With the start of principle photography looming for the production team of The Musicals, lastatak.com took an opportunity to sit down with the film's new producer Andrew Rowell, to find out how he got involved in the movie and how the film is going.
Andrew Rowell, a 22 year old Stoke-on-Trent native, had the daunting task of inheriting a movie that had been in pre-production for five months under another producer, who had left the project over creative differences. Unwavered by the task at hand, Andrew sounds relaxed and in control as he talks about his previous work.
'After my first role as producer in 2002 sm.jpg)
for the short film entitled Split, I produced, co-wrote and co-directed the 2004 film Four of a Kind. This went on to win the 2004 JVC award for best film at the Stafford Film Festival.' It was at the awards ceremony for the JVC Awards that Andrew Rowell met The Musicals writer and director Andrew Davidson who had screened his short film Quondam before the ceremony began. Andrew Davidson is no stranger to the JVC Awards having won the best film award in 2003 for Autumn Heart.
'I have since produced a 15-minute film entitled Annabelle directed by Darren Teale,' continues Rowell, 'and am currently in post-production of a film which I wrote, directed and produced called War Games. Future projects lined up include a short film entitled Grace, set to be directed by Anthony Parry. And I am currently moving into documentary with a set of films based around Stoke-on-Trent entitled the Factory Films.'
To ensure that the The Musicals is being made by the best possible people, Rowell brought Annabelle director Darren Teale with him to become the director of photography. Director Andrew Davidson is always looking for new artists to work with on his films, to mix new talent and visions with those of his established crew, and having seen Annabelle knew that he had the right people for the job.
Andrew Rowell's involvement in The Musicals grew steadily over time before he became the producer. He had been part of the audience during the Quondam premiere in March 2004 and had contacted Andrew Davidson shortly after to compliment the film and offer his services on any future productions the director may be working on. At that time The Musicals was still a series of rough notes and was intended to become a half hour short film. When the production started to crew up, Davidson asked Rowell if he would be interested in the assistant director job.
'I initially got involved with The sm.jpg)
Musicals when I was given the role of assistant director, and was impressed with the attitude and ambition of Last ATAK Pictures. When the producer job opened up I was very excited about the role and put myself forward for it.' The change over finally occurred in early December 2004 and Rowell threw himself into the job and started picking up the workload, however with two months from that date until photography the race was on to get it done on time. 'My hopes for the film is that it can reflect the potential of the script. It is my job to ensure this is reflected in terms creating the appropriate settings for the cast and crew to do there jobs effectively.'
There is little over 5 weeks until the film starts shooting, what is the producer doing right now? 'I am currently working very hard on a number of elements of production including searching and arranging locations, finding cast and crew and securing the appropriate finance. The biggest challenge is ensuring that the film looks as professional as possible. And to ensure the resources give director Andrew Davidson the creative freedom to do his job to the best of his ability.'
Despite the pressure of taking on a large project so late in the game, Andrew Rowell appears confident that the film will take place as scheduled. We thank him for taking the time to talk to us.
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