Cul-de-sac, a profound comedic short from BAFTA award-winning writer/director Colin O’Toole is one of those commendable pieces where the actual issues at hand unfurl slowly as our understanding of the deeper themes at play develop after having been drawn in by a compelling setup. Hidden truths and the struggles of long-term relationships reveal themselves as a stellar cast of British actors come together over a dining table adorned with 80s accoutrements and some tragically unappreciated wine. O’Toole shows himself to be a very intuitive filmmaker who in Cul-de-sac embraces a simple setup which emphasises the strength of his script and the camerawork from longtime collaborator Jonas Mortensen which delivers the strained faces, awkward pauses and furtive glances between our quartet of players. DN spoke to O’Toole ahead of Cul-de-sac’s premiere today to talk all about wanting to really play with the elephant in the living room, placing his trust in the calibre of his cast and his love of shooting in a wide anamorphic format – especially when it comes to cinema screenings.
Who doesn’t want to know where a comedy about swinging set in the 80s came from?
The idea itself came about after a friend suspected that his parents were swingers back in the 1980s which made us both laugh. I couldn’t imagine anything more awkward and embarrassing to partake in and so I thought that could make for a good situation to build on. The intention was to make it really unappealing. I also remember when I was visiting the artist who created the poster art for Cowboy Dave that when I knocked on his front door he denied, almost immediately, that he was a swinger. I was thinking “What the hell is he going on about!?” and he pointed out that his garden was filled with Pampas Grass by the previous owner. I never knew the association that this plant had with this activity which amused me.
When I think about an idea I’ll always think about these narrative connections as these threads help build momentum in my mind. I always need to feel that whatever I present on screen is something I’ve experienced, thought about or can make connections around. I wrote the screenplay quite quickly and it seemed to work on the page. I’ve written about four short films since 2018 which felt OK but none that made me feel they were worth the effort of making. If a short doesn’t roughly flow off the page almost immediately I know it’s telling me something. Writing is hard enough but when you’re confronted with the question “What is the point of this?” and I can’t answer that, I won’t spend any more time on it, I’ll just move on.
Is there a sense of pressure or expectation having made a BAFTA-winning short that you felt moving forward?
Of course! In the immediate aftermath of any achievement, the first question from everyone is “What’s next?” this must be the key I needed to open the door of the movie world, but nothing is straightforward. I went on to co-write a feature film set in Derry that the BFI was supporting but then COVID slammed us all and the BFI pulled its support. There was another project I’d written set in Manchester, and we had the money but then the money fell through which was frustrating. Feature films are very hard to stand up in this country, especially for working-class filmmakers so my expectations of this industry are kept to a minimum. People might also expect that everything you do will go on to be award-winning but my main focus is on ideas. I see short films as experiments for future reference. If it connects with an audience and is recognised that’s a welcome bonus.
I self-fund because I want total freedom to react and make an idea exactly how I want and when the time is right.
Being stuck in development is frustrating and as any filmmaker will attest, the most enjoyable aspect of this whole process is working with the actors on set. I also teach film and screen-acting, so you must practice what you preach and lead by example. I am not very prolific, mainly because I fund the short films myself or with cinematographer Jonas Mortensen, my long-time collaborator. I self-fund because I want total freedom to react and make an idea exactly how I want and when the time is right. When I’m happy with a script I want to film it tomorrow so from script to shoot it’s often two months or less.
Your depiction of swinging is – let us say – not sexy. Dare I ask if you did any research into that world?
Ha! I couldn’t imagine anything worse! However, being able to place yourself into alien situations is one of the reasons filmmaking is a great medium. As I mentioned, the subject is because a friend mentioned to me that he thought his parents were swingers, this revelation made me laugh a lot and it got the script rolling. It made me ask why people engage in this activity. Obviously, to some, there’s a thrill factor and emotional disconnect no doubt. For other people, they’re searching for a way to throw a bomb under a flatlining relationship. That tactic can put that missing spark back into a relationship but for others, it has the opposite effect, and for obvious reasons! It got me thinking about building a character who is in a personal cul-de-sac and whose obsessions have impacted what’s important in life. Funnily enough, the film screened at a festival, and after a Q&A, a woman in her 70s asked me if I’d like to visit a swinger’s club in Bury with her. She explained that she was an enthusiastic regular. I politely declined and ran for the door!
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Everyone has their own process of writing and knowing what works. You mentioned needing to find narrative connections. What was the undercurrent that you knew worked for Cul-de-sac?
Tension. Every film needs to connect back to what might be bubbling around my mind. I think with any artistic endeavour there needs to be some self-examination found within whether that is overt or covert. The undercurrent is a weirdly tense one because these people never directly address what’s happening and you don’t really know what’s unfolding until the second half – I hope. It’s playing with the elephant in the room in a big way. I always attempt to play with people’s perception of what it is they’re watching and create something that’s unpeeling itself moment to moment, I think it keeps an audience locked in. Sometimes people want big emotions and an easy understanding and explanation of the situation which I feel is very TV. I wanted to go in the opposite direction but still make it accessible. I always endeavour to create cinematic films and my favourite films always have darkness and humour rolling through them.
I always attempt to play with people’s perception of what it is they’re watching and create something that’s unpeeling itself moment to moment, I think it keeps an audience locked in.
I love the idea of simplicity and really restricting shorts to a very simple setup and in this case, it all takes place around a dining table but this approach is very exposing for the script and actors, there’s nowhere to hide if it falls down so it’s a test. You always walk a thin line between an idea working or not and that’s the line I wanted to experience with this film. This film is about a bunch of things that I’ve been questioning in recent years.
Sam Spruell is obviously someone who you trust and have a good working relationship with from Cowboy Dave and I was immediately struck as he is one of my favourite baddies ever in Fargo! The acting in this is not only superb but the chemistry between the couples and individuals makes it so much better.
Sam is first and foremost my long-term friend and we’ve made three shorts together and written a movie. Sam is usually cast as the villain and he is very, very good at it as shown in the recent season of Fargo and an appearance in a movie called The Settlers. I propose roles that offer other avenues for him to explore which he appreciates. If he thinks an idea is crap he’ll tell me and I love that. I worked with Kris Hitchen years ago and I’ve kept in contact so I called him directly and both Carla Henry and Rebekah Staton came on board via my great friend and top Casting Director, Claire Bleasdale. It turned out that Carla and I went to sixth form college together in Manchester which was a great surprise. These were all straight offers, and nobody had to send me a tape. They’re all actors with vast experience I just knew they would work well together.
As you said, the focus here is not swinging. The dialogue and undercurrents are so sharp and succinct which I got more from upon the 3rd and 4th viewings, how much rehearsing was done?
None. No rehearsing whatsoever. When you work with actors of that calibre there usually isn’t time in their schedules to allow it even if you wanted and I don’t. The week of the shoot Sam had been acting in two major productions so when he came to set that’s when his mind turned to this, though he had been on this project from day one in the development of the script and this went for Rebekah too. Rebekah and I edited her monologue together sending emails back and forth to each other until the language felt exact.
On set, experienced actors tend to quietly stand in the corner before filming, running the dialogue over in their minds and contemplating the choices that they’ll make. They avoid rehearsal thinking it will kill the moment. Then, when it’s time to sit them in the scene and discuss certain marks and beats and eventually call action what I see on that monitor is the very first time I’ve heard my words fully performed back to me. It’s quite daunting but you must place your trust in their talent and the discussions we’ve had over the phone/email in the weeks and days building up to this moment. I offer a note or two, shoot a 2nd take, and then move on. When I watch the scene on the monitor and know it’s working, I can’t control myself and I giggle like a child. The crew turn to me and think I’ve gone mad but it’s a euphoric high I get.
When it’s time to sit them in the scene and discuss certain marks and beats and eventually call action what I see on that monitor is the very first time I’ve heard my words fully performed back to me.
I would love to hear about the camera specifics and what and why you chose what you did to give us the right feel of the time period.
Cinematographer and long-time friend, Jonas shoots all my work which I think is a bit unusual for most directors, but he is a creative partner for me. On set, I deal with the actors and he directs the image. He always offers me a frame to sign off, but he doesn’t need to do that. Cul-de-sac is restricted to one location because the challenge of this short was writing something with such clear physical restrictions and the other factor being its tiny budget. We both love the wider anamorphic 2.39:1 format as it just feels like you’re making cinema. We shot this on Cooke anamorphic lenses via No Drama in Manchester. It sounds petty but when you’re screening at a festival or any cinema, that moment when the curtains or projector re-sizes itself and opens all the way from side to side and fills the entire projection screen delivers a special kind of anticipation.
I love very simple cinematography that has an almost still quality. Cul-de-sac reflects this more than anything I’ve made before. For me, this simplicity places a huge burden on the writing and actors because there’s nowhere for either of those things to hide. It becomes about the words and performance and if that’s not on point then it won’t work and you’ll be exposed no matter the quality of the images. It keeps you on your toes. The period was 1985 and I enjoy picking out the details but it’s Angie Kirk the set designer who really tunes into this period and makes it feel authentic and mixed with the location it came together.
It’s a scene that on the surface is not overly complex, in terms of the camera positioning, and in different hands it could fall flat.
The pacing is suitably uncomfortable but flows wonderfully. Did this come together in the edit or did you know the rhythm you wanted from the off?
We had a highly experienced and brilliant editor called Justin Krish. Justin had just worked with Jonas on a Sky Atlantic show called Small Town, Big Story created by Chris O’Dowd (coming soon) Justin is known for editing Gurinder Chadha’s films like Bend it Like Beckham. In regards to pace it was a bit of both. When I look back at my final shooting script it’s always surprising how true everything is to the script. When I write I pour over the pace and I understand how it will roughly pan out but until you get the actors on set, especially because there were no rehearsals, then you don’t really know what the pace is going to feel like but from the get-go the right energy just manifested itself on this. Justin is vastly experienced and he handled it so well especially the main scene when all four actors are together. It’s a scene that on the surface is not overly complex, in terms of the camera positioning, and in different hands it could fall flat but Justin managed to edit that into something that feels tense, playful and timed to perfection.
You spoke about teaching earlier, how is Short Film Foundry going?
It’s going well, thanks! I started SFF a few months ago because I teach screen acting and a lot of my students ask me to read their scripts. I’m an advocate of creating your luck if you’re getting frustrated by the lack of opportunities coming your way, especially for actors trying to break into the industry. Presently, it’s a one-to-one Zoom session you book with me rather than a large class environment and I help the student create their first short film script over a set number of sessions. We’ve already had some fantastic ideas through the foundry and filmed one of the scripts written by the talented Susannah Gale who also stars in an eight-page short called Trigger Hunt. The film also stars Frankie Wilson (The Souvenir Part 1 & 2). I collaborated with Joanna Vymeris an NFTS grad, producer, and emerging director to help produce this first short film. We were connected by Claire Bleasdale because Joanna had written a paper on Cowboy Dave while studying for the MA at the NFTS, which was mad to hear. I’m hoping to connect first-time writers with directors and get scripts into the inboxes of development execs for both film and TV. SFF is not just for actors but for anyone who would love to give writing a go and hopefully get your idea into production which is an experience I want to promote.
Have you been able to pick up on anything that got dropped or are you pursuing any new inspirations?
The Derry film, the BFI dropped, has thankfully found a great new producer called Nadia Jaynes at Little Monk Pictures and a new home with Northern Ireland Screen (Kneecap, etc…) We’re hoping to film next year but I take nothing for granted. I’ve also started a production company called Full Beam alongside Sam and Jonas. We have commissioned an award-winning novelist called Jarred McGinnis (The Coward) to write his debut feature film screenplay based on a short film of mine called The 10am. That film was originally set in London but we have relocated the dark comedy to South Florida (where Jarred is from). The short seemed to catch people’s imaginations. Jarred is related to Dan O’Bannon who wrote Alien and Total Recall so writing definitely runs in the family. I’m mulling over two ideas for a Manchester-based feature film and it will happen…one day. You have to keep knocking on that door!
