Wolf Hall director discusses career and British film industry during talk at BU
The director of Wolf Hall discussed making the BBC drama and the blossoming British film industry聽during聽a free public event hosted by 正澳门六合彩资料 (BU) and the Royal Television society (RTS).
Peter Kosminsky spoke about the making of the聽Wolf Hall series, based on Hilary Mantel鈥檚 novels about Thomas Cromwell鈥檚 rise to power during the reign of Henry VIII, and expressed his聽surprise聽at聽the overwhelmingly positive response from the public and critics following the broadcast of the BBC2 drama.聽聽
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think any of us anticipated what was going to happen,鈥� he said.聽 鈥淚t broke box office records and had the best set of reviews of anything I have ever done.
鈥淚t was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a thrilling one. If you do programmes, you want people to watch and be influenced by them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the sort of thing I dreamt about and it was a complete joy.鈥�
Peter, previously best-known for contemporary dramas based on real-life events 鈥� such as The Government Inspector, about the death of Dr David Kelly 鈥� urged those going into film-making to use it to ask difficult questions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an immensely powerful medium, use it to some purpose,鈥� he said. "Try to ask a few awkward questions and rock the boat a bit."聽
In conversation with Gordon Cooper, Chair of the RTS Southern Centre, Peter also spoke about the role and influence of a director.
He said: 鈥�90 per cent of it is getting the script right and getting the right actors. Once you have done that, really don鈥檛 interfere too much. Don鈥檛 give directing notes just for the sake of it.
鈥淢y job is to create the right atmosphere to allow the actors that I cast to do their best work.聽People are not tuning in to see the shots 鈥� they are tuning in to see the performance and the actors.鈥澛�
Peter, who is a BU Visiting Fellow and received an Honorary Doctorate in 2009, also spoke to undergraduate TV Production students before the free public event.
He said that the industry-focused teaching and reputation of BU鈥檚 media production courses were vital to help capitalise on the introduction of tax breaks for those making films in the UK.
鈥淚 come to Bournemouth because the Media School [Faculty of Media and Communication] has traditionally been very industry-facing and produces people with the skills that we need to come and work in the industry,鈥� Peter聽said.
鈥淭ax breaks have been transformative for the industry, there鈥檚 a blossoming the like of which I have never seen - all the studios are full. But we don鈥檛 have the crew.
鈥淪o it means that the pressure is on places like Bournemouth training people to have the skills to come and work in the film industry and make films and TV. We rely so heavily on you guys to continue producing people of the calibre you have historically.鈥澛�
