Last week we told you about a UK thriller coming to this year’s Phoenix FearCon entitled The Holding. I reached out to the film’s director, Susan Jacobson, and threw some questions her way. She was nice enough to look them over and send back some great answers. Check out the interview below!
Christopher Coffel: You're debut feature set to screen at Phoenix FearCon is The Holding. Can you tell us how you came to be involved with the project?
Susan Jacobson: The screenplay came to me through an initiative that I am very involved in called the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum. My producer, Alex Boden and I are always on the lookout for great stories, and when I came across this one, we snapped it up. James Dormer, the writer, is incredibly talented and we worked closely with him to get the script into a shape. We had to be mindful of the budget and the kind of film we wanted to make.
CC: The film boasts quite the impressive cast. What was it like to work with such talents as Vincent Regan and David Bradley?
SJ: I feel incredibly blessed to have had such a stellar cast. Vincent was a joy to work with. He is incredibly diligent and has loads of ideas which we worked on. It was his idea to make the character Scottish. And what he did that was so brilliant was to bring a heart to this character, Aden. Once you have watched the film, you could almost feel sorry for him, or understand why he did what he did. He is, in a way a victim. And that is down to Vincent. He gave dimensions to this character.
David Bradley is fabulous. I felt so lucky having him. He had just come off the back of HARRY POTTER and he was delighted to be out in the fresh air of the countryside, playing such a different character. He was an utter joy. And a great deal of fun!
CC: Making independent films always come with their ups and their downs. What do you find to be some of the benefits of making an independent film?
SJ: The biggest benefit of making an independent film is the level of control you have, from picking your cast and crew through to the creative decisions. As a director, you can truly take ownership of your work.
CC: When an audience is done watching The Holding, what do you hope they come away with?
SJ: The core message in the film is how destructive secrets can be. The three women in the film bring this event upon themselves because they don't really talk to each other.
On a visceral and emotion level, I hope the audience will come away with having been on a roller coaster ride. The film begins quite slowly, and steadily the tension builds and builds until it spirals out of control.
CC: Now that The Holding is out and doing it's thing, what's next in store for you? Any projects currently in the pipeline?
SJ: We have a number projects in the pipeline. My company, Pistachio Pictures and my producer, Alex Boden have just come off CLOUD ATLAS as the UK Producer on the film and we are very excited about that. Also in development, we are working on a western, a couple of thrillers and a black comedy.
Be sure to check out The Holding at this year’s Phoenix FearCon on October 13 at UltraStar Cinemas in Scottsdale, AZ. Tickets can be purchased at PhoenixFearCon.com
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