Fulfilling a passion never did come cheap. But, for two Birmingham filmmakers, paying 拢25,000 to scratch an itch will be worth every penny if it gets them into the Cannes Film Festival this spring.
The British Film Industry 鈥 Elitist, Deluded or Dormant? is a movie that Robin Dutta and Vinod Mahindru are making in their spare time at home.
But it has a cast that Hollywood would die for.
From an actor like Sir Ben Kingsley to directors and producers including Lord Puttnam, Sir Alan Parker, Stephen Frears, Mike Hodges and Nuneaton-born Ken Loach.
After three years of shooting, Robin is currently working through every night to edit 70 hours of raw footage in a sub two-hour documentary with DVD extras galore, while Vinod completes their accompanying book, Failure: The Private Fallacy of a British Film Industry!
The film itself is just over two hours long now, but the dynamic duo think they can shave a bit more out of it yet.
And then they want to shock the film world into action with the untold story of why it is so hard to make films in this country, why it鈥檚 so rare to find an independent 鈥淏ritish鈥 film in a multiplex and why we collectively fail to take more pride in our culture given that we have some of the best writers (alive and dead), actors and technicians in the world.
鈥淲e have so much talent, we should be taking Hollywood out!鈥 stresses Vinod.
鈥淏ut, at the moment, there is an uneven playing field with the current tax credits set up for the 海角视频.鈥
Robin, 35, and Vinod, 44, have known each other for years through their company RKD Films and Cinemarx which makes films that are community based and for charities.
But they set up Quota Films to answer questions about the British film industry that just wouldn鈥檛 leave their guerrilla filmmaking mindset.
Vinod, who also works at Cineworld Broad Street as an audience supervisor, says: 鈥淭he film industry is vital because it should represent who we are and at the moment it doesn鈥檛.
鈥淲e sent out around 1,000 letters to all sorts of leading people.
鈥淛ust for the likes of Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Sir Ian McKellen to write back to us with some often very encouraging comments has kept us going.
鈥淏ranagh was the first to come back and he really did think about it, while Emma said it was 鈥榓 very important project... go for it鈥.
鈥淏ut then you get people agreeing to join you and it starts to snowball.
鈥淲e interviewed the Oscar-winning Gandhi actor Sir Ben Kingsley at the Dorchester Hotel in London after he鈥檇 given a press conference for Martin Scorsese鈥檚 film Hugo.
鈥淪ince he had been playing pioneering French filmmaker Georges M茅li猫s in Hugo, he was really on our level when talking about how to get films made now.
鈥淗e said: 鈥楶eople really love to see British films, but we are not making them鈥.
鈥淪ir Ben was so relaxed and generous with us, and so interested in what we had to say, he made us feel like we were old friends.鈥
The willingness of such big names to take part has surprised the two Brummies.
But not as much as how outspoken many of them have been about things like the Virtual Print Fee (VPF).
This was designed to use the money saved by distributors not having to ship expensive prints around as a means of funding digital equipment for exhibitors 鈥 but it鈥檚 failing to help new filmmakers to get their products screened.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as if we鈥檝e struck a chord and they want to get things off their chest,鈥 says Vinod.
鈥淭he VPF seems to have had the opposite effect to what was intended so that it鈥檚 now disproportionately more expensive for lower budget filmmakers to exhibit their films.
鈥淣ot since the days of the Eady Levy (a 1957-85 tax on box office receipts to create investment in British films) have governments tried to take the industry seriously.
鈥淢argaret Thatcher abolished it in 1985 and since then we鈥檝e had the Film Council and bodies like Screen West Midlands which have been axed.
鈥淣ow there鈥檚 the BFI, but it can only lobby the government 鈥 and has it got the will or is it just self-serving?
鈥淲hat none of these organisations have been able to do is to secure proper investment in the British film industry.
鈥淗aving Disney come over to make another Star Wars film using British technicians is not the same thing.
鈥淭hey are just employing people to do a job 鈥 as welcome as that it is 鈥 and it鈥檚 an example of Hollywood monopolising the market by saying: 鈥榃e will give their talent some money鈥.
鈥淭hey say that after Jesus Christ, the most significant export is Hollywood.鈥
Robin adds: 鈥淚n recent years, Lottery money has gone into films but I think that would be better off going to the NHS and hospitals.
鈥淟ord (Chris) Smith鈥檚 recommendations after the closure of The Film Council were a waste of time.
鈥淕reg Dyke is chairman of the BFI, but we鈥檝e heard a lot more about his views about the integration of players thanks to his other role as chairman of the Football Association.
鈥淗e might (try to) use the same dialogue with the film industry, but he hasn鈥檛 said a word about it. If a new Bond film comes out, it costs as much to show that in a multiplex as it would a film that has cost 拢10,000 鈥 that has to be wrong.
鈥淚t can cost 拢16 to watch a film in London or 拢12 here at IMAX Cineworld Broad Street and this country uses an outdated method of adding up the 鈥榮uccess鈥 of films through their box office grosses.
鈥淚n France, they add up the attendees.
鈥淔or us, making this film has been a phenomenal journey 鈥 we鈥檝e come out buzzing from some of the interviews.鈥
Among the pair鈥檚 personal highlights was a day spent at the Dorset home of the now 81-year-old director Mike Hodges (Get Carter / Croupier).
鈥淗e鈥檚 probably the director who understands 鈥榮pace鈥 more than any other except perhaps Sergio Leone,鈥 says Robin.
鈥淲e have two hours of interview footage with him that will one day be priceless.
鈥淵et today he鈥檚 ignored by the British film industry.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not bitter, though, just at home painting to fulfil his need to be creative when he should have many more films left in him.鈥
One of the film鈥檚 most outspoken contributors is set to be Mars Attacks! screenwriter Jonathan Gems.
Because he鈥檚 retired, he has nothing to lose, unlike some black filmmakers who declined to take part lest they lose their precious foothold.
鈥淛onathan鈥檚 other films include Batman, Indecent Proposal and the Beetlejuice sequel, but you wouldn鈥檛 know that from the credits,鈥 says Vinod, whose two-year 1998 diploma at the then London International Film School was grant aided.
鈥淭hat course taught me about world cinema, the discipline of film and the impact it can have,鈥 he says.
鈥淲hat we are talking about with our film is a need for cultural representation and films that represent ourselves.
鈥淲hen you do see British films they are very rare.
鈥淚 sense that stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg and Ryan Gosling are moving away from big pyrotechnic films towards films that reflect who they are and that鈥檚 more of a European sensibility.
鈥淚 said to Sir Alan Parker, whether we agree or disagree, this dialogue needs to get out there 鈥 and he agreed with that.鈥
Because of the length of the project, all of the film has been shot using a seven-year-old Panasonic HVX200 Varicam which can use both tapes or memory cards.
Robin adds: 鈥淎ll we are doing with this film is asking questions very simply and very logically.
鈥淥ut of the title words Elitist, Deluded or Dormant, dormant is the key word for me.
鈥淭his film is definitely going to rock the boat and I would say watching it will teach people more than if they鈥檇 gone to do a three-year degree.
鈥淚鈥檝e worked for companies like the BBC but when I was at Thame Valley University I would ask my lecturers: 鈥榃hat qualifies you to teach me?鈥
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 getting good answers so I left after a year, unwilling to get myself into financial debt.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much education today, students are being taught by people who just haven鈥檛 done it themselves.
鈥淚f I knew then what I know now, I would have never picked a camera up. I鈥檇 have gone to work for a company like Aldi.鈥
* Vinod and Robin are launching a Kickstarter campaign this week to try to raise 拢50,000 worth of backing to finish the film.
None of the participants in the film have been asked to help with its funding, but they will each be sent a link to the Kickstarter campaign once it goes online so they can see the trailer for the first time.
Vinod says: 鈥淭he deadline for submissions to Cannes is March 10, so we need to get it finished by then.鈥
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