Chichester Filmmakers set out their ambitions

SussexWorld

Chichester Filmmakers are building on an impressive start after showing their first short film The Barn at the Chichester International Film Festival this summer.

Transcript

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.

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