Interview with Tom Paton

Ahead of the Horror Channel premiere of his sci-fi action thriller G-LOC, director Tom Paton reflects on why making movies is like solving a puzzle, his passion for survival stories and being compared to Roger Corman.

Horror Channel will be broadcasting the UK TV premiere of your Sci-fi adventure G-LOC. Excited or what?

It’s honesty so strange to me every time Horror Channel debuts one of my movies. The channel has been such a big part of my life growing up and informing my taste in films, that it’s always a “pinch myself moment” when I see something that I’ve made appear on their TV listing. G-LOC is much more of a SCI-FI adventure than any of my previous movies, so it’s great that Horror Channel is supporting it and bringing it to UK audiences.

How difficult was it getting the film off the ground? It was shot in Yorkshire, right?

Films are always hard to get off the ground to be fair, I’ve just been incredibly lucky that there are people out there who have believed in me and the stories I want to tell and so that’s made my journey through filmmaking slightly less painful. We shot the film in York in a town called Bubwith and I was there for around two months by the time we wrapped and really felt like Yorkshire had captured a bit of my heart. I’ve spent a lot of time there since.

One of the interesting layers in the film’s narrative is the issue of ‘space immigration’ – the fact that Bran, the main character (played by Stephen Moyer), is banned from settling on another planet because he’s a refugee from Earth. How did that idea form?

One of the things I’ve always loved about science fiction is the power to tell a very relatable story in a completely fictionalised setting. I’ve never been a fan of lecturing an audience or being lectured to myself when watching a film, and so I feel like my job as a writer is to create something that you can enjoy on its own or take away something from it that could change your perspective if you so wish. The idea of a planet being entirely built on immigration that suddenly decides it doesn’t want any more immigrants arriving really came out of the situation in America and the plight of South American immigrants trying to cross the border. The concept was to switch that to a character who you wouldn’t traditionally see trying to go through that type of journey so that the movie would act as “how would you like it?” cautionary tale.

It’s got a great cast. Are you personally involved in the casting process?

I was very involved in this one yeah. I’d been a big fan of Stephen since True Blood and he’s such a great actor that he really brought so much to the film that would not have been there had he turned it down. Casper Van Dien was always on my bucket list of actors to work with because I’m such a huge Starship Troopers fan. Landing him felt like a big deal for me and we’ve literally just finished another film together called Assailant (it’s a return to my Horror roots so hopefully we’ll be doing another one of these interviews for that one down the road.) Tala, John, Emily, Shayne and Mike were all an absolute pleasure to work with too, so I had a real blast on set with this one.

You’re famously a self-taught filmmaker. Is that why you can easily move from directing and writing to producing and company-building? Some might call you a film entrepreneur.

Well, I appreciate the compliment. I think being self-taught certainly had its advantages in terms of teaching me the business side of filmmaking. Truthfully, it’s about lateral thinking – making movies is a puzzle that you’re having to figure out and the more aspects of the process you can master the easier it becomes in terms of finding your path to bringing it to life. It’s very similar to a game of chess and if you move the wrong piece early in the game then it will come back to bite you in the ass later.

All your films flirt with the horror and sci-fi genres. Is that a space you feel particularly comfortable in?

I’ve always been in love with films as a form of escapism, so I think that’s what attracts me to genre movies in general. But I think my real love is in survival tales - my two upcoming movies are both still in that survival genre but move away from sci-fi concepts entirely. I think my thing is to apply what makes a person tick in survival situation to different genres and see what happens. I have a comedy and a post-apocalyptic project in the pipeline, that whilst entirely different tonally, still explore what it means to survive in a tense situation that is beyond your control.

What advice would you give aspiring filmmakers just starting out?

With the technology available today, I honestly believe that if you think you’ve got something thematic to explore then there is nothing stopping you from getting two actors together and shooting something. The best way to become a filmmaker for a living is to just go and make something and prove to people that you’ve got the chops to hold a story together. We made my first film ‘Pandorica’ for hardly anything and if we did it today it would’ve cost even less with the available tech. Not only did just having the resolve to go and do that signal to the wider industry that I was capable and someone worth working with, but to this day it’s still the most fun I’ve had on set and will always be one of my favourite things I’ve ever done. So go do it, you’ve got nothing to lose.

You’ve been called Britain’s answer to low budget movie legend Roger Corman. A fair comparison?

I love hearing that. It was first said to me by a journalist that doesn’t like my work and was clearly trying to insult me, but it was music to my ears and has kind of stuck. I love the idea that Roger Corman carved his own space within the industry and maintained that output for over fifty years. It was reading his autobiography that made me get off my ass and go and make my first film. So, to be in a position where I can even now get that comparison is a huge compliment to me and I can only hope that one day someone will read a book about my journey and set off on their own adventure.

You’ve already shot your next movie 400 BULLETS, an edge-of-your-seat military action thriller. What are the release plans for that?

‘400 Bullets’ is very much for you if you like ‘Assault On Precinct 13’ and drops in the UK in September after a successful US run earlier this year. I’m really proud of the movie and if you love action then hopefully, you’ll have a blast with this. I’ve also just wrapped on a movie called ‘Assailant’ with Casper Van Dien, Chad Michael Collins, Poppy Delevingne and Jeff Fahey that is a return to horror thrillers for me and should drop in 2022.

G-LOC airs on Horror Channel Friday Sept 17, 9pm.

 

Interview with Tom Paton - Director of Redwood

Ahead of Horror Channel’s UK TV premiere of REDWOOD, director Tom Paton reveals the secrets of his prolific work-rate, talks about tackling the subject of fake news and the twists and turns of his new film Stairs.


REDWOOD gets its UK TV premiere on Fri 8 Feb, courtesy of Horror Channel. Excited or what?

Honestly, I’m so proud that Redwood has made its way onto Horror Channel. I’ve been a huge fan since the channel launched and over the past decade I’ve discovered so many horror gems on there from classic through to films I’d never heard of but now love. It feels incredible to know that someone might discover Redwood in the exact same way.


Is it true you wrote the script in two days?

It is, although I wouldn’t recommend that as it caused me some serious stress. The production company had a very limited window of time to use the funds and location that the film was made on, so if we were going to do it then we had to move quickly. It was a real challenge to craft something at that speed that I was going to be proud of so I focused in on something that felt very real and tangible, but was happening within this world of vampires.


The film is one of the lowest-budgeted to grace opening night at FrightFest. How did you pull that off?

I have absolutely no idea how that happened! I was so blown away to find out that the movie was going to be playing at FrightFest that I had to pinch myself. I fully expected for us to be one of the more low key films, tucked away in a corner somewhere. When the programme was announced and we were one of the opening night films I had to pick myself up off of the floor. FrightFest has been the most incredible platform for my career and the spotlight it placed on Redwood. It’s a debt I can never repay. Black Site (my third feature film) played at the festival the following year and I’m hoping that it’s a relationship that will continue for many years to come.

Although the vampires are ever-present, the film is very character-driven. Was telling the very touching human story your main priority?

I’m as much a fan of a good jump scare as any modern movie watcher, but I do think it’s a very overused technique these days. I felt that because the film was being made in this high-speed, low budget fashion, that it allowed me to make something a bit more restrained and character focused. Humanity is this strange, beautiful, scary thing and I really wanted the real horror to stem from something that we’ve all had an encounter with in the real world - cancer. The vampires are forever lurking just around the corner just like the illness and as a viewer you aren’t sure when or how they will strike, or if they will at all. But it’s that constant fear of them that I think plays as a strong external metaphor to what Josh and Beth are going through personally. It’s more of a tragedy than a straight horror film I think.


You shot the film in Poland. Why?

We made the film with a Polish based production company, and it was really them that were the driving force behind the location choice. But I have to say, I would shoot in Poland again in a heartbeat. They have these huge, forest covered mountain ranges that really stood in as a good substitute for the USA and the crew over there were such a pleasure to work with. The cost effectiveness of shooting in Poland really helped us maximise the budget too, which is why I think the movie looks like it really escapes the trappings normally associated with a lower budget.


Mike Beckingham, who stars in REDWOOD, also has a main role in your film BLACK SITE. What makes your working relationship so special?

I didn’t know Mike before we shot Redwood but I could tell from our first meeting that me and him were going to get along well. He’s a really charismatic presence to have around and filmmaking can be such a tough experience sometimes that having him on set becomes this really positive force creatively. We became really good friends during production and I started to feel that I could write something that would really play to Mike’s strengths as an actor and so I wrote the part of Sam Levy in Black Site specifically for him. Hopefully we’ll finish our little trilogy together very soon with something new.

What is it about the genre that most appeals to you?

Horror just gels so well with different types of storytelling. It’s one of these rare things in the medium that plays well with others, so you can partner it with comedy, tragedy, action etc and allow yourself this ability to remix things you love into something new. No other genre really affords that same creative freedom. Redwood is a prime example; although the container is horror, under the hood it has comedy, cancer and character driven drama…no other genre would be able to support those tone shifts except horror.


You’re renowned for your prolific work-rate. You currently average a film a year and the quality is impressively consistent. What’s the secret?

Caffeine! But seriously, I’m just very good at approaching my career with a sense of momentum. I think as filmmakers we work so hard to build hype around ourselves and our projects that I see it as a waste to let that dissipate once the project is complete. So I’m just very focused on keeping the party going. This year I’m actually doing two movies instead, as well as having an animated adaption of Black Site in the works. I love what I do and only intend on speeding up really.


Your next feature, STAIRS, is currently in post-production. Can you tell us a bit about the supernatural thriller? What are your current plans for the film?

Stairs is a totally different beast to anything I’ve made before. It’s an ensemble film this time and really ramps up the action and horror elements from my previous movies. It’s also a bit of a head scratcher. I’ve always focused on very linear storytelling and creating character focused stuff, but with Stairs I’ve changed that up and made something with a lot of twists and turns that features a huge dose of time-travel. I’m very excited for people to see it. The premise is that a team of special ops go into a war zone they aren’t supposed to be in. They carry out their morally dubious orders and then find themselves trapped in an Escher-esque nightmare as the universe forces them to own up their sins. I won’t give anything else away though!


You’re shooting a big budget space film shooting in 2019. What more can you tell us?

The movie is called G-LOC and is indeed set in space. There’s a lot of world building going on and i think we’ve created a really fun action adventure movie that sci-fi fans are going to love. Keep your eyes peeled for news on this one.


We also hear you have got another horror film planned for July 2019. True?

That is true. I’m tackling the subject of Fake News in a horror movie called The Manuscript. The story straddles two timelines and deals with a mysterious book that has evaded translation for sixty years and is steeped in mythology and murder…but is everything as it seems? You’ll find out after I shoot it!


Finally, Tom, when are you taking a break?

I might have a holiday this year, we’ll see if there is a little gap in there somewhere.


REDWOOD has its Channel premiere on Horror Channel, Fri Feb 8, 9pm.

You can also watch on demand at iTunes using the following link - Redwood - Tom Paton