Page 9 - 01_Bafta ACADEMY_Lara Croft_ok

SIMON RINKOFF
You would have thought that a music promo featuring a barrage of international music celebrities including The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige and The Rolling Stones as well as a slew of others should have been directed by a seasoned pro. Not in the case of the recent Children’s Promise charity record, It’s Only Rock And Roll, whose video was a montage of some of the world’s greatest acts performing lines from the song.
Instead it was down to 23-year-old first-timer Simon Rinkoff who, up until the moment he was given the job, was a runner in a Soho production compa- ny. So how on earth did he land the gig? “A friend of mine told me that Universal Records were looking for ideas for this potentially huge charity project. They wanted a young director, a young guy who had never really directed stuff before.”
And so Rinkoff found himself chas- ing the participants around the world hoping to get a moment of their time. “We had 15 minutes with each star,” he remembers. “We had to get in, shoot, then get out again and you never really knew what you got until you got the film developed.” How did he find his sub- jects? Was he beset by star tantrums? “Oh, they’re a good laugh,” he says. “Lionel Ritchie was great, so was Ronan Keating. Even if they were knackered, they gave it what they had to give it.”
And while fellow underlings may be cursing his good fortune, it seems his lucky break was only a matter of time. “I was always interested in anything creative,” he says. “I’m not generally lucky, but then how do you measure luck? Something like this could happen to absolutely anyone.” ■
MATTHEW VAUGHN
Vinnie Jones may be the movie star, but people tend to forget who was the real force behind Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels on the long journey between script and screen. Producer Matthew Vaughn, 28, had only overseen one flop movie before the gangster hit but after seeing an early draft of Guy Ritchie’s screenplay, he was on a mission to get the movie made.
Following the success of the film, his and Ritchie’s joint venture, SKA Productions, has so far netted him about £9 million. And while Ritchie grabs the plaudits, it is quite clearly a partnership. “I’m an aspiring direc-
tor,” admits Vaughn, “Guy’s an aspiring producer. Together we keep each other in check.”
With shooting just wrapped on the duo’s new movie Snatch, starring Hollywood types Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt along with hard man Vinnie, as well as a TV series spin-off of Lock, Stock in the pipeline, the union looks set to continue and prosper. ■
SALLY PHILLIPS
Anyone who has watched TV come- dy over the past two years will be familiar with the cheeky face of the ubiquitous Sally Phillips.Whether it is as the giggling receptionist in It’s Alan Partridge or one of the Smack The Pony team, the writer/actress never fails to make an impression.
The latter programme has since won an International Emmy, confirming Phillipsas one of the country’s top com- edy scribes. Of course, all that success has meant she is recognised in public, something she still hasn’t quite come to terms with. “I’m not mobbed like a soap star, but it’s still disconcerting. People recognise me and say, ‘You look quite rough and much shorter than on telly.’” Rude fans aside, life looks rosy for the talented 27-year-old. She recently com- pleted a stint in Hippies, the new sitcom from the creators of Father Ted and there is a brand new series of Pony set
to air this Spring.
But that doesn’t means she’s
going to start relaxing. “It’s been a very good year, not just for me but for women in comedy,” she admits. “But I still don’t feel I’ve made it.” ■
FOR BAFTA MEMBERSHIP
Please call Jo Douglas on 020 7734 0022
e-mail jdouglas@bafta.org
LUKE TURNER
Iprefer to be seen as an artist than a nerd,” laughs Luke Turner, founder, CEO and general head honcho of suc- cessful Internet design company TheVoid. After dropping out of school at 14, Turner, who is now a relatively ancient 17, started up his business because “I thought I could do with a bit of cash.”
Since then, his revolutionary site, which is one of the pioneers of Flash ani- mation, has won a string of awards and netted him contracts with big guns like MTV, UPS and Excite. And following in the grand tradition of the Internet, where new products come and go at the rate of knots, Turner’s particular style wasn’t the result of some detailed strategy.
In fact, it came about when “I was just playing around with the technolo- gy.” Specialising in 3D graphics, Turner now has the luxury of picking and choosing jobs and while he may be in favour with the big companies, he admits that he prefers stuff a bit more low-profile, adding, “I like doing smaller jobs when I have creative freedom over the whole site.”
He is now recognised as one of the top five in his field and his work has even taken him to America’s Deep South. But now that he has established himself, what motivates him to strive for more? Is it just the money? “Partly,” he admits. “I actually want to be a musician and I buy guitars. I now have nine or ten - I’m pretty good.” ■
TALENTSPOTTING
FOCUSING ON TOMORROW’S GENERATION OF MOVERS AND SHAKERS
COMPILED BY BEN IRVING
New Talent, New Media
www.thevoid.co.uk
7