Yourcinemafilms.com | ▶️ “It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you never have enough”
Welcome to episode 1 of our podcast where we dive into the truth behind the success and careers of our leaders in Film and TV!
This week we're joined by Teddy Nygh (director and co-founder of MYM productions) and actor/producer/entrepreneur Percelle Ascott!
We talk their latest release 'PTSD' and making big projects with small budgets.
Are you ready for the truth?
Yourcinemafilms.com
Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes, and be a part of the conversation #Yourcinemapodcast
Welcome to episode 1 of our podcast where we dive into the truth behind the success and careers of our leaders in Film and TV!
This week we're joined by Teddy Nygh (director and co-founder of MYM productions) and actor/producer/entrepreneur Percelle Ascott!
We talk their latest release 'PTSD' and making big projects with small budgets.
Are you ready for the truth?
Yourcinemafilms.com
Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes, and be a part of the conversation #Yourcinemapodcast
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 Now everyone's making it in film and TV, but we don't really know how.
00:06 Here we uncover the truth.
00:08 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast.
00:10 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast.
00:16 This is our first episode.
00:19 You know, over the years we've done loads and loads of countless interviews and content.
00:25 Just really about the industry, but it's time to start a podcast.
00:31 And we've got an amazing first episode with you.
00:35 Just to really summarise.
00:37 Honoured to be first, man.
00:39 Come on, come on.
00:41 We had to start with the big guns, didn't we?
00:43 We had to start with the big guns.
00:51 Yeah, like the whole aim of the podcast is really to explore the truth about film and TV.
00:58 And hear it directly from those who are smashing it.
01:01 So yeah, each week that's what we're going to be doing.
01:05 So, you know, stay tuned and we'll get cracking.
01:10 In terms of our first ever episode today.
01:14 Like I said, we're starting off with the big guns.
01:17 And it's a really, really special, special episode.
01:22 Which will unravel itself as you'll see.
01:26 I will introduce our guests.
01:28 One of which you guys will definitely already know.
01:31 And another you guys definitely need to know.
01:35 I introduce to you first.
01:39 How do I start?
01:42 I was going to say actor but definitely a multi-hyphenate.
01:47 Runs a multi-million pound worth company.
01:52 Productions, actor.
01:55 Netflix productions, BBC productions.
01:59 Not just one off here and there.
02:01 Definitely, you know, been honing his skills over the years.
02:05 He's a household name on screen, in the industry and in the community.
02:10 Purcell, Ascot.
02:13 [Mimics sound effects]
02:16 But your screen is blank to me, by the way.
02:19 Is it the same for you?
02:20 I'm serious.
02:21 No, no, no, I can see.
02:23 Okay, perfect, perfect.
02:25 And then our other guest who you guys definitely need to know.
02:29 He is a critically acclaimed director.
02:32 Over 40 million views on his content.
02:35 He's made some of the best UK short films we've seen.
02:39 Including "Drawn Up" and "D-Pit".
02:42 He's progressed into TV on his own terms.
02:45 Which is something that we really love.
02:47 Whilst also providing like a pathway for young people to come in and do the same.
02:51 Which I've seen myself personally first hand.
02:55 I introduce to you, Teddy Nye.
02:58 [Applause]
03:02 Amazing, amazing.
03:04 Good to be here.
03:06 Well, do you know what? It's a pleasure to have you, man.
03:09 And I think the idea and the seed for this really came off of the back of a conversation I was having with Purcell.
03:16 When we interviewed him for the festival.
03:18 And yeah, we were just talking about, you know, the latest release, PTSD.
03:23 And he just mentioned like, do you know what?
03:25 So many people don't really know Teddy.
03:29 But they should.
03:30 And yeah, it's true.
03:33 So it's a pleasure to be here talking about the new release.
03:39 But then also shining some light on you and Purcell as well.
03:44 You get me?
03:45 I'm going to jump straight in.
03:47 So we know a lot about Purcell and his origins.
03:51 But Teddy, tell us, how did you get into directing?
03:57 So I started as an actor.
04:00 Which is why I love directing actors so much.
04:04 And I was finding it a very difficult road full of rejection, which I wasn't very good at handling.
04:13 And I understood that.
04:15 And I felt a bit powerless.
04:17 I felt a bit disempowered by other people always deciding on my fate.
04:22 And people understand this because you've built your own thing as well.
04:27 But yeah, so then at the same time that that was happening, and I was doing my best that I could,
04:36 I also decided to borrow a camera from my friend from the estate and take it out and start filming my own community.
04:46 Based on the fact that someone brought a Lord of the Mics DVD to my house.
04:52 And I thought, wow, this is amazing.
04:55 And that was based all in East London.
04:58 And I thought, North London's got a lot of talent.
05:00 I want to shine a light on some of the North London talent.
05:03 Because this was before YouTube.
05:05 This was 2005.
05:07 So yeah, I went out and started filming.
05:11 And I had to learn everything from scratch.
05:13 I didn't know about filming.
05:14 The camera was like a camcorder recording to tape, mini DV tapes.
05:18 You had to go close to get good recordings on the mic.
05:22 That was the sound.
05:24 Go further away, worse sound.
05:26 But I learned a lot through that process.
05:31 I learned how to edit.
05:34 I was taught, somebody helped me out early on.
05:39 A couple of people actually.
05:42 One had to big up Buddha.
05:44 And then I would have to big up Darren.
05:46 And then I have to big up also Ollie, who became, and still today, I edit with Ollie.
05:51 And now he's on big dramas and amazing things.
05:54 His journey has been beautiful.
05:56 And that's another thing.
05:57 So many people's journey is so good to see.
05:59 But we'll come back to that later.
06:01 So yeah, that's how it all began.
06:03 And then the camera and all the footage got stolen.
06:05 And so I had to decide what was I doing.
06:09 Am I going to give up or not?
06:12 And I knew that I wasn't going to give up.
06:15 So I took it as a message, which was, what are you making?
06:20 What are you putting into the atmosphere?
06:22 And what do you want to put in the atmosphere?
06:25 What do you want to be proud of if someone looked it up in 50 years' time?
06:28 And what impact do you want to have with what you're making?
06:31 And I realized that what I made the first time around was just hype.
06:34 There wasn't really substance to it.
06:36 So the second time around, it was a chance to really tell a deeper story.
06:40 And I think from that moment on, the hustle I had to have with going from a camcorder
06:46 to the finished film being on the shelves in HMV was immense.
06:53 And it taught me a lot about what I wanted to do next.
06:56 And that was really where it all began.
07:00 Wow. That is-- that's really profound, that crossroads and that conscious decision
07:07 in terms of, like, all right, what am I actually putting out?
07:12 The reason why I say that is because you see that decision is in all of the content
07:21 that you've made since then.
07:24 Like, whether you guys do, like-- you know, back in the day when you do, like,
07:27 the short, like, one to two-minute-- it's always-- it has that seed in it,
07:33 which I think-- yeah, that is-- yeah, that's really interesting.
07:38 Cool.
07:39 One thing that we were kind of, like-- I was kind of mentioning to you guys
07:45 before we started, right, is that you guys, like, you've done so many projects
07:49 together, right?
07:51 And when you work together, it's always good.
07:54 First and foremost, the content's good, but then it also resonates with people.
07:59 Like, how did that relationship first form?
08:03 It was the first project we did together, wasn't it?
08:07 Yeah, yeah, Why Stop?
08:09 I mean, I remember I told Teddy not too long ago, I remember--
08:12 we're just talking about the moment, basically, but I remember getting a phone
08:15 call from my agent, and they said that there's a project called Why Stop?
08:20 And this company could fully focus, that they were interested-- or looking at me
08:24 to play one of the roles.
08:26 Before, like, anything concrete was to happen, the director wanted to have
08:30 a phone call with me beforehand.
08:32 And I remember, you know, the call got scheduled and stuff, and then, you know,
08:36 I think I'm probably about 18 years old, still quite, you know, new--
08:40 very new to industry, but very nervous as well at the same time, you know,
08:43 having these conversations.
08:45 But I remember chatting to Teddy and just feeling so comfortable, really,
08:50 on the other end of the phone.
08:51 Like, I think Teddy just spoke through, like, the vision of what, you know,
08:55 Why Stop is about and telling me more about fully focusing on NYM and stuff
08:59 like that, basically.
09:01 And, yeah, immediately I wanted to be a part of it, like, you know, 100%,
09:04 but more-- I think especially when we did the Why Stop project and seeing
09:09 how that kept, like, you know, the execution of that project, and it's still--
09:13 I was kind of-- I was still learning, you know, what fully focus was about
09:18 in terms of ethos, and then it hit me as I-- when I, you know, watched Why Stop,
09:22 I was just like, "Wow, that was a really well put together project with a good--
09:27 with a really good team."
09:28 You know, everyone was a family.
09:29 There were so many young people on set, I couldn't believe it.
09:31 I was in shock.
09:32 Like, there's a guy called Jake who's still there, you know what I mean,
09:36 to this day.
09:37 But, yeah, there were so many young people that were collaborating.
09:41 It made me feel comfortable.
09:42 There were some actors as well that Teddy had that, you know,
09:45 were very established as well, so it was quite nice working with those guys.
09:49 Danielle was as young as me, so we had known each other,
09:53 and Danielle was also shooting for Why Stop.
09:55 And, yeah, that was, like, the first of, of course, many projects, really,
09:59 but it was a nice introductory, like, experience working with FF,
10:04 and obviously from then on I was always like, "Yeah, if Teddy picks up the phone
10:08 and calls me, I'm going to say yes," you know what I mean,
10:11 because I know at the end of the line it's going to be a really sick project,
10:14 basically.
10:15 That's amazing.
10:19 We've done five films together now, you know, and I just think Perso is such
10:25 an incredible actor that when we get together we always push the boundaries,
10:31 and because we have that trust and that respect there,
10:35 we're able to go to those places that you can only go to in a safe space,
10:42 do you know what I mean?
10:43 Yeah.
10:44 You can only go to when there's trust, and you can only go to when there's belief,
10:47 and we believe in each other so much and in what we've built
10:51 and in what we want to achieve.
10:53 And when we put a film out there that we really want people to feel,
10:57 and it's a very powerful thing and it's a very powerful tool.
11:02 And I think every time we've come together we've just, like,
11:05 raised the bar again, "Okay, what are we going to do this time?"
11:09 You know?
11:10 But it's because there's a lot of heart in what we do.
11:14 You know, it's like you mentioned trust, right, Teddy,
11:20 in terms of you guys having that.
11:23 And I can see it on Purcell's face as well, like, when he's talking,
11:27 like, just the smiling, like, he just doesn't stop smiling, thinking about it.
11:32 And he's worked on so many projects, as have you, right?
11:36 Like, is there anything that you do to, like, build that trust?
11:44 Because, you know, that's like having those people that you can trust on set,
11:50 especially when there's so much money at stake, there's limited time,
11:55 and really you want people that are going to authenticate
11:58 and portray the truth.
12:00 Like, how has that been built over the years?
12:03 Or has it just been organic, I guess?
12:05 I can answer. I would love to answer just a part of that, Ted.
12:09 Just something that he does, like, as a director,
12:13 he just takes away the pressure from people.
12:16 And I see him do it, like, over and over again.
12:19 Teddy will do, you know, just even how he greets the crew in the morning,
12:24 like, gets everyone, like, just feeling warm and feeling, like, grateful.
12:28 And together, I think there's such a unity every time I'm working on a set of FFs.
12:35 And also, I think we all understand, like, the goal.
12:38 I think that's what it is as well, like Teddy mentioned.
12:40 Like, we all want to achieve this thing, and it goes right through, you know,
12:45 to every member of the crew, and I think that's always important.
12:48 I feel like every project we've done has an element of love and passion in it.
12:53 And, you know, regardless of views and regardless of traffic,
12:56 I think ultimately we're just trying to make something that people can be proud of,
12:59 and it's going to impact people.
13:01 But, yeah, just in terms of, like, Teddy's nature and his character,
13:03 like, you know, everyone knows, like, Teddy is a character,
13:06 but he's a character because he's doing it for a reason.
13:09 It's a purposeful thing, because I also get it, you know.
13:12 I've also had the privilege of, like, you know, directing small bits in here
13:17 or producing bits on our projects and stuff,
13:20 and I think I've definitely, like, taken those aspects of what Teddy does,
13:24 you know, in terms of just making, you know, new and young actors feel
13:28 just comfortable enough to just, like, you know, to play, you know,
13:32 to express themselves.
13:34 And I just think that's such a-- it's such a small thing that he does,
13:37 but it's such a massive impact.
13:39 I don't know if he realises that he does do it, man,
13:41 but it's always been something I've been quite fond of.
13:43 Thanks, man. That's nice to hear.
13:49 Yeah, I think there's a lot of respect there.
13:54 I respect Purcell's craft very highly and Jovan's craft very highly.
13:58 I respect what you guys have built with Wall of Entertainment,
14:01 Wall of Comedy, Wall of Productions,
14:04 there's a lot of respect for what we're doing,
14:08 and the subject matters.
14:10 They come from the heart. They come from lived experience.
14:13 They come from...
14:16 We care about this deeply.
14:18 And it's like what I learned when the project I first worked on
14:23 was called Clash of the Tight Ones,
14:25 where opinions clash and the rhymes are tight.
14:27 That was the project.
14:29 And when that got stolen, the story I wanted to tell
14:32 was about the art and the heart of rap,
14:35 so looking deeper at the art and looking deeper at the heart of it.
14:39 And I think the art and the heart is still a big part of why I love what I do.
14:44 I think the heart comes first because I love it so much
14:48 and I love that family element you get when you make films.
14:53 It's very powerful.
14:55 And that we're all, like he said earlier,
14:58 we're all in it together to create something powerful,
15:04 something special, something that can essentially change people's mindset,
15:10 can make an impact in the world.
15:13 But then we want to craft it beautifully as well.
15:17 We want it to look beautiful.
15:19 All the little minutiae of the tiny details I love to be meticulous about
15:24 because that's all part of the art, that's part of painting the picture.
15:28 And so both of them mean so much to me.
15:32 And the fact that you get to work with all these different people
15:35 that have that same intention and have that same drive and passion
15:42 and the love of it, and all together,
15:45 everyone's got their own different kind of idea in their head
15:48 of how it's going to be.
15:50 And now you all align to create the end.
15:54 And I think having that mutual respect there between us
15:58 is a big part of why the trust is there and the shared goal as well,
16:03 I think is a big part of it.
16:05 And the way that we see each other, like we are like brothers.
16:10 Do you know what I mean?
16:12 So that gets built up over time.
16:16 It doesn't happen immediately.
16:18 If you're an energy person, then you can get that bond quite quickly
16:23 with some people because energies align.
16:28 And I think we're energy people, all three of us, we're energy people.
16:34 I love that.
16:37 You know, like Purcell, you really, you touched on something
16:44 and I'm so happy you answered it first because I guess in Teddy being himself,
16:50 he's not going to realize a lot of what you said.
16:56 Because there's the craft, but then we've all worked with people
17:00 who are amazing and it's like, it doesn't matter,
17:03 I don't want to work with you again because them as a character
17:06 is just off-putting.
17:08 But I love how you beautifully explained, like, do you know what,
17:11 his character helps to elevate his craft as well as yours.
17:15 That's amazing.
17:20 Teddy, I have been there when, you know, some of the iconic productions
17:27 have been taking place and all of that stuff.
17:30 And often like the budgets aren't huge, but, you know,
17:34 there's so much passion in the team and so much skill and craft, right,
17:39 that a lot of the times, if not all the times,
17:43 the projects come out looking a lot bigger and better
17:47 than what the budgets might be.
17:51 I was going to ask you how, but I think probably what might be
17:54 more important and interesting, right, is what does that feel like
18:00 for you as a director?
18:01 Because I know you've got like big dreams and ambitions, right,
18:05 but like playing that thing between like limited resources,
18:08 but we need to go here.
18:09 Like, yeah, what is that like for you as a director?
18:14 Ambition is a key word.
18:17 I think I've always, always been ambitious with every project.
18:21 With the first one I ever touched, which when it got stolen,
18:24 the next time around I was like, okay, I know what I'm going to do this time.
18:28 And the ambition was super high.
18:30 And the same when I did my first music video, it was for gigs.
18:35 And it was for the song he wrote for his mom, "You Raised Me,"
18:39 which actually ended up being a double video because he wanted
18:42 to introduce "Open Up" as well.
18:45 So we did a video for "Open Up," but it was only for half of the song.
18:49 And we did the full video for "You Raised Me," and we did them
18:52 back to back in the same shoot, and then we put it out as a double video.
18:55 Gigs put it out as a double video.
18:59 And my ambition for that was mental, mental.
19:03 You would not think that was my first music video.
19:05 You'd think that this is a guy that's been directing music videos.
19:08 But the vision was just nuts, and I thought if I can see it in my mind,
19:14 then hopefully I can bring it to life.
19:16 And I remember having this moment on set where we had one of the big screens,
19:20 one of the big monitors, and I saw what we had planned for come to life.
19:27 And it was incredible, and I was like, wow, it actually worked.
19:32 And it was a mad vision.
19:34 The vision was geisha girls.
19:36 If anyone knows geisha, what geisha, the Japanese geisha girls,
19:40 their faces painted white.
19:42 And then you've got Harajuku girls, which is like a punk version of a geisha.
19:46 And it was like taking that concept and taking a Japanese concept
19:50 and throwing it into the club in his imagination because he's come
19:54 into the club drunk.
19:56 And so there was a lot of makeup.
19:57 There was a lot of costume design.
19:59 There was a lot of set building.
20:00 There was a lot of stuff that needed to happen for it to look decent.
20:05 And so we did all the rehearsals of those things.
20:07 We did costume and makeup rehearsals.
20:10 We did choreographer rehearsals, dance rehearsals.
20:14 We did all the stuff rehearsed so that on the day I knew that it would work.
20:19 But the point is, ambition-wise, it was super high.
20:23 The budget wasn't super high.
20:25 The cinematographer that I was lucky enough to work with at the time,
20:29 his journey is mad.
20:31 He's won a BAFTA and an Oscar now.
20:33 Not to say that doing the music video had anything to do with that,
20:36 but the point is that I worked with him early on.
20:40 I could see he had mad talent.
20:43 And, yeah, he just recently won a BAFTA and an Oscar for his cinematography.
20:49 So from early on, I guess I just had a massive vision that I wanted to try
20:54 and execute, and I felt it was even more important with all the work that we do
21:01 with The Next Generation because we don't want to pat on the head for our work.
21:06 We want to compete with the best with our work, even if we don't have the budget,
21:10 because we want people to just be blown away by it so that you can't belittle it,
21:16 you know, because it's too easy to write off as, "Oh, it's made by young people,"
21:22 or it's a whatever project.
21:24 And so I think that we've instilled that same sense of ambition,
21:27 but with the space to make mistakes.
21:29 Like, make mistakes all day because that's how you learn,
21:31 and here you can do that.
21:33 In the industry, when you get out there, it's much less likely that you'll be able
21:35 to make mistakes.
21:37 So that is still super important.
21:39 But essentially, long answer to your question, I think having ambition
21:46 and a vision, it means it's quite tiring as well because it's not easy to execute
21:50 when the budgets aren't there.
21:52 But it also means that you have good training, so when you do have the budget,
21:55 you know how to utilize it well.
21:58 - 100%, 100%.
22:00 And when you guys did "Prue," did that change?
22:05 Was that like an example of being able to execute that vision a bit better?
22:15 And when I say "Prue," for those that don't know, that's a BBC series
22:19 that Fully Focused had commissioned and teddy-directed.
22:24 - Yeah, yeah, definitely.
22:26 It was definitely a better budget than we'd worked with on anything else
22:30 up to that date, essentially.
22:34 But also it was an opportunity for the young team to get opportunity
22:39 and step up.
22:41 And we created 60 paid placements on the show, 60 in total,
22:45 which was phenomenal.
22:47 But, yeah, it was an opportunity for us to do what we do.
22:52 They let us run our set as a Fully Focused set,
22:56 and that was an incredible experience.
22:58 It made me feel very, very proud that here we are doing TV,
23:04 but doing it the FF way and keeping it as an FF set.
23:09 And even people that were coming off huge sets would come across
23:13 and they'd be like, "Oh, my gosh, this is amazing.
23:15 "This is what we need.
23:17 "This is what the industry should be more like."
23:19 And that's what we're trying to do is show that.
23:22 But it was still budget restraints.
23:25 There was still plenty of restraints because it's comedy.
23:28 You don't get a big budget for comedy.
23:30 And so what it meant is we didn't have a massive budget,
23:35 but we had a lot to shoot because, as usual, ambitious.
23:40 And we were shooting in the darkest, coldest months,
23:46 where it gets dark super early, November, December, January,
23:51 and a bit of February just broken up
23:54 because we had COVID shutdowns as well to deal with.
23:57 We had a huge amount of young generation on set
24:04 to coordinate in COVID.
24:07 We had a lot of the cast was their first big project.
24:11 Some of them, it was their first project on screen.
24:14 Plus, it's a comedy, so it has to be funny,
24:16 and you have to hit the timing.
24:18 Plus, there's scenes that are eight-handers,
24:20 seven-handers, six-handers.
24:22 That's a lot of angles.
24:24 That's a lot of reactions to cover.
24:26 That's a lot of shooting you need to get in the can for just one scene.
24:29 You know, some films, you only have two-hander scenes
24:31 and three-hander scenes, and they're just beautiful.
24:34 And some days on the call sheet,
24:36 we had those scenes coming up, and I was like, "Yes,
24:39 I can just actually shoot two people today
24:41 and have a conversation."
24:43 And so, yeah, we had to shoot all four episodes,
24:49 which were about 30-plus pages each,
24:53 so let's say 120-plus pages in 26 days.
24:57 And we shot over 800 slates.
25:01 So, you know, when you go on set and you get to 100,
25:05 you always cheer, like, "100 slates."
25:08 Maybe not on the big sets.
25:10 Maybe they don't bother because they're probably doing
25:12 1,000-plus slates easy.
25:14 But still, 800 slates in 26 days, it's a lot.
25:18 So, although the budget was better than usual,
25:23 the scale of everything was way bigger than usual.
25:26 You can't do guerrilla anymore.
25:28 Like, we haven't been able to do guerrilla for years
25:31 because you have to do everything compliant, you know?
25:35 So, you still--and I think it's the case.
25:39 To be honest, I think Pete will probably find this as well,
25:42 even on the big shows he's on.
25:44 It doesn't matter how much money you have.
25:46 You never have enough because the scale of what you're doing
25:49 always changes.
25:51 If you're doing a show with Netflix, every single person
25:53 that you hire, they're going to expect Netflix money
25:58 because of the brand, the name.
26:00 They know what it is. They expect it.
26:03 When you're doing a show by yourself,
26:07 people know, "Okay, it's a small project."
26:10 So, expectations can also change with the budget
26:15 as do the amount of people that you have to pay
26:19 before the shoot, during the shoot, and after the shoot.
26:23 - No, that makes sense. That makes sense.
26:25 No, but you guys, yeah, you've done well
26:28 and you continue to do well with, I guess,
26:32 in that battle between budgets and ambition.
26:34 And we all love it.
26:36 - Thank you, man.
26:38 - Purcell, when we caught up with you,
26:41 this was, I think, a few years ago.
26:44 This might have actually been during COVID as well, right?
26:47 You said something I thought was so profound.
26:49 You said that, like, "Yeah, cool, those big shoots
26:54 for Netflix and all of that stuff, that's amazing."
26:56 But you love and prefer the community-style short films.
27:01 And why is that?
27:04 - Man, it's simple.
27:07 It's just because I feel like just...
27:11 We have that instant impact with the people
27:15 that we're trying to make the content for.
27:17 You have that instant gratification, I'll call it.
27:19 But you have that instant impact
27:21 with just seeing how people reflect to the work as well.
27:24 Like, seeing the comments when we dropped "Deeper,"
27:27 seeing the comments when we dropped "Rewind Forward"
27:29 and "Drawn Out," it's mesmerizing
27:32 because you're seeing the change in the conversation
27:35 taking place there and then.
27:38 And just that raising awareness,
27:39 whether people are talking and sharing
27:42 and mixing with just different things,
27:44 whether it be the premieres and the screenings
27:46 that we've gone to, I've told Teddy a few times,
27:48 every film we've dropped at the premiere,
27:51 even though I've been in the film, I feel goosebumps.
27:53 I've never felt...
27:55 The way I feel about the films that we've made,
27:57 I don't feel like that so much
27:59 when I work on the bigger stuff,
28:00 whether it be on BBC or Channel 4, Netflix, whatever it is.
28:04 Not to discredit any of the places that are...
28:06 Or discredit any of the projects I've worked on,
28:09 but it's just...
28:11 There is a difference between when you're working
28:13 on something that you're with passion
28:15 and there's something different
28:16 when you're given a role
28:18 and you're a part of an already bigger machine, basically,
28:22 that you're tapping into.
28:24 Whereas with the stuff that we do,
28:26 everything down to when we have two, three hours to go.
28:31 Everyone's trying to pick up a bag or two
28:34 or whatever it is, try and move location.
28:37 Everyone's just putting in the passion.
28:39 You can see that in all the actors' eyes,
28:41 everyone really, really cares.
28:43 And even just the moments that we created on scene together.
28:45 I think some of them, for me,
28:47 have been probably the best acting performances
28:49 I've been able to create.
28:51 Teddy giving me the opportunity to play
28:55 some of the characters that I've done in the past,
28:57 whether it be Scraps and Drawn Out.
29:00 That's something very big for me to mention,
29:02 is that I'm not given these opportunities
29:05 on different projects that I've tried to...
29:07 I don't get the audition for, if I'm honest with you.
29:10 Even though I know I can do it, I've got the potential,
29:13 I've got the range in there, but I'm not given the chance.
29:17 Whereas with FF and Teddy,
29:19 they give me the opportunity, the chance.
29:21 Scraps is a character that, to this day,
29:24 there are people that come up to me and say,
29:26 "I don't recognise you in that role.
29:28 "You and that person are two different people."
29:31 And of course it's like mission achieved
29:33 or it's been successful,
29:35 but that's because it's a collaboration effort
29:37 between myself, Teddy and the rest of the team.
29:40 Because when we did that scene that day,
29:42 we had... that was one take.
29:45 It was crazy. We had rehearsed it, rehearsed it,
29:49 but ultimately it came down to just all of us
29:51 trusting our instincts and trusting our gut.
29:54 And like I just said,
29:56 I'm blown away by the work that we created.
29:59 And also I think the stuff that we've done
30:03 over the last 10 to 12 years,
30:05 I think I mentioned this to you earlier, Pia,
30:08 before we started recording,
30:10 was just that we just want the opportunity
30:13 to be trusted with the opportunity
30:16 to do more narrative.
30:18 We deserve that.
30:19 I think all the work we've achieved
30:21 and all the success and stuff for that,
30:24 but to the industry,
30:26 not many of our short films have been recognised
30:29 by the academies or the BAFTAs or even the BIFA.
30:34 It's frustrating to me that there is this divide
30:38 between what we do online to what we do
30:41 and what we see on TV and film, basically.
30:43 Even though we're creating
30:45 and we're speaking to an audience that want to be served,
30:48 that are desperate for this type of content,
30:50 that we're making content that they see themselves
30:53 or they relate to,
30:54 but still the commissioners or whoever
30:58 just aren't taking the chances
31:00 or the risks on people like ourselves.
31:02 And I think that's what pushes me
31:04 and makes me so passionate,
31:05 is just the fact that I have this drive
31:07 to show them that we are here.
31:11 Our work is credible.
31:13 You could put our work next to things
31:16 that are Oscar-nominated or BAFTA-nominated.
31:18 It doesn't matter.
31:19 Even though we can have smaller budgets
31:21 than those projects,
31:22 we can still make things that are just as impactful,
31:26 entertaining, and just that has a voice
31:29 and speaks to our community, basically.
31:31 And I don't think I'll ever stop doing that.
31:33 I think I've made a commitment to myself
31:35 and I know what I want to do for the rest of my career,
31:38 and it's to be working on things like this
31:41 and to keep on working with teams like Fully Focused
31:44 and to keep working with Teddy.
31:45 Teddy's my Scorsese,
31:48 and I feel like we're going to make years of films,
31:53 one after the other.
31:55 We just need some more support
31:58 because we are already doing really incredible things, basically.
32:01 And I feel like when people watch PTSD,
32:03 it's going to be another film that is going to make waves, basically.
32:06 But this time, what's different is that
32:08 instead of being modest about it,
32:10 I'm going to shout, I'm going to scream,
32:12 and I'm going to let the industry know that we are here,
32:14 that we deserve to be in the room.
32:16 And PTSD is going to make that noise
32:19 and we're going to be in there,
32:21 regardless if you want us in there or not.
32:23 The audience and the people are going to also help us
32:27 get into these positions of opportunity as well.
32:31 100, 100.
32:33 Well said.
32:35 Wow.
32:36 I love that. I love that. I love that.
32:38 So, talking about PTSD, right?
32:42 I'm not sure how the inception of it came around, right?
32:48 Because Purcell, you mentioned that it was there.
32:51 So, I don't know where that idea came from and all of that stuff.
32:55 So, I'm asking both of you,
32:57 and however it falls is however it falls,
32:59 but what made you explore that topic of mental health and trauma
33:05 that we see in PTSD?
33:07 Yeah, so for me, from the early inception,
33:13 I had an idea that from lived experience,
33:20 that we have a major issue with unaddressed trauma.
33:28 And how I felt about that is if all this trauma is going unaddressed,
33:35 then we're in this cycle of hurt people, hurt people.
33:39 And unless the trauma is addressed,
33:42 it's very difficult for the cycle to be broken.
33:46 And so, it felt like that was a really good place to start
33:51 because I know trauma is not always popular
33:56 and trauma is not always trending, and I understand that.
33:59 And I feel like we definitely need more stories
34:02 that are everyday normal stories,
34:04 uplifting, powerful, empowering stories.
34:07 And we make those and we celebrate those
34:10 and we have a platform dedicated to those with MYM.
34:14 By the same time, sometimes we need to run towards
34:19 and face the more difficult stories.
34:22 And if you want to see actual solutions,
34:29 actions around solutions, sometimes it needs to be...
34:32 It needs to cut through all the noise.
34:36 It needs to disrupt the noise and it needs to grab people
34:39 and say, "You need to do something."
34:42 Because we're at a place now where a lot of us have children
34:48 and a lot of us have families that...
34:51 We could lose one of our family members.
34:56 People are losing their family, people are losing their children.
35:00 And we've got to a place where every day, every week,
35:04 we're hearing about another young person has been killed.
35:08 And we don't even hear about the ones that are not killed,
35:12 that are injured for life, traumatized for life.
35:15 That's a way bigger number.
35:17 That one, you can go to the hospitals for the injuries for that one.
35:21 And it's an epidemic as far as I'm concerned.
35:24 That's around the whole country now.
35:26 It's not just London, it's not just major cities.
35:28 This could be kids of any demographic.
35:30 This can touch kids of any class.
35:32 It can be anybody's child.
35:34 And that's one of the things that I felt was important to say.
35:40 But in terms of solutions, it felt like trauma,
35:45 addressing trauma, what can we do to help support those that need help
35:52 to process trauma, to work through it.
35:55 And so based on that seed of an idea,
35:59 we sat down with the young team and for 20 weeks,
36:03 we met up every single week.
36:05 And came up, kind of fleshed out the idea of this story.
36:13 With the simple concept of,
36:16 if the victim came back to haunt the killer,
36:20 what would the conversations be like?
36:23 And then Sheila Nautley came on board, who's a brilliant writer,
36:31 and she wrote the screenplay and back and forward with us
36:34 and the young team, we got it to the place where we were ready.
36:36 She did an amazing, incredible job with it.
36:39 And at some point during that process,
36:41 I would have reached out to Pete and said,
36:44 "We got a new one, it's a big one."
36:47 - I love that, I love that.
36:55 No, thank you for that breakdown.
36:57 So like Purcell, right?
36:59 So you get the call from your Scorsese, right?
37:02 - Yeah.
37:03 - What was it like reading the script when you got that?
37:07 'Cause it's 45 minutes.
37:09 So it's like, in terms of, you know,
37:13 if we have a theme right now, we say ambition, right?
37:17 This is probably the longest project
37:20 that you guys have done together.
37:22 What's that feeling like when you receive that script?
37:25 - I can't lie to you, I was excited.
37:27 A hundred percent, I was excited.
37:29 Because I think as Teddy was explaining everything to me
37:32 on the phone, I'm seeing everything in pictures,
37:35 I'm watching the film.
37:37 And as he's going through what Cody's journey is
37:41 and what Faisal's doing as well in this,
37:45 the kind of plot and stuff like that.
37:47 And just for me, I just felt connected, man.
37:51 I felt engaged.
37:52 I felt like emotionally, I was already touched
37:55 by what Teddy was saying and stuff.
37:57 And especially with the other dress trauma.
38:00 It's such a, I think we always do this, right?
38:02 Like, of course we're taking sensitive topic.
38:07 But what I feel like Teddy's done,
38:10 which is really, really well,
38:12 is just finding a niche within something
38:15 that we don't talk about, the taboo stuff.
38:17 And I think Sheila mentioned this to me as well,
38:19 when we've had conversations.
38:20 Like cinema is an empathy machine
38:23 and we have to disrupt that noise.
38:25 And I just felt like, okay, I could see my position
38:28 and I could see how I can lend my talents
38:30 to basically help do this,
38:32 help create this impact and stuff.
38:34 And I think that's it for me.
38:36 I'm seeing, I'm excited, of course,
38:38 wanting to be a part of this,
38:39 but also I'm seeing the challenge in front of me.
38:41 I'm going, okay, cool.
38:42 Like, what can I do to lend?
38:44 What can I do to help to bring this to life?
38:46 And I think even, especially with some of the scenes,
38:49 they're harrowing.
38:50 Like, they're, in most of the stuff
38:52 that we've created in the past,
38:53 like, I feel uncomfortable when I watch a lot of that stuff.
38:56 And that is, for me, is the right message.
38:59 I'm trying to get across as an actor,
39:01 is I don't want you to sit through this
39:03 and feel comfortable.
39:04 I want you to feel like you have to do something right now.
39:06 Like, you don't want to watch the end of the film
39:08 and go, okay, cool, let's go back to general life.
39:10 No, like, how can we have that self-reflection?
39:13 How can we have that conversation in ourselves
39:15 and also our community around us
39:17 to say, what am I doing?
39:18 Am I doing enough maybe to help certain people?
39:21 It could be just even just to pay something forward
39:23 for that day, you know what I mean?
39:24 Just share a bit of kindness.
39:26 But ultimately, you know, yeah, my job as an actor is,
39:29 okay, how can I take on that challenge
39:31 of disrupting that noise
39:32 and making sure that people feel impacted
39:35 about what they're watching,
39:37 the emotions that my character's going through and stuff.
39:40 And I think that's the main thing for me.
39:42 It's like, how can I achieve that?
39:43 And, you know, if I have done that
39:45 and made one person think about their choices
39:49 or think about what they're doing maybe in their life
39:51 or whatever it is,
39:52 then I feel like I've kind of helped, you know,
39:55 put this thing together.
39:57 But yeah, I was really excited
39:59 'cause I think even hearing, you know,
40:02 that we had Nico attached to the project as well.
40:05 He's an amazing and phenomenal actor.
40:07 He's a powerhouse, man.
40:09 Ian Hart as well, you know, his career speaks volumes.
40:14 And the fact, like, this is what I'm saying,
40:15 you've got these big actors now,
40:17 these big artists that are now attracted to working
40:19 with us and these types of projects
40:21 is because they can see what we're doing here.
40:24 And of course, not to mention, you know,
40:26 there's Georgia, there's Sam, there's, you know,
40:28 the other Georgia who make up my friendship group
40:30 in the film and stuff like that.
40:32 We had Junior, Ricky, there's so many good actors, man,
40:35 across the whole board.
40:36 Everyone was super passionate about, you know,
40:38 about doing this together.
40:40 So we had such a great ensemble of people
40:43 who were passionate and were driven
40:45 by the same thing, basically.
40:47 - Yeah, there's a lot of love in this project.
40:52 A lot of people have dipped into their soul for this,
40:57 you know, and Purcell and Nico,
41:00 they went on a mad emotional, and Georgia,
41:04 both Georgia's and Sam as well.
41:06 But I mentioned Purcell and Nico
41:08 because they had to go through it throughout the film.
41:11 - When we did the scenes, yeah.
41:14 Remember the scene in the,
41:15 there was a scene in the bathroom,
41:17 a general in the house of me and Nico.
41:20 I think there was one point where I think Teddy yelled cut
41:23 and me and him just like looked at each other.
41:25 We were like, kind of gave each other a hug.
41:28 It was like, well done, man.
41:30 Keep going because we knew that this was something
41:33 that I think, again, like, I don't know what,
41:36 obviously Nico can speak for himself,
41:38 but for me, like I was, you know,
41:40 I was tested, man, this emotionally.
41:42 It was super, super difficult,
41:45 super challenging, harrowing, you know,
41:47 but ultimately we're in a safe space
41:49 to do this, you know what I mean?
41:50 And, you know, we welcomed that, you know,
41:54 we welcomed that and, you know,
41:55 it was great to visit those places
41:57 because it just felt like we were doing this script,
42:00 you know, the justice it needed.
42:02 - Wow. You know what Purcell,
42:06 you said something so interesting
42:08 in terms of like being tested
42:10 and really having to put your all in.
42:13 I guess from an actor's perspective, right,
42:16 what was your rehearsal process like
42:18 for this?
42:20 'Cause I'm conscious that, you know,
42:22 on screen the rehearsal time isn't great,
42:27 but then this means so much to you.
42:29 So what, yeah, what did you do?
42:30 - Yeah, grateful for this actually,
42:33 because Teddy and the guys actually designed,
42:37 gave us that time to rehearse.
42:39 I think we had, I can't remember, Ted,
42:41 was it two weeks or a week?
42:42 I'm not too sure how long we had rehearsing before.
42:45 - Yeah, we did quite a few days, didn't we?
42:47 - We did quite a few days, yeah.
42:49 But we worked on like a lot of the scenes basically,
42:52 especially like the chemistry between me
42:54 and the guys and stuff in our group.
42:56 We even picked out our name NRG and stuff like that.
42:59 Like we just, we just like,
43:01 and you see it on camera,
43:02 but we had such a good chemistry
43:04 because of that rehearsal time.
43:05 And then even for me and Nico,
43:07 like we got to rehearse a few of those,
43:09 those scenes and stuff,
43:10 which was great because it just saved us a lot of time.
43:13 You know, when we get to sit
43:14 and you have to problem solve, you know,
43:16 with not much time,
43:17 at least we had like a base to work off.
43:19 So we did a lot of that work.
43:21 Sheila was there as well
43:22 on some of the rehearsal days.
43:24 But what was great was that, yeah, you know,
43:26 we had that foundation.
43:27 And then of course, when it comes to, you know,
43:29 putting on a costume, you know,
43:31 going on set,
43:32 then of course we can just put our all in
43:34 and, you know, deliver, you know,
43:37 to that next level basically.
43:39 - I love that.
43:42 - And the thing is with this,
43:43 it was about next level.
43:45 This isn't a drama,
43:47 this is a psychological thriller.
43:49 Do you know what I mean?
43:50 And for me, it was really,
43:52 I was really excited to be able to go somewhere
43:55 a bit different.
43:56 And I wanted to, again,
43:58 about challenging ourselves
44:01 and trying to do something more visually unique
44:06 and bringing in even a supernatural element to it,
44:09 but then still being able to justify it.
44:13 And, but that giving us space
44:16 to do something more creative,
44:18 more interesting and go a bit deeper as well.
44:21 And that was a really exciting prospect.
44:23 And now when I look at stills,
44:26 screen grabs from the film,
44:28 that's beautiful.
44:30 Like we've created so many paintings with this film.
44:34 And once the film comes out
44:35 and the stills start coming out,
44:36 and I'll send you a whole bunch of them, P.
44:38 I've been selecting, going through and selecting
44:41 so that you can use them as well.
44:44 And I'll send that to different people.
44:47 But it's shown me that,
44:52 you know, sometimes you need to see it as a still
44:54 because a frame captured in time
44:59 is a beautiful moment,
45:01 but a frame moving, it's gone.
45:04 So you'll definitely notice
45:06 lots of beautiful shots and moments in the film.
45:08 When you're actually able to freeze it
45:10 and look at it,
45:11 you can actually really take it in and appreciate it.
45:14 And I feel like we've done that with this film.
45:16 We've created some painted moments
45:21 and there's beauty and there's pain.
45:23 Do you know what I mean?
45:24 And that's life.
45:27 - I love that, Teddy, you're so deep.
45:29 I love that.
45:30 (laughing)
45:32 I love that.
45:33 - I know, I know.
45:34 I am, I am.
45:35 But this one is a deep one,
45:37 so there's no way around it, you know?
45:39 - Yeah, no, it's true.
45:41 And I think, you know,
45:42 like people that really direct, right?
45:45 I noticed that with them
45:47 in terms of like the beauty
45:51 and actually just having that instinct
45:54 of this has to, like, no, this has to be right.
45:57 This has to be great.
45:59 Which is, so it's just interesting
46:01 that you're just naturally using that.
46:04 In terms of the deepness, right, Purcell,
46:07 like essentially you're playing like two characters.
46:11 Like there's Faisal, well,
46:15 I don't want to do any spoilers,
46:17 but you're essentially playing two characters, yeah?
46:20 What, like, how did you navigate that?
46:23 - Yeah, to be honest with you,
46:27 like with the help of Ted,
46:29 to be honest with you,
46:30 working out like just that narrative journey.
46:32 But it was just, I think,
46:34 'cause I don't know what I can say that it's not a spoiler,
46:38 but yeah, it was just,
46:40 it was those two conversations.
46:42 It was quite interesting
46:43 because of course there was,
46:44 it was mainly just like the Faisal you see with Cody
46:49 and then, you know,
46:50 and then with just them two in terms of that dynamic.
46:53 And then, you know,
46:54 the Faisal that you see just with the general group and stuff.
46:56 - Faisal before and Faisal after.
46:57 - Yeah, Faisal before and Faisal after.
46:59 And I think it was interesting
47:00 because it was like having that conversation
47:03 with someone and of like what they have done.
47:07 It was so like, of course, you know,
47:10 like you don't get that when you pick up, you know,
47:12 the scripts I always read and stuff like that.
47:14 And it was just interesting
47:15 because emotionally where that went to,
47:18 and even at the end of the film, you know,
47:20 that last scene between us both and stuff,
47:22 like that was, yeah, that was something, man,
47:25 because it was like just, yeah,
47:28 just 'cause of what he has done
47:29 and the consequences that have led to that
47:31 and what that has done to impact my family
47:34 and just emotionally what Faisal's going through
47:37 in explaining that to Cody was just something else as well.
47:41 So yeah, it was, I think we shot,
47:45 I think we shot a lot of stuff in a linear way,
47:48 didn't we, Ted?
47:49 I think we had it blocked in terms of scheduling.
47:52 I think we, yeah, we tried to,
47:53 we had a lot of the stuff in the house.
47:55 That's it, yeah.
47:56 We had a lot of the stuff in the house
47:57 with me and Cody, all of those scenes.
47:59 And then, you know,
48:00 some of the stuff that took place near the canal.
48:02 So I think I just visited each day as it came,
48:06 if that makes sense, P,
48:07 like just was like, okay, cool,
48:09 this is what I need to do in the house.
48:11 And these are all the beats that I need to hit
48:13 that Teddy was kind of talking me through basically.
48:15 And each take, it was just about just trying
48:17 different things maybe.
48:18 And also just like Teddy mentioned
48:20 about pushing the levels,
48:21 just constantly challenging me and Nico to find,
48:24 you know, like just deeper and deeper,
48:26 like depths to what we could bring out basically
48:28 in terms of performance.
48:29 And I feel like we did that, man.
48:31 - And do you know what, with the house,
48:33 I think that we, the dates of our shoot changed.
48:36 And then they said the dates the house was available changed.
48:39 So we ended up having to shoot the house stuff first.
48:42 So like day one, P and Nico were going
48:44 into some deep emotional stuff.
48:47 (laughing)
48:48 And you guys just had to like throw yourself in
48:52 and find it.
48:53 - Yeah, I think it was our first day.
48:54 Like, hello, nice to meet you.
48:55 And it was like straight, yeah.
48:57 - Yeah.
48:58 - Yeah.
48:59 (laughing)
49:00 - Not easy.
49:01 But luckily because of the rehearsals and stuff,
49:03 we'd built that bond.
49:05 And that's, to me,
49:06 a big part of what rehearsals are about.
49:08 It's about creating that bond, you know.
49:10 If you're working with newer talent
49:12 that maybe has, it might be their first production
49:15 or they've only done one or two,
49:16 then of course it's good for them to practice and stuff.
49:19 But also for experienced actors,
49:22 it's just good to play.
49:23 Just have that space to explore.
49:25 Because on set you don't have that much time.
49:28 - No, yeah.
49:29 - So, yeah, I think rehearsals are valuable for that.
49:32 And I've done them on everything.
49:33 Even on "Pru", I was like,
49:34 "We should definitely do that."
49:36 And we did, thankfully.
49:38 'Cause I just think that they're super useful.
49:41 You know, but you don't wanna,
49:42 when you're working with experienced actors,
49:44 or any actors actually,
49:45 you don't wanna go too far.
49:46 You don't wanna over-rehearse it
49:47 'cause you need to keep freshness for the day as well.
49:50 So it's a bit of a balance.
49:52 - I love that, man.
49:53 I love that.
49:54 I love that.
49:55 I love that.
49:56 And long may it continue.
49:59 I'm looking forward to seeing the reactions to "PTSD".
50:04 I know it's gonna be good.
50:06 You can see the effort and the love
50:09 and just the craft that's gone into it.
50:12 I'm not just saying that.
50:13 People will get it when they watch it.
50:16 And yeah, man, happy to support.
50:19 So make sure you guys all go and watch it, man.
50:23 [upbeat music]
50:26 (upbeat music)