Reel Opinions – David Hepburn, Craig McDonald-Kelly & Ross McGowan

Vampires, gaming, Outlander, and Scorsese, – Ross, Craig, and David from Deadline Films dish the dirt on their creative friendship

Craig McDonald-Kelly and David Hepburn are lifelong friends and co-stars in the short film and webseries HANGOVER FOOD. Together with their fellow Scot Ross McGowan the three seem to be an unstoppable team, running Deadline Films together.
Festival Formula's Jess Sweetman stepped away from being our social media wizard to speak without character limitation about how teamwork makes the dream work.

Hi Ross, Craig, and David! Tell us about yourselves. 

Ross: Hey, I’m Ross and I’m the director at Deadline Films. I’ve made 4 shorts and a web series with the boys since 2017. I’m currently on the Directors UK Inspire Mentorship Programme under the mentorship of the BAFTA-winning Chris Cottam.
I also work as an assistant director on high end television and feature films. My favourite part of this job is as a crowd 3rd AD when you get to work with the director to create the background of a scene.

Craig: Hi! I’m Craig McDonald-Kelly. I’m from Aberdeen, Scotland. I moved to New York to train for 3 years which was magic. Then I moved to London after to continue acting. I think I’ve covered almost every medium of acting that I want to do so far, I’ve done big feature films, small indie films as a lead, major TV (BBC, Channel 4) and most recently motion capture and voiceover for video games.
I was in the latest Horizon Forbidden West and some other big games coming soon! I grew up playing video games (and still do) so these recent jobs have been a dream to do.

David: Hello there. My name’s David Hepburn and I’m from Aberdeen, Scotland too! My acting background was in theatre, performing in 35 theatre shows across the UK.
When I moved to London I began acting on screen in feature films, short films and commercials, working with directors like Oscar-nominated Peter Cattaneo.
I co-founded Deadline Films UK so that we could make quality, entertaining movies quickly and the whole experience has been wonderful. Most recently, I was in the international TV show “Outlander” which was incredible!

David, Craig, and Ross… What would you say the best and worst trait of each of you is?

Ross: Great question. The boys natural chemistry and ability to write amazing dialogue stands out, but I must credit their work ethic as well. They are amazing at the areas where I’m not so good, particularly after the release when I’m itching to start the next one.
Worst trait: Craig has a terrible memory! Especially for the writer of the series! David can take a while to reply on WhatsApp sometimes. That’s what comes to mind. I dread to think what the boys put about me.

Craig: Haha oh wow, okay you’re gonna start some fights here. But I’d say: David: Best - He’s so unbelievably talented and quick to pick anything up. He can think on his feet and come up with the goods no matter the circumstances. He needs very little prep to be as good as he is. Worst - Punctuality and organisation. Oh my God this boy is gonna be late to his own funeral.

And Ross: Best - His drive. He works so so so hard. Harder than anyone I’ve ever met. He doesn’t wait around, he really pushes himself and the team and we’re only where we are because of Ross and his work ethic. Worst - He has some rogue ideas (Such as decapitating a character on a £0 budget film) that we’re just not able to do. But aim for the stars as they say!

David: Well, here we go, pulling no punches Festival Formula (our pleasure - ed). Craig is an improv genius, a hilarious person and can jump extremely high. He does have the memory of a goldfish though - it genuinely concerns me.
Ross is the most fun director I’ve worked with: he’s open to suggestions, he has a laugh but is incredibly focused and driven. Sometimes, Ross can get a little angry from time to time but I think that’s mainly down to Craig and I having a little too much fun.

You are the three writers of the short film HANGOVER FOOD, and the web series that grew from it. The film seems to work because of the strong and beautifully relatable friendship between the two protagonists - Bruce and Lee, is it based on your real-life friendships?

Ross: “Absolutely. It grew out of their real; life friendship and chemistry and mashing that with genre. “

Craig: Yup! David and I have known each other almost all our lives

David: I have never met Craig in my life. Just kidding, he’s one of my closest friends - I love the guy.

How did it work logistically to have three writers working on a script? What were the challenges? How did you divide up the work? What was it like to work together in this way? 

Ross: “Really well! We’ve also written 2 features together this way! It benefits our strengths. We’ll discuss the idea at length then I’ll go and write the treatment, work out the theme, the structure on a document. 
Sometimes I’ll do the first draft, then will hand it over to the boys who will do their thing, focusing on the dialogue and coming up with more crazy ideas. Then I’ll come back and do another draft before we shoot. I like to rehearse, especially with comedy, so some rewriting happens here. On the day, with the original short and the series, I’d allow for an improv take to see what gold the boys came up with and quite often it ended up making it into the film!” 

Craig: It’s great! We all have strengths and bounce off each other really well. We’ll add on ideas and workshop things if they don’t feel right. 

David: It all starts with a coffee or a lunch or a pint. We explore ideas and themes until the three of us hit on something that we all connect with. It’s brilliant working together since we have some hilariously creative ideas and then once we establish the story and framework, we divide up sections to write and share them with each other. It’s important to listen and respect each other’s ideas (something we’ve always done) so that we can create the best script possible. 

What are your top 3 vampire films? Don’t think, just list! 

Ross: OOF - Let The Right One In. It’s a masterpiece. What We Do In The Shadows and Dracula (1992). I haven’t seen The Lost Boys, Fright Night, Near Dark, or Nosferatu (I know I know!).

Craig: Omg, ugh, Twilight? Buffy & Angel (Not films, but still my fav’s) and Hotel Transylvania. 

David: What We Do in the Shadows is my favourite, such a funny movie. I grew up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I’ll choose the movie and the series for my three. 

I recently watched the TV series THE STRAIN, which decided that certain vampires could survive a stake to the heart and going outside in the sunlight, which upset me to a huge degree. Are you tempted to stick to the traditional rules for vampires in your writing, or do you want to re-do the lore? 

Ross: I’m not a fan of rewriting the lore. I want this to play to vampire fans and it was funnier to put Lee into situations when he wouldn’t be aware of certain aspects of the lore and find them out the hard way! 

Craig: Oh what! Okay that’s a bit too far. I’m all about bending the lore a little bit but keeping in with the classic rules. No sun, no garlic, needs to be invited in. Playing with these and seeing what we could create within these rules is super fun! 

David: Yeah, not a big fan of that. Stick close to the lore I say, none of that sparklyskin Twilight stuff for me. 

What are each of you like on set? What does your filming process look like? 

Ross: The boys are super prepared and by the time we’ve got to set, we’ve usually rehearsed and shot listed or storyboarded. Blocking is key to me, and this series is set in one room, so I had to keep it fresh. I like to create an environment where the boys feel safe to try different things, where they feel loose and can be funny, whilst still hitting their marks. If we’re doing dramatic scenes then it becomes about creating an environment where the cast feel confident to go to uncomfortable places and know that I’m there with them to support them. 

Craig: Set is always the most fun part! We do a lot of improv and we all have a good time. Keeping it light when the days are long and everyone is working reallllly hard. We like to make a fun set for everyone. After all, we're doing this because we love it, so it’s gotta be fun. 

David: Being on set is great, especially with the environment Ross creates because it feels like we try new things and explore - honestly, that’s the most fun in the world for me. Personally, I like to prep by reading the script over and over as well as making notes about my character’s thoughts during each scene. I then use all that for my performance, but be completely ready to mix it all up! 

What do you think makes your work unique? 

Ross: I think it’s the mix of all of our sensibilities. The boys' humour and my interest in genre that has mashed to create something funny and unique.

Craig: I like to think it’s our chemistry as friends and our fun Scottish dark humour. 

David: Raw comedy and chemistry, we all have the same humour and sense of fun - people seem to respond to that. 

Is there a theme or an idea you would love to keep making films about? 

Ross: We’d love to keep making content about Bruce and Lee. We revisited these characters because we love them so much and the theme of their indestructible friendship against all odds.  

Craig: I love comedies. I’d love to keep making comedy movies and seeing where we could take these characters. I grew up loving the stupidity and madness of the American Pie films, then Superbad was a game changer too. Comedy has changed a lot throughout the years and we’d love to go along for the ride. 

David: There aren’t a lot of good comedies and R-rated comedies these days, I would love to bring comedy back in a big way and throw it into other genre films like pirates, crime or pirate crime. 

Which filmmaker did you want to be when you started out? And who do you want to be now? And why did that change if it did? 

Ross: Great question! I started out wanting to be PTA, Scorsese, Fincher, Mann. Now, well there are filmmakers that I look to for influence and inspiration, Raimi, Wright (obviously) and the Coen brothers, but I remember a quote from Peter Weir where he said the director should be a potter, and each pot is different. 
The projects we make and develop are varied, and each one requires a different feel. I’m excited to be developing a project next that draws on the work of Dogme 95 and Paul Greengrass, for a more documentary type approach.

Craig: I still don’t really think of myself as a filmmaker, but obviously a lot of what I do - write, act and produce, is key for filmmaking. I just want to make films that make people laugh and bring them some joy. 

David: I got into this as an actor who wanted to make people laugh and my idol was Robin Williams. As I’ve moved more and more in to filmmaking, I admire comedy writers like Tina Fey and Judd Apatow. My favourite directors though are Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. 

What would make you stop filmmaking? 

Ross: Nothing. I’m in this for the long haul.

Craig: If I find something else I love doing as much as this. But so far this is always the best. The feeling of being on set in the early morning ready to do what you love. There’s nothing like it. 

David: Death 

Tell us about your favourite film festival experience ever. 

Ross: Chelmsford film festival was our first with the original short where it went down SO well and we won the audience award! What a first experience and a hard one to top.

Craig: Aye I agree Chelmsford is great. Love of love and great films. Aesthetica FF in York was also fantastic. 

David: It was pretty incredible getting to go to Los Angeles to see our films in a few festivals there, that will always be really special to me. During lockdown, we actually had a nice virtual time at Exit 6 - love that team! 

What would you consider to have been the biggest challenge of your career and/or your life so far? 

Ross: It’s finding the finance for these projects and trying to get them off the ground whilst holding down a job. The same for all the crew.

Craig: For me it’s getting the films to the right audience. I think once we crack that we’ll take off faster. 

David: Getting the funding for bigger projects is tricky - it can be frustrating when you know you can make bigger and better things but just don’t have the finances. 

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned through your career so far? 

Ross: Making short films has made me a good leader, showing me how to lead from the front. I’ve learnt how to lead a team well, how to communicate a vision and generally communicate well, whilst allowing room to let people bring their specialities and ideas to the table and including them when they are better. This has stood me very well in different elements in life. 

Craig: Be kind to everyone. Good in this industry and life. 

David: Make your own work. Do it now - you’ll probably fail but next time you’ll fail better. 

Who or what is your inspiration? 

Ross: It’s about finding the stories I want to tell. Are they relevant? Do they have something to say? Are they escapist? Are they funny? I’m often inspired by the boys and every time we do a project it brings up more ideas that the three of us can collaborate on. 

Craig: My inspiration comes from seeing other amazing films and works of art. They make the world a brighter, better place and I want to be a part of that in any way I can. 

David: My inspiration is making people feel something special. So many films have changed my outlook on life, made me take risks, helped me heal - I would love a performance or film of mine to have the same effect. 

And finally… What piece of advice would you give your younger self? 

Ross: Firstly. Don’t spend a lot of money on shorts when starting out. Don’t spend anything and if you fail, fail small. Secondly, don’t be too harsh on yourself and don’t rush. Everything informs each other. Being an AD and being on set, watching directors work, you learn so much, you meet people that come into your circle and elevate your work. 

Craig: Play more video games and start reading books younger! 

David: Take risks and don’t overthink it.