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The Two Counties Film Festival and Mental Health · Mental Health Matters

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, and welcome to Mental Health Matters with me, Dr.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Audrey Tang.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: And as you can see, I'm flying to Solo today.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: And that's because today brought me an unexpected guest.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought instead of shoe-hauling him into my usual format, I'd try something a little different.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's what creativity is all about.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: And creativity is the theme for today's show.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: When it comes to mental health, we often jump to buzzwords, hot takes, quick fixes.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I sometimes think, why can't we sit in the complicated chaos of being human?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe we can work it through.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: And if we're lucky, we might have a guide along the way.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that's when media, whether it's books, whether it's films, stage plays, or even shows like this, we can come into it.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: What conversations like this allow us to do is to talk about the things that we don't often know how to describe in normal conversation.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: It allows us to express things that we might have been too close to.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: It allows us to see things for the first time from a different perspective.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So today, my special guest is Igo Montgomery Jarvis.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's an award-winning actor, he's a filmmaker, and he's also the director of the 2CIFF, which is the Two Counties International Film Festival.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's going to be sharing his experiences with mental health as well as talk about what film and creativity can bring to the community.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: I go, welcome to Mental Health Matters.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hello.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's really great for you to chat with us and tell us all about your experience because you've got so much to say when it comes to mental health and creativity.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you mind telling us a little bit about your background?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, where do I start?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I grew up in Manchester, Stockport.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Quite a turbulent youth.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Family and breakups and divorce, and you know, all the all the stuff that sort of comes and haunts you later on in life, as it were.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: My dad was ex-military, so that was always something I think I wanted to do.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I was also quite dramatic, I think is a good word.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I um I liked performing and joking and a bit, you know, being class clown, but I think uh I think I was undiagnosed ADHD to be fair at the time.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: As it happens, I've been adult diagnosed as well.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I it it was obviously there.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I was never I was never naughty, I was sort of the the cheeky, so I was always described as being sort of really, really good to have around, but could work harder and all that sort of thing, and only works well when I'm enjoying something, so all all the traits that you left classic traits.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I I always had a bit of a passion for sort of acting, and I joined uh like a local dance and acting drama group.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But back then, and I'm I'm what am I 52, 53 now?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: So back then it was a little bit frowned upon for boys to be in that sort of arena or chefs, or you know, it was always sort of you you can you you can hear the terms and the bullying as it as it happened, so you either played football or you know you were in Manchester at the time, Manchester as well, even more so.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there was a little bit of you know, it's like a tough northern town and it was all a bit gritty, wasn't it?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but I did join and I did uh as a youth I was I did a couple of auditions for one for Coronation Street, which I didn't get, but my friend in the same acting school did get, and he actually went on to um do some walk-ons for in Coronation Street, which was my character.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't twisted the knife.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, but I was really happy, you know.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: You you you you want something, don't you?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that's maybe where I was going to go.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I a couple of films, um, I can't even remember, but I just I remember going through the auditioning process, and you know, it and it was all a bit foreign to me then.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't really make a lot of sense.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really know what I was getting into, and I was just going and having fun.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: But then it was almost like, well, what am I doing?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up um I ended up in organisational culture, so I ended up in the military, and then I ended up in the police.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, yeah.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Gosh, that's quite removed from the creative work.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: My dad was in the military, so it was always sort of there.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I I but I always ended up, I don't know if this is a personality trait or not, but I always want if I did something and I really enjoyed it, I always wanted to be the best, or in a special I didn't just want to be a normal military or normal police, or so I always ended up um doing like special operations and things like that, certainly in the police, undercover work, firearms, drugs experts, CID specialist ops, undercover, you know, all the sneaky stuff.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um which lends a little bit, took me back a little bit to the acting, certainly with the undercover work.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, yeah.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're you're pretending to be someone else.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: So um I think I think it was always there, niggling in the in the back.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, unfortunately, through all my work, I I did a a few operations.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I did a big um uh paedophile operation and online sexual exploitation.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if you ever remember those.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: It it all came out a good few years ago.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: It must have been 2003, two, three.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Massive national and it came from America where a couple of in Texas were earning like a million pounds a day on pictures and stuff, but there was no real way of tackling it.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up watching videos, thousands of videos and images.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have children at the time.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't think I ever gave it the credence of how that affected me.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, because that is incredibly traumatized.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I had to choose what we charge with.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh, and then it was going through the court system, and people were getting cautions for effectively having 10,000 images of children.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it was only later, through therapy and stuff, you know, I mean I mean I'm sort of welling up a little bit now, so it brings it back, that you um that you're told that that affected you more than you think.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it was uh I think it was things like that and combination.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: I did so I did a lot of undercover work, I did uh a lot of firearms uh operations whilst all the terrorists and the London bombings were happening and things like that.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Puts you into another changing situation.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I had a couple of situations where I actually had to draw my weapon and challenge who I thought were terrorists, uh, and they weren't.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just so I think the just but the trouble with organisations, certainly the police at that time, and I mean everyone everyone tries to say, Oh yeah, the police are brilliant.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: They were awful at dealing as an organization with mental health, you know, you get on with it, you're a bloke, you know, you you're doing a like effectively what's supposed to be a macho job, and even if you showed an ounce of weakness, you'd get destroyed, you know, with the banter and all the rest of it.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that that that effectively makes you experience, yes.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a few of these things over a period of time, uh, and I I would do, I mean, I played football, I did jujitsu, martial arts, I competed, you know, fighting, um, competed, you know, always tried to compete at a you know half decent level, so Saturday, Sunday football, amateur.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I had a few amateur fights, uh jujitsu and competitions.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was always testing myself.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think the the social view of that is oh, he plays football, he played.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's fine, he's got an expressive outlook.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly, he goes to the gym, you know, he's a bit of a boy, he likes to have a bit of a joke, but inside, you know, things are always bubbling, aren't they?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I had a stroke.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: In 2012.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was a it was a clinical stroke, as in it was from um uh martial arts, and I um well what they think they can never get to the bottom of it totally, but uh a tear in a vessel in my neck.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And playing football, I had a stroke because of the blood pressure, released a stroke, hit me in the thalamus, which is emotional control.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you can see where this conversation's going.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: It changed me.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I went very depressed.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I started getting physical injuries as well because I was but I full right-sided stroke.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um recovered um within about 20, 48 hours in the hospital.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: But what I didn't realise is what it had done to me.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then I started getting anxiety and depression.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was really angry with everyone.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I went off the deep end a couple of times with a couple of people.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, a bin man who I thought had crashed into my car.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then he changed me and I just lost the plot.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, albeit that it didn't, I I ended up putting him on the floor and holding him by his throat.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: He'd attack me, so it was.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: And you're trained as well, which kind of makes it worse.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it is, but you know, that the guilt, and then I'm I'm thinking, what is going on with me?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was just angry and upset and bitter, and I could feel all those, you know, all those emotions.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a nervous break.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: I went back to work after three months.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, which wasn't good and wasn't supported uh at work.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they didn't know, you know, they they they dealt with it as a physical thing, not a mental thing.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um the idea of the police at the time was oh, let's bring a dog in so everyone can pat the dog, and then you know, it's a happiness dog, and everyone will be okay.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, okay, that was that's great.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm being a little bit facetious, but yeah, it's but I understand that it's throwaway tick box exercises for them, really.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: But and and that you feel undervalued when something like that happens.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I did go down to a recovery centre, um, and the guys down there are excellent, but even though they're associated with the police, they're they're separated, in fact, they're professionals.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: So but the thing is, what they do doesn't filter back to all the areas.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So when you go back, you're back in the thick of it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: In the same environment that causes the problems, yeah.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really good at getting promoted because obviously I put my mind to something, so I I flew through the ranks and I got up to detective inspector.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I was running departments as well and operations whilst carrying all of this other stuff.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, everything up to murder, you know, on when I was doing CID that wouldn't go to the specialist murder team, for instance, domestic murders or something.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So but really impacted uh rape investigations, the the whole spectrum of serious crime.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I ended up having a nervous breakdown at work.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean I ended up having two, but obviously one filters into another.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um I just walked into the doctor's one day and said, I'm I'm I think I'm gonna hurt someone.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Gosh.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um I and he wrote me off there in that um or or myself, you know.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say, but the fact is you had to take yourself there.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then do you know what what what made me laugh?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it didn't make me laugh, it sort of you know, it makes me think about it is a couple of people be like, oh yeah, we noticed stuff in your behaviour or the way you were short with people.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, but we didn't talk about it.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't talk about it.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, so obviously things had been, and I I people had noticed me being depressed, but no one ever said anything.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's just oh, he's having a bad day, or yeah, he's dealing with a lot again, and it so I think that made me quite bitter towards the organisation as well, yeah, because you feel you feel let down and lonely and all the rest of it.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um however, saying that so I ended up uh well it doesn't end there.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean I I won't I can't go into too many details, but um as I found out through a process, uh the they didn't want me in the organisation anymore because I was on restricted duties, I was quite high ranking, they would have had to put promote me in post in a certain area, and I know because I've been told that a high-ranking officer get rid of him however you want.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the organisation everyone thinks they do a great job, but that organization is it can be very sly, very vindictive and awful when they just they they don't treat you like a human, they treat you like a number, and you're incidentally in the way.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So um I I uh was investigated for something I hadn't done, I was suspended, I was dragged through a process with no charges, taken to a um an internal um disciplinary meeting, and I ended up having to take the organisation through the European, well not through, sorry, not through the High Court, um, which would have led to a the European court.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I I um had a uh Lord Justice look at my case and he referred it back for a medical tribunal with a with a letter, so you can understand that process.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he recommended that I could never be a police officer again because of the way I've been treated, which obviously, from someone of that standing, uh led to me having a effectively a medical tribunal, but at the the Um College of Surgeons uh down in London and having a a meeting and they awarded me my medical pension based on the way I'd been treated.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Which is unheard of really.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't a physical injury, it was due to the mental health that they that they caused that they decided that they had caused.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: On top of the stroke and everything, but yeah, yeah, yeah, but Yeah.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I ended up getting my medical pension.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um which people go, oh yeah, well done, you you've won and stuff, but it it's it's very bittersweet, yeah.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's a very um and it's a difficult thing for other people to process because I think they're looking at the outcome.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you got there, and and that must be a relief and all of those things, but that doesn't take away everything that you've been through leading up to that point.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And dealing with all the the lies and uh the you know the people looking at you and going, oh, you must have done it.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's no smoke without fire, and you're like, Well, there is actually and but by me winning it shows that there is but by then the reputation's already damaged, isn't it?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got to rebuild, you know, the it's not that, it's the after effects of rebuilding your life.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Which you did and and so I I fell into um film again and acting, so I ended up doing an independent film locally, but I also got offered an extra role, like an essay supporting artist role, on a Bollywood film.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic!
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I went up and it was a really high pro I I had no idea who these people were.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Annal Kapoor was on it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Svalur, who it's I don't know if I pronounced that right, but she was Miss India.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh John Abram, which uh anyone that knows Bollywood film will know John Abram.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have a clue because I I've never been into Bollywood films.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: I knew Annal Kapoor from Slum Dog Millionaire, but so I recognised the face.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly um I was approached by the casting agent on set and asked if I wanted if I was free for the next 13 weeks.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah, why not?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I got offered a casted role playing a minder, uh like a bodyguard in the film consistently.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was like, Oh, I quite enjoy, I quite like this.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, I was being fed every day, people were nice, and everyone wants you to do your best when you're on set, you know, and there's political wranglings and there's things going on because it's a high-pressure environment with lots of money being spent.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: But as an artist, you know, I was I was getting changed, I was being looked after, no one was being horrible, and I was having a great time.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I quite like this.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then the beautiful people I met were like, Oh, you'd be really good, like on East Enders or something.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, people are being really nice and complimenting my acting, and you know, I was like, maybe this is for me.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: So um after that experience, and you know, and all the advice from people, I got in contact with some like casting agents and uh casting sort of direct, you know, directories, and I I went for an audition and landed a European tour on a murder trial theatre tour.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, oh gosh, but then that's a sort of and I played the murderer.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: So the audience had to decide if I was guilty or not.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I played like an Essex gangster, and I was a bit cheeky in the box, and it it was quite interactive, and and then they had to decide, and I had to, I had to, in the end, make it quite I had to be a little bit horrible because everyone was finding me not guilty.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Likeable.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Likeable, uh, as like this cheeky Essex gangster, but it was it was great.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Can I ask how did that did any of that trigger some of those old and if it didn't, why not?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just curious.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I think I'd done about 63 shows.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was just getting tired of being away from the kids and I left left the tour when they were over in Ireland because I I thought I'd had enough, but I maybe I didn't realise why at the time I was just feeling a little bit I was living on a tour bus and it was all you know, it was all completely different, and it was great at times, and I was tired, and I think I you know I needed the break, but the the break I'd had enough.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, but from that I managed to get an agent, and um uh I I've since then I've amassed sort of 40 odd credits theatre, TV, film, shorts.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've I've done some essay work on big productions like Aquaman 2 and Beekeeper and things like that.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I also learned there's other avenues in in uh the film industry world.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I used my firearm skills, so I teach firearms to actors, and it's called special action work.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm now with an agency, and if they need someone to sort of, you know, you need to be on screen and look like you've been handling a weapon for eight, nine, ten years, then I will teach actors how to look that way.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's really interesting because it's almost like you're finding the acting world therapeutic as an outlet for processing what's happened as opposed to triggering because it brings back memories.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know what?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the roles I've taken as well.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've I mean I've got I I know I'm sort of um pigeonholed a little bit, so I do I do play sort of like uh Rough and Ready or the ex-military bloke who's angry with the world and that, so it fits quite nicely.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I I've I've played um quite dramatic roles as well.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um I even did a um an advert for mind, and do you know what?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I found it really easy to tap into all those things.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I've had a lot of therapy along the way as well.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: And acting actually can be a very safe space when you're on a good production as well.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: So and if I have have a moment and I know I I'm having the moment, they think I'm acting, and they they're like, Oh, that was brilliant.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, it's because I'm such a great act, I've just tapped into something, but you don't need to know about that.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but yeah, it's uh but that's I think some great actors have said, you know, I I that they they all to be a great actor, you've got to be able to tap into those experiences, and it makes you perform because the performance has got to be real, it's real, yeah.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: So and if it's real, then you're not cheating the audience, and I so I I think I didn't want to tap into it, and now I've learned through um so I actually I actually as well because I was a bit older when I went into it, I don't think I was um as sort of self-important, or you know, I wasn't fighting to get seen, you know.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I I took rejection.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd do an aud I'd do an audition.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: If I didn't get the job, I'd sort of maybe a little bit disappointed, but it wasn't the end of the world.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, because I was maybe a bit older, yeah.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I'd move on.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I went to work with Jim Cartwright up in Manchester for about two, three years.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: He wrote Road and Little Voice and all the rest of it, which so he's worked with Michael Kane, I mean, for God's sake.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he taught me an awful lot, and he I think he helped me tap into those emotions as well because he he's very much I mean, he's a brilliant director as well, but he's a brilliant artistry teacher of how to develop your acting skills, and yeah.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's that's really fascinating as because I I don't usually hear of people really seeing acting and performance as a form of creative expression which can be very therapeutic, and I think that's that you're embodying that.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um now, my description of you when I introduced you was award winning winning.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Actor and filmmaker, which is which is it's barely scratching the surface of your actual real story.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so two questions.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: The first is what do you think people assume when they just hear that?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, award-winning actor and filmmaker, that's it, that's it, um, of you, and and what would you actually like them to know?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: So that's the first question.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: And the second question is in terms of the truth of the profession as well, right?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: What would you like them to know?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, you you as an actor, I think you have to be you have to have a you know a certain amount of ego, uh, as long as it's directed in the right way, you know, being a diva or you know, you you hear of all these horror stories and whatnot.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: But because you've got to go on a stage in front of people and hold the space.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: People are relying on you to sell their their dream and you know their vision.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got cameramen, you know, and women, and you've got you've got you know the whole crew looking at you going, you better nail this because I I need to be home at five.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, that that's the pinnacle of what everyone's set up for the whole day.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to deliver.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So when you have been recognised in whatever form, I mean, it mostly I won those awards uh for my short film Blue Snakes, which is largely based on a detective inspector that has a breakdown and wreaks revenge, so you can see that it's such a process that I can see your whole process.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean it it I haven't reached revenge, I'll just say that.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: So that bit is sort of you know, but I I No, but you've allowed, in a way, you've allowed yourself to do that in this other medium, which I love.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's fabulous.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we filmed a couple of scenes as a as what's called a proof of concept to see whether or not we could um because I've written a whole script and a uh and a you know a book uh based on this character.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a bit of a revenge thriller, as it were, so it deals a little bit with mental health and you know the the breakdown, as it were, so it's got a nice character arc to it.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um where was I?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right, so I I won these I think about 50 awards altogether.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations! Oh thank you, and and do you know what?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I mean it wasn't like at Cannes Film Festival or the like, but it was all these recognition and 100%.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think some people you know will say, Yeah, but you only won that at say this festival in India or something, and and it's online.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, but I I started to go, so what?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, someone's watched my work and they liked it, and they might have watched 10 films and still picked mine, so I'll take that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, um, and it was great because I wasn't the only person winning, it was like my editor, the cinematographer, um, the other actors, uh, the script, the lighting, you know, all these elements of the film, and I was thinking, this you know, it's about teamwork, and it's not just about the actor, yeah, yeah.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um but like that.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and it was really nice because I think I got the bug for bringing a team together and making something together, yeah, you know, um, which is what I'm doing with a festival.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: The festival.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so first of all, just before we get to the um two two counties international film festival, when it comes to making films, does the experience differ from that of an actor for you?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think when you go in the actor space, you're you're about right, what's my role in the script and how do I make that scene?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because every scene that you do has got to be your best work, and that that makes the film.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're going in to film that scene, yeah, it's all about how do I make this scene the best.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: When you're making a film, it's about how do I make this whole project the best, and it it's about project management.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and that's what I've realized.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot, it's hard work because I I put a lot of pressure on myself.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to do my best.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say it's about to be the best again.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna do it, I'm gonna do it well.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do it.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna be the best actor in here, you know.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I go in with that focus and I want to really do it's about what the director wants and what the filmmakers want, and do I look am I doing well for you?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: When you're making the film, it's about you know, am I doing am I feeding everyone?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Am I am I giving them what they need what they need to give me what I need?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, have I got the best props?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh is everyone happy?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, um, and and that's it it it yeah, it sort of it goes from here to here.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's an ecosystem, yeah.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that I really enjoy.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I can see that.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: You're absolutely lit up as you're talking about that.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: Now, tell me about the two two counties international film festival, which is very exciting.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Why did you start it and tell me a little bit about it?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right, okay.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I mean, I could go into the mission statement, but I'll tell you where it was sort of sort of born for because I know it's a little bit different to the other film festivals, and it is, and it is a little bit different.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, I've I've I've been in the industry, what, eight years, properly.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: An actor, filmmaker, teaching, and all the rest of it.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've met some great people, you know, some really fantastic people that um have become friends, sort of a world-renowned stunt coordinator who's a really good friend of mine.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um producers that suddenly, you know, they're talking about they've got films currently with like big big stars, and you're like, wow, that I know these people, and it's great because you know, and I I know I've been on set with people like Hugh Laurie, and we're chatting, and you're just I'm realising, you know, it's it it's it's a business.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is a business, but it's also a creative outlet, yes.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you've got the other side to it, which is I love film anyway.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll I'll put on a film as opposed to a you know, I'm I'm I think I've completed Netflix to be quite honest.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've I've literally watched everything.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Every single thing, yeah.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I my my people say, What's your favourite film?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've got loads of favourite films from like 51st dates to Star Wars to you know, convoy.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to know your reasons.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we don't have time for that into this interview, but it's the reasoning from your your brain of looking at it, that would be the very interesting part.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, should we not let let's not go to that?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I I love all sorts of films.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a film lover as well as uh I I love the the art and the the the production side of it as well.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: When I entered my film, I I even though it was a proof of concept, I managed to get um it edited with a lad who uh was working out of university, but he he wanted to be an editor, yeah, and he took my film on his his uh his like end of year project as it were.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: He did a fantastic job, and um we I went down to the editing suite with him one day and we were like we've we might have a film here, yeah.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we took it down to 15 minutes and I entered it into festivals, and I got into that whole process.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then a couple of years ago I went to Cannes, which obviously is it but it's a film market, it's not just about film.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: I felt I felt a little bit out of place there because I didn't have any projects to take to Cannes, so I was just there as a as an observer, really, um, and it was enjoyable, but I know I've been to some local festivals and some around the country and whatnot, and then I've had some lovely feedback from abroad, but I was like sometimes I was disappointed with the festivals, in all honesty.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I won't say which ones, but it was very much either about money or what they could how much they could make out of the filmmakers, or they weren't really when they screened the films, it was it wasn't an event, it was just cinema, and you turn up, and I was thinking there's nothing here for people to get behind.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I got together uh last year with uh a couple of people I know, and we ran the Bedford Film Festival.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um which is which is fantastic, and it it was really successful.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um I wanted to, instead of just having a in a town, I wanted to go a bit bigger.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I split away from Bedford and I started my own, which is two counties Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And the thinking behind it is obviously in Buckinghamshire, and a lot of people don't know this, we've got Pinewood down in Slough.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: We've got National Film Television School, we've got Carlington Studios, yes, um, we've got Warner Brothers just over the border.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: We've got Universal being built in Bedford, uh, and I think people don't realise how much is in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire for filmmaking.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Superman was filmed in Milton Keating's.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes, yes, yes.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Stowe Stowe School uh has been used for well I've I filmed two Bollywood films there, and then it was used for Indiana Jones as well.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't I know that?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the book burning where he gets Hitler to sign his diary.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's it, that's at Stowe School.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_04: Interesting, oh my goodness.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's loads of places and there's loads of talent.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then when you actually start looking at the independent filmmakers and getting to know them, you're like, wow, there's there's loads around here.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: And Milton Keynes and is is a is an amazing place.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's just off the M1.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got all those all those logistical things as well.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I started getting that little tickle of there's something here, yeah.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't just want to do a uh a f you know like uh uh invite some filmmakers and and sort of put on a just just for them.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to make it an event, so I thought how could I combine those?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it is it is uh festival by filmmakers for filmmakers, because that's that's really important uh that filmmakers are getting something out of it.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but when tickets go on sale and what's what does a filmmaker want?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, filmmaker wants people to watch their film, yeah.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, well, just go from that.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we make it a cinematic event, and it's not just on a screen, you know, and you're in a room.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not that this is No, no, no, no, no.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this would be great, but we wouldn't necessarily show films.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted a cinema, and I wanted a second screening room, and I thought I wanted it somewhere with loads of opportunities so we could have outside c tune and we could have talks from industry experts that not just filmmakers would get something out of, but the audience or the general public could go, yeah.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I've never never heard a stunt man talk about stunts before.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, here you go.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, but then it's about bringing them together and finding the balance.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it really needed to be attractive to filmmakers, first and foremost, emerging and established.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: An independent film could have two million quid behind it, yeah, but it also could have absolutely zero.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you balance that?
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I thought first of all, you've got to make it attractive for filmmakers.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we have six categories we've got the shorts, the features, and the students, which is important because they're they're our future.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's part of also what they have to be doing as well.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: They may as well aim.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, well, yeah, and they get to then they get to mix with all the things.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: And they get the experience, yeah.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but get so don't just get um uh get some really good names in there to be speakers.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: So one of my announcements is we've actually got a uh DOP, director of photography, who is known for Venom 3.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: So Fabian Wagner has said he will come and do a talk.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: He did also Masters of the Universe, which is coming out soon.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's coming out, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've got Peter Pedrero, who's coming, he's he's worked on Bond, Harry Potter as a stunt coordinator and stunt performer coming to do a talk.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: But balanced with that, we've got um an acting agent, we'll have an actor coming to speak who went to Rada.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: In sorry, he's currently at Rada.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: So he they can talk about all these experiences as well, from all the way from independent film to multi-million pound blockbusters, yeah, which is is amazing.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and instead of just having one evening, we're gonna spread it over three days.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll have a Friday opening evening celebrating regional um talent from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, and we've got some amazing films from both those counties.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh The Los In is going to be our opening film.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we've got a couple of talented filmmakers from Milton Keynes.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we've got a really, really lovely mental health film about a day in the life of someone with autism, and then it really exposes sort of the struggles and you know things that are unseen from other points of view.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that really complements my uh mental health sponsors as well.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, yes, yes.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: Mind is sponsoring.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Mind being and youth mindset as well, which really you all know of.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: So both of those brilliant organisations are close to my heart.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um Mind, I've done like say I've I've I've actually sought their help before and found them really, really supportive.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but also I did an advert for uh one of their regional offices down in Essex.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I've always had a nice, you know, something there for relationship.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's great, yeah, with Mind.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I just thought instead of having an overall theme for the festival, I wanted to be all-encompassing.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it's nice to have uh a nod or a touch to uh people where they can feel safe with those sort of trauma films, or uh they might not think that they could put them into say um uh a sort of generic or a theme-led um festival.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted them to make feel that safe.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we will have sort of we in fact to be fair, I think this year more than any uh well last year or even other festivals I know about.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: We I mean we've had 80, 90 films now submitted.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Which is fantastic.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_02: Which is of those, do you mind me asking?
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh I mean, you may not know how many of them are tackling mental health.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is what I was gonna say.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um more so, I think, and I think this is really important because I think people uh uh in the community are are feeling more empowered to to put their stories on, and those stories are obviously coming from a personal place.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, well, there's got to be something in that, and and that maybe that m maybe people are feeling more comfortable.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: I I know I would I haven't got a problem writing about my own issues and making it into a story, and then allowing other people to watch it and then talk about it, and that helps them express themselves as well.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I would say we've got enough films of quality.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we if we get 200 films, we can only select 100 anyway.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: But but some of our amazing films that are coming well are uh are really dealing with issues of uh trauma or pain and grief and you know depression or uh issues that maybe they wouldn't have put on camera before because it might not have been accepted or you know, and they're not even belittling the the problem because I think that's the issue.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you're exposing it for empathy, it's fantastic.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you're making making it sort of um a comedy point or yeah, or a stereotype, then it be well, which actually leads me on to my next question.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: What are your thoughts on how the media does treat mental health generally?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's better than it's been.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: Agreed, yeah.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think it's that there's more because you've had organisations like the NHS and and uh Mind and the like really champion it and it's it's it's and organisations may be a bit like the military.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean I I was diagnosed with PTSD as well from a couple of but I was I was diagnosed with the sort of complex PTSD from trauma as opposed to hiding under a you know with from a it all presents very differently, all of that, yeah, all that individual.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: It used to be ignored because people didn't know how to deal with it, then it became stereotyped, and then it became stereotyped, and you were like just you know mental, chicken oriental, and then you know that's how it was it was, wasn't it?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was almost like just everyone take the mick out of you, so you didn't feel like you could speak or talk or even display um something, and then you know it but it and things things like the military I think have really helped because they do take things seriously now.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I did work for Help for Heroes and mentored for them, albeit that's not as been as supported recently, I don't think, as it used to be.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: They they've closed a couple of their places, hospitals, haven't they?
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, that's the climate, isn't it?
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: 100%, but because of that, people could see actually, yeah, and you've got you've got you've got celebrities that have been in the SAS that have come out and said, Yeah, I had PTSD, and all of a sudden you and all the podcasts, and I think social media, for its faults, have also helped people talk about it in an open form, and you've got peop people of note or celebrities and all the rest of it, the people like will watch suddenly talking about it and buying into it and actually knowing what it's about because they've educated themselves a little bit.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: So all you've got to do is watch watch one thing, and you you go, Oh, actually, yeah, I felt that way.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think there is, and you know, you still get there's a lot of people out there that sort of um belittle um like self-diagnosis for ADHD and all that sort of stuff, and I think you know, you still it used to be you were just the naughty kid if you had AHD because people didn't understand it.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now people do understand it a little bit more, it's like well, everyone's ADHD.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so there's a balance that needs to be struck.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that still needs to be done.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree, I agree.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think the beauty about the film and the creative industry is that it is pressured.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I I think people going back to what you were asking about before with the the awards and everything.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: See, that's the end result, isn't it?
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, people, you know, that's what I'm gonna put on IMDB or Spotlight.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an award-winning actor, yeah.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I want the next job.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but people don't see that um, you know, I'm not always working, and I do my auditions for free, and I read my scripts for free, and I've got to look after my kids 50% of the time.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: Not I I've got to, I want to.
• 40:59
  unknown: We understand.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, but you know, I I've got I've got other things.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a single parent, and I'm I'm trying to get money to pay the bills, and I I might have to have a couple of other uh jobs, and I've got my medical pension, and I haven't got enough money for food, and blah blah blah.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you are struggling, and it might be three, four, six months between jobs.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's alright if you're earning two million quid a film, but I'm not.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: I always talk about it's funny, I always talk about the difference between a jobbing actor and your Angelina Jolie kind of thing.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: There is a massive difference, huge, and people don't always see that.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: They see, as you say, the accolade, the award, the outcome, the IMDB.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why I think it's not exposing, but being able to talk honestly about the industry itself.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's really helpful for people.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's stressy.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think people just see it as a bit of a laugh and a game, and you go on set, you get fed.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: But people are under an immense amount of pressure.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the you know, the crew, the character, there's a lot of money being spent on productions and it's time, and it's you know, is the camera set right?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: And this is costing us money, and you've got producers say in your ear, cutting scenes, and people are stressed out because they're you know they're trying to get to the next task.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the fact you described it earlier as a business really encapsulates that, and again, I don't think that's what people get a lot of the time.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_02: They think it's just oh, it's a bit of fun, isn't it?
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you might only have three hours before the sun goes out or you've been told to get off the site, or you know, the the road becomes too heavy, or the the plane's going over, so you've got to tell that see.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it is every everyone is like, I need to get this done, but there's you know, it it everyone wants a really good result, which is what the audience are gonna watch.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I think people forget the audience, which going back to the the festival, yes, is what I found with some of the festivals, some festivals, not all, they forgot that people want to come and watch film, but they don't have access to these independent films, and some of them are absolutely amazing, yeah, and they got they win awards.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just in talks, I I won't say who it is because I'll announce it on my socials, but I'm in talks uh with a production company who maybe this gives it away, but they won an Oscar for their short film, and they're going to enter a film into my festival.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, unbelievable.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: So you know it would be a really high level of quality we're talking about as well, because I think one of the things that so this is going back to what people understand about community and local festivals, people can often feel, oh it's just community, you know, it's Amram.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_02: The quality and the quality of the people that film goers, filmmakers, and anyone who's part of that festival can get access to is high level.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_02: You can learn so much.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is what I want.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want I I think we obviously we've got to deliver a program that's an event.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: But it's diverse and it's open and inclusive.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: They've watched some films, and if they go away and they go, Oh, I enjoyed today, brilliant.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think we've done enough if that's it.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to be walking out of there going, Do you know I wouldn't have got a chance to watch that film?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't have probably paid to go to the Odeon to see it because it probably wouldn't have been on at the Odeon.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: They might not even ever get to see it on Netflix, they might not even know it exists.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: But they're going to watch it at my festival and they're going to go away and go, That that that sits with me.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if they're thinking about it after they've left and they go, Wow, that that's that's fantastic, or it not that it triggers them, but you know it is like it makes them think, and then they go, Wow.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: I and and they're sat at home and go, they talk about it at home.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then we've achieved something.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, because you've now allowed access to something like 100%.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_02: Which is incredible.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_02: So what are some of the highlights we're going to look forward to?
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think we've struck the balance.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: I've got an amazing team around me, uh nearly 15-20 people that have come on board from local sponsors, I've got a media uh manager, I've got my my uh you know fantastic um charity sponsors, and everyone is giving not only the time but effort and uh something to the festival, um, whether it be a speech or a van to pick up some chairs, you know, whatever it is, but time and technical effort.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um we had a we had a little meeting, I say a little meeting, you know, last week, and this isn't just going to be, it's gonna be an event.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: And people are gonna turn up and they're gonna be fed and watered, and there's gonna be cocktail, themed cocktails.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a drag out coming down from Manchester on the Sunday to do show, you know, songs from um from films.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've got speakers, like I said, Fabian just said last week that he'd come and do the talk.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um if he's back from filming, I can't say what and where, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: If he's back from filming, which he said he is now.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got you've got amazing people saying they're getting involved.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we will have up to 900 films being screened over to uh in the cinema under second screen room.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, and it'll be a lovely summer hot uh summer uh weekend 21st to 23rd, and it's gonna be hot, hopefully.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_00: Fingers crossed the sun comes out.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna have a summer vibe, you know.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be right outside the theatre in Milton Keynes.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, I know we're working with the MK Gallery as well.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, MK Gallery is our venue sponsor and the the the cinema, the Skyrim cinema.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we'll be in the cafe and outside on the grass and in in the sun, and it's just gonna be fantastic for everyone.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds it so where can we get tickets and and how much are tickets?
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: All of that information.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right, so uh we because we want to make it all encompassing, yes, we've got a selection of tickets, so you can I you can either come for the opening night, or you can come and watch just the screening for the films on the Saturday and Sunday, or you can get a weekend ticket, which is slightly less, so hopefully you'd buy that.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a VIP ticket, so you can come to the opening night, the screenings, all the talks, and the garler and award ceremony.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's only 70 quid.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, for everything, that's pretty good.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: 25 quid for just a s a screening ticket for the Saturday or Sunday.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just going in and out and watching whichever film you likes, like the Edinburgh French films.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: You spend all day there.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've got Outside Catering by Char.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know them?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't, but I have heard I've heard of them appearing at one of the local MK festivals.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Brilliant.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've got the the gallery are gonna do some themed cocktails.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: Lovely.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've got a bar, we've got something for the kids going on.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like you say, you can go in and out.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: The you you the program will be there on our website, which is www.2, as in the number two, C-I-F2C.com.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can visit the mkgallery.org, and that's where you can buy your tickets from.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_00: So through the gallery, and you will see the selection.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just just go to the search bar and put in two counties, and all our tickets will uh come up.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you can see both from the website.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: You there's also a link on the website.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to go to the website, have a look, and then buy tickets through the link on there, you just press it and it'll take you there.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing, amazing.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds absolutely incredible.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for not just sharing your own story, how you got here, but what a here this is.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing, and I wish you continued success with everything you're doing.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you to everybody who's been tuning in, and have a healthy week.