David Whitney's foray into film-making

GUNMEN

But 22 days into filming the mood changed dramatically. As Whitney’s local Pakistani crew were about to start work, gunmen opened fire and sprayed the van carrying them with bullets from a kalashnikov. The four crew members who were shot survived without serious injury, but Whitney, who was filming elsewhere, feared they were not the gunmen’s targets. “The gunmen couldn’t have seen who they were firing at inside the van as the curtains are always shut. We presumed they were after [us], the western film crew.” The set was shutdown immediately. “I knew at that very moment it was over. We couldn’t stay.

“I remember that very moment being a real kaleidoscope of emotions. First of all there was fear; secondly real disappointment; and there was also a feeling of urgency. Nobody panicked, we just thought ‘let’s get out of here’.”

Although Whitney instantly feared the film might not get finished, he ran through possible solutions on the long flight home, and realised he could complete it elsewhere. He earmarked Tunisia, but the film was low budget to begin with, and most of the cash had been swallowed up fleeing Pakistan. “We had enough money to finish in Pakistan, but we didn’t have enough to fly back from Pakistan and then fly everyone to Tunisia.”

Whitney’s concerns were allayed when he met his backers to ask for more money. “I showed them 15 minutes of material and they loved it. I went to see Keith Maher, the main backer and executive producer, and he signed a cheque there and then.”

Four months later, shooting recommenced in Tunisia, and Whitney was able to film the remaining scenes. He then had to choose where to edit the film and knot together scenes that had been garnered across two different continents. Post-production started in March at 422; a unique project for a company best known for commercial production.

“I didn’t know whether 422 would be up for it,” Whitney says, “because they do commercials mainly. But it was only after thinking about it for a long time and seeing the passion from the guys here that I made that decision. If I’d gone to London, it would be like ‘well, we might do it’ and they’d throw it out in a couple of weeks.”

“Here I’ve got a team who are passionate about the film. They saw it, they liked it and came to me and said ‘we’d really like to do this’. How can I turn that down?”

Whitney says 422’s team have “really invested” in the film. “It’s a film that’s theirs now as well,” he says. 422 director Richard Wallwork agrees that it has been a popular project. “It’s taken a lot longer than the work we’re used to handling, but the team have enjoyed it and immersed themselves in it.”

Was it a risk devoting so much time to a director making his film debut? “It is certainly something different for us,” Wallwork says, “but David’s been coming here for years so we knew what he was capable of.”

PREMIERE

The film will premiere in Manchester in August and Whitney hopes the drama behind its filming will help it find an audience. “The ideal scenario would be a theatrical distribution, or a DVD distribution deal,” he says. “If it achieved something at the film festivals that would be fantastic.”

In the meantime, Whitney will likely work on commercials. That was how he got his break in the industry at 20, as a runner, before climbing the ladder to shoot for the likes of the Co-operative Bank, Siemens and Morgan Stanley. That opened the door to drama, including a director spot on Doctors. Whitney describes himself as a “working director”, which is to say the ads and corporate work help pay his mortgage. But although making a feature was always his ambition, he hopes having Kandahar Break on his CV will open the door to more ads as well. But before rushing off to any new jobs, he has those final little touches to add to Kandahar Break. I ask what he’s doing now and it becomes apparent the film is all but ready.

“It’s just minor things that will bug me if I don’t change them,” he says. “I’ve got to live with this forever.”