INTERVIEW WITH RIOT CLUB DIRECTOR SCOTT ALTMAN
RIOT CLUB is an urban-comedy based around lead character Eddie Belmont, a former boxer, who now manages a boxing club for teenagers with his colleague Barry Rig.
We recently got the chance to it down and chat to Riot Club director Scott Altman, to talk about his upcoming short.
Hi Scott, thanks for chatting to us.
What was the inspiration for your film?
The film is essentially a pilot for a long-form project I’ve been working on with writer J.R. Shephard. The plan was to shoot Riot Club to give commissioners and investors a taste for the feature film, what we could deliver, and to help get the project off the ground. Since then, we’ve adapted the story to work as a television series and have an entire season written in full.
Wow, that’s great.
How did you source the talent?
All talent were sourced internally at Defunct Films. We were extremely lucky that Alan Ford and Adam Fogerty were both interested in the project. I have always admired Ford’s acting work and the roles he’s known for. His agent, Malcom Browning, knew we were looking for an actor to play Eddie’s wingman (played by Alan Ford) and suggested Adam Fogerty for the role. Again, I knew Fogerty’s acting work well and felt the two actors really complimented each other. It was a great suggestion and it meant a lot having actors of that level on board.
They bring a wealth of experience to the table.
What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?
The most challenging aspect of the short film format is the limited amount of screen time available. It’s very hard to get a sense of a character, let alone seven characters, in 10 minutes for example. Otherwise, our budget and shoot time were tight so we had to film everything within two regular days. This was tricky as we were filming indoors which can take time to set-up, light and rejig, if any adjustments need to me made.
Short films are tricky as you have such a limited amount of time.
What was the most challenging aspect of your production?
The most challenging aspect from a personal perspective was the thought of directing experienced actors such as Alan Ford and Adam Fogerty. Ford has a wealth of acting experience and is known for playing intimidating roles such as Brick Top in Guy Ritchie’s ‘Snatch’ and boxing promoter Terry Norton in Steve Coogan’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge’. Adam Fogerty on the other hand, has starred alongside Brad Pitt in ‘Snatch’, Tom Hardy in ‘Legend’ and more recently Harvey Keitel. At the time, I was fairly apprehensive about the task at hand. Although, once we got going and I expressed my vision to Ford and Fogerty, they trusted in me and we got on very well.
What do you want your audiences to take away from this film?
As with every project I’m part of, I’d like the audience to enjoy watching and experiencing what has been created and produced. As for Riot Club, I hope the audience find the story entertaining and the characters, and world engaging. At the same time, I want audiences to see the project’s potential and be left wanting more. After watching Riot Club, a number of individuals have made comments along the lines of ‘I’d watch that if it was on TV’. To hear audiences react openly in that way and confirm they would tune in to watch a long-form version of Riot Club is a positive sign. All we need now is for the project to be supported by a platform or broadcaster and commissioned into production.
Well, I have a strong feeling it will be! Thanks for chatting to us and good luck with Riot Club I am sure it is going to do well!
