The Interview: David Leon

What initially interested you in writing, directing and acting?

When I was younger I was struck by various films. I grew up in Newcastle in the northeast and, as most people know, it’s a very working class very grounded place. I’m incredibly proud of my heritage in that respect but on the flip side, growing up in that period of time there was very little opportunity to get access to the creative industries. So the idea of that never really felt like an option. Whilst I was very passionate and interested in film and filmmaking I had no idea how to navigate that path.

Long story short I started off as an actor, I did the national youth theatre, I kind of didn’t tell anyone and then I auditioned and I got a place, and then I thought actually I can do this and this is something I might actually be good at. Then through working as an actor, I still felt like there was an element of me which wasn’t being satisfied. As an actor, you’re only able to be involved in the filmmaking process to a point. I wanted more than that.

I started writing my own stuff over ten years ago and started making short films, with a group of friends, who have all kind of gone on to work in the industry in one form or another. These films got more and more ambitious, and then my short film Man and Boy won at Tribeca and that gave us the momentum to go on and make a feature. It has evolved, but I knew probably pretty early on I wanted more than just to act. I love acting and will always continue to do that, but it’s nice to mix it up and to be able have the contrast. I would define myself on a daily basis more as a filmmaker which encompasses all of those things.

Most actor-directors jump straight into directing features instead of working on shorts. What is it that drew you towards the short form format?

Coming from an acting background is brilliant because you get access to all elements of the film set. You’re dealing with production designers and costume designers and cinematography. It’s a great grounding and one thing I knew I had a good understanding of was performance, which is probably most important, in terms of writing, [especially] character.

I made it my job to know everything I could know about the technical aspect of filmmaking. Now I feel like I’m a place where I have a good understanding of kind of all elements. Only when you have a firm understanding of all those elements that you’re able to truly be creative. It gives you the understanding of how to really make the most out of every choice that you make. Filmmaking requires you to make compromises every step of the way. You can have this fantastic location, but it may mean you can’t light it in the way you want to. So it’s a trade-off. Is it better to use this location and only show some of it, or to find somewhere else?

"I’m a perfectionist. I have a very strong idea of what I want, but I am also very aware of bringing on board talented people and allowing them the freedom to be able to bring their best work."

How would you assess the British filmmaking landscape?

Getting shorts made is incredibly difficult and I don’t think it gets any easier. Once you’re established and once you can show what it is you represent and your vision as a filmmaker then you can show that to institutions and private investors and say, “this is me, this I what I want to say and as a consequence, on a bigger level with more investment this would be the effect I want to have, whether that be to entertain, to challenge to provoke.”

I’ve been saying for a long time that UK film suffers slightly because a lot of British films tend to be derivative from American films or tend to pander to an American audience. There is no doubt we have a deep talent pool. The problem is not so much getting a film made but getting a film distributed. More could be done at the box office, more could be done in conjunction with the exhibitors to try and make sure a British film within a certain market, is subsidised. Say you are a punter and you go to the box office and you have James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter and then you may have a Shane Meadows film, or Control, Tyrannosaur or whatever it is. A certain amount has to be done to make these sorts of films are more socially relevant. There is obviously a demand for them, but it may be a relatively small social demographic, relative to something like James Bond or a studio film. But with people talking it encourages people to seek it out. I think we don’t necessarily, in this country, have a real value of the cultural importance of many things, but film particularly has the ability to inspire and change people’s lives, and I think that is very important.

Your feature Orthodox is centred around the idea of community. Some people think community is dead, it doesn’t exist anymore, do you agree with that?

The film is called Orthodox which is about the Jewish community, it is about religion to some extent, but then I think something which is more important in that context is culture, and the consequence of this is faith. I really feel faith is so important to us as human beings, whether that faith be religion, or it be money or family, be it your football team. People need to believe in something, and when that belief lets you down that’s when you can find people feel lost. In that kind of instance, he feels let down by his community as a consequence so he reaches out to another. In London there is a sense of a lack of community, but one of the things which makes London so special is its multicultural dynamics.

What were some of the challenges you encountered when directing your first feature?

We made a short film to start with in order to raise the finance for the feature. I watched a film called Dog Altogether directed by Paddy Considine and that sort of became Tyrannosaur. What we did, we didn’t have the money or the finance, we weren’t working with any of the official bodies unfortunately, as a consequence we had the idea to shoot a self-contained short. Then we used that footage in the context of the feature. Instead of shooting for 20 days we shot for 15 and then, rather shoot 90 minutes we only had to shoot 70 for example. I’m glad we did it in that way because I don’t think we could have got the film made any other way.

It presented various challenges. One which was trying to get a cast which could drive a feature film attached to a short, and I was incredibly lucky because Stephen had been doing Boardwalk Empire in New York, and he had been working in Williamsburg where they have a very similar dynamic, in terms of the Jewish community. He had been kind of working in that area and fascinated by this so when he got the script, he was excited to work with a character that was different from what he had been used to, and to enter a world where he found very fascinating. We were able to have a lot of long in-depth conversations about the character and about the world.

Orthodox was definitely a film for the big screen from the cinematography to the sound design. What influenced the aesthetics of the film?

With the elements in the film you are conscious of trying to raise each area, costume design, sound design, cinematography, you want to try and get the best for each department and to make it as cinematic as possible. I am very influenced from world cinema and the kind of directors I love are Jacques Audiard and the Dardenne Brothers and even [films like] Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. People are quick to pigeonhole Raging Bull as a boxing movie and Taxi Driver as a thriller but in reality the films are charter driven dramas. They are beautiful human pieces about flawed characters. I really gravitate to stuff that feels truthful. If you really believe in those characters and they take you on a journey, then I really feel you have the ability to be affected and moved and to still be thinking of it after you’ve left the cinema. To me that’s the most important job of a filmmaker.

"Film particularly has the ability to inspire and change people's lives, and I think that is very important."

How did you practically achieve the final result? What challenges did you face?

Budget is always a problem. Having a low budget means you have little time, little recourses and we had no prep period. We had this opportunity where the money had come through and with Stephen’s availability, we had been given two weeks from Boardwalk Empire to shoot, and we had something like just under a month’s notice. We didn’t have the blessing of a six week prep period, where I could sit there with my DOP and production designer and be like “hey guys let’s have a coffee and a sit down have a chat about scene 52.” It was like “this is what we are doing, and this is how we achieve it.” We had no toys. We had no track, we had no dolly, everything had to be hand held, and in some sense it has to be hand held because you’re doing six or seven pages a day. In terms of recourses, you had people stepping up; assistants stepping up and becoming designers. Everyone was incredibly passionate about, it no one is getting rich of it. People are doing it for the love. You have to be on your shit essentially, and you have great communication and to make sure your decision-making is concise. You have to push people, not to their limits, but to think out of the box, and think autonomously

How would you characterise your approach to directing?

I’m a perfectionist. I have a very strong idea of what I want, but I am also very aware of bringing on board talented people, and allowing them the freedom to be able to bring their best work. That’s really important, not only because people care, and feel and have a positive and enjoyable experience but you produce your best work when you feel inspired. When everyone is invested they will bring so much more to the table and they will feel that freedom to think outside the box. When you tend to be controlling or inflexible as a consequence, everybody tends to go inside their shell a little bit. It’s important to instil confidence. Not saying I always get that right, but equally that is what I aspire too.

What would you hope audiences take away from the film?

The most important thing for me, no matter what is to provoke strong reactions and I don’t mean in a sensationalist way. I’d like my work to be affecting. I’d like it to provoke a debate, so when people leave the cinema they discuss it and perhaps question a perception of something which they hadn’t quite considered or thought about before.

Orthodox is released in February 19th.

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