Will Thorne, filmmaker, producer and all round gentleman has been deep into his art for decades. He is one of those people that has the idea and bends over backwards to bring it to life - from short films, to ads, reality TV, feature films and documentaries, Will has honed his craft and relentlessly pursued 'the vision'.
We managed to bag some time with him as he took a break from shooting and editing his latest project to talk to us about his experience in the film industry, where the idea comes from and how to turn that idea into a reality - no mean feat in the ultra competitive film industry. Popcorn at the ready - here we go!
Will! Great to have you with us, appreciate you taking time out...let's get right to it. From the start, tell us about your filmmaking journey.
I did a summer video production course at Wimbledon art college when I was 17 which gave me enough info on the process to have a go. I saved up and bought a DV camera, then made a short film called Break Em which was essentially my mate doing bongs, then descending into madness. It was quite funny in places with a few visual gags. Friends seemed to like it, they'd ask me to bring it to watch on VHS if there was a house gathering. That helped me a lot to believe that maybe I could make films. Jump forward about six years and I started to work as a runner on film sets, then fell into TV after covering a runner for a week. TV was much more hands on and regular work so I kind of followed that path, trying learn and meet people. When I became producer/director in TV a few things coalesced. I was finally earning enough to take time off to dedicate to the indie process, I also felt experienced enough to have a go at making shorts again, this time properly, and lastly DSLR’s had just come out so I could actually make something that looked slightly nicer for no money, rather than shot on DV tapes. Then I made a handful of shorts until I felt ready to make the feature.
What is the ethos and history of Break Em Films?
I’d been part of setting up a TV company my friends had, so I had some knowledge and experience of companies so I thought "why not have a go myself?" The plan was to make a few shorts and use that portfolio to get finance for a feature. I was also interested in working with other people and building our own network of collaborators because I’d tried to do so much by myself and knew I needed support. Having a company also helped getting things going like hiring kit or permits etc. so it seemed like a no brainer. The ethos is always to make something worthy of a big screen, cinematic and entertaining. My own tastes are very eclectic but I’ve always liked films that know they’re films and play with the form.
I figured the only way I’d ever get a film made, was somehow doing it myself.
How was the graduation from shorts to a feature – did you feel at any point that you had bitten off more than you could chew?
In a way it was the opposite. Most of my shorts I did everything, too much in fact and that definitely hurt the end product. Also having lots of TV experience, I was used to having to wear lots of hats. On the feature we had a team - actual HOD’s [Heads of Department] with teams so I wasn’t having to worry about the props arriving or whether the sound was being recorded, I could focus on directing the film and that was a joy!
You managed to get Silent Night released in the cinema during lockdown. An incredible feat. Why did you go for a theatrical release?
Haha an incredible feat or mistake, who knows? I always wanted a theatrical release because that’s why we do this. Frankly it’s a little depressing we only ever had one screening because I enjoyed hearing audience reactions. There was also a marketing strategy to it. Having a cinematic release does help expose you to more media outlets as you’re rubbing shoulders with them weeks releases which could be from Disney or whomever. Perversely despite cinemas being shut down (we released in one of Boris Johnson’s u-turns when everything was open again for about twenty minutes) so a terrible time to release a film, it meant all the big studios and massive films like Free Guy were held back meaning we actually got reviewed by Mark Kermode, which I think on a normal week we wouldn’t have got near to.
There is an adage that ‘every film is a miracle’ due to the huge challenge in getting it made, let alone released. Does this ring true for Silent Night?
I still have no idea how we made it. A miracle sounds as good as any explanation. That and dedicated/deluded amounts of work and time spent getting things moving. It was, as I think all films are, especially indie films, made on the shoulders of a group of people who bought into my single-mindedness to get it made. I’m forever grateful they did and for all their hard work. Regards releasing, you just have to look at the stats to know how hard it is, and it haunts you the whole time you’re making it. However, we did have a bit of a strategy in that we made a genre movie. We paid attention to try and get a cast that might help get it picked up, but even then I think we still got a bit lucky.
How much of the film was made in the edit? Did you discover a new film there, or was it cleaved close to the original script?
I was actually very pleasantly surprised at how much the first cut worked, which was the script laid out. So I wouldn’t say we discovered a new film but it was obviously made much better in the edit, with some sections and sequences re-written, cut or tightened in the edit. We did some test screenings and immediately threw out 15mins from the start of the film - that was a big learning curve! We were slightly blinded to just how boring our exposition was and how quickly the audience understood the set-up.
Tell us about the conception of the film – where did the idea come from?
The short version is, after a few years in development hell on another project, that was quite ambitious/expensive and of course fell apart, I decided to do a really low budget British crime film. I’d been working with Bradley Taylor, the lead in Silent Night, on a movie about a serial killer but we kept hitting walls with the idea. I decided to make the serial killer a hitman and thought "what if he was also a 'white van man'? He could kill people, bung them in his van and drive off". Then we’d also have this van as a cheap location. What actually happened was I ended up writing lots of locations for them to drive to! That was a problem for production! He needed a buddy so it became a double act but it went through many versions during development.
How do you keep your eyes fixed on realising the vision when you’re dealing with all the challenges of making a lower-budgeted film?
I think good pre-production and being clear with your HOD’s and vision beforehand should ensure you’re not going to go wildly off base. I put a lot of time into the prep as, again, I knew we’d not have time on the days. Then you’re also just trusting your gut day to day. Having written it really helped as I knew it all back to front.
How collaborative was your set? How do you like to work and how do you keep the energy going on set?
I’d like to think it was a collaborative set, you’d have to ask the cast and crew! For the most part I think being on set is supposed to be fun; we are playing at make believe after all! That’s not to say I’m not focussed or working my socks off but we aren’t saving lives. Once we get to set I want to have fun and be loose, make jokes and crack on. The way I tend to approach HODs is that it's their area of expertise and it's their job to make it the best it is, so please get on with it and of course I have ideas and tastes so lets keep in contact but I trust them. It’s their job to bring it to life, and bring the quality up.
Looking back at the production of Silent Night, what would you have done differently and what are you most proud of?
I’m not sure we could have done much more differently as we were always dictated by having no budget - most decisions were reactive to that. We did a week of pick ups that was quite hard, because it was a month or two later and we’d lost most of the crew by then so it felt like starting again, some of the scenes and sequences too were a little tricky, but again we didn’t have much choice. There’s not much I regret about it, I feel like we all did the best we could. I think getting the film out there was always the goal - it felt good to get it on Netflix, I felt like I’d repaid the faith people had put in me with all their hard work.
Your documentary One Man & His Shoes had a pretty wide release on iPlayer – how did you come by the subject matter?
I produced this, and it was directed by my friend and collaborator Yemi Bamiro. We’d hang out and go to the movies and check in on how each others projects were going. He’d made a short on Air Jordan collectors and was working on a treatment for a feature and wasn’t getting any real traction, when he told me no one had made a documentary on the subject before I thought it was a no brainer and offered to produce it.
Shooting a documentary must be quite different to a feature where you have a block of production. Are your documentaries shot like that or are the piecemeal? How does your documentarian hat differ from your fiction directing hat?
Well if you have a full budget or commission you can shoot it more like a normal production but with 'One Man and His Shoes', and the current one I’m making, it’s piecemeal, which is mostly to do with the financing being piecemeal but there’s a lot to be said for getting things in the can then letting it digest. With docos you’re finding a lot more on the hoof, with every contributor it can change your focus a little, so re-writing as you go in a way. There’s a lot more that’s out of your control so you have to just go with it and listen to what it’s trying to tell you, being open to finding the strength in the material you’ve got and following them, even if it means changing the film you envisaged.
What advice would you give to any filmmakers out there who are trying to put together their projects?
Get a pair of comfy shoes, it’s a long journey! In all seriousness it’s an endurance sport, even the most well funded and supported projects take years, so knowing that might help you get through it. Find champions of your project, find people and collaborators who really believe in the film and you. Try not to waste time on anyone else.
Make something you really believe in and would want to watch.
And there we have it - fantastic insight from a bright voice in indie filmmaking. We've said it many times before, but it never ceases to be thrilling to talk to creatives and artists who are going their own way. It seems so easy to leap from idea to product in our minds, without realising just how much work it takes to make, and how many people are involved in making it happen. I guess you just have to surround yourself, like Will did, with people who trust the vision, believe in the project and are willing to just get started. More power to you people!
For more info on Will's work, hit the button below to scoot over to Break Em Films!