An Interview with Oliver Howkins

So I've actually been keeping this quiet for a while it was meant to be posted in the summer due to the APUS (amersham pop up screen for those who aren't paying attention) having some difficulties. What was going to be a evening with this lovely lad got shelved but seeing as Oliver is a old friend I decided to salvage it and bring it for you guys exclusively.

Read on

1. who are you and what do you do?

1. My name is Oliver Howkins and I'm a filmmaker. I'm currently studying for a BA in Film Production at the University of Westminster. I've had some great experiences and have been fortunate enough to work with Pinewood Young Film makers, the BFI, the National Film and Television School and BAFTA and I'm hoping that I continue to learn and develop and make a career in the UK film industry.

2. what made you want to be a film maker?

Good question! It's hard to say really, as far as I've always known it's been my career of choice since day one, I've never seen it any other way. From a young age I used to make my own stop-motion films and nothing else got me as excited as making films do.

3. What's your newest work? 

'This Place', which I produced. It's my first year final short at uni, shot on 16mm film. It's about a broken community where the two leads reside, one seeing his existence in the town as a curse and wanting to end it all, the other innocent and hoping to do what he can to change it. Making the film was a big challenge from the beginning and there are many stories to be told about this films production, I wouldn't know where to start! As the Producer, I'm pleased that you can see the whole teams work on screen, and that does make me proud.

4. Who are your favourite film makers?

This is a tricky one, so many to choose from! I'd have to say I can't specifically choose one, but I really like and admire the work of Werner Herzog, who I just find as a pure fountain of knowledge and his experiences are something I can learn from and use to form my own. My other choice would be Daniel Wolfe, I just thought he did a fantastic job with Catch Me Daddy (2014) and his music videos are fantastic and beautiful to.

5. If you could work with one actor who would it be?

Again this is quite a hard one. I would say Michael Fassbender. He might seem to some quite an obvious choice, but after watching his early work it's possible to see how his career has developed to get to where he is today, with films like Hunger (2008) and Fish Tank (2009). As I see it, any actor that is willing to get themselves looking ugly and gorgeous for the camera in so many ways are the makings of great talent, Michael Fassbender is a perfect example of this.

6. favorite film?

Hard to say as it can change every month and week! An all time favourite that I would most likely always keep in my top 5, 10 or 100 list is Inception (2010). Again it's a slightly mainstream choice of cinema but this experience of the movie is quite personal for me, as it was the movie where it really challenged my idea of story telling and general filmmaking, always pushing your imaginative boundaries while attempting at making the best film you've ever made from scratch whether that can take 1,5 or 10 years don't give up and tell the best story you can.

7. Could your work be improved by the addition of dinosaurs?

Maybe? I never thought about placing one in, but if I ever get someone like Steven Spielberg I don't think I'll have a choice!

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