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James Wallwork is an actor appearing in the new film A Thousand Empty Glasses created by Take Cover Films of which he is also a founding member and financed through a crowd funding website as well as some very generous private donations. The film has now been accepted into the Palm Springs International Shortfest 2012 and we caught up with James to ask him how the project took shape, what his hopes are for the film, and whats next for the piece and for the company.

Alright Jamie?

Very well my boy!

Tell us about A Thousand Empty Glasses, how did it all start?

Well it started in a pub in Waterloo [London] when myself and Michael Stevenson met up with Tristan Shepherd to watch Spurs vs Milan in the champions league… and also talk about doing a short film together. We knew we had an amazing location for free as Tristans parents live in the rural parts of South France. All we needed was a story. So, we asked Mark Finbow who since leaving LAMDA had written a few theatre pieces to write us a script. Mark wrote 2 or 3 one of which being A Thousand Empty Glasses and that’s the one we loved and did!

And what is it about?

It centres around Charlie played by Tristan and his journey to self acceptance and self awareness. He goes to France to find his old friend who had brought him up in high London society, to ask him to be his best man. Then he discovers the truth behind why Arthur left Britain.

Who do you play?

I play Oscar another Brit who has settled abroad in France, he lives 3 doors down from Arthur in a remote French village.

How has post production gone?

Post production has gone really well, we were able to use Ealing studios’ facilities to edit the grading and colouring of the film, and WAM also let us edit the sound mix at their facilities. We’ve also had an original score composed by Joe Hogan. It’s looking good.

Thats amazing. Have you seen the film?

Yes I saw it just before we sent it out to palm springs. It looks great

What was it like working with your friends?

It was great as you can imagine there was no getting to know each other or no inhibitions to get over we know and trust each other so much it gave a great platform for us to work from.. We enjoyed it which is essential

You received a lot of the money which financed the project from a crowd funding website, how did that make you feel?

It made us feel really humbled. It’s amazing when friends and family want to support you and believe in you to succeed. We had private donations as well as public which helped us make the film and without them we wouldn’t be where we are now.

You’ve managed to get it into a festival, can you see bigger things for the film?

Hopefully. We will be up against some fantastic films with huge Hollywood stars in them so it’s unlikely that we will win an award.. But I’ve always supported the underdog.. I’m a Bolton Wanderers supporter for gods sake! If we win the top awards we would be put forward for consideration for an Oscar nomination which would be unbelievable. The only other possibility for the film would be someone buying it. However we just want to raise our profile and try and attract funding for the company and future projects.

Whats next then?

What’s next is making the very most of our opportunity at Palm Springs. We have employed an LA publicist who will really help us through the process and we have quotes from Ian McKellen on our film to help publicise it. Next for Take Cover Films will be to start production on the next film. Mark has had an idea and has sent us a pitch that we’ll take over to california with us

The Good Review would like to say a massive thank you to James for his time and for answering our questions we wish him and the film all the very best.

Please keep your eyes peeled for a release date on A Thousand Empty Glasses and prepare to watch Take Cover Films take off. For more information about them go to their website by clicking here

A Thousand Empty Glasses Teaser Clip from Andrew Nolan on Vimeo.