INTERVIEW: Adam Spinks

Time sure flies. I can’t believe its almost been a year since I was at HorrorCon UK 2015 and was lucky enough to attend the trailer and Q&A of the British film ‘Survivors’. It was a very cool sitting and the audience response was extremely positive. What was even better is that afterwards I got the chance to speak to a couple of its stars and the director himself Adam Spinks. Adam is a very cool guy, so grounded and down to earth and we made a pact to speak at length in a full interview. We have kept in touch since, but the interview has somewhat taken its time due to our very busy schedules, but we’ve finally gotten there, So I’m extremely pleased to present the very talented Mr. Adam Spinks!

I know, I know this has been a long time coming, but we’re finally here man, so welcome to The Slaughtered Bird my friend.

Thank you very much, it’s awesome to be a part of it.

We met last July in Sheffield during HorrorCon UK were you and the rest of the cast & crew were promoting ‘Survivors’. Seems a long time ago now. How’s everything been since then and now that Survivors is released what’s the feedback been like?

Things have been… crazy. We released Survivors last October and critically, the film has been a massive success. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we read the reviews, it was flattering that people were digging the film and we couldn’t be prouder of our cast and crew. Without them, none of this would have been possible.

After viewing Survivors one of the initial things that struck me was the look of the film. It looked a far bigger production than the budget was probably?

The budget was pretty microscopic but we handled it. Our cinematographer was brilliant and really created a look for the film that didn’t compromise on quality. And not enough credit ever goes to the colourists, but ours was phenomenal and it really shows in the finished film.

I enjoyed Survivors, even though I did admit in my review which we have discussed since that I’m kind of fed up with the whole Zombie genre. It’s very saturated, but all in all I applaud you taking a different route and angle. It was more a character piece which I thought was very well done.

I think I agree with you about the saturation! It does seem to happen that we keep making the same kinds of films for periods and then move on, before coming back and with the zombie sub-genre, it’s been through several cycles now and I do wonder where else we’ve got left for it to go! But yeah, our approach with Survivors was just emotional honesty and to really focus on our characters and their story.

How long was the whole process of Survivors from pre-production, shooting to post?

It was originally intended to be shorter! We filmed a bunch of stuff in 2012 and then came back for pick ups in 2014. I filmed Extinction in between those blocks and then spent most of 2014 and early 2015 in the edit on Survivors.

Looking back now is there anything you would have changed about the film?

Every filmmaker always has things they want to change but on the whole, I’m very happy with how this movie turned out.

let’s go back a bit now. Did you always envision a career in film? And how did you get into the industry?

Actually, no. I didn’t know it would be film, but I was always creative. I drew a lot as a kid and wrote down stories, I loved movies but always the big fantasy ones. It was only when I got to college and picked up a camera in media studies that I figured it out.

Do you think it’s easier nowadays for filmmakers with the help of crowd funding? Is it something you would consider?

I’ve done it a few times and had maybe one bad experience doing it, the rest have been fantastic. It’s about loving the movie and your project and it’s about owning it. I’d also make sure you really know and trust who you’re crowdfunding with!

Obviously we’re a horror site and you’ve tackled a zombie themed film, so I’m trusting your a fan?, so what’s your earliest memory of horror and what films & directors do you enjoy and have influenced your career?

I’m going to come out on the mainstream side here and say my first experience with it was probably Jaws. It’s pretty horrifying in moments despite the PG certification and for me, the older I get the more I realise the mastery at work within it. Horror filmmakers should be watching it with notepads out. In terms of Directors, I really like what Jessica Cameron is doing right now- she’s making some crazy ambitious stuff and I’m a big fan of Eduardo Sanchez, I actually loved Exists.

Prior to Survivors you directed the dinosaur action-adventure Extinction, which I’m still to see I’m afraid, but heard decent things. What can you tell us about that gig?

It was a very difficult experience to be honest, for a number of reasons. The shoot itself was entirely done on location, which means that whatever you see the actors doing in the scenes, our crew was doing as well. I remember one day having to abseil to a location to get the right shot and I’m not the world’s most outdoorsy person so that was pretty tough physically.
I certainly learned a lot from the experience and the film has done pretty well from what I’m told, which is nice. I enjoyed working with some amazing actors and wonderful crew members on it but for me, it’s about looking to the future now.

Abseiling to get the right shot? I think that should have been called Survivors, haha!
One of the projects I’m very eager to see of yours is ‘The Song Plays On’ a short that’s based around the theme of dementia. Judging by your handling of the intense character scenes in Survivors, I’m sensing this could be very special indeed. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

I wanted to do something totally different and had this script me and a co- writer had been working on for some time sitting around. I spoke to the very talented guys at Lowkey Films and they came on board. We shot the film in two days and completed it late last summer. It was wonderful to make and an amazing experience, dementia is a difficult subject to take on but I feel our team did such a good job.

Next up is the two documentaries starring magician Adam Patel. I’m a massive fan of magic and personally believe Pen & Teller to be the Godfathers. What drew you to this project and tell us more about how it’s different to the other magician documentaries we’ve seen in the past?

The series is called Real Magic and that’s what we’re focussing on with it. It’s not about levitating on top of a skyscraper, it’s about bringing the impossible into a ‘real’ scenario. So many of the magic TV shows now are based around spectacular illusions designed entirely for the camera and while we’ll be bringing elements of this to our show, you can also expect a grounded experience.

So what else has Adam Spinks got up his sleeve after the Patel docs? Can you give us some spoilers?

I’m actually in pre-production now on a Sci-Fi drama short called ‘Spaceman’ which we’re very excited about. And beyond that, I’m directing my third feature ‘Into The Grey’ sometime in the next 18 months, which finds me back in the horror genre

Finally give a shout out to were people can purchase Survivors as its a very cool indie zombie film.

Survivors is out now on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0151TP6SK

And our website here: www.survivorsmovie.com/store

Adam it’s been a real pleasure chatting man. We wish you all the very best, not that you need it as your a real talent my friend. All the best man.

No worries, and thank you so much for chatting.