Something Borrowed, Something New

Drawing on influences as diverse as John Cassavetes, Preston Sturges and the Dogme school, The Honeymooners is a DV feature which demands attention. Paul Farren talks to the film's writer/director Karl Golden.

Paul Farren: How long have you been working on the film with Samson?

Karl Golden: It's exactly two years since I said I wanted to do this film. I set a date and said 'we're going to shoot this thing no matter how much money we have,' that was 2002. Samson were great, they said they would support it whatever way they could. We were never looking for a lot of money, we were always going to do it low-budget. I had two other features in development that had much bigger budgets, but going from shorts into features - it's difficult to persuade people to give you money over a certain amount. I said 'shag this, I'm going to write something I can shoot quickly for a small amount of money.' So that was the pitch.

But it wasn't just a case of write something just because it would be easier to get it made.

No, otherwise you're just making a calling card movie, you're just being cynical about it. It's two years of your life, and if you're not passionate about it you shouldn't be doing it. I think that will always come out anyway. But I have a love of romantic comedies.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 97