We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with director Paul Knight about “24 Little Hours.” Check out the interview below.
Hi, Paul! Thank you for granting the interview. We’re excited to speak with you. You recently wrote and directed the movie “24 Little Hours.” Tell us how do you estimate the value of any given film?
Hello and thank you all at Occhi for allowing me to be part of this edition and for the support and voice you give Indie filmmakers. Magazines like yours, which allow creative’s to share their projects with your audience are greatly appreciated.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I believe something similar can be said in regards to storytelling, what is important to one person may have no impact on another so you have to play it smart and adapt the message you want to send in an envelope people want to open, in this case, a film about revenge and the price you would have to pay by calling it justice. That brings your audience in and hopefully by the end credits you have shown them something that they will take away from. I feel this is true of whatever story you are out to tell, as long as you get the packaging right then the value of what is inside will be a surprise, ideally a pleasant one because no one looks forward to opening a brightly wrapped box to find a pair of socks in it.
With that said, ’24 Little Hours’ offers two surprises, including the cast because of the way it was filmed, none of the cast ever read the whole script. I did this so neither side of our ‘Cops and Killers’ saga knew what the other side was doing throughout the film, it eliminated any pre-conceptions the actors may have used to alter their reaction or performance. I felt it gave a realistic approach as each person’s story unravels.
The other is how the use of different styles, different grades, and visual setups all the way down to the music is used to separate the unfolding drama as one side of the story is seeking revenge whilst the other side is seeking justice. I used two different Composers, US-based Lance Warlock providing the score for the cop’s and British music producer Paul Tucker tackling the killer’s side with additional tracks supplied by the soulful tones of LJ Howard and rapper SharpeyMajor. Each side of the story feels different yet interconnects seamlessly, as it unravels the mystery behind the reasoning of the events as they unfold very much in the style of ‘The Usual Suspects’.
Did you come across any budget challenges during production?
Every filmmaker wishes they had a bigger budget to play with, ‘24 Little Hours’ was no different. The budget we had was very tight however we compensated for that by shooting the entire film in 8 days, it is astonishing on how far your budget can stretch when it is broken down over 8 days rather than 18. Naturally, a little more would have allowed us to go bigger on the screen in certain scenes nevertheless what we did capture for our limitations was nothing short of amazing.
We were very fortunate to have a small yet multi-skilled crew behind the camera and a smorgasbord of acting talent in front of it. You can never go wrong when the need to display the passion you bring to a project far outweighs the need or in some cases greed of the payday you wish to take out of it. Creatively the restrictions of a smaller budget push you to be creative as a filmmaker, to find the best solution to whatever problem arises or at least that is how I have found it and it makes you appreciate what can be achieved on the projects where the budget is bigger.
How do you choose the material to use for a film?
I have found as a rule of thumb, if you are looking to make a career in the film industry you should be out to make two successful commercial films, then your passion project and then two more successful commercial films and so on. What you see, especially in the UK, is that because we don’t have a strong film industry many filmmakers do not stop to understand the business side of ‘Show Business’ and focus more on the show element. Usually making their non-commercial passion project first and then spending years wondering why they are not making any more films. Like any business, the rule is simple, make a product people will spend money on, allow your investors to fully recoup and the chances of being backed again to make a second film will be a lot higher. Profit will always win over loss, so to ensure that the theme, genre, and commerciality of your material must be a significant factor before starting.
Doing your market research is an important element of the development process. What sells the best in your country? will the same film sell well overseas? Is the return value greater than the actual cost? The answers to these type of questions will guide you in the material that is worth creating. In this case, we went with action, crime, revenge – all three are proven areas for success. The initial buzz we have gained from the premise of the film, the visuals, and teaser trailer confirms we made the right move with this film and we are confident that we will receive the opportunity to do it all again, just with a little more in the budget and a few more shoot days.
What do you hope to accomplish with the movie?
We are all very proud of what was done in 8 days. There are other films that have been shot is less time, however, they are usually 4 actors in one location type films. We shot our action film in 15 locations with a talking cast of 30 for a budget less than I see some filmmaker’s crowdfunding for their 10 minute short. Ideally, I hope other filmmakers will take note and follow suit, perfect what groundwork we have done and build up from it. If we can standardize the way independent film is made who knows what will spawn from it. Of course, this is more aimed at the UK, where filmmaking is more of a hobby than a profession however that does not change the fact others can learn, adapt and improve on the model. I would love to sit back one day and read about someone else’s project and find out they did an even more ambitious film with similar limitations and they felt confident going in because of the example we were able to set. I think that accomplishment would overshadow any amount of awards you can win on the festival circuit.
When choosing talent, what did you look for?
The ability to act is always a deciding factor when choosing talent lol but seriously, we are lucky to have a solid network of experienced actors within our circle to reach out to and the rest of the cast was found through auditions. It was here that we found Fiona Skinner who plays our lead DI Summers. Fiona is mesmerizing on screen and a true example of the upside to working with a professionally trained actor. Fiona’s character had over 46 pages of dialogue which she came to set off-book and ready to go. We shot all her scenes in 2 days or to be more exact 22 hours in total – that is just incredible, 46 pages all perfectly done in that short space of time. Her performance was flawless and highlights that she is going places. We were very fortunate to have Fiona onboard as we were with the rest of our cast, most of whom are known in the UK and Internationally, which is always a plus when it comes to marketing the film. The caliber of acting throughout puts this film on another level.
What was your favorite scene?
That’s a hard choice to make, as the performances throughout are strong and enjoyable but if I had to narrow it down, there are three that stand out the most. First is Angelo (played superbly by Marc Bannerman) being interrogated by DI Summers (Fiona Skinner) over the violent events of the day before. Marc absolutely shines in this exchange (as he does throughout the entire film) and the presence he projects on screen is completely different to any other performance I have seen him do in the past.
My second choice would be the conversation that takes place over drinks between Skinner (the wonderful Danny Midwinter) and Romeo (played by emerging talent Nisaro Karim). The back and forth here works so well because neither actor gave way to the other until it was time and Danny’s ability to change the feeling in the room with just a look makes this scene something special.
And lastly but by no means least is the scene between DI Summers and her Superintendent (played marvelously by Jonathan Hansler). Jonathan delivers his lines with such intensity that we shot the scene with as fewer angles as possible so not to detract from it. And the dynamic between them both is electric as Fiona’s character holds her own whilst still respecting the chain of command between the pair. These two did 3 scenes in total together, each one is a stealer. As I said earlier, we were very lucky in the caliber of actors we were able to get for this film.
How can fans-to-be gain access to the movie?
At the time of writing we are finalizing post-production and prepping to talk with distributors at the AFM (American Film Market) We will certainly be letting people know via our social media outlets in due course so all I can do is appeal to those interested to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @24littlehrs where we will keep you updated – thanking all those in advance for their support.
What has been your favorite experience in making the movie?
It is always fun working with old friends and I’m thankful that I got to do that with several familiar faces from my previous film ‘A Landscape of Lies’ as well as meeting and working with new people both in front and behind the camera. It is here that is it is only fitting that I mention our DoP Richard Oakes, it was our first time working together and the pace can be quite daunting to anyone not used to it however I found Richard to be on it every day, bouncing ideas around and generally getting the vision on the screen with little fuss. He is becoming more and more in demand and I hope we get to work together again very soon.
When looking back on the movie, what resonated with you the most and why?
I guess the undertaking and commitment from everyone involved, this turnaround was not for the faint-hearted and whoever came on board had to be prepared for long shoot days whilst still giving a 110% and the production was blessed enough to have got that. For a prime example of this, you don’t have to look any further than our leading man Kris Johnson, who had to undertake the biggest challenge with his role and to combat his character’s limitations Kris devised the entire look and backstory of ‘the man of few words’. We discussed the beard but everything else was Kris’s interoperation of our ‘avenger’, personally, I’d love to take the praise for the sheepskin coat but credit where credit is due it was all Kris. He gave it his all and I firmly believe that screams on the screen.
From the production side when you schedule for something this ambitious with the limitations we had, the slightest error can have a huge impact, be that someone not turning up on time, a location close to us last minute, the weather and everyday hiccups and yet the film still got shot in the timeframe set out, to a quality level that far exceeded what was originally expected. This comes down to the people who believed in me and this project enough to want to be a part of it, people who without their input this film wouldn’t have been a fraction of the success it is. People like Kris Sommerville and his Shooting Stars Company, Matt Sapsford, Lee Hipgrave, Danny Young and the residents and businesses of Brentwood, Basildon, and Laindon in Essex whose generosity was the backbone to this film.
In your opinion, how could this movie make an impact in the world?
To be honest, the film and story isn’t going to add anything new to the world, its message isn’t life altering however it is the concept behind making films like this is where I hope the world or at least the entertainment industry will take note. Technology that is readily available to us, forward planning and creative knowhow is allowing filmmakers to do more for less. I feel changing the perception of what the fantasy of filmmaking is to the reality of what they can be is paramount, and that isn’t for the public but industry people like studio execs, distributors and more importantly agents. I feel agents need to adjust their outlook on the industry and learn to change with the times. By understanding what filmmakers are doing and capable of in today’s market.
I say this because we experienced a few nay-sayers whilst casting this film. We had some solid interest from actors who were into what we were out to achieve and even threw their names into the hat for roles, and I mean actors we would never have dreamed would even consider us a fair game but they did right up to the point the conversation was handed over to their agents. It wasn’t the day rate on offer nor the role that had them talking their clients out of the project but the fact that we were only shooting for 8 days… none of them could wrap their heads around it and therefore did not believe we were making a full-length feature film and in turn stopped negotiations. So at the very least, if we can set a standard and show what is being produced in the independent circuit, when an actor or whoever says this is something they’d like to be a part of, their agents will see it as a viable option and be open to the possibility.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to make this movie? Would you do anything differently?
Ooow this feels like one of those double-edged questions. If I knew then what I know now the final edit is done would I go back and still make this film, I guess the philosophical answer would be ‘no’. If I could go back and make the film barring the flaws and mistakes then the film we made wouldn’t be the same film and I wouldn’t have learned from it, granted it would have been a more rounded piece but what would that mean moving forward? There are failings within the project, I’m big enough to admit that, it was a film conceived and wrapped within 8 weeks, 8 days of that spent on the film itself with a constraining budget. I know what scenes I got wrong as a director as the actors know what they would do different, what changes there would have been within the crew and where we would have spent more time and attention. Nonetheless, I would rather take those hard-learned lessons and demonstrate the growth on the next project rather than remake this one.
My biggest regret on this film was from a directorial stance on a rather lengthy scene that I let one of the actors down by not changing something that fundamentally would have added not just something extra to the scene but to the character as well. I have since met with them face to face and held my hands up to it, I did wrong by an actor I respect, and in turn, could have lost their faith in me and could have seen them not wanting to work with me again in the future. Luckily that is not the case.
I truly believe that evolving with each film is the answer to becoming a better filmmaker and if we were to make a sequel to this film I know where I’d develop characters and their back stories, what I would bring in on the action scenes and what I would leave out. The same approach will go into whatever I undertake next because I know what areas to focus more on. Nobody gets it right, whether you are a new filmmaker on the indie scene or a studio heavy-hitter making a $200m blockbuster (you only have to look what’s being churned out by the studios at that level to have my point proven). If you mess up accept that you made a mistake, learn from it, move on and get it right next time. Always remember ‘believe, achieve, and you’ll succeed’.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about the movie and your career?
Since undertaking this film a lot of my peers within the industry have contacted me to say I must be mad, that they wouldn’t dream of trying anything so outrageous in terms of shoot days and budget but for me the trials and tribulations of this film were a walk in the park compared to my last film ‘A Landscape of Lies’ which you good people at Occhi were kind enough to do an article on last year. I love to rise to a challenge, this film was no different, it was a real eye-opener and great experience that I’d happily do again, it gives a clear indication what can be accomplished if everyone is on the same page. Using the method we did on ‘24 Little Hours’, accompanied with my experiences of which pitfalls to avoid I have been able to encourage and work with new talent looking to get their foot on the ladder. It is extremely humbling to be a mentor to these teams and I look forward to bringing their completed films to the foreground in due course.
Outside of that, I have been working on several new projects, all in various stages of development that look to be heading for production in 2019 as well as trying to bring my passion project ‘Palma’ to light, which hopefully will become a reality after a couple of commercial successes under my belt. Naturally, I can be found on social media be it Twitter, Facebook etc under the username @lndnknts or at www.lndnknts.com
In the meantime, we were out at the AFM receiving a lot of positive feedback and interest and of course, our Red Carpet screening happening on the 24th (naturally) in our hometown of Romford.
Thank you once again, Occhi for your interest in our project and I hope to be part of it again next year with a new project and to follow up on the success of this one.
Connect with Paul:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lndnknts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lndnknts
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3572929/
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