The Smalls Profile Series brings you interviews with members of our talented community. Today we’d like you to meet JON RICHE and BROKEN BISCUITS!
1. Who is Jon Riche? What does Broken Biscuits mean/represent?
I’m a commercials and television writer/director. I wear big glasses.
2. At what point in your life did you know you wanted to work with comedy? When I first start directing I just wanted to make films that made my mates laugh. They were my audience and still are. I get a real kick when they laugh at something I’ve made (They often don’t and say things like “It was a bit long” or “I look forward to seeing it when it’s finished”).
3. What are some things you wish someone had told you before you started with comedy? Film?
Enjoy it. I think when I started directing I was a bit of a control freak but I had to learn that simply isn’t the way to get the best out of your cast and crew. Shoots can be very stressful and as a director you are under a lot of pressure. You don’t want to compromise on anything. This can make you act like a complete wanker!
Eventually I learned that if you cast and work with the right people the best way to get the most out of them is to be supportive of their work and contribution and allow them to bring their own ideas to the table. The thing is they are under pressure too and barking orders wont do much to encourage them to help you. I guess it's obvious really but by respecting and encouraging your cast and crew you get a much better end result and you have a lot more fun too.
4. What is your experience with short film/comedy project funding? Any tips for other people out there?
It’s not easy to get funding for shorts as there isn’t really a commercial market for them. Although it is possible to get funding it is not something I have actively pursued. I write with an actor and comedian called Spencer Jones and we tended to just pay out of our own pockets (which effectively meant we didn’t pay anyone or for anything unless we absolutely had to). We’d shoot on tape on my crappy little DV and then later HD Camera and try to only write in props and locations we new we could get for free. We’d shoot in friend’s back gardens and on rooftops of pubs and offices we worked at.
Sometimes if we had to get a permit or insurance for a specific location we’d just fake all the necessary forms and hope for the best. Once I had to pretend to be disabled to film down the South Bank (I’m not proud of this).
I think the worst thing we did was pay a kid £15 to jump off a roof top onto another roof top. Luckily for us he made it and we got the shot. It was a stupid thing to do though and we should have found a creative solution to get the shot without the risk. I got my comeuppance though as the next day I fell off a wall trying to get a high shot and broke my leg. Fortunately we had a wheelchair to use for tracking so we carried on filming with me being pushed around in that. The film ended up with a lot of tracking and low angle shots after that.
I guess our approach was it's better to tell a good story with good performances and framing than blow your credit card shooting on film. I’ve been to so many short film screenings where a first time director has spent a lot of their own money shooting on film and made something very mediocre. If only they had shot lots of films on tape first to practice their craft beforehand! We were learning our craft (And still are) so we shot on tape. Shoot on film when someone else is paying for it.
5. What work, and what films, are you most proud of in your career so far? Why?
I guess there are two films that mean a lot to me. The first is called “He was a quiet man and a good neighbor”. Its far from the best thing I’ve directed but it was an interesting moment in my life. I used to work in a directing partnership, which was fun for a while but we ended up going in different directions and it all ended rather messily with me getting the sack from the company I worked for. I was upset and gutted and wanted to smash his face in. However I knew it was wrong to use violence so rang up my mate Spencer and asked him if he could cry on demand for a film idea I had. He was also at a real low point in his life and said “no problem”. Anyhow to cut a long story short we ended up making a film about killing my old director partner in all sorts of horrible ways and then I took it round to his office and made him watch it. I felt a lot better after that.
The second film is a 1min film about babies. As a result of this someone at the BBC got interested in us and asked us to develop some TV content for them. This has been a very rewarding experience and one in which we have both learnt a great deal.
6. What is it that motivates you to work with comedy?
I saw a comedy gig last week where a comedian was explaining what made him do stand-up. He said “In the end after all the bullshit the reason I do this is for the fix. It’s a drug and there is nothing else that comes close”. I get my fix just being around actors and comedians and working with them. He’s right it is like a drug. You want more and more.
7. Which well-known comedy feature film do you wish you had made and why?
I cant say just one but here’s three.
Trading Places – I watched this film over and over as a kid and it still makes me laugh. Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd give amazing performances in this film.
Team America – Its got puppets, Model aircraft, explosions remote control Jeeps and its ridiculously quoteable. I’d love to have made this film.
Ghostbusters – I wish I’d thought of this idea.
8. What is your favorite movie on The Smalls (except for your own) and why?
“Super Kagao Bros” by Kagami Shinohara. It’s a great idea and I like the low-fi execution. It makes me smile and I want to watch it again.
9. Who and where do you find your inspiration for your work? (websites, people, other sources)
For me it always used to start with an image. It might be skydiving babies or a guy with a guide cat instead of a dog. Something I just found funny. Then we just take that idea and run with it and see where it goes.
I now find that I’m increasingly inspired by people. The world is full of fascinating characters that can be very inspiring for ideas. Once I met a porn director outside a pub. We got chatting and he came out with all these amazing story’s and quotes such as “When I get stuck for a shot I think to myself what would Stanley Kubrick do?. Ok I got it! Give me a close up on her pussy”. I couldn’t believe the stuff coming out of his mouth. When I went home that night I wrote down everything I could remember and rang Spencer. Less than a week later we shot a short mocumentary about a porn director. In fact the director I’d met outside the pub even let us use his studio as a location.
10. What lies ahead for Broken Biscuits and Jon Riche?
Broken Biscuits will hopefully be doing more live performances at comedy nights such as “The Fix” run by Harry Deansway.
We are also working on a show for the BBC due for release February 2010.
As for me I’m currently making commercials for a soft drinks company and for a hand cream. Well we all have to pay the bills.
Watch all of Jon Riche and Broken Biscuits films – such as
Pads,
What The F**k is Parkour and
All Cats Are Grey In The Dark and others. To learn more about Jon Riche and Broken Biscuits or contact them, go to the
brokenbuiscuits Member Profile on The Smalls!
