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Your new movie The
Evil Fairy Queen - in a few words, what is it about?
The
Evil Fairy Queen is about fairies but also it's about a family that
gets caught up in the fairyies' efforts to rejuvenate their kingdom with
human sacrifices. But it's not as scary as it sounds!
Now how did the project come into being in the first
place, and what drew you to it?
James Wrench [James Wrench
interview - click here], the writer, had seen my first film about werewolves and he
wanted to hear my opinion on his scripts. One of the scripts he sent was
The
Evil Fairy Queen (although it was titled The Demonic Fae back then)
and I instantly fell in love with the cheeky fairies and the bond that
the family shared. It reminded me of my family! What can you tell us
about The Evil
Fairy Queen's writer James Wrench, and what was your collaboration
like? This was James's first film and he was really great to work with. He
listened to my experience but also brought lots to the film himself. The
script was excellent when he sent it to me, but he was really receptive
to feedback to make it even better. It was easily one of the most
rewarding films I've made thanks to James. Do talk about The
Evil Fairy Queen's approach to the fantasy genre!
One of our main goals in making a fantasy film was to try and build this
fantasy world within our limited budget and to hint at a much bigger
world that we can expand on in future films. We very much wanted the
mythology to be faithful to real European fairy folklore, so James did a
lot of research and incorporated that into the story and world that he
created. I wanted the world to be fantastical but also be familiar. A
few words about your directorial approach to your story at hand?
Making a film is incredibly difficult. Every decision you make is like
taking a step on a tightrope a mile above a lake filled with crocodiles
and sharks. It's fun! My approach is to focus on telling the story and
making it as entertaining as possible whilst trusting and listening to
the experts I'm working with. I love people and I love telling stories
about people so directing is my perfect job. What
can you tell us about The
Evil Fairy Queen's cast, and why exactly these people?
We were very lucky that a lot of incredibly talented people applied to
be a part of our film. For us it was really important for the family to
feel like a real family, they engage you with what is happening to them.
Kate (Julia Czartoryski) and Adelaide (Aniela Leyland) are real life mother and daughter which I think really
helps immerse us in their life.
Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! The
Evil Fairy Queen was one of the easiest films I've made. There was
only one day that I felt like we didn't have enough time to get what we
needed filmed. The team really came together and we had a lot of fun. I
like to think that everyone working on it enjoyed it too! The
$64-question of course, where can The
Evil Fairy Queen be seen?
There are a lot of different ways to watch The
Evil Fairy Queen, with
more being added, see this link for the most up-to-date list of
platforms: https://linktr.ee/theevilfairyqueen
Anything you can tell
us about audience and critical reception of The
Evil Fairy Queen?
So far the reception to The
Evil Fairy Queen has been very positive.
It's very exciting for us as we've been working on this for more than 2
years, and to know that people are enjoying it is incredibly rewarding. Any future projects you'd like
to share? James has already written a sequel, I'm sure he'll mention it to you!
Hopefully the first film will do well and we can justify making the
sequel. We'll listen to the feedback and try to make the sequel even
better! What got you into filmmaking in the first
place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject?
I got my first video camera (yes, it used actual tapes) when I was 15,
and since then I always wanted to make movies. I initially trained as a
computer programmer, which was a mistake but after that I retrained and
then worked in film and TV ever since so have been in the industry most
of my adult life. I've never looked back!
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The
Evil Fairy Queen?
For a long time I worked on other people's projects gaining experience.
I always wanted to direct my own film and luckily had the opportunity to
direct the genre horror Carnivore. From here my directing career seemed
to be going well with back-to-back dragon fantasy films but they didn't
perform as well as we hoped, and coupled with Covid I thought my
directing career was over. I'm so happy that James trusted me with his
baby! Going through your filmwork,
it seems you never stray too far from the fantasy genre - so is that a
genre at all dear to you, and why (not)?
I really enjoy making films that are entertaining. I enjoy all genres
but fantasy and horror are my favourites. They are fun to make and
entertaining to watch even if they don't turn out as expected. How would you
describe yourself as a director?
As a director I know what I want but I also listen to the people around
me as working as team always gets the best result. I really like to
listen to other people on set when there is time but if we're short on
time we need to get on with it because if you don't finish then you
don't have a film. I really want my films to be entertaining, so whenever
I have a difficult decision I usually default to whatever I think will
be the most entertaining outcome. Filmmakers who inspire
you? Growing up I loved the films of Sam Raimi, so he is definitely a huge
influence. Other directors such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Steve
Miner, Frank Henenlotter, Stuart Gordon and so many more have
definitely inspired me. Pretty much every film I've ever watched, the
good, the bad and the forgettable in some way affect my filmmaking. Your favourite movies?
There are so many films that I like from guilty pleasures to all time
classics. Alien is usually my answer to that question but there are so
many more movies I love that it's impossible to talk about them all! ... and of
course, films you really deplore?
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Deplore, those are strong words. There are a lot of bad films out there.
I find Blumhouse films mostly pretty bad with occasional gems. I don't
like pretentious films or long boring ones as they are not entertaining.
Anything with bad pacing I really hate. I like indie films, but if they
are too amateurishly then I just turn them off. Your/your movie's
website, social media, whatever else?
I'll try to update our Linktree with everything anyone can desire:
https://linktr.ee/theevilfairyqueen
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
That was a very comprehensive interview, thank you for taking your time
to talk to me! Thanks for the interview!
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