Director Q&A — Jamie Patterson
Rom Com Fest 2019 included a mix of classic and new movies that are diverse and representative of the genre. To better showcase the new films, we decided to do Q+As with the directors!
Say hello to the director of Tracks, Jamie Patterson!
Jamie was born in Brighton, East Sussex, England. He is the co-founder of Jump Start Productions and Motormouth Films and directed his first feature film Swimming in Circles (2009) when he was just twenty one years old.
Jamie has directed 12 feature films including CITY OF DREAMERS, which won 7 awards worldwide including Best Film at Madrid International Film Festival and Best Actress at Milano Film Festival. Last year his 10th feature film FRACTURED won a record breaking 6 awards at the British Horror Film Festival, and Best Film at the London Independent Film Awards.
Q&A
Favorite movie snack?
A scotch egg. Rogue I know or Sweet popcorn with minstrels mixed in!
Favorite rom com?
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days!!! Notting Hill would be a close second.
Where do you typically find inspiration?
Every day life. Most the characters in my films are versions of people I know or who have met. I just might make a few tweaks, for instance I don't know any serial killers! I don't think anyway.
What was your inspiration for this film?
Gareth Edwards made a film called 'Monsters' and on the DVD there was a making of. He basically did that film on the fly, they had a tiny crew and just winged it pretty much. Out of that making of came the idea of going inter-railing. Once I had that it was just about coming up with a story we could do.
What about casting? How did you approach finding the right talent for the project?
Chris was actually in my first ever film. He's one of the funniest guys I know and it ended up being written for him. I've worked with April on a bunch of films, I'm also lucky enough to be married to her. She's so funny and I'm so excited for people to see how good she is in the film.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and who was it from?
A distributor once told me that if I wanted to sell a film I should make a Christmas film, Horror or anything with a talking dog! I'm hoping an inter-railing comedy was fourth on his list!
If you could have anyone (living or dead) watch your film, who would it be and why?
Martin Scorsese. He's the greatest director of all time.
If you got the opportunity to remake a classic, which would it be?
The Witches. Gutted that Robert Zemeckis is going to beat me to it. I'm so excited about that film though. Personally I think classics should probably be left alone, I would have a go at Waterworld, that was an epic idea that just went a bit tits up.
Any hints on upcoming projects?
I actually have two other films in post productions, a love story called 'Justine' written by Jeff Murphy and a crazy heist film called 'God's Petting You', which I also wrote. I'm also just about to start on a psychological thriller called 'The Kindred', which April is the lead in.