Regan Hall is a London-based director and producer of short films, commercials and fashion films for the likes of Dazed & Confused and Wonderland magazine. Regan recently finished filming a short film set in Iraq called ‘3 Hours’’, now in the editing phase it will be on the festival circuit this June. Here he gives us some insight into the phases of filmmaking.
"It was a huge effort getting ‘3 Hours’ off the ground. It’s not a typical production; filmed in Jordan, shot in Arabic, and starring Iraqi refugees, so it was “non-funding friendly”. I came up with half of the £30k budget myself and raised half the money privately.
I wanted to make a film to demonstrate a range of abilities; directing drama, action, and use of a non-English language cast and crew. Beyond directing, it was an even bigger test of my producing skills.
Setting up an indie production in Amman on a shoestring budget is a logistical nightmare. Luckily I had great support from the Royal Jordanian Film Commission. The locals saw me coming in with a baseball cap on thinking I was an American with studio money, but soon realised I was trying to do something special and gave me a lot of support. I had a cast of 30 and a crew of 20.
We lived and filmed in a conservative Muslim neighborhood and even had a couple of people drive past with handguns pointed at me. The local women are driven to their houses inside cars with curtains drawn, it was an eye opener.
Now we have to finish the editing and the get it into the festivals this year. Maya Vision runs the UK Short Film Completion fund to help with post-production and distribution – it’s a kind of last-chance door into UK film funding. We’re waiting with fingers crossed to see if we’ve been lucky enough to qualify.
On Style
"I’m passionate about drama and world cinema. I like to use long lenses and to shoot through foreground objects. A lot of films that are made about Iraq have a documentary feel, but I wanted 3 Hours to look cinematic. Having a good Director of Photography like Leo Bund certainly helps."
On Editing
"I studied at film school in New Zealand, then worked as an editor for five years. Editing was a great background - you learn how to shape a story and how to make shortcuts when shooting. A first-time director can often shoot the same scene from 10 different angles, unsure of how it will cut together. Though one drawback from a few years in the editing suite is that you can get stuck in a small room and not meet people - the film industry is all about people.
Some advice that I’ve been made well aware of in the past - never rush the editing. It’s very hard to be patient and finish the film to a high standard when everyone really wants to see it and you want to get it out there. I finished shooting [3 Hours]at the end of May [09] and am working on it in my spare time. If this were a normal, fully-funded commercial job I’d have finished it in a few weeks. After two years of hard work and £15k of my own money, it’s worth waiting."
Finding Collaborators
"The challenge is finding talented people with similar ambitions to your own - people you can learn from and be inspired by.
A great example is writers - I’ve met writers online through writer’s forums, wading through hundreds of loglines [the two line summary of their film idea] in order to find stories that I like.
I met George Kelly online, who I’ve written a teen slasher feature film with. He’s a talented youth South Londoner with an edgy, gritty style."
The Business of Film
"A producer I work with often says “it’s called the ‘film business’, not ‘film art’”. When it comes to thinking of film ideas, you do need to keep the ‘business’ in mind - imagine the poster, know your audience, and have a concept that can be explained in one or two lines. There’s nothing worse that investing a year or two of your life into a project that no-one wants to make. Films cost a lot of money, so it needs to make sense financially as well as creatively.
Resources
The NPA (New Producers Alliance) is a membership organisation and really good for learning the business of film and gives great advice to producers, writers, and directors.
Shooting People is also useful for job postings and finding collaborators working on small independent productions.
Agents
I don’t have a director’s agent yet, but am now looking for one. I have purposely held off until my work has reached a certain level. Having my own production company (Progression Media) has allowed me to earn a good living and support my other projects at the same time.
Regan's production company, Progression Media: www.progression-media.com
