The Honest Filmmaker
Are you about to leave Uni with a filmmaking degree? Or want to change careers and work in a creative industry? We want to give you the tools you need to enter the real world of production or freelancing. Honest and open career advice from people in the business.
We also talk to those in other creative industries to discuss their careers, the potential cross over with film production and practical tips for a successful and fulfilling career.
http://www.thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk
The Honest Filmmaker
How to Crack Social Media with your Indie Film with Chris Mayo aka Big Fat Cult
#filmpodcast #horror #tiktok
This week on the podcast I'm talking to horror influencer and content creator Chris May - also known as Big Fat Cult on TikTok and Instagram where he reviews and talks about the latest horror movies and other films out on release.
Chris also attended this years Fright Fest film festival so I got him to give me a run down of some of the films he enjoyed at the festival, he also gave me his tips posting on social media, he told me how he got started and his move into becoming an influencer, we talked about some of the trends in horror movies and his tips for posting on social media and how to reach a new audience - enjoy!
Films from Fright Fest:
Dead Mail: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26474783/
A Desert: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32139458/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Book Worm: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23472210/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Broken Bird: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15908894/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Watch The Apocalypse Box: https://amberpictures.co.uk/the-apocalypse-box/
Check out the re-release of Jim's first solo directing feature The Witches Hammer - out now on amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0F235F4T8/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
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HONEST, OPEN ADVICE ABOUT YOUR FILMMAKING CAREER
Are you about to leave Uni with a filmmaking degree? Or want to change careers and work in a creative industry? We want to give you the tools you need to enter the real world of production or freelancing. Honest and open career advice from people in the business.
We also talk to those in other creative industries to discuss their careers, the potential cross over with film production and practical tips for a successful and fulfilling career.
Join the community: http://www.thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk
hi Jim here just dropping in before this week's episode to tell you about my latest movie The Apocalypse box it's a horror film and I'd love for you to check it out if you go to apocalypse box.co.uk you can find all the links on where you can watch the movie right let's get on with this week's[Music] episode hi Jim here and you're listening to the honest filmmaker podcast career advice from people in the business this week I'm speaking to horror influencer Chris Mayo Chris is also known as big fat cult on Tik Tok and Instagram and reviews and talks about the latest horror movies and movies out on release Chris also attended this year's frightfest Film Festival so I got him to give me a rundown some of the films he enjoyed from that Festival he also gave me some tips for posting on social media told me a little bit about how he got started and his move into becoming an influencer we talked about some of the trends in horror movies and he also told me his tips for posting on social media and how to reach your audience enjoy so first of all tell me a little bit about yourself did you study at Uni sort how did you get into the business um so I didn't go to UNI I did um studied media and um Performing Arts at College in um uh gosport in Hampshire so sort of nearish to Portsmouth um and then actually started my career as a comedian um wanted to be an actor initially and then kind of fell into uh comedy and then um through that managed to get work sort of as an actor and then um as with all these things being a freelancer uh spent a lot of time um you know taking other freelance jobs and other creative jobs so just kind of found my way working in kind of every aspect of the industry in some sort of fashion um and then uh yeah in the last couple of years have got more into the the film side either talking about films writing films um and creative content and then have also gone back into acting so a very kind of long- winded way of saying just got thrown in at the deep end and I've been winging it ever since yes that sounds like a lot us um so you've done so big fat cult is your handle and there's uh Tik Tok Instagram and it's very much uh that kind of stuff seems to be mainly horror would you say or is it a mix um it is definitely a mix but my gravitation is towards horror so that has always been my my love and and passion for film all all kind of Darker stories whether that be um dark comedy or horror or horror comedy or Thrillers um but I tend to gravitate towards the kind of um that side of um film and TV um and but I do still watch wholesome comedies and animations from time to time you know you need a little reset in between all these uh all these weird and wonderful films so um I Do cover pretty much everything um but the the best response and the best kind of passion for me comes from that side of of film making yeah the the darker stuff so not to get too psychological here why is that what's what's because I'm the same but why is it why is it like that for you um I grew up kind of uh watching darker comedies like the league of gentlemen and stuff by Chris Morris like brassy and stuff that is kind of uncomfortable comedy I think you'd probably say and then from that kind of learn about what inspired them it was always um it was always classic horror and it was kind of the weirder more wonderful side of Cinema so having kind of grown up with those things I then um went to watch all the stuff that inspired them and that that in turn inspired me and then I kind of just gravitated towards that going forward um so I've always liked comedy but I kind of like the quirkier side of Comedy so um that kind of naturally tends to leave into more kind of horrific stuff I suppose um comedy and tragedy um yeah so no no particular reason no like disastrous events in my life that have led me to sort of you know dwell in the darkness or anything I'm quite a quite a chipper light-hearted person in day-to-day life I'd like to think um but I yeah just something about that that kind of uncomfortableness and that fear um I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie as well I love theme parks and stuff like that so the was always drawn to like fake fear I suppose like kind of fear in a controlled environment so um yeah kind of stuff that is rooted in reality in some respect but also an escape from reality I would say yeah and talking about that chipper personality so obviously uh take me back to you're doing all these other things acting jobs this and that and you go right okay I'm going to start doing Tik Tok I'm going to start doing Instagram and I know even when I first started this podcast putting yourself in front of a camera and then uploading it if you're not a performer and I'm not a performer or a comedian that can be quite tough confidence-wise did you ever struggle with that or were you like right I'm doing it straight away no problem well I there's definitely some um that I think anyone would be lying if they said they had no self-doubt or no issues with self-confidence I'm sure people everyone does to some extent and I think people either overcompensate for that by you know kind of projecting this Persona that they want people to see them as or um you know or they're they're just natural performers and you know enjoy that side of things but I think there's always like some uh willingness to please or to entertain or so there's always like a a kind of underlying confidence thing whether that be overconfidence or um you know wanting to give off that impression um so I think cuz I because I started as a comedian I from pretty much the age of 18 I was used to dealing with hecklers and dealing with like live trolling basically um so there's nothing more instant feedback wise than um doing a comedy gig and someone telling you immediately what they think of you um so I was kind of set up for that world I think sort of Performing me a version of me to to an audience um I'm I'm definitely not a massively confident person in my day-to-day life like I'm not you know someone who makes themselves known in in a room um so but I enjoy sharing my passions and my um my kind of story with people whether that be through comedy or acting or um uh talking about films and and um pop culture so there was always a little bit of a doubt but also I knew that I was able to kind of do that and knew that I could be entertaining in some in some form um to some group of people as my as myself or a version of myself say um and also I think when you're passionate about something there's always going to be an audience that enjoy you for for you for however many people don't like that version of you there's always going to be an audience that go oh well this person really likes that thing that I like so um there is that uh kind of you gravitate towards people like that I think that like your things to some extent um but as it's gone on I've definitely learned about versions of myself that that come across well on camera um also having done quite a lot of interviews and things now being slightly more animated and you know trying to because you know if I just sat here like oh yeah so films and like um that's probably what's going on in my brain but you know it's uh yeah it's just a way of um conveying what excites you I think and what um uh and what you want people to be excited about as well but sometimes people say oh you you hype up films too much or you do this too much and I'm like well I want to you know for the people that like those things I want to share that passion with people and um you know you want to see people that are excited about things I think when you're on social media so but you also have to know when to reain it in as well you don't want to be unbearable absolutely and equally no one wants to watch the Tik Tok channel of someone going it was all right yeah exactly it was yeah you might as well watch it it's all right um yeah it's interesting what you say about um being kind of a positive because I've heard someone describe it before as uh you know that stuff baraca you put it in your drink it gives you energy like an orange pill it's like being that version of yourself on camera but not being this kind of egged wacky version of yourself that's going to make people cringe um so then uh and and again that's a for a filmmaker that can be tough when you're trying to talk about your project the last thing you want to do is come across as um kind of Bard and different when really inside you're trying to think of what to say have you got any tips for that how how to be confident on camera um I would say do it lots as in whether that's just recording yourself like you know reading a script I've got a a teleprompter app that I use on my my phone for my my longer reviews some stuff is off the cuff but in fact when I started it was all off the cuff um but I found I was editing so many ums and rs and kind of thoughts that it was taking me two to three hours to edit a kind of slick video whereas now I you know spend half an hour writing a tight script and then I'll go off on little tangents about things as they kind of come up in my head um so I think just being confident with the idea of talking into a camera um uh talking to other people um that have kind of you know like doing these kind of things and and um I interview filmmakers as well and and other people in the industry so kind of having just having that kind of muscle muscle memory I suppose or that kind of um practice is really helpful because it's you're not kind of um you're not performing but you are presenting a kind of hopefully clearly spoken version of yourself and obviously we all have mannerisms and things like that and when I watched my earlier videos back I go oh I say like too much or I am and are too much so I try and have a little pause and think about what I'm saying and there was always that especially with comedy there was always the pressure to not stop talking um but actually when I've listened to some of my favorite interviews with people they are just talking as themselves and they're relaxed and they're comfortable and I think it is getting over that perception of how people are seeing you or hearing you and just you know being yourself and being comfortable but allowing yourself time to breathe and time to think um and not worrying about being the most entertaining person or the most or the funniest person or whatever um yeah so yeah practice and and I think with that comes confidence and um uh experience as well yeah definitely and just to reiterate and I'm sure my kids are sick to death of me saying this but the like thing it's a it's an epidemic it is and you have to stop yourself cuz it's easy or the other one is people end the sentence they go and I was and the film was really good really enjoyed making it and um yeah yeah you can't edit that it's nothing you can do really hard when you're when you're interviewing filmmakers and actors and uh yeah there is just that um yeah then it was had a really good time and um yeah then you kind of go okay and then you feel the need to kind of you know ramp the energy back up because you want people to feel comfortable but also there is that certain media training that some actors and writers and directors have that they feel like they have to give very concise answers and sometimes you do in in the space of a five minute interview or something um but yeah it's nice to feel like you're talking to someone who's relaxed and wants to be there as well so talking about another thing that filmmakers can struggle with is the the whole social media itself um so talk to me about have you got any tips for things like Tik Tok things like Instagram are you posting every single day are there any is there what's the magic formula so we can all use it well if you sign up to my course which is 899 for 12 sessions um no I uh I think it is a really boring answer but persistency persistency is that a word it is now persistence and consistency um being consistent being genuine and just putting the work in for a prolonged period of time so I think I started just because I wanted to put a video out I just wanted to review a film that I'd seen at the time I didn't have any end goal about being a Tik Tok person or an Instagram person or anything like that I just was like I want to talk about this film that I saw uh I think it'll be you know interesting because I went to a preview of a film that not many people had seen at that point so I was like oh probably be you know relatively interesting talk about it and then that video did quite well and I thought oh okay I'll try and you know capitalize on that and find another kind of Niche film that I could talk about so I did a like a a list of a few strange films that I'd seen and posted that and that did really well as well and then I you know got a bunch of people messaging me saying oh I love those kind of films you know not many people talk about cult movies or oh yeah really you know um so then just did a few more of those over the period of a couple of weeks and some did really well some didn't do well at all but I just just kept on going did a bit of research you know into uh social media tactics with posting certain times a day or posting multiple times in a week um Trends I've never found particularly helpful as a if you're talking in a niche like I think uh if you're someone who dances and there's trending dances great if you're a singer and you're you know doing um trend songs or music or little Clips then that's really useful but I think if you're someone who talks about films then you know um you want to talk about the latest releases or you want to talk about films that are going to get people excited or um controversial films or something where you can kind of put people in but you know have your own spin on it um and I because I came from a comedy background I was like I could be a slightly sarcastic person talking about film so I never set out to be a you know a standard critic or a reviewer I just thought I'm going to talk about films in quite a Frank way and hopefully people will like that and I think that's what people have latched on to the kind of um genuine but slightly tongue-in-cheek slightly sarcastic kind of uh way of talking and that suits what I do um but some people are you know really into extreme Cinema or some people are really into marble or you know uh World Cinema and stuff like that so I'm I'm obviously just talking about film making there but I think any Niche is good um perfecting the editing side of things as well I found that just getting straight to the point of a video uh has really done well for me spent a lot of time going hey so today I'm going to be talking about this and like people just go you know if you just start with oh my God this thing I just saw is horrendous then people go oh okay I'll stay for a few more seconds so I think that hook the editing something like lighting good sound very basic things but things that since I've kind of developed um my kind of brand or Persona or whatever you want to call it all of those things have kind of um brought me bigger and better opportunities so looking like you know what you're doing but also giving the care to the um content in terms of the quality of how it actually looks and sounds as well I do think you should write a book called persistence big fat Cults to guide to social a guy to social media winging it yeah yeah yes winging it um so obviously you watch a lot of films you watch a lot of horror films um now thinking about it from the audience's perspective uh micro budget low budget what are you looking for when you get when you get Center screener what are you what gets the taste buds going um something that surprises me something that um show like a bit of fearless risk-taking I I love like I've some of my favorite films I've seen over the last years have been completely like out there and just completely Bonkers and stuff that you wouldn't expect people could do on a a modest budget or um people that take a risk and don't necessarily conform to the expectations of what a horror movie should be or what a thriller should be or things that surprise me things that um change what they are halfway through and suddenly is something completely different um whether that's a big Studio film or like tiny shot on an iPhone in someone's flat um seeing that ambition and that Um passion and the the love for the film making not just uh you know obviously everyone wants to make a living everyone wants to make money everyone wants to uh get good recognition and have big stars and and all this stuff and and all those elements are uh important but it's the excitement of the idea and originality and uh a unique Vision I think think that kind of makes me sit up and go oh wow that's you know they're really doing something different there um and you know just yeah fighting against expectations because it is incredibly hard to get work made even harder if it's something weird and against the grain so when that stuff actually breaks through and um does well then that's like a real uh as an actor and as someone who writes and as someone who watches lots of stuff it's really exciting to see people take those risks and get them made so yeah that that kind of thing so then the reverse um you see a lot of stuff I'm sure you see a lot of bad stuff and you're not allowed to say the opposite of what you just said so what have you seen what have you seen a lot of coming through that you're just like enough with that already particularly in horror I know it's I know it's obvious but I'm not a fan of lots of CGI that takes me out of a film uh I think it definitely has its place uh particularly in bigger bigger budget stuff where you just need to fill all that space and that time um with things that will wow people um but I think for horror less is often more and I think a lot of bigger Studio horror stuff really just bombards you with jump scares over-the-top sound design um very you know the production is ahead of the actual script and the character characters you know stories that are character driven that are based in reality or even just based in human emotion and then the horror develops from that I find much more interesting than you know uh a CGI monster popping out of a cupboard every couple of minutes you know it's um and that don't get me wrong there are absolutely films that have done that recently and have been very good fun but the films that stick with me uh and kind of get under my skin and that I think about and talk about um are things that are you know character-driven stories very good dialogue or stylistically very interesting and that do something again kind of against uh convention or against the norm so yeah just the just the formulate kind of paint by numbers stuff um it's been done so many times and that's quite often the case with remakes as well like there's been some really interesting remakes um and some really cool kind of retellings of stories like I really like the first Omen I thought that was fantastic um but then there have also been you know obvious cash cows or obvious you know box office uh focused films which kind of just make me go you know I I don't get I don't buy into the world of the story because you can see the kind of uh fakeness to it or what it's what it thinks the audience want to see and it's interesting because when you're when you come to sell a film you're encouraged to make films that are of that cookie cut type because those sales people know exactly what to do with it and they go oh yeah UFO people love UFOs it's a UFO movie you know and even uh when you're talking about making a film spoken to sales and distribution and it is all oh yeah it's a bit like this thing we have another one of them that did well so you're definitely not encouraged to do anything original um so that is a bit of a battle um so you've written a book The Ultimate horror movie Journal which is on Amazon um tell me about that and how did that come about um that was just a bit of fun really to go alongside my because I for a couple of years I had a podcast the big Fu called movie podcast um and then I kind of put that to one side because as I'm sure as you know recording regular episodes editing getting stuff out there after a while you just go oh my God I just need to not do this for a little bit of time um and there's so many podcasts and there's so many um things out there that it you know it can get to a point where you're like oh I just can't do it for for a period of time so I wanted to have a little project that people could uh get involved with so I kind of set up big fat cult was a brand so it wasn't just the podcast it was the online stuff and the community based stuff where you know I can engage with people and then um yeah just was doing loads of the online like letter box I love and you know reading reviews online but thought you know there is still uh kind of market for you know people are into journaling and writing and um wanting to be creative with you know with writing as well so um I just made this little um uh yeah horror Journal that people can take with them so so when they're going to festivals or when they're you know watching stuff online they can just you know make a note of all their watches and just a nice little thing to have that um I think uh everything is so digital now that it's nice to have stuff that exists in the real world as well so um but yeah that was no get rich quick scheme that was just uh I just want to put something out there and I think a few people will find it fun so um yeah every now and then I get the I'm I'm someone who just has like 800 ideas all at once um and I'll probably pick you know four a year and go right I'm going to do that now and I'm going to do that and I'm going to try and get that made and so that was another one of my my projects that's out there now hair brain but it's there it's out there so people can download it um so then the other thing I was thinking which is a which is uh a kind of a treadmill I'm on at the moment and I know a lot of filmmakers struggle with this there's there's there's a ton of websites out there ton of influencers ton of um horror sites magazines blah blah blah blah blah if you're trying to publicize your uh project what would be your tips for that what would be your tips for getting to Someone Like You what would be your tips for getting exposure at a festival is there any is there anything you can offer us there like with all things just asking is the best way to start like I think I got everything early on from just sending loads and loads of emails to everyone I could think of um Festival contacts uh film PR companies um directly to filmmakers directly to other content creators whether it's Instagram DM or email or looking for emails in people's bios um going through agents just sort of sending out all my stuff and just saying this is what I do I'd really love to do more of it um is there a way we can work together uh and in terms of promoting stuff like working with I hate the word influencer but you know it's what it's what people know content creator as well it's there's no good way of saying I I make stuff look at me um but that you know whether you're a content creator or an influencer um I think unless you have you know tens of millions of followers people gen genuinely um and generally like to work with you know other people like I do a lot of promotion for indie films and I set my rates for that like really really low I have like an indie rate and I just you know say if you're Indie filmmaker I'll put it on put a video on my Tik Tok and my Instagram I'll share it and hopefully people that like the stuff that you're making will see it because I have a very focused audience um and you know I I have a very good reach I don't have millions of followers but my accounts do reach millions of people so um I think filmmakers appreciate that side of things rather than maybe you know paying a PR agent thousands of pounds um to get a few you know radio interviews or or whatever so I think the landscape is changing a bit that you can reach millions of people much more affordably now and more focused than you know doing the all the local radios or local newspapers or film magazines and stuff uh which I think are all very useful but I think they are expensive uh resources so in terms of me like I will reply to every email and message or certainly try to um and I you know I'm happy to offer little bits of advice to people and um it's I think it's much less a closed uh book now than it was quite a long time ago as well it'll be very hard to get um an email address of a director or um PR person or you know there was that kind of uh status thing where I think that's a little bit less now as well because of film festivals you know you can just go there and you can meet people and you can bump into filmmakers and producers and um so I would say if you're if you're an early stage filmmaker then definitely go to those things as a as a punter like just be in the world of those things and see how they work um contact the organizers and you know and also see if there's any way of getting your short shown not festival or anything local that's going on um so just yeah lots and lots of emailing and not being afraid to ask and be you know proud of what you do and confident of what you do uh the worst people can say is no or not reply and then you just go on to the next person but chances are most people will at least acknowledge you or you know put you in the head somewhere for later down the line absolutely and one thing I would add to that which I've discovered recently because obviously I'm sending emails out is the followup actually is a good so sending that first email but do send a followup just to check they got it because it's so easy these days you get anym you go yay I'll deal with that later or a message and you just forget about it so the followup is important um talking about film festivals you've just got back from frightfest um so tell me about tell me about frightfest this year and tell me what were some of your highlights so um for people who don't know frightfest is one of the biggest genre um film festivals in the world and certainly the biggest in in the UK in terms of uh horror Thriller sci-fi fantasy um so filmmakers from all around the world whether they're first-time filmmakers or uh very established filmmakers will submit their films to the festival and then I think this year there were 69 films something like that 60 to 70 films plus uh short film showcase and other little bits and pieces events and things going on so uh as a I was there as a press person this year so I got to see a lot of the films in the leadup to the Festival on screeners and then saw a bunch at the actual Festival itself and then did a bunch of interviews with filmmakers um so if you're a horror fan or a genre fan or even just a filmmaker looking to you know get experience of the festival that's a great way of just you know it's in central London for 5 days uh every summer and then they have a Halloween one in November the beginning of November and then one in Glasgow in March as well um and yeah you'll see absolutely every end of the scale from um very very rough around the edges stuff shot for no money to you know huge films like um the substance which was the closing film which is you know one of the biggest films that uh can and um comes out next month uh this month actually and uh strange darling which did really really well and uh films that are you know big on the festival circuit and then become kind of breakout successes um but yeah so some of the some of the smaller stuff I saw a film called a desert was really really good it's like a road movie about a photographer that suddenly becomes something else and much more intense um that was very very inventive um not from a filmmaker that I'd heard of before Joshua kman and with a cast I mostly didn't know but just again it was a great story great characters great cinematography and just yeah completely blew me away a film called Dead male which is playing at Grim Fest next month and then some other festivals that was a very quirky film uh about someone who is kidnapped um after he goes into business with someone who is obsessed with synthesis sizes like the most unlikely of kind of joining of Worlds um a very sort of analogy style like 80s set film which is really interesting and kind of brought a very uh unique take on the kind of uh cap kidnapping kind of story and it was quite Darkly funny as well um what else did I see saw so many films Bookworm which was a a really nice um kind of comedy fantasy film with uh Elijah Wood as a sort of failed magician finding himself uh a nice sort of another road movie uh and then broken bird which was the opening film uh Joanne Mitchell's debut feature and she's someone that's been working in shorts for 15 years and uh suddenly got the money to create her first feature um and it was the opening film at Fright Fest in front of 800 people so got to interview her and you know she was you know over the moon and um created a really really good film so just loads of interesting stuff that you probably wouldn't get to see in the cinema um and that may just go to streaming or may have a you know very limited Cinema release but those Little Gems where you go oh that's what I'm really interested in and uh now those filmmakers are you know be very keen to see what they do next and um they're now on my radar so um people that I'm kind of excited to know in the early stages of their career or uh the more obscure areas of their career but I would definitely put links to those filmmakers and films in the description on this episode um so what I was going to ask you about was this is what I would class as my fun questions he says always dangerous finally my God finally here he goes with the um so this might this is either gonna be a really easy question or a really tough question um what's the best horror movie ever made that is a tough question evil um I don't know if there is a best horror film ever made but I would say the one that or maybe like the two or three that have kind of stood the test of time and influenced so many films um the obvious ones like the Exorcist The Shining Texas Chainsaw Massacre those are the three Classics that I think everybody will have heard of in some respect or everybody would have seen a reference to or everyone will know the throwing up PE soup scene or the head spinning scene or the you know Loke with the chainsaw scene you know like not people that don't even follow horror would go oh yeah I know that and I think those kind of ripples through pop culture um are kind of Testament to how influential those films are and how referential they are in modern cinemar as well you that's not to The Exorcist or that's a that's a tongue-in-cheek moment from The Shining or in something like that um and I think the way that they're made and the way they're constru Ed as well uh still definitely um crop up in a lot of films I would say the Blair Witch Project while it's not my favorite film uh I can't think of many films that have been referenced quite so much or um used quite so much for techniques in found footage and you know the whole boom of kind of low independent uh lowbudget independent films that have suddenly become massive successes um so I think from a film making point of view something like The Blair Witch Project is really really impressive and interesting even if you know on paper it's not the most exciting film um and something modern like hereditary is one of the best for me I know this a very divisive thing people love to hate that film but um again because it's divisive because people go it's not a proper horror film it's got too much talking and drama and Trauma in it you know um I love that that took risks and is um 3D different films in one and you know throws all these different ideas at you but but um does it in a completely interesting and very scary way um and uses very very good actors uh in very serious roles and then adds all the layers of horror on top of it if you take away all the scary sounds and all the disturbing visuals from hereditary it's a sad story about you know a family falling apart um and that could just as easily be a drama but I think films like that that do something more um what really exciteed me so I think I can't think of a a modern film uh really that has been more longlasting in in pop culture um so yeah that's my very long-winded answer of saying I don't know I don't that's but yeah know the Exorcist is the Exorcist and hereditary the two that immediately pop into my head pop is your head uh hereditary absolutely love it and I still can't figure out why so scary it just is just just creeps me out and like you say Tony Colette and that should have got showered with Awards because it's so good such a good movie um what I was going to pick up on there was so I'm not gonna make an assumption about your age but so but I wonder whether on Tik Tok you ever put anything up that that might be considered older like even hereditary someone might be like oh that's an older film and you're excist you're talking about what 70s 60s 70s um do you do you often have you do you ever you ever surprised that people haven't heard of stuff and you like this is a classic why haven't you seen this um yeah I think I think there is also the perception that Tik Tok is a is a Young Person's game um and uh it certainly feels like that at times you know I've leared so much about uh singers in the charts over the last few years that I had no clue about and suddenly have to be uh switched on to um but uh I don't even know if the charts is a thing anymore that's how old um but I I'd say like Tik Tok helps you find your audience so initially the algorithm will push you to very very specific audiences who will probably get that very Niche reference to a film from the 60s and then it will if that does well it will take it out to a wider film audience and then it'll take it out to people that like popular culture audience so I find that those initial stages you you reach the people that you want to reach and then you reach the people that you might want to reach and then you reach the people that you probably shouldn't reach but that Tik Tok thinks will do well and then that's when you get all the like what's this this film is rubbish oh you don't know what you're talking about um so you kind of don't want to have those massive viral videos too often because you end up just reaching people that every viral video goes to um obviously it's nice because then you get a you know you get a broader load of followers and things but you do suddenly notice as it gets as a video gets more successful that the the audience is much broader and therefore has much stronger opinions about whether or not something is good or you know what you're wearing or what you talk like or you know all those things so um uh yeah so there is there is that but um I think it's quite good initially at giving you the audience that you're trying to reach and know boring stuff like hashtags and um you know titles and things like if I do a video saying my favorite video is from the 80s then you know most people that have no interest are just going to immediately see a number before 2010 and you know scroll on off um but yeah I've been surprised with with people that have you know because there are teenagers and there are people in their 20s that are real hardcore film fans or filmmakers um but yeah also there's people that have never heard of you know anything before 2005 so that always hurts a little bit yeah it does it hurts well the film I just made with the students the the films I would mention they'd go oh no I've not heard of that one and I think you you know I think you posted on your wall about something like old boy or any of those sympathy for lady Vengeance those kind of films you're just like you hav't we Haven even heard of that what's the matter with you and you're in a film course um so my next fun question is uh what for you is the most disturbing scene in a movie doesn't have to be a horror movie but most disturbing scene in a movie the film I think that made me absolutely break down like I'm I'm quite I'd like to think I'm quite an emotional person like emotionally in tune but every now and then something will just completely like uncontrollably be taken over with emotion and um dancer in the dark L vona's film with bu um is sort of a quirky uh musical to start with and then it's a really really harrowing story about a mom fighting for her son in the second half and I won't spoil it but something that happens is is a real uh just a devastating helpless moment and I think any of those moments where that's not a horror film but it's um it's a just you know it's a disturbing film um any anything where you can kind of go oh God to be in that situation I can't fully process that emotion so seeing anyone really suffering or anyone uh dealing with um you know extreme trauma or uh anything extremely uncomfortable anything very claustrophobic or intense I find disturbing whereas a lot of these I quite often talk about disturbing movies and I think there are images and things that are inherently disturbing you get someone covered in [ __ ] is horrible or someone someone puking for 10 minutes is horrible or someone being you know whatever having horrible things done to them they are disturbing but you kind of you know you take a distance from it because you go oh it's it's cinematic effect or it's whatever um props or natella but um you know there are some things where you just go this is something that would happen in real life and this makes me feel horrible um Salo the 120 days of Sodom one of the most horrible films because it feels so real and gritty and there are rich horrible people doing horrible things around the world and you know 50 years later it still feels relevant so there are things like that where you go this is so messed up and horrible that um you just feel what it would be like to be in that position so films like that where they're based in truth and films like threads as well which is you know what would happen if a nuclear war happened in nuclear fallout happened in in Britain um and that's still a present threat that watching it now still feels chilling and and and horrible so um anything that's based in truth um but takes it to the extreme is is something that chills me so yeah I'm G to go with um dancer in the dark dancer in the dark wowers okay um and then my last question is going to be and we have talked about the danger of doing this but if you could reboot or REM REM now I'm inventing words Jimmy reming if you could reboot or remake any franchise or film what would it be I I quite like the fact that um I mean this is someone else has already beaten me to it but the Friday the 13th uh kind of reboot I think with a24 like going down a sort of Arty route um or a more kind of Indie route uh that is really interesting because that's we've had like the the obvious remakes but um we've not had a horror remake that's kind of gone into the the the kind of older fashioned ways of Storytelling they tend to always go bigger and bigger budget and so um I'm not sure if that's a TV series or a film but anyway um I think some of those Classics uh that have had something more interesting done to them are like I haven't liked the Exorcist ones I'm trying to think of Classics Texas Chainsaw has been done loads Carry's been done uh shining's kind of been done maybe like a film from my childhood um well those have all been done as well it's a tricky one I thought about this and I was like I don't know if I want anything to you know what maybe I'm going to say fantasm do you know the H kind of I'm surprised they haven't done yeah I'm going to say fantasm cut about 10 minutes of me going H go yes fantasm I'm going to say fantasm because it's it's weird and it's quirky and it's funny uh not many people know it so you know hardcore horror fans know it um but I feel like anything that's kind of got slight a slight weird Edge to it is kind of open to interpretation and I think that set in a modern world would be would be quite interesting because we don't really get many fantasy horror films these days like we get lots of big screen fantasy films but that's slightly Weir stuff that was only made in the 80s that now feels really cult I think something like that but yeah remake the entire fantasm franchise please and you and you've got built in merch haven't you the old ball with a spikes on perfect the you know you know what when I was prepping for the last film I watched that I watched I think is how many are there I watched three of them I think four five there was one that was there was one like a kind of re return to fantasm or whatever that was made in 2000 something I didn't I didn't make it to that one but the first one actually got some really good interesting camera shots and it I was like oh that's pretty cool and I wish I'd used them but I never did but um yeah fantasm good answer I hope you enjoyed that episode if you'd like to hear from more industry professionals how they got into the business and how you can do the same or you just want to listen to some cool stories from movie sets around the world then please do subscribe to the honest filmmaker podcast[Music]
