AMBER - KEEP CHILDREN SAFE INDIE STYLE

If you ever leave your children alone in the car whilst you're out at the shops, please remember to secure all the doors, make sure your kids are safe and sound, plus always, always, always, have a camera ready just in case you want to make a film about someone trying to abduct them. My mate Johan did. Don't believe me? Then you best check this out. 





1) What are your own origins, Johan? Plus what path did you take in life prior to getting to where you are today?   It hasn't been so straight a road for me, even though I have always known that I wanted to make films. You see, battling with dyslexia as I was growing up caused me having a lot of trouble getting anywhere at school. Especially as I was always running around with a camera in my hand or concocting some sort of story in my head.

When I got older I fell into just having filming as an hobby, and was quite content with that. Yet when I got an opportunity to study a course in screenwriting, I jumped on that and then one thing led to another and I ended up at Film school in Bournemouth, UK, at the age of 31.

I was at the Arts University of Bournemouth when I became a father and the story of Amber poped into my head.

2) What inspired the creation of ‘Amber’? Plus what is your role within the scheme of things?   The inspiration for Amber came from two sources. Firstly, an article in a newspaper about a car thief who accidentally stole a car with a baby in the backseat and later returned said child. And secondly, the fact of me becoming a father and wondering what would happen if a totally despicable person got a hold of her. Somewhere there I got interested in the psyche of my antihero, and how I could tell a story about a totally horrid individual without the audience turning away or running off.

My role? Well a lot. I wrote, produced, directed, edited (both sound and image), I helped with the sound design and mixing, did the colouring as well as promotion for the film. But I generally just say I'm the writer / director of it. No one really cares about the other stuff anyway ;).

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   It's a crime story about a despicable person. The weird thing you'll get from it though is that you keep on wondering what he'll end up doing next. But also its a redemption story with the cutest little girl in the world as one of the leads - My daughter, Leia.

4) If this film omitted a collective odour, what would it smell like and why?   Haha! Blood, sweat and tears, like an old boxing gym. Because life is a fight, and so is this film (and that's what I have been smelling like making it).

5) What song would you say best represents your wares and why?   'I am mine' by Pearl Jam. Why? I can just cite the lyrics of verse one:

"The selfish, they're all standing in line. Faithing and hoping to buy themselves time. Me, I figure as each breath goes by I only own my mind".

6) If you could get a known celebrity – either living or dead – to promote this flick, who would you choose, and why would you want this particular person?   That's a hard one, but I think I would go with Keith Richards. He just seems to be the right person for the job. He's been through life, or at least that's the sense you get whenever you see him.

7) What were the main obstacles you had to contend with along the way?   Well, there where several, but the lack of money and contacts would be the main obstacles. As well as that Leia suddenly fell really sick as I was editing, so the film had to take a backseat for 6 months.

8) If ‘Amber' had a motto, what do you think it would be?   It's never to late to become a better person.

And on that note, dear reader, I'd like to thank Johan for telling us about his indie film, 'Amber', as well as direct you towards his official website and twitter account for any more information.