I interviewed Jason Croot for the second time recently. Jason is an incredibly talented film director, writer and actor. He is everything the British film industry needs: a talented, hard-working, pro-active filmmaker who puts himself out there and just does it. I am in a few of Jason’s films, notably Meeting Place and Le Fear, Le Sequel, but I am not biased- honest.
Jason: Hello Frost readers thank you for the interview.
How easy was Le Fear to make? Le Fear was a world-wind my directorial debut post production was only 3 weeks. We filmed it in 2 days, and we had a few difficult situations, but when you are making films you have to give everything and think on your feet. It was an improvised feature around a basic script and all in all I was very pleased with the outcome
What is the most important thing you learned? A reliable crew is vital on a film set, we had a few people who let me down last-minute, but the crew where fantastic
Where did the idea come from? I was walking to the supermarket in Peckham and I thought I’d love to make a film about a film. After I made it I found there were about 30 films that were similar film within films, I’ve watched most of them. Day for Night is my favourite
How do filmmakers make money in this new climate? Great question, I’ve decided to show Le Fear for free currently on vodo.net http://vo.do/lefear. There are a few distribution deals on the table but I believe vodo will hit 10,000 plus views and that’s what excites me more than anything at present, but to answer your question Netflix, Love Film, Creatspace will make you some income but it really depends how good your film is. My saying is ‘Cream always rises even in cheap coffee’.
What has the feedback been like? Brilliant, when you send your film to be critiqued, especially when you have a budget of £1550 and this is a feature film you expect to be slammed, but out of 7 reviews we got one poor one, but the guy did give us 4 out of 5 for comedy so that was a good positive.
You obviously enjoyed yourself as you made a sequel, tell us about that; when will it be released? I would love to tell you about the sequel, I want to make Le Fear in to a series and really believe if people watch the first 2 films that dream can become a reality. The sequel is a 100% improvised feature unlike the original. It will be 90 minutes plus feature-length comedy horror, I must say the cast and crew where brilliant and we have 24 hours of footage to edit, I’m really excited about the prospect, no plans for a release yet, my films tend to be world-wind in making but lengthy in post, simply because I believe that method really works, okay give me a million pound budget I might film over 2 weeks, but the edit would take the same time generally 12-18 months after the film wraps, If you rush often your left unhappy so it will be ready when it’s ready. Sorry to be so vague, we will have a trailer out there this year and I have my target on a former number 1 soundtrack if I win the lottery I will definitely have that song in there, if not we will find a good track music and sound is so important in film making
What is next for you? Since moving into film making my acting as been limited but I’m hoping to get back into it. I’m currently looking at finding a new agent, I love directing so will hopefully will be working on some other films soon, I’ve decided not to make anymore of my own films until the four our out there{Le Fear, Demons and Doors, Meeting Place and Le Fear 2} hopefully start making some noise.
What advice do you have for people making their own films? Find a good crew, have your own equipment if possible, and always have a back up, especially with locations, finally sound is just as important as visuals; Finally never panic even if the crap hits the fan.
How important is IMDB to you? I was on a mission for sometime to get into the top 10,000 on there starmeter, I think I hit the dizzy heights of 10, 861 in 2010 but I’m way out at present mainly because I’ve produced some low-budget films which sent my starmeter the opposite way. Generally actors are in the top 10,000 not film makers/actors. Saying that I believe it does hold a lot of weight and fell free to check me out
What is your favourite movie? I don’t really do favourites, so I’d say Night on Earth
Favourite actor? Same again but I’d go with Roberto Benigni
Favourite director? I’m a big Jim Jarmusch fan
Thanks Jason. Thank you Frost for having me!!!