Monday, February 20th, 2017
The Norwich Film Festival recently caught up with last year’s Best Short Film Winners (Director Andy Berriman & Producer Maria Caruana Galizia) to talk a little bit about their brilliant award winning film A Six and Two Three’s.
NFF: Can you tell our readers a little bit about your short film ‘A Six and Two Three’s
Andy: A Six & Two Threes is a comedy/drama about two kids who meet when one goes looking for his real dad. Over the course of the day, they realise they may have more in common than they think. It’s a very simple, character driven story starring Andrew Dawson and Shane Teasdale.
NFF: Tell us about the process behind the project and how long did it take to make?
Andy: I wrote the first draft of the script just out of film school about 9 years ago, (oh my god!!!). It was in and out of a drawer for those years, and I’d work on it sporadically. Roxy McKenna at Northern Media read it in about 2010 and then five years later I had a meeting with her. She asked what had happened with it, and encouraged me to dig it out and she set me up with Maria. We applied for iShorts2 and (after some serious redrafting) and the rest is history.
Maria: Filming took 3 days and post production was pretty quick. It is strange to look back now and see how smoothly everything went! We had such a great crew and cast who kept the whole production moving along. The team at Creative England were really supportive and really just let us make the film that we wanted to.
A Six & Two Threes (Trailer) from Andy Berriman on Vimeo (Warning: Contains Mature Language)
NFF: How did you manage to fund your short?
Andy: It was mostly funded by Creative England through iShorts. We supplemented the £5k they gave us with about £2.5k of crowdfunding. Maria worked her magic to pull it together on that budget.
NFF: Can you tell our readers a little bit about the film’s success at other Film Festival’s?
Andy: It played 17 festivals (last count) in roughly a year, picking up four awards. We played Galway Film Fleadh as part of a Creative England showcase – which was the first time they’d programmed non-Irish shorts. Or something like that. I went to everyone I could possibly make it to and experienced it with lots of different audiences, which was fascinating. We were also long-listed for a BIFA!
NFF: Are there any short films / animations you’ve recently seen that you really enjoyed?
Andy: I thought ‘Rate Me’ was amazing. Really fresh and an ingeniously structured short. I’m going to be really pack-minded and say my fellow iShort cronies: ‘Circles’ by Dean Puckett, ‘A Father’s Day’ by Mat Johns’, ‘The Crossing’ by Jack King & ‘The Knock’ by Phil Stevens, among others.
Maria: I really loved “Dawn of the Deaf” by Rob Savage, and “Sweet Maddie Stone” By Brady Hood.
NFF: How important do you feel it is entering your film to Film Festival’s?
Andy: Absolutely crucial. For a short, unless you’re on Vimeo’s radar, or Nowness, it’s the only way for it to have a life. And to see your film with an audience is how you learn to make movies.
Maria: We had a small budget to begin with but I’m glad we decided to keep some of that budget and put it towards a festival run. I second what Andy said, watching your film with an audience and listening to how they react to it, when they laugh or cry, is an educational experience.
NFF: How did it feel to win the Norwich Film Festival Best Short Film of 2016? Do you feel this will help you in your film career?
Andy: It was honestly my proudest moment, because the film has no connection to that part of the world. It made me dare to hope that there is something universal in it.
Maria: I was really surprised but so grateful to Norwich film festival and the audience for embracing the film like that.
(Above Director Andy Berriman & Producer Maria Caruana Galizia)
NFF: What are you working on at the moment and will we see you at Norwich Film Festival this year?
Andy: I’m directing a play and, hopefully, Maria and I will be making our next short! I sincerely hope to make it to Norwich this year and many other years in the future. The passion and dedication is palpable, and I look forward to seeing it grow and grow!
Maria: I’ve since produced two short films and I have another in pre-production. I working on a slate of feature film scripts with various filmmakers. I am hoping to make another short film with Andy and hopefully we can go on to make feature films together.
Interview by Craig Higgins (Co-Director Norwich Film Festival)
Posted in: Interviews