Interview : Film and Play Director Atticus Orsborn

Thank you for making time to speak to us from the heart of New York today. May we begin by checking your Nottingham credentials?

I was born in the QMC. The first five or six years I was mainly in Sneinton and, then literally outside the city ground, next to the bridge, in a little council flat, above the old shop. The old memorabilia shop near the city ground. Eventually we moved to Edwalton, and then West Bridgeford. So yeah, all over Nottingham.

So how does an Edwalton lad come to be in New York?

I did a year’s acting course down in Cambridge. I was 19, and met a Mexican girl on that course, who eventually got into the Stella Adler Studio in New York. I went over to visit her, auditioned and got a full scholarship. So, I did that for three years and actually met my wife there. We went to London. I got an MA. Then we decided to come back to New York again, because her family are on Long Island.

And now you're a theatre and film director. What's a typical working day for you?

Depends. If I'm involved in productions, there’s tons of meetings with people going over scripts all day. Then I've got to meet someone who's a Director of Photography for another film. So a lot of it is collaborating and really, it's an editorial position. A lot of times are spent meeting people, getting the vision across, and talking about things we're doing and making sure we're all doing what we're supposed to be doing.

I also teach at the NYU Tisch Studios, or PACE, or Fordham University. There I do voice coaching for actors.

What do you look for in a script?

I personally like work that is funny, at least a little bit. I like things that are funny, and settle you down, make you feel safe, then all of a sudden, you're having a lot of feelings. So I like things that seem silly and then are not.  

Other than that, you can tell when someone's written a script because they want to write a script, and we need people to do that. But I want to read something and understand why it's been written for this world, right now. Who's it for? How are they going to take it? There needs to be a direct conversation with the audience. We want art to be for the people consuming it and not for the person making it exclusively.

Is masculinity one of the themes in your work? 

Definitely. The first movie I made was Three Little Proletariat Pigs, with Liv Ello in the lead, they're a non-binary performer, and my best friend. Being friends with Liv, I realise I'm not non-binary, I'm a man. But I think gender is hilarious. Like, the relationship I've had with gender in Nottingham. When I was growing up, roles were even more defined. There's a lot of stuff about manliness that we all know is, really funny and really silly and really, really stupid. So, I look at that and talk about that, because at the end of the day, I'm making things for people like me, because that's all I can really do. Hopefully other people enjoy it too.

But I got to thinking about men like me from Nottingham that are, like, wait, why is everyone doing this? I remember being in the changing rooms of football teams and it's great fun. I love all that. Sometimes it's weird. Sometimes weird stuff happens. Sometimes men can be a little bit weird. And I like to talk about that. 

Growing up in Nottingham, did you feel pressured to live up to certain expectations of manhood? 

It's changed. When I visit now and talk to younger people, it's different. Gender roles are less prescribed. But yeah, definitely, when I was growing up. It's changed a lot in terms of how men are allowed to express themselves in different ways. Like, men dressing slightly differently. It's okay if that T shirt’s pink, tiny little things like that are happening. But it was definitely if you're a man, you do this. If you're a woman, you do that. We're moving out of that, and I want to help us do that in a way that's sensible. The next film I'm making, Soy Boy, it's all about masculinity, and a guy who gets cuckolded online. Another guy grabs his girlfriend, kisses her on the street. So his masculinity is deeply challenged. I think sometimes the ways in which we resolve these issues are so bad. Because when you talk about men's issues, about acute issues with masculinity, you're often met with a lot of anger. If I talk about issues with men, nobody wants to hear about it. Yet, with the male suicide rate, those numbers and figures get dropped, and people say, yeah, that's bad. But people don't let men talk, and we're not allowed to figure things out either. So we go into our own little groups and start listening to Andrew Tate. We start being angry at women because we're not able to do anything about it. That's a bad pathway. We need to be able to talk. Need to be able to communicate. And it’s a two-way street. So I've noticed in my life this stuff with gender is causing unnecessary trouble. 

What are the frustrations and joys in your work?

Every minute on set. I just love it. That feeling of when you're doing something you want to do and should be doing, it's just the best feeling in the world, whatever it is that you're doing. That's how I feel on set.

You do all this preparation, and then it's happening. Especially if you're directing, you can back off and observe it all come together. I keep a lot of plants. And with plants, you plant the seed, you get the soil, do all this work, and a couple of months later you've got a full plant. It's really the same being on set, if you're organized, and everything's good, it's like, wow, it's finally happening. It's finally coming together. But then the post-production is like a slog.

You're fiercely proud of Nottingham. Why?

It’s culture is really special. I didn’t know this when I lived there, but I've been all over the place now, to different continents, and all 

the place, to different continents, and all of a sudden, you're like, wow, we do things that other people just don't do. When I was a kid, and got on the bus, I’d chat to everyone all the time. And that doesn't happen in a lot of places in the world. More specifically, the conversations I’d have on that bus would be different too. A little bit caring, a little bit funny. We're so funny in Nottingham, we take the piss out of everything. We're so ready to laugh at everything, even if it's really dear to us. So we've got this kindness, but also this amazing sense of humour. And there's only 300,000 of us at any time, and we've got this cultural history. This connection to Robin Hood and anti-authoritarianism. We've got the City of Caves underneath us. We've got a castle. There's so much in Nottingham, it's an incredible place. And, because all these things combine into us being just really good people. Like my friends that I talk to every day, all Nottingham boys, and they always will be. It's hard to meet other people and to talk to other people from different places sometimes. Because there's a warmth, an understanding, a humility that comes with where we're from. 

I'm eager to make more stuff in Nottingham, because if we can capture the culture and put it on cinema or on TV, it would be amazing. Like Peaky Blinders in Birmingham. When you capture a place's specific identity, and you do something with it, it's really fun. Everyone loves it from all over the world. 

What advice would you give young people wanting to get into theatre or film directing.

I started at Inspire Academy. It's a youth acting group, and it's incredible. They find auditions, so you can get work. But they also just put on plays constantly. So by the time I did my foundation degree, I'd already been in ten plays. It's run by Luke Gell. And there's the Television Workshop. Both are great places. So, my advice is about getting into the youth groups for that stuff. 

What do you like about living in New York?

It's mental. You can walk outside and it's just crazy. I've got ADHD and New York's perfect for people like me. Like, if I walk outside now, I'll probably see a new homeless camp on the corner of the street, and someone will be walking around naked. And probably a couple will be arguing. And then someone will be playing saxophone out the window. So imagine the craziest thing you've seen in Nottingham, and triple it. And then you'll see that every two minutes. You get this vibe of, what the heck is going on?

And then New York looks like a movie. The whole time you're walking around, you're not totally convinced that this isn't a game, you know? People in New York are very different to the rest of America. They're barely American. New York could be its own country. Culturally, that is. 

What's next for Atticus Orsborn?

I have to get straight back into editing. Finish Soy Boy this month, and then we can start getting that out to people. So wrapping up the production I shot last year, and then we're in pre-production for two short films. So just juggling, juggling, and then I'll go back to teaching in September as well.

Long term, I see myself as a teacher. Ultimately, I love doing all of this, but when I'm fifty, I know I'll be teaching. Everything I'm doing is with the awareness that I can talk about this with my students. 

I'm in a rehearsal room every day, and we're with young people working on themselves in a way to better express themselves, so they can be a little bit kinder, so they can be a little bit more understanding of humanity. Everyday I'm doing that, everyday I'm thinking about who I am and all this stuff we're doing, like vocal exercises. We're running around pretending to be witches. As far as jobs go, it's like, am I getting paid for this? I'm just messing around. 

Atticus Orsborn's next films will be 'Angels Pull Your Hair' and 'Never Tonight'. Find out more about his films at Ember Productions.