A man with strong opinions about the industry and even stronger opinions about Zooey Deschanel, I caught up with him on his birthday of all days, when he managed to take a brief break from editing his first feature film, Nothing Man, to speak to me about his career.
Film has always been an integral part of his life, this much is evident as he casually drops many names from the industry into the conversation, telling me how he’d whip Christian Bale into order if he dared to misbehave on his set. But is behind the camera where he is meant to be? “I wanted to direct the action, to choose the shots and create worlds for people to fall into” he says, and he goes back as far as the re-release of Star Wars in 1997 when asked where his interest came from.
I then made the fatal mistake of asking him about his favourite films, a subject he can talk about for hours. His passion for all facets of this industry is undeniable-but is passion all you need to make it?
It seems like there was never an alternative for him, The one unadvisable thing he did do was failing to have a back-up career plan, and whilst it has paid off, he seems ashamed to admit to it; “That’s really bad isn’t it? But honest truth, if I wasn’t doing this, I don’t know what I’d be doing-I can’t imagine ever doing anything else”
On leaving York St John in 2009, Steve, along with Jonny Ashdown and Sinclair McCutcheon, entered a short film competition for which they won £1000. The money went towards purchasing a camera, which was used in the making of another film, S.ecret T.race of D.esire.
The director of this film, Paul Butler, approached Steve and Jonny about creating a film company, and Trespasser Films was born. They have made several short films, and are currently in the process of making their first micro-budget feature film, Nothing Man. Whilst Steve is still busy editing this, plans are already being laid for their next feature film.
Undeniably, the hardest part of getting to where he is today has been finding the time and money to make the films. Whilst still in York, he worked at City Screen in between shoots. “It is tough finding paid film jobs and it takes some time to build up contacts and find projects, especially at a young age.” Another problem he had to overcome was age-at 23, he’s done well to get where he is, as many film sets won’t allow workers under the age of 24 for insurance purposes.
Asked whether he had any advice for people wanting to get into the film production industry, Steve is brutally honest “It’s a tough business, of sometimes twenty hour days and long periods confined to small rooms with the same people, it gets stressful. You just have to try and deal with it in the right way.” He also talks about the loneliness of editing Nothing Man at home. “It’s a long process, but when you have finished the project, there is nothing more satisfying.” His main advice is to get hands on experience; ”Making films is the only way to do it. The more you make, the better you get the more people see your films, the more people want to invest in your films.”
The good news? If you’re looking for a career in film-making, you’re in the right place; “The community and people of York are one of the reasons I’ve got as far as I have. I’ve worked with loads of people here and everyone helps to get projects made. It’s amazing to know a whole city is pushing forward in such a massive way with filmmaking.”
Despite the rock and roll reputation of the film industry, Steve has maintained his squeaky clean image-the wildest thing he claims to have done for money is downing a shot; “Jonny [Ashdown-also of Trespasser Films] once made me drink a shot of some foreign drink. It tasted like paint stripper...I did that to get money for a pint.” So it’s not all sex, drugs, rock and roll, just a lot of hard work, and an equal amount of passion, if you want to make it in the film industry.
Oh, and if you were wondering: he sits firmly in Camp Aniston, as opposed to Camp Jolie. Thumbs up to the man.
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