The making of ‘Rooster’
Parag Sanke (Director) interview

Where did you find the script?

I’d always worked on factual projects and documentaries but was keen to try and produce a short fictional film so I placed an ad online and was sent a lot of scripts from all over the world. I was almost overwhelmed by how many appeared in my inbox but Kent’s The Rooster Must Die caught my eye because I thought that it was a very funny and quirky story and it was inspired by Jaws, which was my favorite film when I was a child. It was also a very good introduction to drama for me as I had to think about how to direct eight actors, a song and a rooster!

How did you make the film?

We only had a very small budget that came from self-funding and some investment from friends and everyone who worked on the film generously gave their time for free so that we could afford to provide good quality equipment and try and produce something that reflected the passion that everyone felt for the project. Deborah was the executive producer and we placed another advert online for cast and crew and were extremely happy with the team that we assembled and with what we were able to achieve with one DSLR camera.

Did you use a real rooster?

Yes, and one of the toughest things was getting hold of one! We contacted many farms but although almost everyone was willing to kindly let us have a rooster for free none of them wanted it back after filming. We didn’t think that our neighbours in central London would be very happy to be woken every morning by a crowing cockerel and couldn’t bring ourselves to wring the neck of a key cast member at the end of filming so were very relieved when a farm in Essex offered to lend us one for the day.

Why do you think that Rooster Must Die will appeal to audiences?

There are some films, such as Jaws, which are almost untouchable because they are so iconic but I hope that by taking the essence of one of the key scenes from that movie and transporting it to a small English town we have collectively come up with a funny and surprising short film that the audiences will enjoy.

Is there a message in the film?

Well you could say that it is a metaphor for the never ending battle between man and nature – or you could say that you should never count your chickens, or your roosters, before they hatch!

Links

Link: www.squareelephant.co.uk/rooster
Film Poster: http://www.squareelephant.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Rooster-Must-Die-poster-Print-.jpg
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/squareelephant/sets/72157629168638752/
Trailer: http://youtu.be/Drws50TXLrM?hd=1

Creative Team

Directed by Parag Sankhe
Written by Kent Flaagan
Produced by Debora Setnik
Executive Producer: Simon Cousin
Director of Photography: Yuri Krylov
Background Score: Philip Appleby

Cast

Jack:  Laurence Pears
Chairman:  Marcus Taylor
Ellen:  Denise Rocard
Mary: Lena Sandberg
Harry: Marc Forde
David: Jeffrey Mayhew
Man: Iain Clark
Woman: Caroline Leach

Crew

1st Ad: Michael Cheung, Nadia Hammoud
Camera Operator/Steadicam: Stefan Yap
1st Camera Assistant: Annemarie Van Basten
2nd Camera Assistant: Camil Liberto
Sound Mixer: Simon Gill
Boom Operator: Tom Collingwood
Production Assistant: Fernando Luan
Continuity: Nadia Hammoud
Script Supervisor: Sara Galvao
Make Up: Thomas Montague
Make Up Assistant: Cher Paris
Stylist: Sylvain Agathine
Runner: Subodh Rao
Editor: Michael Cheung
Colourist: Parag Sankhe
Sound Designer: Catherine Mcgrath
Animation: Andre Lucato

Special thanks to

Ewan Parry (Talanas) Death Metal Rooster Track (End Credits)
David King and St. Gabriel’s Halls;
Valerie Ayries
David Griffiths
Iain Bagnall
Beyond Retro: Vintage Clothing
Barry Bassett and VMI
Essex Insurance Brokers
London Film Academy