Nottingham's James William Mellors on joining "exciting" BFI NETWORK Midlands Directors Lab – and wanting to make films about people in the margins
"The sort of stories I have in mind are about people, events, places that may not have been explored in film or need to be told in a less conventional form."
We hear from Notts’ own James William Mellors, who is part of the latest cohort of artists to join the BFI NETWORK Midlands Directors Lab – which helps filmmakers to “develop their directorial skills and gain insights to support them in the next steps of their creative journey”...
How exciting is it to join the Directors Lab, which has helped to elevate so many Nottingham talents' careers to new heights?
For sure, joining the Directors Lab is exciting. The Lab has given many talented regional filmmakers support towards reaching their creative goals.
The programme has already brought opportunities such as hearing from leading Notts producers like Anna Griffin and checking out Nottingham Trent University's Virtual Production Studio. What did you learn from the opening weekend of learning and networking?
The talks from the likes of Anna and Al, Sam, Moin and Amy were illuminating in that they inspirational but also did not shy away from the realities of being a filmmaker in the UK and what is required to get a feature made or to progress in your career as a director.
The Virtual Production Studio was fantastic. The fact it's a resource for students and accessible to local filmmaking talent is great. It was my first time experiencing that type of studio and the creative possibilities its use allows gave me many ideas.
The networking aspect of the Lab was enriching. Talking to other directors about their films and filmmaking journey helped to bring my own into perspective. I think everyone on the Lab wants to progress, and I think deep down there is sometimes a concern that we are all in a competition for opportunities, funding and to get projects into development. I found from speaking to them that this is not the case and that we want to see each other developing and making films, TV etc. I watched all the work by the other cohorts, and I learnt the standard was great and diverse and that the Midlands is a hotbed for directing talent.
You've talked about how you're interested in “making films about people in the margins”. What sort of stories do you have in mind for doing so, and how important is it to tell these stories right now?
When I talk about making films about people in the margins, the sort of stories I have in mind are about people, events, places that may not been explored in film or need to be told in a less conventional form.
Right now, it is very important to tell these sorts of stories — I think many people feel marginalised and that their lives are peripheral. The margins can be gritty, sad and difficult, but equally they can be strange, wondrous, mysterious, illuminating, and telling stories from there, for me, resonates more because they are outside our perception and can bring new understanding.
You've already done this with your work on ‘We're All Black Down Here’. How was your experience collaborating with Milly James to bring this project to life?
Collaborating with Milly James was wonderful, she is a great writer. The central character and story are based on Milly’s father and his experiences, and telling it in the right way is important to her.
When I joined the project, I loved the screenplay but had some of my own opinions about certain aspects and had ideas I wanted to input into it. Milly was generous enough to listen and allow that input when it worked. Milly's insight and opinion throughout the filmmaking process was invaluable.
During the project, it was important for me that we were aligned in our intentions for the film, and I sent Milly some questions about the film, and from those questions and wider discussions we found we were very much on the same page creatively on how we perceived the film.
I self-funded projects myself because I am always willing to take a chance on my own creative projects, even if that means I am perpetually skint
You've self-funded projects including Coffin and Nez. How challenging is it to get films made at the moment, and how do you plan on overcoming those challenges to keep telling important stories?
Making films is challenging because, for me, it’s the most collaborative of art forms, and sometimes to get things made you must ask those collaborators to make sacrifices.
A film is easy to make if it’s all done on freebies, but I have never been comfortable with that. Even when I've self-funded, the most important thing was making sure people got paid for their talents, and that is challenging because the money must come from somewhere.
I self-funded projects myself because I am always willing to take a chance on my own creative projects, even if that means I am perpetually skint. The challenge now is that I want to make projects beyond what I could ever self-finance with my day job, and that requires engaging with funding bodies, producers and distributors and getting them to buy into the project.
The way I get over that challenge is to make sure that I am generating interesting projects worthy of support and being endlessly persistent.
You can find out more about the BFI NETWORK Midlands Directors Lab on their website.
(Photos by Gemma Poyzer)