- And what was your experience of high school?
I had a really tough time at high school, I guess that's why I wanted revisit that period with the film, I changed social groups without, I started out in the more popular group and finally ended up much more like Hannah which was much more of who I really was.
I had a lot of problems with my parents as I was very rebellious and got in lots of trouble so it was a very tough period.
- I really enjoyed the animation elements in the film so why did you decide to include them?
I remember in high school that there was so much in my life that was wishful thinking and fantastical and dreaming about having a different life than the one I did, I suspected that was the same for many high school kids.
Before I shot the film I had this idea and it's fantastical and larger than life why not try animating it? Someone talking about it on camera isn't going to convey the same thing so throughout the year I interviewed them about their fantasy lives and chose the most compelling.
- With ten months of footage how difficult was the editing process?
I really enjoy the editing process a lot, I actually started as an editor, and at that point you know that you have filmed everything so there's no anxiety of 'oh my god what if I'm going to miss all the important moments'.
It's just time consuming and very much like a puzzle, and I have always enjoyed puzzles, and it's all about balance, obviously you have to cut someone's life down enormously to their essence whilst trying to be fair to who they are and really just capture who they are in this very short time span, I really enjoy it.
- Did you have to cut anything out that you wish you could have completed or anything that focused on one particular student that there just wasn't time to include?
No but I wish I had made it a little bit looser, it's very tightly edited and it's non-stop entertainment, it probably could have been a little bit longer. But no I don't regret any moments or sub-plots that I took out it probably just didn't need to be quite as tight.
- Have you followed any of the student, Hannah wanted to be a director so have you helped her in any way?
Well the film coming out gave her so much exposure and all these people in the movie industry saw it and fell in love with her. Last summer she had an internship with an advertising company and then she has been doing well in film school and is really enjoying it.
- Finally what's next for you?
I'm actually making a romantic comedy, which is very different from a documentary, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.
American Teen is out on DVD 29th June
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw