Thank you, Phil. Thank you.