Rebecca Ioannou
Rebecca Ioannou is a British producer who is making a name from herself and will see her star rise over the next twelve months.
Not only is she teaming up with Greybe brothers for their new short The Knock but she also has some big and exciting projects on the horizon.
We caught up with her to chat about The Knock, getting the finances together for the film and what she will be working on next.
- The Knock is you upcoming project so can you tell me a little bit about the short film?
The Knock is a short film that has been directed by the Greybe brothers, they have been dubbed the British version of the Coen Brothers, and they have been making films for the last five years.
The Knock is a sci-fi drama and it is set in 2078 and revolves around a man called Stanley Teal. Stanley Teal is an agent for the DPC, which is the Department for Population Control, and his job is to give out the culling order. So these people who have been given the culling order have to go to the culling camp - this is a way of keeping the population under control.
He is someone who does this job and has no attachments and no emotion and is the perfect the person to be giving these death notices. In his past he was married and then he divorced. In the film his wife comes back on contact with him and tells him that he has a daughter - which he never knew about.
He realises that the death notice that he has just handed out was to his daughter. So he then tries to go into the system to re-arrange it to transfer the number from his daughter to him.
He went through his whole life not fighting for nothing and just doing his job but now he has a daughter to fight for.
- You will serve as producer on the movie so how did you get involved in the project? And what was it about the story that really interested you?
I love sci-fi dramas such as Children of Men and Logan’s Run and what I liked about this story was that it was about Stanley Teal and this dystopian world - which how it could become in the near future. It is a story about a man who finally finds something to live for.
It was also a chance for me to work with the Greybe brothers, they are fantastic directors. They have won a lot of awards at the Cannes Film Festival and they also won many awards from Pinewood Studios, all the Hollywood movies are made there, and they gave them grants to make their short films.
- You have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for the film so how is that going?
It is going a little bit slow at the moment. We have got £9,000 raised already through services and crews; myself and the directors have a lot of connections in the industry so we have access to post-production facilities and we lucky enough to get people who are willing to do that job.
So now we need £3,500 hard cash so we can cover travel expenses and food for the crew for each day of filming. So I would say that we are ten or fifteen per cent financed and we are hoping to hit our goal by the 6th July. We are just getting the word out there and doing interviews and spreading the word.
- If people want to get involved how can they?
They can visit our Kickstarter campaign page. We have got loads of great rewards as we wanted to give good rewards to people who pledge; they can give anything from £3 to £500.
We have given away a chance to appear on set, to be an extra in the film, an online tutorial by the directors as well as access to preview screenings. So it just a case of visiting the Kickstarter campaign, finding which reward they like and then pledging.
- We are seeing more and more projects being funded this way so just how difficult it is to get a film funded and off the ground in this country at the moment?
It is quite difficult - especially for emerging talent. There are a lot of bursaries and funding schemes through the BFI and Creative England, but they are quite limited and there are so many people who want to come forward.
So it is up to us to make it happen and crowd funding is becoming a very popular way of funding films and creative projects. We are also putting money of our own in; the directors and I will also be making a contribution. But hopefully once you hit the film festival circuit and the film picks up it becomes very rewarding in that way.
- And what would you like to see change to help make this process easier - there must be some really good scripts and ideas that never see the light of day because producers and directors cannot raise the funds?
That’s right. What I would like to see happen is more schemes that help emerging film talent; first time feature film directors especially. The reason why directors and producers do short films is for their films to seen and then they can go on to do feature films.
I would like more schemes and more funds - we have had such a cut in the arts and creative industry by the government so that’s why they are not giving us as much funding as we want and would like.
Also established filmmakers who run production companies can create schemes through those production companies. There is money in production companies and as well as creating their own material is to also give people like us a platform to step on to so we can create.
- When are you hoping to get filming underway on The Knock? And have you done some casting?
We are hoping that our funds will be received by the 6th July and then we are looking to get underway in August.
We have cast Julian Bird; he is very well known in the television industry and was in the critically acclaimed The Tudors.
And there is also a gentleman on board called Alex Klaus and he has been in Wrath of the Titans and Clash of the Titans. And at the moment we are liaising with a casing agent who will find our lead guy.
- You kicked off your career at Bedlam Productions so what drew you into a film career? And what projects did you work on while you were there?
I have always been with fascinated with film since I was very young. I went travelling to Peru in South America, the U.S. and the Middle East and I loved all of the stories that I would hear and the people and the culture; there is no better way of telling these stories than through film.
I came back to the UK and studied three years in film and television production at the University of West Minster. In my final year I managed to get an internship at Bedlam Productions; within three months they told me that they wanted me to become full time with them as soon as I graduated.
So I went straight out of university to work with them for two years. While I was there I worked on Zaytoun, which starred Stephen Dorff and was directed by Eran Riklis, and the film was about an Israeli pilot that was shot down in Lebanon.
The film production was over in Israel and my job as production and finance assistant was to pay all the flights and co-ordinate everyone to make sure that they all got over to Israel. It was a great experience but now I want to do my own films.
- What have you been able to take away from you time there that you can take onto the set of The Knock and further?
Because of that production experience I know how a film is developed and the ideas and the system that you have to go through to be able to deliver a film.
On a feature film I have that experience because the budget of that film was £8 million; so with shorts it is a very easy transition for me. I am also currently involved with another feature film which is a boxing film.
- The film industry is a fiercely competitive one so have you found navigating your way into it so far?
Well I find once you establish your connections and your contacts I have found that people are very generous. I have been lucky enough to meet the right people - like any industry you can get caught up with it all.
But I have managed to meet the right people and been mentored at the right time and that leads you on to another contact and another contact. I have found them to be quite generous.
The film industry is a very generous industry if you get in with the right people and collaborate and help each other.
I now have friends telling me about films that are kicking off - you recommend each other. It is lovely and I enjoy that industry. But there is that side to it that you can get caught up in and it can be very difficult (laughs).
- As I said you are serving as producer on The Knock but going forward are you looking to develop yourself as a producer or do you have your eye on the director's chair?
I don’t have an eye on the director’s chair. I love producing and going forward I want to produce my own stories as well; I want to work with the writers from an early stage, producing the idea and bringing on the right people for the right job.
So I want to create a team that will collaborate and work well together to produce a great film that will inspire and attract audiences.
- Finally what is coming up for you throughout the rest of this year?
I am currently working with Working Title Films on the feature film The Little Mermaid which is directed by Joe Wright and further in the year hoping to start production on Kenneth Branagh’s next feature film called Cinderella; which will be filmed at Pinewood Studios.
I am also involved in various projects and currently in the development of feature called Alinda-Sleeping Beauty's Daughter. So there is a lot happening.