A  To say its a gangster film would be a bit misleading.  It is about gangsters, but its really an action packed piece of high drama.  If you've got fantastic northern actors and youre following in the great tradition of gritty, British and particularly northern drama and all that it entails; love, loss, family, belonging and retribution.  Then you're not going to make a typical gangster movie.  It's also made in my home town of Manchester, so it's got a real sense of geographical identity.  And into the middle of all that walks this gangster from New York, and that sets the story off.

 

 

A  I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but I did want to make something fresh and unexpected.  I didn't want people acting as though they were in a gangster film.  If you use different ingredients in a dish you'll get a different flavour, and that's exciting to audiences and to me as a director.  We all know exactly what to expect as soon as we see certain actors on the screen and thats often great, but real life people aren't caricatures or archetypes. 

 

 

A  I studied The Long Good Friday at the London Film School, and when I approached A New York Story I was using this movie and others as initial inspiration.  So I started with that tradition firmly in mind.  The late John McKenzie was an inspirational director and there is a wealth of talent to draw from and be inspired by.

 

I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with some of the cream of British cinema as well as study their work.  They're all artists with a unique vision, but one thing they all do is to put their own, personal stamp on a film.  So I'd have to say yes it does fit into that tradition, but that it has a strong voice and personality of its own.

 

 

A  The first film that really made me sit up and take notice was Robocop.  I got into Stanley Kubrick when I saw The Shining, and then Sergio Leone.  My dad showed me The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and as far as I'm concerned thats still one of the best films ever made.  After that there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life.  Franc Roddan was at the London Film School and he was a huge inspiration.

 

More recently, as I was finding my own voice as a director Ive been inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson and of course, no list of inspirational directors would be complete for me as a young Northern director without Shane Meadows.

 

 

A  I recently watched Tree of Life for the second time.  The first time I actually walked out of the cinema.  Dinosaurs on a beach?  I didnt think the none-linear narrative worked at all.  But I felt I hadnt really given it a chance, so I watched it again and loved it.

 

I watch a real mixture of mainstream, obscure and classic films.  I revisited In A Lonely Place hoping it would stand up to the first time I saw it, and it did.  Its as good now as the day it was made.  

 

For A New York Story I watched Killing Them Softly for genre and Only God Forgives and Drive for style & cinematography.  

 

 

A   I studied at the London Film School and directed some shorts.  I worked in TV for a while and then I was asked to direct this feature.  I've done my time!  I'm ready for this and looking forward to putting all of the experience & mentoring into practise.

 

 

A To be honest, I think true, gritty, Northern dramas really only exist on TV, with a memorable exception every now and again.  It's quite rare to find drama to the standard of Dead Mans Shoes as a movie.

 

This film has strong Northern sensibilities and its about my home town of Manchester.  It has a strong geographical and personal identity that is maybe quite rare and unusual.  

 

Its a dark and character-driven film, which is also typical.  So fans of that type of film will recognise & hopefully enjoy those elements.  The main difference I think is stylistic.  Visually this is a different type of movie.

 

 

A  The journey that all of the characters go on and how their lives interweave and affect each other is the most exciting part for me.  Manchester as a city is going to keep on rolling regardless, and were voyeurs during this very fragile, changeable time in the lives of these characters.

 

 

A There are some potentially exciting projects in the pipeline after I've finished A New York Story, and a few ideas I'd like to work on.  I would really like to work in the US, but at the same time there are ideas I'd like to make here.  I'm very excited about the future beyond my debut feature.

 

 

There's the usual stuff thats only a cliché because its true don't give up and keep going.  Believe in your ideas and understand that it's a team effort.  But on a personal level I'd say it's fine to be a perfectionist and it's fine to be obsessive to a certain degree, but it's important to know when to let go and to let the film unfold.  Put something of yourself into everything you do and make it personal.  But at the same time, learn to collaborate and know when to let go and let the film live.