Did you get finance for "The Criminal" by traditional or more unorthodox means?
I don't know if there are traditional routes anymore. In a way, it almost seems like the orthodox route for making a first film now is to load up your credit cards and beg, borrow, and steal. In that sense, we were unorthodox, as we went to the industry. The budget was about two million pounds - I lose track because the budget when you start is never the same as when you finish, and they never tell you exactly how much money you've got, or else you'll try to spend it all. Getting it was just a matter of having a really good producer on board.
Selling a script is one thing, being allowed to direct it yourself is quite another.
There was never any question that I wouldn't direct this film, so anyone who had a problem with that stepped away. I tend to think that if someone's written a script, they're probably the best person to direct it, as when you're writing, you have the images in your head. If you can then catch them on film, that's directing.
Since "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", the British film industry has been swamped with gangster movies. While you've produced a crime thriller, it's refreshingly different from other British movies.
It's not the fault of film makers that there are lots of gangster films around. It's the industry's fault. There's a vast variety of scripts out there, sitting in people's bedrooms and stuff, but it's the gangster films that are getting made, so those are the ones we're being flooded with. Everyone moans, "Oh, all English film makers want to do is make gangster films." It's not true. It's just that people who want to make gangster films are the only ones who can get their films made.
Do you see yourself following other British directors to Hollywood?
Not deliberately. But you try to get a little bit more money for successive films to up the profile - not necessarily because you want to do that, but the industry seems to take it weirdly if you go down. I'm not mad keen on the idea of going to Hollywood - I'm certainly not about to go and do "Alien 5".
Read how Julian Simpson conceived of his film "The Criminal".
Read an interview Natasha Little, star of "The Criminal".
Read a review of the film.
