{spotlight} feature reports

Tommy Gormley is without question one of the most established, sought after and well thought of 1st Assistant Directors in Europe, if not now the world. Glasgow based, he spends most of the year working abroad on major studio based productions. He recently completed work on "The Four Feathers", a period drama directed by Shekhar Kapur, with whom Tommy first worked on the award winning "Elizabeth" in 1998. Prior to that he was kept busy working on John Boorman's "The Tailor of Panama", starring Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush and also "The Luzhin Defense", with Emily Watson and John Turturro.

We recently caught up with him to see how he was and how he perceived the indigenous industry.

Where are you now?
I'm currently back in Glasgow, "resting" between jobs.

What was the last job you were working on?
My last job was as 1st AD on a feature film called "The Four Feathers", directed by Shekhar Kapur.

We all heard it was very long - How was it?
I started prepping the film in early June. We were based at Shepperton and then shot for 100 days (a personal record!) on location on England and Morocco. So I was out of Glasgow for 9 months.

You work away a lot - where would you ideally like to be?
I would do anything to work more in Scotland, but you can't work here as a technician on feature films full time, there just isn't the work.

You've been involved in the Scottish film industry for a long time. Do you think it's has changed and if so how?
There have been major changes, mostly for the better. I think the pool of talented people we have always had here has become first of all bigger, but more importantly the regard they are held in around the UK and abroad has increased. We also have, I hope, a more mature attitude to the industry and our place in it through its endless cycles. Bodies such as Glasgow Film Office and others have certainly lent more structure to the industry.

Do you think the industry is harder or easier to get into now?
There is now more awareness of the possible routes into the business with the training options to match, so I think the proverbial "who you know" factor has decreased, but more people are now chasing what are currently fewer jobs. After getting your foot in the door, I think the business has always been a very tough one to crack and that hasn't changed. I like to think that it is still a meritocracy, and that if you're good enough and want to succeed badly enough, you will.

If you could wave your magic wand, what would you do to improve the general state of the industry?
I would build a decent studio with at least four or five sound stages, so that one commercial booked in for two days wouldn't mean losing a feature film. It should be in Glasgow, since the majority of the crew live there - including me - and because of the wealth of locations within easy reach. I know from experience that it would bring work - no question. People who say it wouldn't are talking rubbish. I know this from years of working at the sharp end of production. I shot a John Boorman movie called "The Tailor of Panama" this year, set in Central America, London and the Pentagon with an Irish crew and most of the interiors shot at Ardmore Studios, Dublin. Where would you be able to do that in Scotland? I have never shot a major feature film which didn't either utilise or, if not, badly miss having a decent sound stage. The lack of facilities currently on offer here is unacceptable. I have tried to get several producers to look at shooting in Scotland recently but the lack of a proper studio is a great handicap. It's not just London we are competing with. Many cities around Europe have far superior facilities on offer. I can think of Budapest, Luxembourg, Hamburg, Dublin to name just a few.

Do you believe that the Scotland could be doing anything else to bring more films here?
Yes. I don't believe in a phoney, subsidised industry, but genuine investment into infrastructure like a studio would kick-start our business onto another level. You also can't deny that incentives such as tax breaks can have a massive effect. Look at film production levels in the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man compared to Scotland. On a simpler level Glasgow Film Office now have a good system in place and can deliver an attractive package of industry knowledge, contacts and assistance to film makers, but don't have the finance to back it up. How many films shot in Liverpool last year, which has so much less to offer in terms of crew, facilities and locations, compared to Glasgow? I think that it's just crazy.

How do you think that the industry differs from that in London/elsewhere?
There is always a baseline level of production in London, through good times and bad. Our industry is tiny in comparison and suffers badly from those boom and bust cycles, more so now than ever; seven films one year, one the next. We must remember that we really are still a cottage industry in truth. Outside London, we have the biggest pool of creative people, quality technicians and unbeatable locations in the UK without question.

What did you think of the recent Academy Awards?
Shamefully, I have seen about 3 films this year due to working in foreign places, so I'm not really in a place to comment.

Do you have projects lined up for the immediate future?
No, I'm just taking time off at the moment. John Boorman may have a project shooting later this year which I would love to do - he is such an inspirational person to work for.

Do you think the much talked about SAG strike will have an effect on British filmmaking?
It already has. I missed a lot of interesting studio financed movies which are starting to shoot around now in a panic, many of them not properly prepared, in order to beat the deadline. After June, it seems very unclear if the American money will be around. Maybe we can turn this void to our advantage and produce a bumper crop of indigenous features.

And finally, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Directing I hope! I will have gone as far as I can being an AD by then and I don't think I have the skills required to be a producer. I have always wanted to give directing a go - I just hope that I have the ability to do it! Sometimes the more you work with talented directors the less sure you become.

To view a digi-documentary interview with Tommy and fellow 1st Assistant Director David Gilchrist go to our Spotlight on Personnel.

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