Edgar Wright Interviewed on The Treatment

For this post I am going to talk about Edgar Wright. He was interviewed on The Treatment on Wednesday August 4th, 2010. Edgar Wright is a film director, and is most well know for his work on the films  Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, both of which he wrote along with the star of those films Simon Pegg. His most recent film is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which is an adaptation of a graphic novel and for which he wrote the screenplay.

Most of the interview was spent talking about his latest film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, but they did spend some time talking about his background and how he got started in the film industry. This is the part that I found most interesting. He came from an artistic family and he and his brother both loved to draw,in fact some of his first film projects were animated films, he even won a national film contest with an animated film. His family was very supportive of his desire to work in the film industry, and he even credits them with the existence of his entire career. Another thing I found interesting was when they talked about some of the similarities between some of his films. Each of the movies mentioned above has, for example, an element of ordinary "Joe's" becoming hero's or overcoming great obstacles. It's a simple fact, but one that I hadn't really thought about when seeing the films.

The first quote that I found noteworthy goes back to something I mentioned in the last paragraph. In the interview he said "My entire career sprang from the fact that my Mom and Dad bought me and my brother a super 8 camera". I felt this quote was noteworthy in that it really tells you the kind of support he had growing up. He acknowledges that he likely wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for his family.

There was another point when they were talking about how he got started and when asked if he had any advice for those looking to do the same  he said "Just go out and do it, even if you don't have the equipment.... don't wait for a handout, the opportunity is never gonna land on your door step, you can make your own opportunities." Out of context it sounds kind of cliche, but when it comes to art or being creative I've always thought that this was a good way of going about doing it, just do it.

Finally, there is my favorite quote of the interview. Not long after the previous quote he said "I got turned down for film school in the UK. My response was, well I'm just gonna make a film then". This quote spoke to the same part of me as the last quote. For me it says that just because you don't have formal training, it doesn't mean you can't still do what you love and be successful at it.

I really liked this interview, not just because I'm such a big fan of Edgar Wright's movies, but because I like his attitude towards himself and what he does. He is very successful, yet he doesn't take himself too seriously. I eagerly await his next project.