|
‘Making an independent movie is draining. It takes everything you, and everyone else involved in the project, has got. It is certainly the toughest thing I’ve ever attempted in my life and if you looked logically at the myriad problems involved you would simply decide against doing it. But with a group of like minded people I decided to say ‘fuck it’ and do it anyway and whatever the outcome, we did it our way and nobody can take that away from us.’
‘Sucker Punch’ was born out of the frustration felt by Malcolm Martin and Gordon Alexander when trying to find finance for their first script ‘The Longshot’. Favourably received and good enough to secure them an agent, the script also secured them a number of high profile meetings and free lunches at some very nice restaurants but always with the same end result-‘call us in a fortnight, a month, six weeks…’ and then when they called in a fortnight, a month, six weeks it was another round of ‘call in a fortnight, a month…’ That’s why they’re called independent movies because if you waited for the industry break you have to be very, very patient and both Gordon and Malcolm were tired of playing patience.
‘You reach a stage where you pour all your emotions into something, bend over backwards for people but in the long run you just end up doing the donkey work for someone else and they take what you’ve done and change it totally from the vision you first had. We were simply tired of doing that.’
Gordon had just finished work on Richard Jobson’s kung-fu take on ‘The Warriors’, ‘The Purifiers’ alongside Kevin McKidd and had received favourable, often glowing reviews but still felt that his acting and choreographing talents had yet to be fully utilised or appreciated. Malcolm had similar feelings working as Producer and co-writer for the cult movie ‘Hell to Pay’ starring celebrity gangster Dave Courtney. Friends since they had both worked on a short, years earlier, they decided enough was enough and that the only way to get the film made, and made the way they wanted it, was to do it themselves.
‘I was tired of being fed ‘bullshit’ all the time. All I wanted was a simple yes or no but every meeting ended on this vague but optimistic ‘this project sounds great’ note that left me as much in the dark as when I went into the meeting and finally I realised that for these people this nice dinner was their work, they were already where they wanted to be but for me it was simply another day wasted, preventing me from getting to where I wanted to be.’
The first problem the two faced was that ‘The Longshot’ script was too complex, with too many characters and gun related action to be realistically developed as a low budget first feature, so it was agreed that Malcolm would write a more (no-budget) user-friendly script. Having been born in 1960, the films that influenced him most came from the mid to late 1970’s (a decade he will argue is the greatest in cinema history with anyone with the fortitude to go the full 10 rounds with him), especially the nihilistic, sparse action films of that era. In particular the Charles Bronson movie ‘Hard Times’ stood out as a superb directorial debut from Walter Hill, a depression era bare knuckle action drama that was mean, lean and melancholic. He showed it to Gordon, who by one of the many happy coincidences that drove the project, was already a big fan of the film, especially the economy of the dialogue and action and that became the template for Buchinsky, Gordon’s character and the retro-styling of the action in what was to become ‘Sucker Punch’.
‘We both knew that what we had was something special and that there was an audience for the type of film we wanted to provide them with. In terms of cinematic sensibility we were really reading from the same page and that’s why we work so well together.’
Taking the first step was the biggest problem as logistically, when you have no industry ‘backing’, the sheer scale of the undertaking is of Everest proportions. Thankfully, both men had a wide range of contacts in the film and ancillary industries and the first person Malcolm called upon was Joseph Long. As with Gordon, he had known Joe, as a friend and business acquaintance for a number of years and what he knew Joe brought to the table was a huge list of contacts and a no-nonsense, pragmatic approach that would be needed to ground the whole enterprise in reality-if Joe said he was going to do something, you knew it was going to get done. Joe loved the script and felt the time was right for what he saw as a huge new challenge, helping people that were of a similar mind-set and who had been, like himself, generous in their aid to others without seeing that help reciprocated when the people they helped got what they wanted.
‘Within the Fight world there are very few people you can trust or work with, or once you have worked with them you never do it again! Malcolm Martin is not one of those people. The main man and magnet behind ‘Sucker Punch’ brought Gordon, Jacko and I together to discuss the possibilities on how all of our contacts could benefit such a project. It was apparent that we all had respect within our given avenues and the tools to pull the film off, it was also crystal clear that all four of us had put in hard work to benefit others in the past and not been recognised or credited for doing so, that’s business sometimes.
Gordon had just finished work on Richard Jobson’s kung-fu take on ‘The Warriors’, ‘The Purifiers’ alongside Kevin McKidd and had received favourable, often glowing reviews but still felt that his acting and choreographing talents had yet to be fully utilised or appreciated. Malcolm had similar feelings working as Producer and co-writer for the cult movie ‘Hell to Pay’ starring celebrity gangster Dave Courtney. Friends since they had both worked on a short, years earlier, they decided enough was enough and that the only way to get the film made, and made the way they wanted it, was to do it themselves.
The fourth man, mentioned by Joe, was fight promoter and entrepreneur Jacko Ali, primarily a thriving business man, he was also developing a solid reputation and strong technical links in the film, television and music industries with his JKO Production company. Through this production company and never say die attitude, Jacko had achieved the first major television breakthrough for martial arts in this country. He also had a long history with Malcolm and brought to the table JKO’s state of the art sound studio, editing suite, equipment, technicians and a level of finance that meant principal photography could start properly, once the rest of the cast and crew were in place. Key to the whole process was the co-lead to play alongside Gordon, the character of Harley, who provided the emotional heart to the action and a comedic foil to Buchinsky’s enigmatic hard man.
As would prove the case with much of the film, it really was a ‘Field of Dreams’ style scenario of ‘if you build it they will come’ mixture of good fortune, faith in the project, lateral networking and sheer persistence. Months earlier, Malcolm had interviewed Danny John Jules, through a mutual friend (Ewen Briscoe) Danny trained with. During the course of the conversation it struck Malcolm that Danny was Harley and he wrote the script with Danny firmly in mind. The next step was to convince the man to play the role that was specifically written for him.
What followed was typical of the way the principals behind the film gelled, as Malcolm invited Danny to see ‘The Shaolin Monks’ special preview show, courtesy of the fact that Joe was arranging the publicity for the tour! This type of ambient networking and cross-pollination was par for the course on this project and similar happy coincidences, or knowing friends of friends, as the ball started firmly rolling, saw Antonio Fargas, Tamer Hassan and Tom Hardy join the cast for telling cameo performances. After the Shaolin show and much dancing round the houses small talk, Malcolm presented Danny with the script and he agreed to read it.
The boys got their man in a little café near his home, when Danny said he loved the script and would take the role, despite the fact that Malcolm had drunk three cups of strong coffee (after being caffeine free for many years) talked utter bollocks and wanted to scrap with both Joe and Gordon when they told him to leave the negotiation with them! One of the big thrills for all three was seeing Danny dressed as Harley for the first time (all Danny’s choice of wardrobe)-he literally transformed into the character, wearing the trademark Harley coat like Superman wears his cape and from his very first scenes they all knew they were witnessing the birth of a truly great character.
When people talk of consummate professionals, the term must have been invented for Danny; not only did he put his faith in a first time director, he proved a constant source of inspiration for the rest of the cast and crew, endlessly cheerful, immensely approachable and a fantastic living breathing publicity and marketing tool (it seems everybody in London knows the geezer!). He was also a natural raconteur (he is the Storyteller, remember) and for Malcolm, some of his best memories are of driving Danny home after a long day’s shoot and listening to him tell anecdotes about his diverse and enduring career. Much of what Danny said during these drives home would end up as new ‘Harleyisms’ in the revised script. Danny didn’t just go the extra mile for this project, he ran a marathon and his performance anchors the human element of the film.
‘The Director Malcolm Martin was in touch with Ewan and asked him to get an interview with me for ‘Combat Magazine’ which I duly did. His energy nearly killed me! Not long after I was in a meeting in a cafe in Kensal Rise with Malcolm, Joe Long the producer and Gordon Alexander, who at the time didn’t realise (nor did I as a matter of fact) that we used to go to the same drama group in Notting Hill called Omnibus, run by a black actor called Loftus Burton. I liked the fact that it was all being done on a street level and I was going to be a far cry form the big trailers and big egos of Hollywood movies. And boy have I been crying sometimes carrying my costume to the locations on the underground but as soon as I get there and I see the enthusiasm on the faces of every one involved all is forgiven. It’s great to be able to pass on advice to my fellow actors and receive it without toys cascading out of the show biz pram.’
The lead villain, Maitland, came out of Ian Freeman’s belief in his ability and persistence in telling Malcolm that he should play Maitland rather than the hitter from up North, Coburn, he was originally approached to be. Again, Malcolm and Ian went back many years, friends ever since Malcolm first interviewed him, remaining that way as Ian went on to become Britain’s most famous MMA fighter in history. At a Cage Rage event Malcolm told him about the project and asked him to play Coburn, a Northern fighter and Ian was more than happy to look at the script.
Phoning Malcolm to say he had read the script, loved it and learned his lines (‘all foocking six of them!’) Ian, never one to mince his words, said he would be far more motivated to play the lead villain than a henchman. Initial scenes proved him right and Ian impressed as a natural in front of the camera, bringing a real sense of menace to Maitland without ever having to resort to clichéd villainous eye-rolling or insane laughing, it’s not that sort of film and thankfully Ian wasn’t that sort of actor. Once in, Ian threw himself whole-heartedly into the project. Like everyone else on board, he liked the fact that ‘Sucker Punch’ was going back to old fashioned action and story telling.
‘Malcolm has written ‘Sucker Punch’, a true to life story featuring great actors and realistic action. For the first time in the UK, we see a movie that is not only full of street fights, funny scenes, but also has a realistic story to it. ‘Sucker Punch’ is a realistic bare knuckle fight movie with real fighters such as myself. None of this high kicking, back flipping Bruce Lee acting, just pure action and real to life bare knuckle combat.’
The remaining roles were to be filled out in typical ‘Sucker Punch’ fashion, a happy collaboration process whereby long-term contacts could finally be utilised, with either Malcolm, Joe or Gordon saying ‘I know just the person…’ and away they went once more, bringing in Kara Scott, Lisa Nash, Janet House and Leon Walters in front of the camera and Steve Chaplin, sound, behind the camera. Three of the best coups came from Malcolm’s work on ‘Hell to Pay’, whereby they not only ‘got’ the perfect Harriman in John Pyle but two of the most key figures in the whole movie, Jimmy Kent as ‘Weed’ and DOP Roberto Gomez.
‘Rob was the director of ‘Hell to Pay’ and I desperately wanted him to do the film but didn’t feel I could ask him to take what seemed a downward step and DOP for me. Eventually I phoned him and Rob said yes and it boosted my confidence having him work camera and lights for me, as he worked miracles on ‘Hell to Pay’. It felt great getting the old team together and from the moment he was on board Rob and I both knew there was only one person to play Weed and that was Jimmy.’
Making an independent movie is fraught with too many problems to go into here but one element was a constant source of frustration and that was scheduling. When the whole cast and crew are working for you simply because they believe in the project, then ‘paid’ work always has to be their priority, thus getting everyone in front of and behind the camera together at the same time was a scheduling nightmare. The film has succeeded, however, because of that old cliché teamwork, everyone rallied round but Kara Scott went above and beyond the call of duty and took control of scheduling, call sheets, anything logistical, whilst also holding down a job and acting in the movie, her commitment summing up the special never say die spirit on this project. It was a spirit embraced by the whole cast and crew, to the point that ‘Sucker Punch’ is a genuine collaboration on every level.
‘At some point everyone involved has come up with a solution to a problem, a great idea or a fantastic angle and the sense of family has been the greatest joy on making this film. We’re a team and everyone has given 100% to make sure we’re a winning team!’
Once the proverbial ball started rolling ‘Sucker Punch took on a life of its own and no challenge proved insurmountable (and there were many on all levels) to the team and it was only once principal photography got underway that Joe Long’s immense impact on the project became clear to everyone-finding locations, actors, music tracks, props, marketing and promotional partners, extras, the bigger the challenge the more he rose to the occasion. This, allied to the technical elements that Jacko Ali gave the team 24 hour access too, meant that the result is a movie that looks far bigger budgeted than it is, across more incredibly cinematic locations than any independent film could possibly hope for and it seems fitting that the man now dubbed ‘The Mighty Joe Long’ should have the final word.
‘The rest is history really, to the point we have done what we have had to do to achieve the goal. It’s not all been smooth sailing but it’s been worth every second and the result is a movie with big look.’ |
PRODUCTION