Miles Watts is an independent film maker based in York and did an English degree at the University of York. As well as making films, he has also been involved in editing听 York鈥檚 independent literary magazine Hum-drum, with editor/writer, Ryan de Koning. They have been holding events for local artists, giving them an opportunity to share their work with anyone interested.
Miles has made a feature film without any financial backing with the company he founded called Miles To Go Productions. He hopes to prove to people that you can make a film听that entertains people, for virtually no money and get it shown in a public cinema. He believes that the content is everything, because viewers want good characters and a good story.
"I was just very frustrated at the way you have to go about raising money to make films, and quite frankly bored at the idea of sending off forms..."
Miles Watts
"I was just very frustrated at the way you have to go about raising money to make films, and quite frankly bored at the idea of sending off forms and applying for grants and justifying ourselves. I just wanted to make this film, simply, but to a high quality, and I reckoned we could do it."
Miles thinks film making enthusiasts should get over the idea that it's all about money.
听"Money in film making is for practical things really - big crew, big budget - small crew, small budget! Having said that, we had an amazing cinematographer on this film, and we got some truly brilliant shots."
Some of the cast...
Miles has worked on other film projects with Hum-drum films, which he describes as "a real creative gene pool", where anyone to come up with new film ideas bravely and confidently.
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Miles answers some questions about his new film, 'The BandWagons' which had its premiere in York on November 6th 2007.
Q: Where did the idea come from?
A: Myself and my co-stars Hayley Hutchinson and Finn Riley went out and got drunk in Leeds one night and talked about a road movie I was writing, which then turned into a drunken discussion about how we should form a band, and when I got home that night, inspiration struck! We'd come up with the band member characters for ourselves so all we had to think of was the name, and believe it or not we tried about a hundred before we came up with The BandWagons, which we felt summed up the story best.
Q: So, what is the story?
A: The BandWagons is about three friends who go out, get drunk and decide to form a band - so, not far from the truth there. It's a bit of a satire on those networking sites and the way a lot of the music business doesn't seem to be about the music, it's about image and noise and headlines and getting into fights and having lots of fans. Well, I guess being in a band can be about those things too, but we wanted to challenge it and discuss it.
Q: Is there a parallel there with your filmmaking?
A: Definitely, because I see a lot of filmmakers out there too caught up in what equipment they can buy, or how much money they can spend. Well I'm not about that at all - for me it's all about getting things done, having an idea, following it through with the minimum of fuss and telling stories well - regardless of what camera you shoot on.
Q: So did you really have no budget for the film?
A: We didn't have a budget, but we spent money as we went along, on essentials like DV tapes, food, petrol (it is a road movie after all). It was great because it meant that we could be flexible and reschedule things as necessary. It was bad because we never had any money! But that just makes you more creative, you have to improvise, and part of the joy of filmmaking with no money becomes the challenge of 'How can I achieve this scene?' Like for the crowd scenes, in the script there were about 100 people... well, on the day you might get 10 if you're lucky. It means you have to get inventive with the lighting and camera and extras; things you should do as a director anyway.
Q: How did you manage to make a feature-length film and see it to the end?
A: We just believed in it all along - myself, Mark (Cunnington - Director of Photography), Hayley and Finn turned up every day and gave it our all. During the shoot I also started making short films with Hum-drum, as I felt I needed something that would be around after The BandWagons, which was after all just one film.
Q: So back to The BandWagons: how did you choose the cast? And what about the real bands in the film? How do they fit into this story of a bunch of fakers?
A: It was always going to be me, Finn and Hayley as the band. I wasn't going to be in it, initially, but they said that would be too weird! None of us are actors but we are all show-offs/performers to some degree, so that made things all very natural. As for the bands, they were all great. Some, like The Sugars, are in it a few times and were a delight to work with, plus they look great, which is good for the film! The music adds so much authenticity to the story, plus it's great to hear! Actually, I'm the only faker; Hayley and Finn are both genius musicians - I just stood out the front and wailed like Jack White gone wrong.
Q: Where do you see this film going?
A: Well, it was just a great experience making it, and it's getting its big premiere in a proper cinema, which is amazing because when I was growing up that was practically impossible. After that, I guess it'll play at a few Unis - it's very student friendly. I get the sense it has some longevity.
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