Article : TF5 - 'Where Do We Go From Here?' - Daily Record Article
You can read a little more about the pre-production for TF5 - Where Do We Go From Here? in this Daily Record article about director John McPhail. All the way back in 2014.
JOHN, 28, is planning his first feature film, Where Do We Go From Here?, and is set to launch a crowdfunding appeal to help get the film off the ground.
NOT many film-making careers begin with a copy of the Daily Record and a phone call to Frank McAvennie.
But if up-and-coming Scots director John McPhail ever wins an Oscar, Macca could be one of the first names on his thank you list.
John, 28, is now racking up awards for his short films.
But back in his teens, he was scrambling for an idea for a documentary that would get him into film school – and that’s where we, and Macca, came in.
John recalled: “I needed to make a documentary short to get into my course and I had no idea what I was going to do.
“Then one day I was reading the paper with my mate, and there was some story about Frank in it, and he joked that I should make a film about him.
“I thought, ‘Aye, I’m gonna just phone up the Daily Record and get Frank McAvennie’s number.’
“But then I thought about it, and decided to go for it.
“The Record put me in touch with his manager, and he was well up for it. He got me into Celtic Park to film him and couldn’t do enough for me.
“And it was that documentary that got me into the course.”
John came out of RSAMD in Glasgow, now known as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, with a degree in digital film production.
He said: “I got a lot of work, doing videos for the SFA and adverts and things like that, but I always wanted to make movies.
“Then I was working all day on shoots, and my flatmate was working at night, so we went about three months without ever speaking to each other.
“We communicated by leaving little notes for each other and that struck me as a great idea for a romantic comedy. That’s how I came up with the idea for my first short film, Notes.”
John made Notes for £80, using friends as cast and crew. And it won Best Film at the Edinburgh Bootleg Film Festival, as well as the audience award at the Palme Dewar festival in Aberfeldy.
Follow-up V for Visa, a dark comedy about a US singer who marries the band’s stalker to get residency in Scotland, won John the Best Director prize at the New York Bootleg Film Festival.
It won two major prizes at the Virgin Media Shorts competition last year.
John is now planning his first feature film, Where Do We Go From Here?, about a young man and his adventures with a group of pensioners.
He and his company Worrying Drake are launching a crowdfunding appeal to help get the film off the ground. Check it out at www.indiegogo.com.
Macca is delighted to see John doing so well. He said: “He was a lovely kid, really nice to work with. I’m always happy to help someone get a start in life.
“If he ever gets to the Oscars, I want an invite!”
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