This week we interviewed director George Horne to find out a bit more about what makes him tick.
1. What made you pursue filmmaking?
Filmmaking was a central part of my childhood. As a grubby 12 year old wandering around the countryside, I would film almost anything I could find. My early films were truly awful. But once the whiz-bang-special-effects of my amateur filmmaking wore thin, I discovered a more powerful, intimate and human centred medium beneath. So I swapped the starwipes for storylines and now I’m here. I suppose it was that sense of escapism that first grabbed me.
2. What roadblocks did you face when you were starting out and what do you face today (if any)?
Honestly? It’s largely money. Yes, it’s true you don’t need a seven figure budget to make a great film. But you still need something. Especially when you’re starting out. Once you’re established, ironically it matters less, at that point people and brands trust you and your experience and just want to be part of the idea.
3. What is your greatest film achievement to date?
I’ve done quite a lot in my 10 years as a filmmaker. I’ve worked with the biggest brands in the world, I’ve had films live-broadcast to a hundred cinemas all at once, I’ve sat in an audience at a festival and watched people tear up to a story I wrote. But my proudest moment was as a 18 year old, when I won ‘best film’ at my art college’s end of year film show. The school was renowned for its young filmmakers, and my final piece was an ambitious 15 minute dark comedy about a librarian-serial killer. Quite the contrast to the “edgy” black and white French noir filmmaking of my student peers. I look back and the prize was tacky and my hair beyond embarrassing, but I was so proud, that was when I knew filmmaking was for me.
4. Do you have any advice for young filmmakers out there ?
Strangely, I think the best tip is to not listen to too much advice. Learn your own way, discover your own style and start to understand the message you want to put into your work. Share what you make and see how people respond, have the confidence to do things in new and interesting ways – but always in your way. Learn to fail quickly and start again. It’s about knowing who you are, what you want and not caring what anyone else thinks.
5. Do you think it is essential to go to a film institute in order to become a successful filmmaker?
Not essential but very helpful. Not for the qualification, but for the portfolio and more so, the network of people you’ll find there. So if you go, then form connections. Make friends, do favours and scope out a team you can work with long term.
6. Which film or piece of content has inspired you the most?
In Bruges is the film I point to. It’s perfect. The scriptwriting and its comic elements are fantastic. Visually it’s stunning. It’s clearly violent and abrasive, but also vulnerable and elegant in its daintiness. The characters are all brilliantly developed on an individual level, yet don’t infringe upon each other. The music just heightens it all even further, and it’s just so, so funny.
7. Which director(s) do you look up to and why?
Who doesn’t like the Coen brothers? They’ve mastered so many genres and styles, leaving behind them countless iconic characters that can’t be replicated or forgotten.
8. What is your dream film job/brief and why? Tell us who/which brand you would you love to work with.
Any brand that’s brave enough to do away with the needless layers of corporate strategy that often hamper filmmaking, and instead just want to tell a good story that speaks to them. Brands that aim to talk about things other than themselves, resulting in films people want to watch, share and talk about. Clients that to an extent, let their brand take a backseat and allow the film to do the talking for them. They’re the briefs I like.
9. What’s in-store for 2019?
I’m working on a great piece of branded content that uncovers where we are in the world of artificial intelligence. Asking leading experts the age old question first posed by Alan Turing:‘Can Machines Think?’
If you want to find out more about George or have project you’d like to work with him on, get in touch with us here.
