Chris Jones: Portrait Of A Guerilla Filmmaker
FADE IN:
INT. EALING FILM STUDIOS - DAY
A collection of 18 FILM STUDENTS, male and female and of varying ages, sit around long tables with pens poised and notepads at the ready. The cavernous studio space is heated by old gas heaters with bars that glow devil red. CHRIS JONES (mid 30's, wearing glasses and a goatee) is holding court, imparting old war stories and advice from his experience as a GUERILLA FILMMAKER.
CHRIS: Filmmaking is not a race. It doesn't matter who wins. It just matters that you finish what you start. It's all about stamina.
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Stamina is a quality that Chris Jones, successful author and Guerilla filmmaker, is certainly in possession of. In an eventful decade and a half since the youthful Jones talked his way into (and out of) Film school, he has completed three independently funded feature films, been screwed over by various sales agents and distributors, blown a big money deal with Spielberg, flirted with bankruptcy and fallen foul of some 'creative' police work, narrowly avoiding a two year stretch at Her Majesty's Pleasure. He has lost a lot of his (and yet more of other people's) money, and learned a few hard lessons, yet here he is still standing, unrepentant and ready to do it all over again.
"People say that success is 33% drive, 33% talent and 33% luck." Chris tells the assembled students early on the first day of this weekend masterclass. "I don't believe in luck, I prefer to call it probability, and that will only manifest itself when that drive and talent are applied."
This philosophy displays a bullish self-confidence and relentless self-belief, which has served Chris so well over the years. He and his filmmaking partner and co-author Genevieve Joliffe, have spent their 20's not taking 'no' for an answer, getting through doors and battering people into submission through their sheer charisma and force of will. There was no reason for this unlikely pair to be given the opportunity to make a movie. This was the pre-digital days, when you needed considerably more than a video camera and a laptop to make a film. What you needed was money - lots of it. And if you couldn't get lots of money, then you had to do the very best with the small amount of money you could muster. And this is exactly what the ultra-confident, completely inexperienced pair did when they convinced EGM Film International (a small Welsh production company run by a couple of ex-lorry drivers) to give them £60,000, based on somebody else's show reel and a one page treatment they had knocked up on the drive to North Wales. The result was a 90-minute action fest called 'The Runner', starring Terence Ford (brother of Harrison .). It had stunts, explosions, lots of shouting and - by Chris' own admission - was a pretty awful film. No matter: against the odds, they had made a movie, which would go on to be released around the world. They had arrived.
"I'm a great believer in 'build it - and they will come.' On the first day of shooting The Runner , I asked the crew how many people had been on a film set before. Two people raised their hands!" Chris recounts gleefully "You've just got to do it. There will always be an excuse not to do something - 'I'm not ready, I'm not good enough.' You have to just jump, and the net will appear."
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FLASHBACK - MID 80'S
EXT. WIGAN COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL - DAY
Seventeen-year-old CHRIS JONES is standing by the entrance of the community hall, taking tickets from a stream of school kids on their lunch break. Behind him, a poster hangs from the wall promising 'the most horrific, graphic, nightmarish experience ever filmed in Wigan !' This is the very first premiere of a CHRIS JONES movie - a zombie film shot on Super 8 mm with his mates - and it is a roaring success. The ticket sales have already crept up to the £200 mark and pretty soon, they're going to have to turn people away. CHRIS looks around the crowd, and whispers to himself:
CHRIS: I want this!
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If this teenage success was the moment Chris realized that there was money to be made in this movie business, it would be an experience he would find hard to duplicate professionally. The British Film industry would prove less than conducive to his particular brand of entrepreneurial spirit. After literally blagging his way onto Bournemouth University 's Film Course ("I just turned up on the first day and claimed they'd lost my paperwork!"), he would also find that Film School was not the place for his horror and action movie aesthetic.
"In my first week there, we all had to stand up and name the film that had most impressed us recently. I stood up and said Rambo: First Blood Part II - and I meant it! That was the first film where I had really noticed the power of editing, the rhythm of cuts and the visceral power of sound effects. Immediately, I felt all the art film crowd's eyes on me like laser dots. They hated me!"
Film School would prove to be a major disappointment to Chris. Any technical knowledge he picked up while there was from fellow students and not the lecturers, who were obstructive and unhelpful, preferring to encourage the more 'artistic' students' projects than his own. He felt let down by an education system that didn't recognize what he had to offer.
"In my opinion, Film School is a waste of money," he tells his attentive masterclass students. "You'd be better off working for free on a low budget film and learn the game at someone else's expense."
He did, however, come across Genevieve while at Film School , and cannot overstate the importance of meeting a like-minded collaborator. Within six months of dropping out, the dynamic duo had wrapped The Runner and were preparing their next project: White Angel . Made for a mere £11,000, raised from various private investors, this gritty serial killer thriller would prove to be another huge - and difficult - learning experience. The production was lucky enough to be boosted quite considerably by the casting of the respected and experienced British actor Peter Firth, in the role of the killer.
"When casting, you should always start at the top and work down," Chris asserts to his class. " It's the most important part of the pre-production process. A good actor will bring truth to your wooden dialogue, and immediately the whole crew raise their game. Actors look at the role rather than the project as a whole and a quirky low budget script with good roles can attract talent."
The shoot was a typically gruelling and intense experience. The crew moved into the house they shot in, with the production office upstairs having to unplug the phones when the cameras started turning over. After screening an early cut, the filmmakers realised they needed re-shoots but couldn't get access to the original location so, with typical ingenuity and skilful set dressing, they converted their garage into the suburban killer's hallway and kitchen. Chris shows the class clips from each shoot and challenges us to spot the difference.
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FLASHBACK - MID '90'S
INT. CANNES HOTEL ROOM - DAY
CHRIS JONES is exhausted and depressed. The last year of his life has been spent making this fucking film, against insurmountable odds, and here he is in a hotel room, with a buyer from the Chinese market who is watching his labour of love on fast forward.
CHINESE BUYER: Not enough 'tits in the shower'! Not enough 'tits in the shower'!
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"If you make a genre film, you have to deliver on the requirements of that genre." Warns Chris. "One of the many mistakes we made on White Angel was the title - it doesn't necessarily say 'serial killer thriller'. And in the face of ambiguity, you get ambivalence."
If the process of making White Angel was difficult, selling it and the resultant fallout would prove to be both traumatic and life-changing for Jones and Joliffe. After plugging the film the to festivals in Turkey , France and the USA , the filmmakers returned to the UK to be faced with an unexpected press controversy. The Fred West case had just exploded into the public consciousness, and the response was fascinated revulsion. Now here was this low budget film dealing with a similar subject, filmed spookily close to where the real murders had taken place. All of a sudden, the filmmakers were being forced to defend their 'sick, exploitative film.' Chris appeared on daytime television, telling some little white lies about the film's budget and how much it had made in foreign sales. Unfortunately for him, the taxman was watching.
FLASHBACK - MID '90'S
INT. CHRIS & GENEVIEVE'S LONDON FLAT - DAWN
THE POLICE smash through the front door with the full force of the law. CHRIS comes down the stairs, in T-shirt and boxer shorts.
CHRIS: Can I make anyone a cup of tea?
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Initially, they were threatened with charges of drug smuggling and money laundering (why else would Chris and Genevieve have traveled to Turkey, then France, then the US ?). When this was shown to be patently ridiculous, charges of fraud were thrown about and suddenly instead of looking forward to a trip to the Oscars, the guerilla filmmakers were looking at jail time. Eventually, the matter was resolved with an acceptance of charges of minor benefit fraud and the payment of a fine, but the damage was done. The negative of White Angel was impounded, and was unable to be sold for the duration of their brush with the law. Yet despite the trauma of this period, the resourceful pair managed to turn their misfortune to their advantage, coming up with the concept that would prove to be their most successful venture to date: the Guerilla Filmmakers Handbook.
"When we were going through it, we thought 'you couldn't make this up!' and the books came out of that." Chris tells us. "A lot of film books already out there didn't really speak to me. I felt that they excluded a certain section of the audience. So The Handbook was a direct reaction against that."
Using an inventive mix of practical info, case studies, interviews with professionals within the industry, and their own singular experiences, the co-authors created a bumper, phone-book sized volume which covered the whole tawdry and exciting world of independent filmmaking. It's true genius was the format: diagrams and tip boxes broke up the vast text, making the books extremely user-friendly.
"We wanted it to be like a big glossy travel guide to the world of guerilla filmmaking, and actually looked at some of those books when planning the original design. The idea was; if this country is pre-production, these are the sights you must visit, and these are the visas you need to sign before moving to the next country and so on."
The books proved to be a runaway success and became bestsellers in the crowded filmmaking book market. A revised edition appeared in 2000, incorporating case studies of the duo's next film Urban Ghost Story (their most polished and critically successful film to date.) , and other editions in the series followed: The Guerilla Filmmakers Movie Blueprint and last years Hollywood Handbook. A new edition of the Handbook is due later this year, and promises to be bang up to date with the digital and HD advances in the industry. Due to popular demand, weekend masterclasses began in 1999 and have continued to this day with similar success.
"I get almost as much satisfaction out of writing the books and giving the courses as I do making the films." Chris tells me, and it is obvious he finds the process as motivating and inspiring as his students do. "When I get home tonight, I know I'm going to be up all night working on my new script."
The weekend course is an exhaustive, intense and highly instructive experience. Combining lively discussion, step-by-step practical tips and clips from his films to illustrate technical issues, what sets Chris apart from many other film instructors is his extremely candid evaluation of his own mistakes. He serves up his experience with painful honesty so his students can learn from his trials and tribulations.
The duo's third film together, made after the first Handbooks encouraging success, was a huge leap forward in both execution and quality. Urban Ghost Story was a supernatural thriller set in a Glasgow tower block, and boasted strong performances (including Jason Connery) and a genuinely chilling atmosphere. It garnered its makers' real interest from Hollywood for the first time, and the pair spent time in LA screening the film and taking meetings.
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FLASHBACK - LATE '90'S
INT. DREAMWORKS OFFICE, LOS ANGELES - DAY
CHRIS JONES is standing outside the Dreamworks screening room. STEVEN SPIELBERG, having just watched URBAN GHOST STORY, approaches CHRIS and warmly shakes him by the hand.
STEVEN SPIELBERG: Loved the movie. I want to give you $40m to make your next film. What have you got?'
CHRIS: (after a moment of hesitation.) ....I'll get back to you!
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Chris Jones visibly winces as he ruefully recounts this tale during a discussion on the importance of having the next project ready to go during that crucial period that your finished film is attracting attention.
"'I'll get back to you!' But of course I never did. The opportunity had died right there and then."
Unfortunately, the dynamic between Jones and Joliffe had begun to change as well, and cracks began to appear in their partnership. Honouring an agreement at the outset of their career together, Joliffe took the directorial reins on Urban Ghost Story, while Chris took the producer and second unit roles. In truth, they had always been a 50/50 partnership, complementing each other's skills and qualities. But now, by Chris' customarily honest admission, egos started to get involved and more opportunities were missed. After having spent his entire 20's in poverty, devoting himself to his vocation, Chris admits to taking a long look at his lot, and asking himself some hard questions.
"People I knew owned their own flats, had pensions, took holidays, had a girlfriend. I'd had none of that. I decided to catch up with the life I felt I'd missed."
The problems with Genevieve were resolved amicably and they remain good friends and partners. She is still in LA, and used her ongoing experience for The Guerilla Filmmakers Hollywood Handbook. Meanwhile, Chris works as a freelance editor for the BBC and on other filmmakers projects. He has an office at Ealing Studios where he works on the new edition of The Handbook and plans his next film project: a horror film called Skeleton Key to be shot on HD in the new year.
"I tell my students to wrap their stories around locations they have access to, and that's exactly what I'm going to do with Skeleton Key. It's going to be about a security guard at Ealing Film Studios that discovers the place is haunted, and I'm going to film it right here at nights and weekends."
And of course, he still runs the courses, inspiring and motivating students of all ages and experience. During a lunch break on the second day, buzzing from the weekend's activities, his students tuck into sandwiches prepared by Chris' girlfriend. She had sat in for a couple of hours on day one of the masterclass and been impressed by his performance and the effect it had on the students. He had returned home that night as energised and inspired as they were, ready to finish what he has started.
Gus Alvarez
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Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February 2005 - 75% DISCOUNT NOW AVAILABLE (Call for details)
Run by the author of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook and Movie Blueprint and producer of The Runner, White Angel and Urban Ghost Story, Chris Jones, held at Ealing Film Studios for £208.
" I have done it three times, that is, made three feature films that have all received international and theatrical distribution - and this course will show you how, where, why, how much and when you should make your movie..." Chris Jones Designed to give you the practical knowledge you need to make your first feature film, whilst arming you psychologically, The Guerilla Film Making Advanced Masterclass will be the most intense two days a new or young filmmaker can experience.
There's no huge auditoriums here, a small and interactive class size lets you stand out from the crowd. All attendees will also receive additional materials including free film making software, an example screenplay, and extensive booklet. It's a 'full on' two day seminar, very long hours, heaps of clips to illustrate points and screenings of two feature films! It covers everything from your films conception to it's completion and all the way through screenplay, production, sales and distribution, with a new special emphasis on theatrical and video distribution. There's special emphasis and problem areas such as business structures, legal issues, post production, getting the best cast, marketing, markets, and of course, the all important international sales. Plenty of new features have been added for the price increase, but for this one time only, you can attend for the old price of £140. All attendees also get a fee copy of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook and a hardback Masterclass Notebook with DVD. More info is on our website at
www.movietools/course.htm
NEW - THE COURSE HAS JUST HAD AN ADDED SECTION ON THE ANATOMY OF A UK CINEMA / VIDEO / DVD RELEASE
If you want to reserve a place call the office on 020 8758 8544 or drop us an email at walter@guerillafilm.com (remembering to include all your contact details). We can now accept credit cards too, please email us for details.
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