Film: Jackal & Hide
Director: Andy Gray
Writers: Lee Alan Donaldson, Charlie Rich
Actors: Lee Alan Donaldson, Charlie Rich, Moa Wikberg, Laurence Pasqualini, Dale Sheldrake
Synopsis: 2 Rival gangs are at war, with one kidnapping & torturing the other’s boss & wife.
In a desperate attempt to save them, a rescue group band together to free the boss whilst vastly outnumbered, a fight to the death soon ensues.
Q. Your film ‘Jackal & Hide’ has been selected to play at the Southend Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. My expectations from this years and last year’s screenings are to gain significant awareness from investors, filmmakers and fans of action movies alike both nationally and internationally. Hopefully increasing the chances I’ll receive backing to make my 1st feature film which will be released in mainstream cinema’s.
Q. You co-wrote the script with Charlie Rich. What were your inspirations when writing the script for Jackal & Hide?
A. My inspirations were action and fighting films such as Snatch (2000), The Raid (2011) and Enter the Dragon (1973). All sharing a theme of violence, action and exceptional fight choreography. I personally love this type of film and have watched them all for as long as I can remember.
Q. In addition to writing you and Charlie also appear in the film. Did you create the character with yourself in mind when writing the script?
A. Yes, Ricky was a character I’ve been wanting to play for a while now. Just as Stallone wrote Rocky (1976), I wrote Ricky and knew I could play his character perfectly as his accent, energy and character were all something I naturally felt comfortable playing.
Q. What sort of preparation did you do to portray your character?
A. Preparation wise very little as I already knew exactly how I wanted to portray Ricky, plus I was also incredibly busy producing, planning and getting the whole team and project together.
Q. Did you any of your own personality into the character?
A. Yes, I’m naturally a leader and can play a hard man very well, it’s what I’m cast as most based on my looks and physicality. I poured in my confidence and calm demeanour into my character and from the feedback so far people really liked my delivery and portrayal of Ricky so this definitely helped.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. My favourite moments were seeing everyone on Day 1, my visions had finally become a reality. The final fight was super fun and challenging to film, and lastly the post phase, this was when I was really able to put my stamp on it as a producer and director.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Like most send funded projects, capital can easily run low and we had a small shortfall during post, but thanks to crowdfunding we overcame this. Besides that everything ran very smoothly.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. I hope they are left wanting more, asking questions such as what happens next? Even those who are not fans of action will appreciate it and compliment the work and efforts gone into it.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. Yes, I have 1 day left to shoot out of 5 from my 2nd Action Short which is called ‘Dead Zero’ a Horror Zombie film that will have an approx runtime of 30 minutes. This is part of my ever expanding universe of story telling across multiple genre’s, with action at the heart of them all. It will wrap in June and be submitted to Horror-on-Sea as well as many other film festivals.
Q. If someone is looking to get into filmmaking, what advice would you give them?
A. Believe in yourself no matter what! Raise as much money as possible pre- during and post production and just do it!
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Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
