Director: Sam Coombes
Writer: Sam Coombes
Actors: James Graeme
Synopsis: An explosive, territorial brawl erupts between man and beast. But who will be victorious?
With The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning once again from 26th – 29th May, I got an opportunity to ask Writer-Director Sam Coombes a few questions about the film ‘SWAT’ which has been selected to play at the festival on Saturday 28th May at 9 pm
Q. What can we expect from the film?
A. To lose 07:40s of your life… I’m kidding, but please don’t leave your thoughts in the comment section.
Q. How did the idea for the film come about?
A. Believe it or not, this is actually based on numerous true stories. This seems to happen more often than you would think and to people all over the world, no one is safe.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. My mum’s favourite film when I was growing up was ‘Mouse Hunt’ so there are strong influences of that in there. I was also a big fan of ‘Guest House Paradiso, the physical humour was definitely inspired by the writing of Ade Edmonson and Rik Mayall, R.I.P.
Q. Were there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. Not really, we also didn’t have a traditional script in that sense, as there is no real dialogue in the film. We worked from a precise storyboard and stayed pretty true to that throughout. Jim brought a lot to the table though with regards to his performance, so we were pretty spoilt for choice in the edit, thanks Jim!
Q. What were your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. As bad as it sounds, I would be lying if I said throwing beans, sausage and eggs in Jim’s face wasn’t amusing. We only needed 7 or 8 takes, he took it on the chin, quite literally…
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Not at all. Everything went really smoothly. I’ll put this down to an excessive amount of pre-production and planning.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. I don’t think this will change anyone’s life, but a laugh and a smile will do me just fine!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. Currently I have a feature-length script in the works about the life of my great
grandfather who was a Jamaican refugee, post WW2 era. Coming to a screen near you in the next decade or so…
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. First of all, get a good crew and keep them well fed and watered! Secondly, just go for it. It’s a great experience and a good excuse to learn a lot of new skills in a very short space of time!
You can find out more about Sam Coombes on the Website www.samcoombes.com and
Instagram: @samcoombesdp
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from 26th – 29th
You can find out more about the end and purchase tickets on the website here: https://www.southendfilmfestival.com/
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!
