Interview with Actor, Writer & Producer Oliver Park

Oliver Park began his career as an actor on stage at Bath’s Theatre Royal before going on to achieve leading roles in numerous independent feature films, TV and Studio Film roles in ‘Da Vinci’s Demons’ and ‘King Arthur – Legend of the Sword‘. Oliver went on to take the lead in and co-produce a number of other films including Simon Pearce’s ‘Watch Over Me’ – ‘Best Action Short’ (New York 2014) and ‘Best Drama’ (Houston Film Festival 2015), Jack Searle’s ‘Fratton’ and Neil Oseman’s ‘Stop/Eject’ (shortlisted for BAFTA 2015).

Oliver is also the writer, director and producer of the multi-award winning short horror film ‘Vicious’ – ‘Best Film’ (Toronto After Dark 2016) and ‘Platinum Award’ (LA Horror Competition 2016). After the success of ‘Vicious’, he wrote, directed and produced another short called ‘Still’ which is being released by Eli Roth’s ‘Crypt TV’ 2017/2018 and is now developing a number of features with several production companies around the world.

“Packs a wicked punch!” – @turnaboutmedia
See horror #shortfilm @viciousfilm: https://t.co/BCgXL9zewF #horror #SupportIndieFilm #UK pic.twitter.com/23QJgs30aO

— Film Sprites PR (@FilmSpritesPR) January 14, 2017

indieactivity: Why did you get into filmmaking and screenwriting?
Oliver Park: It’s the one thing that encapsulates all that I love – collaborating with great people, being creative, travel, writing, visual creativity and as a film fan, it allows me to create the ideal film that I’d want to watch.

indieactivity: How does an indie filmmaker distribute his/her film?
Oliver Park: The web is fantastic for distribution and getting an audience. There are various platforms for short and indie films and with rapidly increasing amounts of eclectic indie content online, it’s fast becoming the only place people go to watch film. I’ve not had the pleasure of distributing a feature film yet so I cannot comment on that.

indieactivity: When in the filmmaking process, should a filmmaker start planning for distribution?
Oliver Park: At the very start. If you’re not thinking about your audience from page one of your script you run the risk of making a film, only to find there is no audience for it or the audience is too hard to reach. Why tell a story if no-one is there to listen? The earlier you start thinking about your audience, who they are and how you’ll reach them, the easier it will be to reach them when your film is complete.

indieactivity: How do I get my film in theatres with an indie budget?
Oliver Park: As I’ve not made any feature films yet I cannot comment, however I have had my shorts screen in various cinemas in film festivals and in compilation screenings of several short films.

indieactivity: How can filmmakers finance their projects?
Oliver Park: I financed my own films by saving hard for many years but there are other ways to raise finance – crowdfunding, investors and even production companies that offer small grants. They are hard to find (and rightly so or they would be bombarded with people asking for money) but well worth it.

I always liked the idea of getting a group of actors together who all want/need showreel material. Each actor puts in a small amount of their own money – along with the director and the lead crew, then use all the money to make a feature film which you all write together to be a good showcase for you all.

indieactivity: What films have you written?
Oliver Park: I’ve written a huge amount of scripts as I have been writing for many years. Most feature films but some shorts and also TV shows.

indieactivity: What are the films that you have made?
Oliver Park: The two that have been made so far are ‘Vicious’ (a twelve minute short horror released in 2016 that can be found on YouTube) and ‘Still’ (another short horror) which will be released online in the next few months.

indieactivity: Talk to us about your concept on collaboration?
Oliver Park: Collaboration is everything – it enables the vision of the writer to be stretched even further and made into something far greater than the original concept. Everyone has a voice and everyone should listen to new ideas.

indieactivity: How do you find the process of filmmaking as an indie filmmaker?
Oliver Park: It’s harder to achieve your vision with less time and funds but more fun in working out how to get through tricky situations with your team and eventually, getting your perfect vision without the weight of having a ‘boss’.

indieactivity: Describe your recent work
Oliver Park: The last film I did was ‘Still’. The idea came to me in a dream (or should I say nightmare?!) and I wrote the script upon waking. That script was developed over time and adapted to fit the locations we had to use. I am a perfectionist when it comes to prep so I storyboarded the whole film. I managed to get a great team who I began working with on set design, costume and lighting as early as I could. I worked tirelessly until the shoot day to ensure we had everything we would need to make the best film possible.

Post production was the longest stretch as when there are limited funds, one has to work around those who are helping (understandably). I am lucky that I have a group of incredible people who helped finish this film with me. Marketing is still ongoing as I am prepping the release at the moment. I have done so much research – down to what time of day is best to release it onto YouTube! The devil is in the details.

indieactivity: What are your future goals?
Oliver Park: I will always continue to write as I have fresh ideas almost every day but I want to build a great team and make these ideas into films people will love in years to come – whatever is needed to make the best film possible.

indieactivity: Tell us about what you think indie filmmakers need in today’s world of filmmaking?
Oliver Park: Nothing – everything is there more so now than ever before. Get a great team of passionate people and just keep going. It takes the rest of your life to fail.

indieactivity: Briefly write about your career?
Oliver Park: There aren’t many people that I have worked with that I wouldn’t work with again – they were all incredible people and so talented. For a list of ‘talents’ just look at the credits list on ‘Vicious’ and ‘Still’ (when it comes out). I am a very passionate person but passion will only get you so far as there isn’t time enough to learn how to do everything that is needed to make a great film – that’s where everyone else comes in!

I have worked on various types of film as an actor and have dealt with many hard times, rejections and times with no money at all. None of my family or friends growing up were in this business so I learnt everything the hard way – by making mistakes. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. Winning ‘Best Film’ at Toronto After Dark was something I never thought I would accomplish an I am so grateful to the people around me as it’s down to them that I had the ability to make it.

I would say I am very much at the beginning of my career but I hope to keep going and fingers crossed I’ll be able to give more advice in the future!