ED WILEY

What inspires your work?

A sense of mystery. I love not knowing the whole picture, having something to think about.

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What films did you watch as a child?

Growing up in the 80s, I was spoiled for choice. Back to the Future will always top my list, alongside Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters and all the James Bond movies, as my dad was a big fan.

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What directors have influenced your work?

Steven Soderbergh, esp. with the Oceans films, but also his ability to tackle any genre. In more recent years, I've been loving James Gunn's work; he manages to inject character and heart into the most unexpected of places.

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What is one film that you think everyone should watch? And why?

Back to the Future, cos it's the best. :)

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If you could adapt any book/play/piece of literature, which would it be?

Dead Air by Iain Banks

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Who are your favourite writers? (this could be from any format - script, books, poetry etc.)

Iain M Banks (the sci-fi variant!) - his worlds are vast and almost unfathomable, but full of tightly crafted stories.

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Name a film score that makes you feel something.

The Incredibles - a perfect homage to the 60s Bond movies, nostalgia mixed with modern superhero vibes.

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Who is an actor that you would love to work with?

I feel like this changes on a daily basis - there's just SO many... today I'll pick Sam Rockwell.

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What was the last film you watched? (and would you recommend it?)

We just re-watched Death at a Funeral (the original 2007 UK version), incredible cast, it's hilarious, so 100% recommend :D

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What is next for you?

Time to get writing! Something longer than a short...

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​Tell us about your film Downsized?  What`s it all about?

It's about a guy going to any lengths for the one he loves, and trying to preserve a bit of humanity along the way.

 

Can you tell us about the creative process in making your film? What drew you to this project?

The story changed a lot over time, and the retro-futuristic aesthetic really spoke to me and ended up being a key part of the visuals. Once I introduced the antagonist, Dan, which was weirdly late in the process as I was trying to focus on the two other characters, most of the other elements clicked into place.

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How long does a film like Downsized take to make? 

From first draft to wrapping post it was about 1.5 years, but there were definitely periods of life getting in the way and not much movement on the film, something I aim to avoid next time.

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What challenges did you encounter?

By far the most challenging was losing one of our locations two weeks out from shooting. That made everything 10x more stressful!

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Do you have a favourite moment when filming/creating Downsized?

I vividly recall watching the fight rehearsals and having this surreal feeling of seeing something I'd concocted in my head coming to life in front of me. Absolutely wild. Also, the old computer was all practical and I learnt to program on it to create the screens we needed, super fulfilling in a retro geeky way :)

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How was working with your cast and crew? Do you have any stand out moments?

The cast and crew were incredible throughout, everyone went above and beyond, and there was such a great vibe on set. Stand-out moments; See answer to Q5 :)

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Can you tell us more about the sound/production/costume design of your film? 

The sound design was the domain of Gerardo, who I've worked with on several films now. Despite my poor direction in trying to get the sound of the "machine" out of my head, he pretty much nailed it first try, absolute legend! 

James handled production design and was my first time working with a dedicated designer; he brought so much to the film, building on my initial ideas, scouring ebay and creating the weird mind-sucking headpiece! It was 1000% worth it and paid off massively on screen.

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Where did you get the inspiration when creating Downsized? 

There are definitely elements of a bunch of things I was watching at the time I wrote the first drafts, but then it started to take on a life of its own, the evolution was a fun but scary ride. Trying to balance the world-building in such a short amount of pages was certainly challenging.

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Where there any films that inspired you when creating Downsized?

It was more derived from TV shows tbh, I'll let you guess which ones ;)

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What have you learnt from making Downsized? Would you do anything differently next time?

Production design is cool. Working with old tech is cool, but also nerve-racking (please work on the day!). Also, I dislike being a producer and just want to do the creative bits. :)