Jamie McKeller is a tornado of creativity, comic timing and bruises. His company, Redshirt Films, have been producing amazing, witty, fun content for years that runs the gamut from science fiction and sitcoms to the blood-spattered and often very funny stories of York’s first (and only) monster hunter and the film crew that follow him at never quite enough of a safe distance. Now, Jamie and Redshirt Films have begun crowdfunding their first full length movie, The Book Club, a horror comedy of the sort Redshirt excel at. Alasdair Stuart talked to Jamie about the movie, Redshirt, physical vs CGI and what you can’t do on a York street in the name of cinema…

Jamie! Tell us why you make films and TV shows!

The voices. All of the voices! But in a healthy way. I have a lot of stories and characters bouncing around in my head and I need somewhere to put them so they behave. Some of them get turned into short films or series, some just live out their lives as dusty text files at the back of a long forgotten hard drive.

Why film over theatre or books? I love cinema. I love films, the journey that they can take you on. Film can hit you with a thousand emotions in an hour.

Exactly. I forget who said it but someone made the point that Wonder Woman works at least partially because every scene is a different genre. Here’s a historical epic! Here’s a rom-com! Here’s a screwball comedy! Here’s a period intelligence movie! Why do you think movies are so good at that mercuriality?

I guess it’s down to focus. You have an attentive audience and you’re in control of the gears. The TV show Scrubs is an excellent example of how to line someone up with for a laugh, only to punch them dead in the heart. The director and editor have total control over the delivery, and I for one enjoy using that power for evil. Wash, Shaun’s mum. Make them love them, then tear them away. Hahaha. Etc.

Who influences you?

Sam Raimi, Wes Craven, John Carpenter would be the big three. These guys were making horror back when it was allowed to be free and unapologetic. You could have a huge, hulking force of death stalking teenagers through summer camps or chasing them into dreamworlds. Horror has evolved though, and when people try to replicate the classics these days there’s the risk of a misfire. The Thing (1982) is an absolute masterpiece of tension and terror, perfectly combining disgusting effects with genuine horror.

More recently, the early films of James Gunn melted my brain. Slither and Super are just incredible films, and the Guardians films stand out above and beyond the noise of the Marvel universe, which I love but it can feel a bit repetitive at points.

I find it really interesting that all those guys are known for physical effects and hands-on shoots. It makes a lot of Redshirts’ ethos feel very grounded. And Gunn in particular is a guy whose work I see all the way through Redshirts’ material like gristly letters through a stick of rock made of meat. There’s also a huge enthusiasm and near-glee for the work there. Do you think that’s a common factor? And something you need as a creative?

And the Marvel point is a really interesting, and valid, one. You can only see ‘Awesome White Due Begins’ so many times. As someone who’s done a lot of continuity heavy work, what do you think the best way is to avoid that feeling of repetition?

I think we come from a similar place, although he’s moved into a scale of filmmaking I wouldn’t be able to comprehend. His early work was with Troma and I’d be right at home there. I’m very hands on, in the shit and getting damaged frequently for the shots. No regrets! I think it’s important to get out from behind the video village and get your hands dirty / slick / bloody.

I make “average white people fail” films. I Am Tim Helsing, The Away Mission, Nights at the Round Table are all stories about flawed, fairly shoddy people which is way more interesting that “dude gets power, gets tights, gets bad guy.”

How did you get started?

I watched The Guild (Felicia Day’s web series) and fell in love with the format. Short, snappy and episodic filmmaking makes telling a grander tale more accessible. I Am Tim Helsing was my first filmed project starting back in 2010, and we just released the last ever episode in 2017. Redshirt Films mutated from myself, Lloyd (cinematographer) and Simon (effects and make up) trying to figure out how it all worked in the pilot to a team of twenty smashing it on the finale. The project just gained more and more momentum, and good people gravitated towards it which felt real good. Seven years after the first time I called “action” I’m ready to make my first feature.

Excellent. Do you think the climate’s changed in that time?

Very much so. The internet is spilling over with content now, and to get eyes on a project now in comparison to how it was even five years back is insane. Everything feels a bit stacked against you. Facebook and YouTube have switched from the simple “people have subscribed, they will see your work” to “actually, we’ll decide what people see… unless you give us some money.” We put a lot of work into building an audience online, and about a year back had the access to them suddenly pulled out from underneath us. Somebody recently emailed me to say that they had no idea I Am Tim Helsing season 3 was up, despite all the noise we made about it.

What is the single stupidest idea you’ve had that came out looking so very very awesome?

It would have to be the Hugalope from season three episode six of I Am Tim Helsing. Honestly, we’d just ran out of money at that point and although the many effects of the episode were ready to go, the monster was not. We originally called it the Buffalope, and had design ideas for something which was one part man, buffalo and antelope but it would need a full head cast and hours if not days of creature work. So I bought a massive teddy bear head from Amazon for £10, cut it up, burned bits of it and splatted it with blood. The Hugalope was born, and is possible one of the most terrifying creations to pop up in the show.

Bad Taste era Peter Jackson would be very happy. And possibly disturbed. What other budget creations have stalked your nightmares?

My nightmares stalk others.

Why York for Tim Helsing?

It’s an amazing city, filled with history and great looking locations. I was living in Edinburgh during most of the filming of the first two seasons and lot of the cast were in Leeds or London. We would descend upon the city for weekends and coat the streets red. The council we beyond accepting as were local businesses and residents. They made it so much easier.

It is a lovely and quietly really bloody odd place. How did the city influence Tim’s creation?

Mostly through limitations. We couldn’t flip a car in Coney Street or explode a building. Having real world limitations on the production kept it all very grounded. In fact, the more opportunity we got for unrestricted madness the further it wandered from the tragically lame universe it was set in.

Physical effects, digital or yes?

Yes. All. It’s silly to huff and puff, get all upset about the advances in digital. Just use them where practical isn’t practical. We have digital effects on top of practical all the time. We can’t have people firing off assault rifles in the back streets of York so all of that is added in post. Just get someone who knows their stuff, and let them collaborate with the practical team.

What would you recommend as the best place to start for folks wanting to get into the effects business?

Same as anything, just get on with it. If you want to make films, shut up and make films. Don’t wait for permission. If you want to learn how to turn somebody into a fanged, gilled monster then get on YouTube and look for “fanged, gilled monster” tutorials and stick things to your face. Practise, find short films to work on. Push your way in. Nobody will ring the doorbell and say “oh hey, I hear you wanted to do this thing… come with me on a magical adventure!” You have to swing your fists and fight and never give up.

You and your colleagues have embraced the Sam Raimi ‘Throw the camera around!/Ow…OW OH GOD OW’ school of production. Was that a necessity or just a natural fit?

It just fit. Run and gun filmmaking moves fast and has to be efficient. We’re not spending hours rigging tracks or jibs, and can spend time with character and pacing. That’s not to say that we can’t shoot the pretty things. In fact one of the hurdles of the final I Am Tim Helsing shoot was to fight the tech and trash the shot a bit so it was consistently a bit dodgy looking.

How do you think that process is going to change with your first feature film?

The Book Club will look beautiful. Sweeping drone shots of the countryside, gloriously shot cakes and death. We’ll be jumping up a level in terms of tech, shooting in raw 4K and lighting scenes with deadly internet. There’s a lot of work going into design and colour. Our art director, Ceri Roberts, has designed a colour palette that is known as “wenge.” It’s pastels and beiges, and it’s disgusting.

Project you are proudest of to date says what?

Outside of the web series projects, I really like The Final Girls and How To Kill Father Christmas. Both are up on the YouTube channel if anyone wants to check them out.

Tell us of The Book Club?

The pilot won the Raindance pilot competition in 2015, but we decided that we wanted to produce it as a feature film rather than a web series. It follows six months in the lives of a neighbourhood of serial killers who have seceded their street from the UK and made murder legal. It’s going to be horrible but hilarious.

What research influenced it?

Research? Well, I’ve never murdered anyone. I want to be on the record with that.

Tell us about the Kickstarter?

It’s for £25,000 which is such a small budget for a feature film. That would normally cover a portion of the taco budget. We’re making a whole film out of taco money! We swiftly hit £3,500 but then slowed to a crawl which was a little disheartening, but at the time of writing this we’re at £5,000 and that’s amazing. Over a hundred people have put their money in and are now a part of this project. That’s pretty amazing.

What’s next?

I’m going to make a film. Then another one. Then another one. Then a holiday. Then I’m going to reboot the Living Dead universe.

 

Find more of Redshirts’ glorious work at their YouTube page over here: https://www.youtube.com/user/iamtimhelsing

And The Book Club is funding now over here and you should absolutely go pledge.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/369416611/the-book-club-a-film-about-terrible-awful-people