Park Film Starts A Short Road to Success

A 3-minute short filmed in a local park from St Albans director Andy Pearson has set him on the long road to success. It has been bought by the BBC for a series on short films and leading French channel Canal+ will be showing it this year.

The entire was shot on 35mm entirely in Clarence Park in St Albans starting last autumn and filming was only completed in February this year.

39-year-old Pearson has always wanted to direct feature films and had some good grounding as a producer for the BBC, making promotions and trailers for their programmes. Three years ago he went freelance and began directing commercials, including the striking and thought-provoking Sony PlayStation ads.

The fees for his advertising films funded his first forays into directing his own films. Andy says: "Short films are the entry level for new filmmakers."

Park is a "surreal comedy" which pokes fun at entrenched British insularity.

     WALK IN THE PARK

Pearson explains: "I used to walk through the park every day from my home to reach the St Albans City train station to go to work in London. I noticed how reserved people were. It was only the people walking their dogs who interacted as if the dogs gave them an excuse to communicate.

"So my film is full of people in the park behaving like dogs. It is not immediately obvious but it becomes apparent that that is what is happening."

Andy says: "As I was filming there was an old guy wandering around and asking questions. He wanted to know if the film was about the history of St Albans. As he was saying it one of the actors was sniffing another's bottom."

     SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

Park seems to have the scent of a hit about it. Andy says: "I sent pre-rushes off to festivals. BAFTA (The British Academy of Film, Television and the Arts) has a list of international film festivals and I contacted them all."

Most got back to him and they were very impressed.

    TRES COURTS

This month the film screens at France's international short film festival Festival Tres Courts, but it has also shown at UK-based festival Brief Encounters, Raindance and The Czech Republic's Karlovy Vary.

The BBC and Canal+ commisions are welcome but will do little more than cover the outlay for making Park. As Andy says: "When you make a short film you don't expect to make a profit you're just glad to get some money back."

     SELF-FUNDED

Andy has little in the way of help from lottery-funded organisations such as Screen East and has had to rely on his own funds and the favours of friends. Still, despite offering little more than experience as reward, a casting for Park brought out some quality actors keen to get involved. The chosen cast include Alex Newland, who had a lead role in 2002 British crime caper Baby Juice Express and Aewia who appeared in French director Francois Ozon's acclaimed 2003 thriller Swimming Pool.

Andy also gained the services of a cameraman straight from an Iranian Film School who is "really talented".

Pearson is now hard at work on a follow-up, which will once again draw from his quirky sense of humour. He describes the film, which he is writing now, as "Little Britain crossed with Boys From The Black Stuff".