Q&A with The Gate films director Richard Oliver about latest short film

The film is called ‘Garden's With Red Roses’ and is about a lad from Newcastle who leaves the region to make his fortune. He ends up in Milton Keynes where, with the help of his girlfriend, a plan is hatched.

Being a short film there is, naturally, a twist so I don't want to go into too many details but safe to say all is not as it seems.

The film has been on the festival circuit for a while now so strictly speaking it's not the premiere - though it is the north east premiere which feels significant given the strong connection between the region and the characters in the film - not to mention the people who made it.

How did you come about directing it?

I wrote the screenplay along with fellow Geordie, Paul Watson.

What was your vision of the film and do you feel you achieved it?

I wanted to make a film about individual people who seem to make decisions out of their own free will, but whose actions are influenced by the political systems and ideologies of the day. Hopefully that comes across in the film.

What do you think you’ve achieved in filming it?

I would like to think that the film might make people think about their ambitions and how far they might go to get what they want.

Are there any particular companies you particularly wish to work with and why?

I've not worked with nearly as many of the North East Agencies as I'd have liked to so I'm looking forward to meeting as many folk as possible on the night. Obviously I'm aware of the strong creative reputation Different have so it would be great to do something with them at some point but there have also been some cracking opportunities coming out of agencies other than traditional ad houses recently. Much of the film work I've done for Lexus actually came via a contact in a digital agency.

‘Garden with Red Roses’ will be one of the films screened as the latest ‘Eat Our Shorts night at 7pm Floritas Bar in Newcastle, which will be attended by Oliver who will discuss it over a few beers afterwards.