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Your new movie The Other
Soul to Evie - in a few words, what is it about?
The Other
Soul to Evie
is about a woman called Evie who struggles to help her
brother who has had a serious accident, and the intervening father does not
help matters. Evie turns to alcohol to alleviate her turmoil, but it just
spirals her further into despair.
What were your sources of inspiraton when writing The
Other Soul to Evie, and is any of it based on personal
experiences?
The inspiration occurred almost a year before the film was made. I was
waiting at a bus stop in Regent Street in London when a person accidently
stepped on my foot and I turned around and it was a boy of around 15 years
old with his mum. The boy had special needs, and this was extremely
apparent by his speech and behaviour and the toys he was marvelling at in
his bag which he was clearly far too old for. I felt for his mum as the
strength and heartache of bringing him up must be unimaginably difficult
and I felt quite emotional on the bus ride home that day. This then gave
me an idea for a film and as soon as I got home I began typing up ideas. To what extent can you actually identify
with Evie - and with Felix even, for that matter?
I can identify with Evie as she tries to do her best for Felix and then
seems to go off in her secret alcohol fuelled world, and how she kind of
wants things to go back the way they were but at the same time she loves
her brother Felix and she realises this is the way things are going to be
from now on and she has to face up to it. I can identify with Felix for
his intuitive nature towards Evie, he wants to help her as much as she’s
helping him. In The
Other Soul to Evie, Felix's drawings play a central role - so do
talk about them for a bit, and about your choice of motives?
Felix’s drawings are a way of him connecting to Evie in ways where he
wants to talk to her about things but the accident has taken a lot of that
away. His drawings show his unhappiness and also his hope too. He knows
that Evie is destroying herself due to him and he can’t stop her. He
loves nature, and the crying flower signifies his state of mind. He wants
things to be beautiful, but they turn out so sad.
What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand?
Charlotte, Charlie, Alan and Kitty are all excellent actors so the
directional approach was very relaxed. A few times I stepped in to direct
more, but the actors had all done their homework and really put 110% in
which was fantastic. Caisa, Josh and Tomasz are all relatively new to
acting and they all did so well as the supporting cast. Charlie really
worked on the Felix part well, and it was not easy to act a part like that
and I knew it was going to be a challenge for any actor, and he studied the
part and totally nailed it. Do talk about The
Other Soul to Evie's cast, and why exactly these people?
I’d worked with Charlotte Gould before on The
Mind of Juliane and she is such
a gifted up-and-coming actress, and the Evie role just said Charlotte right
away to me.
I looked around for weeks for someone to play Felix, and when I
saw Charlie Suff he fit the role completely.
I wanted to work with Alan Austen for a
while and he worked with my friend Emma Dark [Emma
Dark interview - click here] on her film Salient
Minus Ten. Alan has been in some favourite films and TV shows of mine, namely
The
Empire Strikes Back, Octopussy, An American Werewolf in
London, Doctor
Who, Grange Hill and Minder etc.
Kitty Whitelaw and I worked on the club scene
track for The Mind of Juliane,
and she’s an excellent singer as well as
being a great actress, and the Katie role was totally a Kitty role for me.
Caisa Martin has been in many of my films and is just starting to come into her own
with small supporting roles, and she was perfect in the film.
Josh Shrives and Tomasz Zaroda fit the roles of Felix’s friends so well. Tomasz is also the
clapper board operator on my films including this one.
A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The shoot was excellent and it was out very first central London shoot as
it was in Drury Lane which is basically Covent Garden on the edge of
London’s West End. We filmed it on a really cool estate just off of
Drury Lane. On set atmosphere was excellent, Charlotte is one of the
funniest people ever and she was always making everyone laugh on set, she
is a genius! Another genius of course is Nicolai Kornum, who films and
edits all of my films and on this film just like all the other films he
had some wonderful ideas that worked so well and created an absolutely
stunning aesthetic. Denise Yarde is the sound recorder on my films and
again is another genius! There is no one as good as her when it comes to
sound; she worked on huge Hollywood films so she knows her stuff, and her
attention to detail is superb. The
$64-question of course, where can The
Other Soul to Evie be seen?
The film has been selected by a few festivals which is great, so hopefully
that will continue. Anything you can
tell us about audience and critical reception of The
Other Soul to Evie?
Most reviews have been great and some more critical but that’s always
going to happen. There are some people that have been upset by the film as
it reminds them of things like loved ones passing away, and they thanked me
for the film. People have remarked that it's a very heavy film, and I do agree
as that’s what I set out to do. I wanted the film to have a heavy
emotional power and I think we achieved that. Any future projects you'd
like to share?
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There is a film coming in 2021 that is cast, and it’s the most full-on
controversial film I’ve ever written. Alan Austen returns for that film.
Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
For more info and stills, behind the scenes photos etc. please visit
www.facebook.com/theothersoultoevie
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I've merely forgotten to ask?
Charlotte Gould will also return next year hopefully in a very dark comedy
drama. Thanks for the interview!
Thank you so much for interview, Mike, it's much appreciated and I’m
really glad you enjoyed the film.
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