The Last Queen of Scotland

Scene Stealers. Another of Film4’s competitions for us young filmmakers out there... Whilst I think it is a good thing that they do these kinds of competitions, I also find that they are extremely patronizing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Film4 and can easily sit on the sofa and watch their movies all day. They create high quality films that do exactly what they say on the box... they entertain. Which is what film is all about.

Lisette as Amin

But it feels like they think these competitions are our only way into the industry... and they couldn’t be more wrong! Look at it this way... how many pieces of moving imagery have you seen today? TV programs and Films aren’t the only things I’m talking about here. They are the elite pieces made by absolute professionals... and I take my stylish cowboy hat off to them. But what about the bits in between... TV doesn’t just stop, there are all those little annoying adverts in there too... And then multiply those by the number of channels there are... And what about Youtube? Music Videos? And Vimeo? What if you just wanted to make lemon cupcakes? Google it? You’ll come up with someone who has made a video to show you how... You want to stay in a hotel for the weekend with your partner... but you want to make sure the toilets are satisfactory, because let’s face it, everyone judges a place by the loos... go onto their website and they probably have a little video showing you those important facilities... Someone made those videos. Someone put money, effort and creativity into them.

Simon directing, Kayleigh acting.

Me making a dead body out of my dear friend Lisette

So what I’m saying is... Anyone can pick up a camera these days and shoot something. But they are going to need more and more people who know how the industry works, who know how to write screenplays, and short pieces that grab people’s attentions, who know the inside of their camera as well as the outside. They need people who know how film works... And when they realize that I shall be right there waiting for them.

From left to right, Nishad, Lisette, Justin, Isha and Simon

None of that stopped me from making a short piece for the Scene Stealers Competition though. When my good friend Simon (a producer at the Northern Film School) came to me with a short scene from Film4’s The Last King of Scotland I instantly said yes. That film is a masterpiece and Simon’s idea of inverting the character genders was genius. I really enjoyed our Sunday shoot and hope Film4 enjoy what came out of it too.

Written and Directed by Simon Bolton-Gabrielson

Produced by Nishad Chaugule

Cinematography by Justin Litton

Production Design by Rebecca Witt

Camera Assistant Isha Kulkarni

Original Soundtrack by Oliver Curry

Additional Sound Mix by Marc Weber

Colour Grading by Justin Litton

DR GARRIGAN Kayleigh Hammond

AMIN Lisette Cooke

Photos by Rebecca Witt