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IN THE
DARK OF
THE NIGHT
How Surrey got a Stateside makeover for Don’t Look Back
To be honest, there’s not very much about Box Hill in deepest leafy Surrey to sug- gest the Stateside setting for a menacing thriller. But get to the top of this National Trust site and – quite unexpectedly – you comes across an authentic-looking American diner that provides one of the central locations for the new British thriller, Don’t Look Back!
Drawn from real events, the story has evolved over two and a half years into a full blown feature, complete with the boundless aspirations and occasionally soul-destroying limita- tions of a low budget film.
But if it doesn’t kill you – or reduce you to crying on the shoulder
of the nearest grip – then it can only make you stronger.
As producer, director and co- screenwriter Nicholas AJ Sherard is the man most intimately involved in bring- ing Don’t Look Back! to the screen.
A youthful veteran with 15 years experience working as everything from a runner, editor, cameraman and stunt double, this marks his first fea- ture as director. With his house mort- gaged to help finance the film, he is clearly one to back up his promises with action, but it has undeniably been a gruelling process.
“This has been a major team effort,” he says, “and it has required blood, sweat and tears to get this done when you’re doing nights in cold and rain and the hail and the snow. It’s
a logistical nightmare, but that’s what filmmaking’s all about.”
There have been some strokes of good fortune along the way though, like discovering the diner at Box Hill.
“I went up there with a friend and just came across this western diner that was on the verge of opening and was only ten minutes from my house,” Sherard chuckles. “We didn’t have to dress it that much; it was on the top of a hill, and it was perfect.”
It is here that the disturbing events of one storm-tossed night come to a head in a suspense filled tale that, though shot over such a long period, actually takes place during the course of one night.
As murder, mystery and suspense intertwine, audiences will identify a
handful of cast members including Oliver Tobias, Stephen Marcus (who co-wrote the screenplay with Sherard), Nick Arran, Jennifer Calvert and Kevin Howarth.
“I don’t like things to be telegraphed in the story,” adds Sherard, “and it’s interesting because it has all developed quite strangely. It started off as a half hour film and it’s grown into a full 90 minute feature so I’ve had to add scenes which I have to justify being in there.
“I’ve built up the suspense, and added a few red herrings. We’re working within our means, I could have done a lot of things but we’ve had to compromise a hell of a lot, when I wanted to do a certain shot you’re aware of the weather
Photos clockwise from main: Kevin Howarth; Jennifer Calvert and Oliver Tobias; Director Nick Sherard; Stephen Marcus; Tony Bluto; DP Merritt Gold shooting Don’t Look Back
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