Our emerging-talent-philes warned us about a director who was winning awards on the festival circuit so we cornered him to tell us all about his latest project. Here is what he said…
Frost: Tell me about the film…
Adam: Rock and Roll Stole my Soul is a fictional documentary about a rock band called the Fury. It charts their almost rise to fame, and the bitterness and loss that comes with the failure of a band, or, indeed anyone, to make it in the music industry.
But, you know. There’s jokes in there too.
Frost: What was your inspiration for making it?
Adam: I’ve been massively into music since the age of 5, and always dreamed about being the lead singer in a rock and roll band. Or a guitarist. To be honest, I’d have settled for bassist. For a while, it looked like it might happen; the only thing really holding me back was a complete and utter lack of any musical ability whatsoever. Plus, I couldn’t sing/didn’t have the requisite charisma/access to illegal pharmaceuticals. Rock and Roll Stole my Soul is basically me living out my rock star fantasies, which is one of the reasons it was so much fun to make.
Frost: What exactly is the film nominated for?
Adam: It picked up a best film nomination at the Twin Rivers Media Festival in North Carolina, and has just been selected for the AOF Festival in Pasadena. That’s a biggie, as it was voted one of the 25 best by Moviemaker magazine, and is renowned for helping break new talent. They announce the award nominees at the start of July, so I’m keeping everything that’s vaguely crossable crossed.
Frost: What was your biggest challenge you faced while you were making it?
Adam: The biggest challenge, and believe me, it’s a damn good challenge to face, is what to leave out. I could have made another film with the material and actors I had to cut out completely. I shot the film in two ways: there was a shooting script, which I captured, and then each scene would be acted out again, but this time completely improvised. Because the format is a documentary one, and because it’s important for each performance to be as truthful as possible, all the auditions which were held were improvisational in format. There are performances in this film that it just wasn’t possible to include, for reasons of story or running time. It was a dream cast to work with.
Frost: Is there anything you would have done differently if you did it again?
Adam: I shot this film on a rolling basis, over a period of 9 months, which was great, as it allowed me to go back and fix what wasn’t working, story wise. For the first time, when it was finished and burning to DVD, I had the pleasant feeling of finishing a project that was almost exactly how I originally pictured it. Visually, it’s not perfect – if I was to start shooting it again today parts of it would certainly look better – but overall I told the story I wanted to tell, in the manner I wanted to tell it.
Frost: Do you see yourself as a typical ‘auteur’?
Adam: I’m always wary of the term ‘auteur’, as it suggests a beret wearing, pretentious ****. Now, while this is in fact a completely accurate description of me, I’d still rather consider myself as multi skilled media maverick.
The lesson I learnt from my first film, The Superhero, was that I needed a greater degree of self-sufficiency. It’s not enough to just classify yourself as a writer/director nowadays. If you’re working on a limited budget (and who isn’t?) it’s vital that you can do as many of the roles yourself as is physically possible. On Superhero, because there was animation and a great deal of effects work, too much emphasis was put on other people. With this film, I tried to make it as simple as possible, and adopted a back to basics approach, teaching myself editing, sound design and camera along the way. This has led to me doing video work with several theatre companies this year. I’m always up for collaborating with a project that seems like it’s going to be exciting.
Frost: What’s next in the pipeline?
Adam: I’ve made a bit of headway into the music video world this year. I’m just finishing one for a Mexican artist called Mig Dfoe which I think is going to turn out really well. It’s a great tune, and is out next month, I believe, on Loki Records. I’ve also just finished shooting and editing a short film with Kirsty Eyre, who I know from the theatre world. I can’t say too much about that one yet, but it’s unique, it’s called The Lonely Gladiator, and it could be a bit of a festival killer, I think.
Frost: Where can festival goers see your film being screened?
Adam: Any of you good people that are in the LA/Pasadena area, get yourselves to the AOF Festival in Pasadena from July 23rd onwards, snap up a ticket for the screening, and have your soul stolen by Rock and Roll*.
*Film not actually guaranteed to steal your soul, more just borrow it for 70 minutes
