Film: The Broken Arrow
Directors: Chris Simmons, Pablo Raybould
Actors: Ste Johnston, Chris Simmons, Sue Johnston, Alan Ford
Synopsis: Barry ‘The Arrow’ Barnes is a local anti-hero: a gifted darts player with an ego as big as his charisma who hits the bottle as often as he hits the bull. But when a drunken accident leaves him having to have an arm amputated he hits absolute rock bottom – until his friend and manager hears that darts has become an event in the Paralympics.
Can Barry find fame in that world – and does he deserve it? As he embarks on his journey of self-(re)discovery, he must face his own prejudices and demons as he comes up against his greatest nemesis: the one and only Darts Vader!
This hilarious feelgood comedy (think The Full Monty) stars Ste Johnston (No Offence), Chris Simmons (The Bill), Sue Johnston (The Royle Family) and Alan Ford (Snatch).
The Broken Arrow has been selected as the Festivals Gala Film and will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Thursday 6th June at at 20:15hrs.
Q. Your film The Broken Arrow has been selected to play at the Southend Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. You can expect a roller-coaster of a ride following Barry Barnes’s escapades. Laughter, romance, hustling, friendship, drama and a side order of Britain’s new favourite sport….. ‘Darts’
Q. How did you get involved in the film and what attracted you to the script?
A. The idea for the film came from a creative friend of mine and he told me the story in the pub. I laughed loads, thought the idea was brilliant but most importantly ‘Original” There and then Ii said ‘We should make this’ I had always wanted to direct a film. I then passed the story on to a talented comedy writer and we were off.
Q. Did you have any actors in mind whilst writing the scrit?
A. No, we had no actors in mind when the script was written. It was a case of, let’s get it written and go from there. I asked a dear friend of mine Charles Ledigo to exec produce the film which he agreed to. One day whilst at his house chatting about the film, he told me that Sue Johnston lived around the corner. I quickly told him to print a copy of the script off, we walked round knocked on her door, gave her our script and told her she’d be perfect to play Mrs Barnes (Barry’s mum) and left her my number on the script. 2 days later she called me up saying she loved the script, she would like to play Mrs Barnes, asked how we were getting on with our finance and would we like a letter of intent from her agent saying that she was attached. We could believe it. We had landed one of Britain’s finest actors to play one of our leads.
Alan Ford I always knew would be perfect to play Daniel Stone the ex-special forces war veteran. I’ve known Alan for a good few year now. He kindly read our script, enjoyed the read and boom…. Alan was onboard.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. No not really. Our script went through many drafts but once we locked in the final draft, we pretty much stuck to it. We had problems along the way that we had to adapt too but we had such a great team that we managed to get over whatever problems came our way.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. Sooo many favourite moments whilst making the film. Working with Jools Holland for the morning was pretty damn amazing I must say. Our wonderful first assistant Hannah Haffenden set the tone on set every morning. Upbeat, fun and work hard. She was brilliant!! We had sooo many brilliant actors bringing their A game it was such a joy to watch. Actors who have been in the game for decades and newcomers alike all bringing different energy and creativity on set. They were a joy to direct. Ste Johnston our lead actor was just superb, he has comedy bones and barely needed directing but when you did you only had to tell him once. He is a brilliantly instinctive comedy actor who could do it all.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. We experienced a few issues whilst making the film…be it locations, running out of time etc. Ben Manning, a dear friend/co-producer and fellow actor told me early on during filming. What EVER the problem is…address it and move on quick, you simply don’t have the time to waste half a day on it. Brilliant piece of advice that I took on very early and kept with me right through the film.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. The message in the film is pretty simple “Don’t be a dick in life” But hopefully it will make people laugh. The film has a big heart and a side order of daft.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. Yes i have many projects in development including comedy dramas and another feature film. It’s great to keep more than one plate spinning, I think. I do like my comedy and most of my work veers this way.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. The advice I would give is…Surround yourself with positive people, people who have the same vision as you. Roll your sleeves up, don’t listen to the nay sayers. Yes of course it’s hard. Nothing like this is ever gonna be easy. Once i had committed to the project nothing was ever going to stop me and I believe that’s the mindset you need.
The Broken Arrow has been selected as the Festivals Gala Film and will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Thursday 6th June at at 20:15hrs.
You can find out more about the Southend Film Festival on the website
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!
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