Andrew Jones (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Jones is a British
screenwriter and director.
in South Wales.
He began his career in 2004 at the age of 21, when he had his first script, a horror film entitled 'Stray Dogs', optioned for a small fee by a US production company.
In 2005 Jones set up the production-company Steel & Glass Films Ltd., based in south Wales; and under that banner wrote and directed his first feature film, 'Teenage Wasteland', a low-budget docu-drama focusing on teenagers in dysfunctional families. Jones wrote the script in three days, and then worked as a painter and decorator to raise the £1,500 budget for the film, which was shot on a borrowed, digital, video camera and featured non-acting teenagers in a lot of the roles (many cast by the director straight from the streets of Swansea). In 2006 the film premiered at the Swansea Bay Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Feature Under 75 Minutes.
During this period Jones also spent time with homeless people and heroin addicts in Swansea, researching his second feature film. Many of the stories relayed to him during that time later appeared in the screenplay for what became The Feral Generation
, a gritty urban drama focusing on a young couple as they live rough on the streets of Swansea and attempt to support their heroin addiction as well as each other. Ex-'Eastenders' actors and real-life couple Brooke Kinsella and Ray Panthaki played the leading roles in the project. The film secured six-figure financing, and was produced by Urban Way Productions Ltd, the company known for 'Kidulthood' and 'City Rats'. The Feral Generation
later won the award for Best UK Feature Film at the 2008 Swansea Life Film Festival.
In 2008 Italian producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, famed for giving James Cameron one of his first directing jobs on 'Piranha II: The Spawning',
commissioned Jones to write a script for a remake of 1974 cult horror classic Chi Sei? (a.k.a 'Beyond the Door' and 'The Devil Within Her')
for KOA Entertainment.
That same year, Jones was attached to write and direct a remake of 1979 horror classic 'The Driller Killer' starring 'Last House on the Left'
cult actor David Hess in the lead role. The film re-located Abel Ferrara's original story about a psychotic artist from New York to London. However, the project never got into production after a financial dispute between the Executive Producers and Abel Ferrara could not be resolved.
In 2009, Jones was originally attached to direct the film he wrote for US production company Thunderball Films, 'The Beautiful Outsiders'. He
hired Cameron Douglas in the leading role with Cameron's father Michael Douglas set to come on board as Executive Producer. Cameron was then
arrested for dealing crystal meth in the United States, resulting in the young actor being fired from the project. Jones later opted out of
directing the project and sold the script to Thunderball Films.
In 2010, Jones set up the Swansea based production company North Bank Entertainment.
The company's first production is 'Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection', a British version of George A. Romero's 1968 horror classic, with Jones as co-writer/producer. Jones has also written the screenplay for 'The House on the Edge of the Park Part II' with infamous Italian director Ruggero Deodato ('Cannibal Holocaust') and cult actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice ('The Omen'). The film is set for production in 2012 with Jones as producer.
Other projects in development at North Bank Entertainment include a biopic of Charles Manson entitled 'Manson Rising'. Jones researched the
script extensively, including a discussion with imprisoned murderer and former Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil. Beausoleil was convicted
in 1970 of the murder of Gary Hinman, the murder that set in motion the events leading to the infamous "Helter Skelter" killings. Production
begins in 2012 with Jones directing from his own script.
Andrew Jones' other credits include Associate Producing for UK production company Afan Films Ltd and writing commissions for US company Thunderball Films and Canadian company Robomonkey Productions.
Frankly, some of the direction is astounding; there are some pauses in the interviews that seem to last forever and shots of the couple hugging and tearful which last even longer. This is incredibly assured and confident work for a young director on his second feature.
The Feral Generation is a magnificent film, powerful but not preachy, serious but not sentimental. In terms of storytelling it’s simply masterful: stunning acting, excellent script, amazing direction, supremely competent on every technical level."
Review of The Feral Generation
by respected film critic MJ Simpson.
On Filmmaking in Wales:
"A lot of films made in Wales tend to make it look like they've been filmed by the tourist board."
Interview with MJ Simpson
On Hollywood:
"In Hollywood now their lead characters aren't even allowed to smoke! I think the notion that protagonists in movies have to be totally 'pure' to be relatable is bullshit. Every person has their good points and bad points so as a film-maker why not embrace the flaws in your characters? I think audiences are not given enough credit and are sick of seeing these cookie-cutter, mainstream movies where characters are morally black or white. I know I am. I hope every movie I make will have lead characters who are a little fucked up. It's just more interesting to me."
On The Feral Generation:
"I was certainly interested in bringing the lifestyle of the so called 'feral generation' to an audience and giving them a glimpse into a world very unlike their own. But I didn't set out to direct from the top of my soapbox and make an overtly political movie; I'm a film-maker, not a politician. I hate the fact that people like Bono from U2 try to be so political. That guy is a musician, not Jesus; he should know his place and shut the fuck up about saving the world!"
Actor David Hess
"One of Britain's most promising young directors."
Gorezone Magazine
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
screenwriter and director.
Biography
Andrew Jones was born in Britain, in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
in South Wales.
He began his career in 2004 at the age of 21, when he had his first script, a horror film entitled 'Stray Dogs', optioned for a small fee by a US production company.
In 2005 Jones set up the production-company Steel & Glass Films Ltd., based in south Wales; and under that banner wrote and directed his first feature film, 'Teenage Wasteland', a low-budget docu-drama focusing on teenagers in dysfunctional families. Jones wrote the script in three days, and then worked as a painter and decorator to raise the £1,500 budget for the film, which was shot on a borrowed, digital, video camera and featured non-acting teenagers in a lot of the roles (many cast by the director straight from the streets of Swansea). In 2006 the film premiered at the Swansea Bay Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Feature Under 75 Minutes.
During this period Jones also spent time with homeless people and heroin addicts in Swansea, researching his second feature film. Many of the stories relayed to him during that time later appeared in the screenplay for what became The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation is an award winning British feature film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones and starring Ray Panthaki and Brooke Kinsella in the leading roles. The film was shot in Swansea and Cardiff, South Wales in 2007 and was the first film to be produced by London based...
, a gritty urban drama focusing on a young couple as they live rough on the streets of Swansea and attempt to support their heroin addiction as well as each other. Ex-'Eastenders' actors and real-life couple Brooke Kinsella and Ray Panthaki played the leading roles in the project. The film secured six-figure financing, and was produced by Urban Way Productions Ltd, the company known for 'Kidulthood' and 'City Rats'. The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation is an award winning British feature film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones and starring Ray Panthaki and Brooke Kinsella in the leading roles. The film was shot in Swansea and Cardiff, South Wales in 2007 and was the first film to be produced by London based...
later won the award for Best UK Feature Film at the 2008 Swansea Life Film Festival.
In 2008 Italian producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, famed for giving James Cameron one of his first directing jobs on 'Piranha II: The Spawning',
commissioned Jones to write a script for a remake of 1974 cult horror classic Chi Sei? (a.k.a 'Beyond the Door' and 'The Devil Within Her')
for KOA Entertainment.
That same year, Jones was attached to write and direct a remake of 1979 horror classic 'The Driller Killer' starring 'Last House on the Left'
cult actor David Hess in the lead role. The film re-located Abel Ferrara's original story about a psychotic artist from New York to London. However, the project never got into production after a financial dispute between the Executive Producers and Abel Ferrara could not be resolved.
In 2009, Jones was originally attached to direct the film he wrote for US production company Thunderball Films, 'The Beautiful Outsiders'. He
hired Cameron Douglas in the leading role with Cameron's father Michael Douglas set to come on board as Executive Producer. Cameron was then
arrested for dealing crystal meth in the United States, resulting in the young actor being fired from the project. Jones later opted out of
directing the project and sold the script to Thunderball Films.
In 2010, Jones set up the Swansea based production company North Bank Entertainment.
The company's first production is 'Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection', a British version of George A. Romero's 1968 horror classic, with Jones as co-writer/producer. Jones has also written the screenplay for 'The House on the Edge of the Park Part II' with infamous Italian director Ruggero Deodato ('Cannibal Holocaust') and cult actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice ('The Omen'). The film is set for production in 2012 with Jones as producer.
Other projects in development at North Bank Entertainment include a biopic of Charles Manson entitled 'Manson Rising'. Jones researched the
script extensively, including a discussion with imprisoned murderer and former Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil. Beausoleil was convicted
in 1970 of the murder of Gary Hinman, the murder that set in motion the events leading to the infamous "Helter Skelter" killings. Production
begins in 2012 with Jones directing from his own script.
Andrew Jones' other credits include Associate Producing for UK production company Afan Films Ltd and writing commissions for US company Thunderball Films and Canadian company Robomonkey Productions.
Swansea Bay Film Festival
| Year | Result | Award | Category/Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Won | Best Feature Under 75 Minutes | Best Feature Film Under 75 Minutes for Teenage Wasteland Teenage Wasteland (film) Teenage Wasteland is a 2006 film written and directed by Welsh director Andrew Jones. It was funded through the independent film company Steel & Glass Films Ltd. The film is a gritty, cinema-verite style look into the lives of several disenchanted teens and their dysfunctional home lives in... |
Swansea Life Film Festival
| Year | Result | Award | Category/Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Won | Best UK Feature Film | Best UK Feature Film for The Feral Generation The Feral Generation The Feral Generation is an award winning British feature film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones and starring Ray Panthaki and Brooke Kinsella in the leading roles. The film was shot in Swansea and Cardiff, South Wales in 2007 and was the first film to be produced by London based... |
Reviews
"So here’s my take on The Feral Generation. I think Andrew Jones has pulled off a genuinely objective, dispassionate study of an aspect of modern life about which it is very hard indeed to be either dispassionate or objective. The Feral Generation is not a film that casts judgements - we are left to do that for ourselves - but it simply documents in detail something which we normally only see briefly at a distance...This is terrific acting, this really is award-winning stuff.And it is helped by Jones’ amazing dialogue which manages to be realistic and credible enough to fit in the mouths of these characters yet at the same time erudite enough to hold our attention and make us think about what is being said...Frankly, some of the direction is astounding; there are some pauses in the interviews that seem to last forever and shots of the couple hugging and tearful which last even longer. This is incredibly assured and confident work for a young director on his second feature.
The Feral Generation is a magnificent film, powerful but not preachy, serious but not sentimental. In terms of storytelling it’s simply masterful: stunning acting, excellent script, amazing direction, supremely competent on every technical level."
Review of The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation
The Feral Generation is an award winning British feature film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones and starring Ray Panthaki and Brooke Kinsella in the leading roles. The film was shot in Swansea and Cardiff, South Wales in 2007 and was the first film to be produced by London based...
by respected film critic MJ Simpson.
Personal Quotes
BBC InterviewOn Filmmaking in Wales:
"A lot of films made in Wales tend to make it look like they've been filmed by the tourist board."
Interview with MJ Simpson
On Hollywood:
"In Hollywood now their lead characters aren't even allowed to smoke! I think the notion that protagonists in movies have to be totally 'pure' to be relatable is bullshit. Every person has their good points and bad points so as a film-maker why not embrace the flaws in your characters? I think audiences are not given enough credit and are sick of seeing these cookie-cutter, mainstream movies where characters are morally black or white. I know I am. I hope every movie I make will have lead characters who are a little fucked up. It's just more interesting to me."
On The Feral Generation:
"I was certainly interested in bringing the lifestyle of the so called 'feral generation' to an audience and giving them a glimpse into a world very unlike their own. But I didn't set out to direct from the top of my soapbox and make an overtly political movie; I'm a film-maker, not a politician. I hate the fact that people like Bono from U2 try to be so political. That guy is a musician, not Jesus; he should know his place and shut the fuck up about saving the world!"
Quotes about Andrew Jones
"I'd love to work in Wales and I think I'm going to get the opportunity this Fall because there is this young Welsh director, Andrew Jones, who is just really... he's a real visionary in terms of the kinds of films he wants to make. I'd work with him and it’s basically, for me, just constantly pushing the envelope."Actor David Hess
David Hess
David Alexander Hess was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.-Music career:In 1956, Hess recorded the original version of the Otis Blackwell composition "All Shook Up" under the stage name David Hill...
"One of Britain's most promising young directors."
Gorezone Magazine
Filmography (as writer and director)
- Teenage Wasteland (2006)
- The Feral GenerationThe Feral GenerationThe Feral Generation is an award winning British feature film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones and starring Ray Panthaki and Brooke Kinsella in the leading roles. The film was shot in Swansea and Cardiff, South Wales in 2007 and was the first film to be produced by London based...
(2007)