The Bicycle Thief (2018)
Director: Kerry Skinner and Stewart Alexander
Writer: Stewart Alexander
Stars: Maisie Thorn, Richard Costello, Oliver Lang, Stellan Powell, Scarlett Perry
The Bicycle Thief is the simple yet charming story of a young girl’s quest to get her stolen bike back.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning for its 11th year from 23rd May to 27th May. In preparation for the event I got an opportunity to ask co-directors Kerry Skinner and Stewart Alexander a few questions about what we can expect from their new film The Bicycle Thief which has been selected to play at the festival.
Q. Your latest film The Bicycle Thief has been selected to play at The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. What can we expect from the film?
A really fun 8-minute adventure, made by local filmmakers, and featuring extremely talented young local actors. It has already been enjoyed by audiences at festivals in the USA, including the “Oscar-Qualifying” Cleveland International Film Festival, and will be screening in June at the prestigious Hamburg International Short Film Festival with support from the British Council. We’re extremely excited to be screening as the closing film at the Southend Film Festival where local audiences may particularly enjoy seeing familiar locations along the Estuary from Leigh to Southend on the big screen.
Q. What were your inspirations for the story when writing the film?
Our first film was the 90-minute feature, Common People (2013). It was entirely shot outdoors on Tooting Common near where we lived at the time. We made it with a micro-budget in just 12 days (during the wettest April since records began!) so we didn’t have the time to throw in any fancy camera moves and it was quite a dialogue-heavy film. As soon as we’d finished, Kerry (Skinner, co-director) said that she wanted to make something completely different, a short that would be entirely driven by images and music, with as little dialogue as possible. One day I (Stewart Alexander, writer/co-director) took a bike ride along the Estuary from our new home in Leigh-On-Sea all the way to Shoeburyness. And while I was riding, the story just fell into my head (with a little inspiration from the classic Italian film of the same name). We’d fallen in love with the area and thought all those gorgeous locations along the Estuary would add a really cinematic background to the story.
Q. As founding members of Park Bench Pictures you have collaborated together in projects now for over 15 years including the award-winning feature ‘Common People’. When it comes to directing a film together what is the process and do each of you bring something different to the film?
The previous question will give you some idea. It was Kerry’s commission, and I spent a long time trying to come up with a story. On the day of my bike ride along the Estuary Kerry had been working in London. I asked her to meet me at the Peterboat in Old Leigh on her way back from Leigh Station and proceeded to tell her the whole story for The Bicycle Thief. Her first question after I’d finished was, “Can the main character be a girl?” In my description it had been a boy, but a female protagonist immediately made the film even better and much more interesting. So, it starts out at the writing stage, where I do the lion’s share of the work (and take the credit) but Kerry has a lot of input. We’re about equal planning during pre-production, nailing down our shared vision for the film, interviewing cast and crew and seeking locations. Then when it comes to Production and the Edit, Kerry picks up the lion’s share. She’s also a photographer, so she has a really good eye for all the visuals. We only really came to understand the different things each of us bring to the production in the making of The Bicycle Thief and on future productions this will be reflected in the credits with Kerry listed as Director/Producer and me, Stewart Alexander as Writer/Producer.
Q. What were your influences for the look and style of The Bicycle Thief?
We watched a lot of bicycle movies. In addition to the original Bicycle Thieves (1984), we also studied Ridley Scott’s first short film, Boy and Bicycle (1965), The Goonies (1985), Wadja (2012) and the Dardennes Brothers The Kid with a Bike (2011). Because of the youthful and adventurous nature of the story and the amazing locations we had, we wanted to make something really vibrant and cinematic, so in terms of visual references Sean Baker’s The Florida Project (2017) was a big influence.
Q. Did you experience any issues or challenges whilst making the film?
As well as receiving generous assistance from Southend Council and Southend-on-Sea Arts Council the film was made possible due to winning the Directors UK’s Challenge ALEXA competition. They gave us tremendous support as well as providing equipment that included an Arri ALEXA camera. The only requirement of the competition was that the film had to be shot in two days by April 5th, 2018. As some people may remember at the end of March 2018, we had snowstorms and gales. Many of the locations we’d planned to use were flooded, unsafe or unusable. So once again, the weather was our worst foe (see wettest April above, you’d think we’d have learned!). We shot the film in script order from beginning to end on April 4th and 5th and if you watch it, you’ll see that it goes from grey (and very cold) at the beginning to sunny (and very hot) at the end. Both extremes of which were very challenging for our young actress, Maisie Thorn, who spends the entire film riding a bike or running outdoors. And then there were the sea-surges over the coastal path at the end of Day One which made it impossible to film there. However, for all that, we did manage to get 72 of the 74 shots on our list in the can.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
The whole process was a joy. We had a really amazing cast and crew. If I had to pick favorite moments it would be filming in Rossi’s Ice Cream Parlour and at Adventure Island. They’re both such amazing, colorful locations and having access to them out of hours was a real treat. I know Maisie also enjoyed the ice cream and repeated rides down the Helter Skelter. We also mixed the sound (in 5.1) in the studio at Twickenham where they mixed A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965) which – for ardent Beatles fans like Kerry and I – was a truly wonderful experience.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
No. It’s exactly as scripted. We also walked all the locations numerous times before production taking the pictures that became our shot-list. As I mentioned, apart from two we lost to the sea-surge, we got 72 out of 74 in the can.
Q. Do you have any new projects which you are working on?
We have two features that are fully scripted and ready for production: ‘Body Checks,’ a romantic comedy set among an ice hockey team in Romford, which is based on a critically acclaimed stage-play we previously produced, and Songs From A Gilded Cage a London-based thriller set in the music industry. Inspired by our experience on The Bicycle Thief we’ve recently written two new shorts which we’re seeking funding for and have just written the first six episodes for a new sitcom. We’re always looking for new people to collaborate with (particularly Producers) so please do encourage people to visit our website at http://parkbenchpictures.co.uk and get in touch if they’re interested in working together.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their own film, what advice would you give them?
I’ll pass on the best piece of advice we ever received. If you don’t have much money; prepare, prepare, prepare. We found out in January that we had won Challenge ALEXA, so we spent the next three months (in addition to launching an IndieGoGo Campaign where we raised the finance needed to make the film) walking the locations, figuring out the logistics, taking pictures, going over the script again and again, constructing a mood board to share with HOD’s to get our vision across, and putting together a very precise shot-list. If you are extremely prepared, you won’t be wasting time when all the people and equipment arrive, and if anything does go wrong, it’ll be easier to adapt. Also, take the time to pick the people you work with. We were absolutely blessed with a talented and supportive Cast and Crew. I would have named every single one of them here if I could. But you have to take the time for that too. Don’t do it over the internet, by email, or even skype. Find a convenient place to meet them. Buy them coffee and cake. Spend an hour getting to know them. Listen to them. If something doesn’t seem right, or you don’t quite click, your gut will tell you. If you take the time to surround yourself with really talented and nice people, it will really pay off when the pressure’s on.
You can find out more about Park Bench Pictures on the website parkbenchpictures.co.uk and keep up to date with all the latest news by following them on Twitter and Facebook
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from Thursday 23rd May to Monday 27th May. You can find out more about the event and purchase tickets on the website 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!
