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interviewed by cittàgazze

The French Philip Pullman site Cittagazze have just published their interview with me about The Butterfly Tattoo. They've been a great supporter of the film before we'd even shot it... so thanks guys! It's in French and you can read it here.

The english version is below:

So, at last is the Butterfly tattoo released in UK. What is your feeling about this ?

Relief and excitement... it's been a long journey frustrating journey trying to get the film in released in the UK. We were lucky enough to be bought up after the New York Independent Film and Video festival in the US for cinema and DVD which happened in April. The UK distribution companies were slower on the uptake which was very surprising considering the film was a British story! After the more conventional distribution channels failed, I took it upon myself to start contacting cinemas directly and offering a good partnership in order to release the film. Showcase Cinemas loved the film and really picked us up and, in the end, released the film in selected cities. It was a relief because I knew the film deserved to be seen by a cinema audience instead of going straight to DVD. I also felt that I owed it to the very talented actors and technicians who gave their time to create the film.

Is there any hope to see this movie in France/Belgium/Switzerland in any way (DVD/theater) ? Is there any release date for any other country ?

I know the film has been sold to various European cities but because I've been concentrating on the UK release I'm a bit out of the loop on release dates! I know there are plans for it to be released in these territories soon but they've not announced when. Keep you eyes on our website and it'll be updated as soon as we know.

For people who are not familiar with the long way of the movie to the screen can you give a short overview of the process since shootage ?

Well, after a 5 week shoot the film went into post-production. I was the main picture editor on the film but I was lucky enough to have a great assembly editor cutting while we were shooting so there was already a very rough cut in place. It took about three months for me to do my first cut and then there were a couple of months of tweaking, then about two months mixing the sound and about a month just colouring/grading the film. In the meantime we had another company doing the FX on the film (a lot of which you won't notice as FX shots!). After then it was a case of getting the film into as many film festivals as possible to premiere and screen the film in order to get attention from sales agents and distributors to get the film to cinemas.

You said in some interviews you first thought producers wanted you to direct The Golden Compass. Wasn't there some temporary disapoitement to "only" direct The Butterfly Tattoo after that ?

Ha! No disappointment at all. Before I was signed to the film the producers were just being careful to reveal which book they were getting the rights to. I only knew it was a Pullman novel and my mind immediately jumped to "Northern Lights". When I found out it was "The Butterfly Tattoo" I ran out, bought the book and loved it.

Did you already read/knew Pullman's work (TBT or other books) prior to this project and what was your first feeling when reading this particular book ?

I knew of Pullman's work... a lot of my friends were big fans of the His Dark Materials series. I'd also seen a couple of his TV adaptations. I loved the book when I read TBT for the first time. It had everything in it that I wanted to make as my next feature. Great characters, romance and a thriller undertone... I knew it would make a great movie.

Was it difficult to adapt such a book as a movie ? Why this necessity of adding cellar phones in the script? (Why didn't this film take place in the 90's, like in the book?) Is there any other modifications you thought necessary ?

There are a couple of modifications that we had to make in order for the book to work for screen. The first was that I wanted to make it a little darker and allow the story to "grow up" with the times and especially with the attitudes of modern day teenagers. The book was originally written in the early 90's and a lot has changed since then. We really needed to address this in the adaptation in order to make it appeal to today and not come across as naive. Secondly, the advances in technology needed addressing. The biggest problem was to figure out how to make two young people loose contact - which is a big plot point - in a world of mobile phones, Facebook, the internet etc. I had some initial ideas on how we could make this work but Stephen Potts (the screenwriter) took this problem and ran with it and came up with some very dramatic sequences involving technology that the book didn't have. It was important for me that technology - such as mobile phones - become a part of the story instead of making the characters just loose or break a phone. It's too much of a cop out and the audience wouldn't have been with us. Stephen did a great job... it's hard to imagine the film without mobile phones because it worked so well!

In which extent was P. Pullman involved in the project ? Was he of any help in the writing process ?

Philip was involved in reading each draft of the script. It was important for us all that he was happy with the way we were updating and adapting things. I even involved him in the casting. He was very happy with the adaptation. I think it's because although we've modified and updated the book in the film, the essence of the characters are exactly the same as the book. You can watch the film and read the book and find out more about the characters through a lot of the original backstories.

What was your degree of liberty during shootage ? Did you or the actors changed in part the content of the scenes in comparison to script ?

I was very closely involved with the development of the script so when we got to shooting we were all pretty happy. I changed the odd line here or there in rehearsals and during shooting because sometimes what is great on the page doesn't translate to the screen perfectly. These were all minor additions though. The structure of the film in the editing room compared to the script has changed though. We ended up cutting a few scenes - which will be on the DVD - and changing the order of some sequences to make it work better. This is pretty normal though.

What motivated the choice of indie music band of Oxford's area?

It was inspired by the book. I think there's a part where Jenny and Chris and going to go to the Jericho Tavern but they are late and miss the band. I decided to make sure - in the film version - that they did see the band! It worked for the characters. I really wanted to give the film an interesting soundtrack by the use of indie music and contrast it with the beautiful piano lead score we had. I'm also a big fan of indie music so that's probably a reason too!

The movie presented some educationnal purposes in its creation process. Can you explain us in what it consisted and what are your feelings now that the movie is released ?

There was an educational scheme running during the film (although that term makes it sound a little too formal!) Basically, the film embraced new talent in front and behind the camera. It gave people the opportunity to do a role/job that they wouldn't normally have the chance to do. It allowed us to be able to train people on the shoot into the jobs that they wanted to do. It great because a lot of people who started in the industry on our film are now continuing to work in it! It also allowed me to find and cast two brilliant new actors - Jessica Blake and Duncan Stuart - who really are the heart and soul of the film. They're the big stars of tomorrow.

In the movie, there is a scene when Chris goes faster with his bike than other (professionnal ?) bikers. Was it a reference to Jacques Tati's "Jour de Fête" ?

Ha ha! I think it's probably more of a unintentional homage... but I can't speak for Stephen (Potts).

In the Chris-is-cooking scene, I had the feeling you filmed your character's failures with some kind of amused compassion rather than only in a comic way. Was it intentionnal ?

I just wanted to make the characters feel human. I wanted people to love these characters so when we get to the heart wrenching and tragic elements of the story they are totally involved with the film. These little humorous points are all designed to allow the audience to get the know the character more and also keep lighter moments in what is quite a tragic story.

What's next for you ?

My next feature is another romantic thriller! But, it's on a bigger scale. It's called "Crashing Wall Street" and is based amongst the Wall Street Crash of 1929 so it's a big period epic number. We should have some great actors onboard too!

If you have any message to send to your audience, in France or anywhere else, feel free to do it !

I'd just like to say thank you for all your support of the film and especially at Cittagazze. The fans have been really great and it's allowed us to take the film further in terms of exposure and distribution. Thanks a million! I just hope I've not been one of those directors who have "ruined" the book!

Interview by cittagazze.com

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