NYCC 2010: Gareth Edwards on His DIY Movie Monsters

Matt Patches: Over the past few years, especially recently, commercial directors and short film directors have been picked up by studios because their impressive use of special effects and their DIY ability to get things done on the cheap. Not to say they don't look impressive, but do you believe these technical whizzes are quialified to be put in charge of making films? That is to say, do you feel the DIY approach is an indication of true filmmaking talent and is it the right way to breed new talent in Hollywood?

Gareth Edwards: I think I know what you’re referring to, and there are a few of examples of things that have been picked up where you think, “Really? Really? Really? Is it that easy, to get a big movie? I didn’t know it was that easy. Okay.” There are people that are technically brilliant all over Hollywood. There are visual effects companies that can do brilliant visual effects. There are cinematographers that can do brilliant cinematography. What seems to be more of a scarce resource is storytelling, like great storytelling. And I think most of the times they do grab that when they see it, but we’re also seeing this slight misunderstanding of certain filmmakers, like your Neill Blomkamps and such, who have come from visual effects and made great work and the studio just wants another one. “Where’s the next Neill Blomkamp?” So they’re looking at effects people, and if you look at his work, his early work, it’s brilliant for reasons way beyond just the effects. And they know that, the people who really know what they’re doing, they know that.

I think the people that you’re worried about...don’t worry about them. They’re just looking for a fast buck. There are a lot of smart people in Hollywood. I don’t know, we’ve all seen it. Like, I look on YouTube, I look on the internet at short films and its frustrating because there’s some where you go...What was great the other day, because I now have a couple of connections, you know, it’s like, what was great was I saw someone on the internet and I fired it off and I thought, “This is f*cking great”. And I sent it to someone, and they sent it to someone else, and now they’re seriously – that person could be in a really good position. It doesn’t mean they will, but it felt great.

Matt Patches: [laughs] Wielding power!

Gareth Edwards: No, no, no, but it felt like they deserved it. Because it was good, what they had done was good. And that's all that happens, honestly. Hollywood, I believe does watch this stuff all the time and it goes like a wildfire around. And it's kind of like, "Should we get this person? Should we hire them? Should we grab them? Should we grab them now? Should we find them? What should we do?" And everyone sends it to everyone, oh my god, and there's a buzz about something, and it gets very excitable, and then it can just die out. Where they go, "Ehh, no let's just leave that." And I think there's never been a better time to make a five-minute short that shows a lot of ability, especially if it shows a lot of ability within genre, because that'sa sexy subject right now. If you do a great little drama everyone will go “great, great,” but then you try and extrapolate that into a feature film –

Matt Patches: You’re not seeing dollar signs?

Gareth Edwards: Yeah, but if you do a film about zombies, or whatever it is, if its really well done, everyone gets excited because they think, this guy – that’s the thing, it’s more exciting, someone whose never made a film is more exciting to Hollywood, than someone who has, because you’re an unknown quantity and you could be the next James Cameron, or whoever, and you haven’t proven that you aren’t yet. And so its great times, and no one’s got the time to watch an hour and a half movie so a five minute clip is fantastic.

And it is happening – there’s so many examples of people who look like they’re lining up their first feature based on their five minute short, and the short hasn’t been in festivals, it just got put on the Internet. It’s exciting, if you’re a filmmaker, it’s never been this easy to get noticed. So go for it, don’t waste time, because a year from now it might not be so true. I don’t know.

Jump to:

Why shooting your own feature film is it's own version of film school

How Edwards balanced writing, directing, shooting and producing Monsters

Hints at Gareth Edwards' "epic" next movie (and why Independence Day kind of blows)