Interviewer: Good evening 

Paul: Good evening


Interviewer: Coming in from the UK right now? Or where are you 

 

Paul: I’m in Ireland actually 


Interviewer: Ah, fantastic


Paul: Yeah I am Irish. Haha


Interviewer: Lovely, lovely piece. I will have to actually say, great something, great something. Love the choreography, I know it’s boxing but it’s good choreography, so thank you so much for that.


Paul: Thank you, thank you.


Interviewer: May I ask, why James Bond?


Paul: Because James Bond is the reason I make films. 


Interviewer: Ahh! Okay. And, um, in doing this film, did you base it off of any of the books? I haven’t read them all.


Paul: Yeah. I tried to stay away from the whole Daniel Craig universe, where it’s just one timeline from start to finish. My bond starts after Pierce Brosnan hence why it’s Tracey Bond instead of Vesper 


Interviewer: Ahh. Thank you for the clarification.


Paul: Well, I do take some inspiration from the books and, of course, from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan.


Interviewer: Ah, I see, I see. And in doing this whole film are there any difficulties when getting the venues? I noticed that there were some beautiful staircases and hallways and such. How did you end up finding these places?


Paul: Most of em were just public places. The house that I got electrocuted in, that was a friend of mine. He is actually one of the directors that was in there. 


Interviewer: Lovely. Lovely work. Working with all the shading, the lighting, you know, well done on that part. 


Paul: I wasn’t really happy with some of the shots that I did because there were a few that were overexposed, then again that wasn’t technically my fault cause the camera I have is old. So i thought I’d give it one last 'hororah!' before it dies. And it did die. 


Interviewer: What kind of camera was it? 


Paul: It was a Nikon D Touch 200 


Interviewer: Oh my goodness. Are you serious? Wow! Well done then. 


Paul: Yeah, I haven’t watched it since it came out last year. And just in going back over it now, there’s a lot of blurry. And I’m just like “oh god no!” you know. 


Interviewer: We’ve had those days, I’m sure. It’s very hard to let go of good equipment that you’ve actually invested your money in. I actually know some people who won't let go of their camera because they're just like “there’s gonna be another lens, I swear”. Haha.


Paul: I mean. At the time last year, I really couldn’t find the camera that I wanted and stuff like that and couldn’t buy it. So I had to stick with the camera that I had, which was that one. 


Interviewer: I have ask, the song in the beginning. Is it original or? 


Paul: No I had to ask for that. It was from the game “I expect you to die”


Interviewer: Okay. And I guess going back to the choreography, did you guys rehearse the choreography? Or are you guys just like, experts in the boxing game.


Paul: Not experts, haha. It was rehearsed, and rehearsed, and rehearsed, and actually on the day of filming we did most of our rehearsals. We didn’t do it before or anything like that, we just did it on the day and I think most of it came out okay. There are things that I’d like to redo but I can’t. But the stuff the other lads did was fantastic. 


Interviewer: I noticed you have your own production company, and I actually saw on your Instagram that you do security. Did the choreography just come naturally? Haha.


Paul: It did help ding boxing, and I was in the Irish army for a little bit. 


Interviewer: Oh okay. Well that would do it. Haha. I know weather always gets in the way of filming and how was it getting through the seasons?


Paul: Last summer through, where did we start? I think it was like April of last year right up to august of last year. The weather in Ireland is, you can’t predict it. But last year, the summer was fantastic, so we had good weather all for the last until we finished the knots 


Interviewer: Lovely. What was the hardest thing to actually work with in the whole production? Like were there any mishaps or did you actually find some challenges?


Paul: There was a complete scene that never got finished. You know the bit where i’m sneaking around in that little forest there where I should take out your man? That wasn’t meant to be filmed like that. That was meant to be an apartment complex with stairs, that look like youd actually see in a James Bond film. There was like a balcony with stairs and everything, it looked fantastic. But because I forgot to tell the cops about the prop guns we had I forgot about it because it was such a long day of doing other stuff, that I completely forgot to tell the cops in Limerick that we were supposed to film in this building complex. So there were a bit of complications. So that one had to be rewritten and reshot. That’s the hardest thing we had to do, come up with an idea of where are we gonna film this.


Interviewer: What kind of guns did you guys actually use 


Paul: Mostly plastic ones, nothing really shot, and I think they were all like, they used to shoot stuff but because I super glued the entire inside, they didn’t really do anything. But uh, I used for bond obviously his Walther PPK. And his m4, g36, and an m9 and 11.


Interviewer: Okay okay. Did you guys already have the guns in your collection? 


Paul: They were all mine. I got them from my granddad. So. Haha


Interviewer: When dealing with the outfits and costumes, you know, everyone has a good suit or so. Was there any wardrobe issues or? 


Paul: I put bond in all black for my own reasons, really. I’m not as skinny as I used to be anymore. And I was like, you know, there’s only one way to really hide all that and it’s just to wear black. And all the others were really no problem, I just had to tell them not to wear anything with logos on it, cause I ain’t getting sued by Nike. Haha. 


Interviewer: Well I’ve got no complaint about it. For those who are trying to be where you are right now, Moses, what words of encouragement can you actually give them in you know, making independent films, making fan films, and this passion.


Paul: Um. Fan films I would say, just keep at it. I've been doing this since 2009. This is like my 5th film. Or 6th I can’t remember. 


Interviewer: That’s a good thing


Paul: It’s just signs of me getting old. But yeah, I’ve been doing this for quite a while. And just keep at it. If you know what you wanna do, and you have the resources and friends, mostly, to help you. That’s one of the main key things that will help you. For non fan films, just get backing. That’s all I can say right now, is just try to get backing for your film. That’s it.


Interviewer: Lovely. So thank you for the magic. I would love to actually share more of it. And you know, feel free to maybe put in the chat where we can find more of your work.


Paul: Well, this is actually my second james bond fan film. I have one that I did back in 2014. Which is my first one. My third one would be starting next year and stuff like that when I finish up with my friend with his Dr. Who series, hence the beard. But besides that, yeah. It's just on youtube.


Interviewer: Wonderful, wonderful. Lovely beard by the way.


Paul: I grew it myself 


Interviewer: I wonder who would help? Haha. Alright. Well, thank you so much Mr. Cusack. That was a lovely, lovely piece of work you've given us.


Paul: There's a few issues that I see. The audio is definitely one. It was my first time ever working with audio, so, it was just kind of eh. I know now, I can actually do ADR [automated dialogue replacement], so that's what I've been doing for most of my other films.


Interviewer: Well, to be honest, audio is one of the hardest to work with, you know, whenever you're doing production or even pre production. I have no real suggestions due to the fact that weather is horrible, and walls are horrible. So you just keep rolling with it!


Paul: I tried. I actually do most of the editing for my friend's Dr. Who web series. And I'm doing most of the ADR myself, working with the actors and stuff. So i'm actually getting a lot better at doing it and stuff like that. It's just trying to get the time with the words, at least that's the most hardest part.


Interviewer: Well, I know that film making in itself is not easy. So i'm very grateful that we have a creative like you to even be part of this festival today


Paul: Thank you, thank you.


Interviewer: Alright, so we'll be carrying on, and thank you.