In the depths of South Wales, you’ll find cursed dolls, bloodthirsty wind-up toys, possessed robots and film director Lawrence Fowler. We were lucky enough to chat with Lawrence about animatronics, the trilogy series ‘The Jack in the Box’, and his upcoming project, Rob1n.
How did you start in film?
“I started making short films at college in Barry; I got together with a few of my friends, made a short and it was well received. The tutors seemed to like it and it kind of spawned my interest in the field. From there I went to university and kept making short films, won a few awards and before you know it, we were self-financing small features and growing to where we are today.”
Was ‘The Jack in the Box’ your first feature length project?
“I wish it was! We made a film called “Curse of the Witch’s’ Doll” in 2018. I don’t often mention that one because I’m not too proud of it. We made it for virtually nothing (on our own savings and some crowd funded money) and I think it tells.”
How did the idea of ‘Jack’ begin?
“After we made “Curse of the Witches Doll”, we were approached by a lot of people who wanted to distribute the film and there seemed to be a real interest in doll related stuff. We were keen to appease people that were interested in what we did but also bring something new to the table. In looking into the history of Jack-in-the-boxes, it had that element of a doll within a box which was interesting but then this history that was very vague; no one really understood the real back story of Jack-in-the-boxes, where they came from or who created them. There was an interesting opportunity for this lore to be created; from a doll in a box to become this larger-than-life creature. This allowed us to express some more interesting things.”
How did the design of the box and ‘Jack’ as a creature develop?
“In our first film, we tried to make the doll a little too… out standish. With this “Jack”, we defiantly wanted a more subtle design. We are a family business; my dad is the one who designed the jack in the box doll. The actual monster that comes out of the box; we worked together closely with Isabella Larter, the makeup designer on that film to create a mask and a look for Jack. A look that was (hopefully) iconic and that was appealing to people who love creature features and the clown horror genre. We tried to keep him quite subtle (with choices like not giving him hair) and tried to make sure he had a more monster base rather than “a man in a clown costume”.”
The first ‘Jack’ film was made around Covid, did that slow production?
“It was made before. Covid was a horrible time for everybody but the film kind of rode the wave of everyone being stuck inside. We were really worried about the release and how it would do but people couldn’t do anything except stay inside and watch films so it did very well. It had a theatrical run-in place like Italy which was very surprising as lots of the bigger labels were holding things back.”
You’ve had three people play ‘Jack’, is there anything in particular you look for in actors playing a creature?
“The reason we’ve had three different people play Jack is because they are incredibly difficult to lock down. Very talented creature actors like our three Jacks (Robert Strange, James Swanton and Nicholas Anscombe) get booked up very quickly *laugh*. We initially look for someone who has the height, a slender frame and the ability to use their body in a very creature like and unnatural way. Obviously, the Jack character has to climb out of a box so any contortionist type quality they can bring to the role is a positive. Those guys are so talented at what they do.”
Could you tell us a little more about your latest production – Rob1n?
“‘Rob1n’ is about a man who lost his son many years ago who is then in a car accident and has no memory of his previous years. He’s kind of living life in the moment and eventually rediscovers that he lost his son and builds himself a replacement son; essentially as a companion. Over time he realises that this child he had in real life had a rather dark past and its soul has attached itself to his new creation.”
Sounds very Pinocchio-esque
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of that in it! I could defiantly describe the lead character ‘Aiden’ as a bit of a Geppetto type character!”
You tend to include a lot of toys and animatronic in your films; is this an intentional direction you’re continuing or have just fallen into?
“It’s kind of both. It’s something we started in, then came down to what distributors felt was working better and I always try to play into the strength of what we can do as a company. My dad is incredibly skilled at creating props and animatronics props and bringing things to life so we always try and lean into our strengths. I try to make sure there’s a really interesting story behind it and lore behind the creatures and he brings his craftsmanship to the projects.”
When you re-watch your films, do you think you can see the progress you’ve made?
“I think so. The very first ‘The Jack in the Box’ film we did, we didn’t have much budget for lighting and things like that so we used a lot of natural light. That means when we dressed this character, it may have looked a little bit silly in broad daylight and we had to film him a lot in broad daylight (as we didn’t have many options). Then, as we went through the second and third films, we learnt how to keep a lot more in darkness and hide his imperfections and bring that scary element out a little bit more. It’s one of those things that as you go along, you learn these lessons and apply more along the way.”
How are you finding the British indie horror scene at the moment?
“I think it’s great! I’m a sort of ‘lone wolf’ type person, I guess… I’m not the most out going so I don’t naturally connect with lots of film makers. Over the years, I’ve come into contact with quite a few [film makers] and they are always been nothing but supportive of what we do and I’m the same to them. I love what Charlie Steeds is doing; it’s all full of talent! It’s a shame that DVDs are dying off slightly; it’s a massive hit for people like us because it’s an important thing for film making and the opportunity is getting smaller and smaller.”
Do you think people are more open to watching lower budget films these days?
“I think they are open to it. What I love about countries that seem to be outside of the US and UK is that they are more open to new concept and names which is a fantastic thing. Horror has lots of characters and lots of really interesting themes, that’s something I’m really drawn to as a film maker. In general, I think people are becoming more and more accepting of indie films because I think indie films are looking better and better. Every year technology is helping us do that and helping us bridge the gap between the looks of an indie film and more Hollywood ones. I think people are ready for interesting concepts, not just the names on the poster.”
Who do you admire or look up to in film?
“I’ve always loved David Samberg because he’s very relatable and he’s really grown his career. He’s kept his YouTube channel going, which gives people who are looking to do something similar real insight into what he’s doing; I love his films. I’ve always loved the films of Chris Nolan, what he does is unbelievable! I love his ability to have multiple narratives running alongside each other and overlapping, that’s sometime like to bring to my horror films.”
Do you have a favourite movie?
“I absolute love the Halloween series. I love so many different things, it’s not just horror. I’d say my two favourite films of all time are very different and off the subject maybe; Inception and Happy Gilmore. You can have lots of tastes and films for different moods.”
What’s next for you?
“We are at that stage of being snowed under, living in post [production] on Rob1n (laughs).
Thanks to our sales agents David Marsh and Glenn Kendrick Ackermann, we had a really nice article in the Hollywood reporter, which has exposed us to a whole host of people that we’ve never been in contact with before. We are very lucky to now be signed with a really top representation in America which has opened a lot of doors. We are also in the process of writing another sci-fi horror which we’re really excited about. The future seems really bright for us and we hope we can take our small approach with these interesting characters and animatronic based props and kind of grow them even further and reach more people.”
Interview By Alice Bizarre
Photos Provided By And Used With Permission From Lawrence Fowler