Latest News

An Interview With Simon Pearce - Bristol Filmmaker

Posted on: 31 Mar 2016

---

Simon Pearce is a multi-award winning local film-maker. He’s directed feature films Shank and Judas Ghost, both shot locally. He was also a major driving force behind the recent smash-hit web-series Horizon which is currently playing to great success on the international festival circuit. Simon is one of the busiest guys in the film industry in Bristol, yet despite that he still managed to find some time to sit down and talk to me about his next project – an extremely exciting Stephen King adaptation entitled I Am The Doorway.

 

Ben Allen: Hi Simon, thanks so much for talking to me today. So how did the opportunity to direct a Stephen King adaptation come about?

 

Simon Pearce: The project started when I was contacted by American writer Jeffrey Stackhouse, one of three who worked on this screenplay. Jeffrey and I first met when I screened my last feature Judas Ghost at Shriekfest in LA. He was a big fan and supporter of the movie and we stayed in touch ever since. I’ve read a couple of his feature scripts and they were both excellent. It was July 2015 when Jeffrey emailed to say he’d acquired the rights to this King story. I wasn’t aware of the scheme myself but every year King puts a selection of his shorts up for option to up and coming film-makers, for the price of just $1. Successful applicants then have a year to get the film made. Frank Darabont actually did one of these early in his career. It’s strictly non-commercial and solely for film festivals but its a great way to get some exposure for your work.

 

Jeffrey asked if I’d be interested in directing his adaptation and after reading the original story (taken from King’s shorts collection Night Shift) I jumped at the chance. The script was written as a collaboration between Jeffrey, Richard A Becker, and Wendy Lashbrook and the three of them have done a great job.

 

 

How far along in the development process of I Am The Doorway are you?

 

The script is locked so now we’re building our cast and crew and scouting our principal location. We’ve just cast Simon Merrells in our lead role which I’m really excited about. Simon has appeared in Spartacus: War of the Damned, Dominion, and The Tomorrow People amongst others – including my last film Judas Ghost. He’s a great actor and I can’t wait to see what he does with this. The team behind the scenes so far includes Phil Meheux as director of photography, who was BAFTA nominated for his work on the 007 film Casino Royale. Also, Illusion Industries, an incredible VFX house who’ve worked on the likes of Blade, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Mask. I feel very fortunate to already have people of such calibre on the project and can’t wait to work with them all.

 

Have you had much local support on this project?

 

I’ve been making film projects, short and feature-length, in Bristol for a long time now and have been really lucky to build up a great network of talented cast and crew that I am able to collaborate with on each new project. Due to the nature of this script it may likely be the first one I shoot outside of the city (as it requires a remote coastal location) but I still plan on using as many of the same crew as I can. Already I’ve been speaking to a lot of other people just in terms of advice and for recommendations in terms of crew and services that might best suit the film. There’s also the possibility I’ll be returning to Eyelights in Portishead, the green screen studio where I filmed Judas Ghost. Bristol has a great indie film-making scene and there’s so many passionate people here making stuff. It’s a great place to be when that’s what you’re into.

 

 

Up to now, what is it that’s kept you making films in Bristol?

 

Certainly to begin with it was born from practicality, this is my home – but I love shooting here! First of all there’s such a great variety of locations and history here, you can find two places that look very different right around the corner from one another. I really discovered that when making my first feature Shank which required a lot of exterior scenes. Also, as I said before, there’s a lot of other talented creative people here, and I’ve been able to build up a fantastic network of cast and crew I can work with on each film, and it’s nice to be able to go back to them and work in that environment. I’ve also found Bristol Film Office to be very supportive on past projects, even if its low budget. I definitely plan to keep making things here.

 

What do you think makes Bristol so special and unique in terms of its film-making community?

 

Personally I just feel it’s a much more tight-knit community, I’m often bumping into the same faces on jobs and at networking events, and everyone is very willing to help each other. It’s different to a big sprawling city like London say, where of course there’s also a lot of people doing it, but it feels a bit more disconnected and a lot more competitive. Also because there is a lot of production happening here with things like the Natural History Unit and now the Bottle Yard Studios in Whitchurch, there are a number of equipment hire and post production companies here who I’ve often found accommodating on my projects.

 

You were a major driving force behind the hit web-series Horizon, how are the plans for season 2 coming along?

 

Horizon is an example of something that came about because of all the things I mentioned above. It really was a nice culmination of everything I’d done so far. It was a chance, because of its scale, to use many of the cast and crew I’d gotten to know and liked working with, or perhaps hadn’t had the chance to yet, and also to really make use of the city as almost another character, not just an incidental setting. The city and specifically its history is really something that plays a part in the show, we only really hint at it in the first series, but season 2 which wraps up the story will really bring that to the fore!

 

We’re still at the writing stage right now, all the major story beats have been worked out and we have the first half, so first 5 episodes, scripted. We plan to run a crowd funding campaign and then shoot late summer, in order to release in 2017. It was a really fun process last time and I can’t wait to do it again! In the meantime series 1 has now begun playing at all these festivals around the world – Vancouver, Washington DC, Miami – and it plays in Los Angeles in April, so it’s great to be able to share the show, and Bristol of course, with an international community.

 

 

So, aside from Horizon season 2, do you have any other local projects lined up?

 

Two possibilities so far, I’m currently working closely with a talented writer Chris Marshfield on what I hope to be my next feature project. That is an action thriller that would be set in the city, but prior to that I might do another short… There’s a project I’ve been discussing with Martin Delaney, the lead in Judas, and that would shoot in Bristol. The nice thing about shorts is that to an extent you can just go out and make them! This can be handy when you’re developing a feature as obviously they take a lot longer to get off the ground – and you’re always learning in the meantime!

 

Thanks so much, Simon. Good luck with I Am The Doorway!

 

If you want to help Simon’s next project become a reality, you can check out their Facebook page or Indie GoGo campaign for more information. For more on Horizon, check out the Facebook page.

---