BFM

The following is an extract of an interview with Julian Henriques talking about the making of Baby Mother a musical financed by Channel 4 and the Lottery

Henriques was interviewed by Menelik Shabazz

MS: What gave you the initial idea to make the film?

JH: One reason is that I wanted to do something that had alot of Reggae music in it, so I wanted to find a story that could use the talents and culture we have, and that is embodied in the music. So that was one motivation for wanting to a music film. And really the actual idea of looking at three women's lives, what they had to deal with in terms of the music, and their responsibilities, and their relationships with their fasmily and relationship within the music industry and the people who control it, came from talking to the women musicians.

MS: What was the total budget?

JH: �2 million. Although that sounds like a lot of money, and I think it is a lot of money in terms of the uncertainty of Black-British movie makers. But in a way it is very strecthed because of the nature of the project. Where it was economic in some cases, in terms of locations, but it was quite stretched in terms of the music, and also by the wide-screen format which had cost implications which weren't really calculated at the beginning.

MS: Did Channel 4 become more visible during the shoot?

JH: Not really, no, editorially it remainmed the same, they viewd the rushes, so there were comments on those and that was fine. The other thing is as soon as you get into production there's the film's guarantors or bond company who become involved or become players in the picture. There are the ones that are responsible for the delivery of the film on schedule and on budget and so they were another party of executives who were taking a very keen interset in what was going down, it's a very intense process. that's when alot of the things that you didn't expect in terms of actual creative process actually happened, but you've got to ride it. ......

(The full interview appears in Black filmmaker (Feb/March 98)




Interview Julian Henriques Editorial Stephen Bourne looks at the 'secret' history of black Actors in British cinema Julian Henriques of "Baby Mother" interview Amistad Review (c)Black Filmmaker Publications 1998: All right reserved			The following is an extract of an interview with Julian Henriques talking about the making of Baby Mother a musical financed by Channel 4 and the Lottery Henriques was interviewed by Menelik Shabazz MS: What gave you the initial idea to make the film? JH: One reason is that I wanted to do something that had alot of Reggae music in it, so I wanted to find a story that could use the talents and culture we have, and that is embodied in the music. So that was one motivation for wanting to a music film. And really the actual idea of looking at three women's lives, what they had to deal with in terms of the music, and their responsibilities, and their relationships with their fasmily and relationship within the music industry and the people who control it, came from talking to the women musicians. MS: What was the total budget? JH: �2 million. Although that sounds like a lot of money, and I think it is a lot of money in terms of the uncertainty of Black-British movie makers. But in a way it is very strecthed because of the nature of the project. Where it was economic in some cases, in terms of locations, but it was quite stretched in terms of the music, and also by the wide-screen format which had cost implications which weren't really calculated at the beginning. MS: Did Channel 4 become more visible during the shoot? JH: Not really, no, editorially it remainmed the same, they viewd the rushes, so there were comments on those and that was fine. The other thing is as soon as you get into production there's the film's guarantors or bond company who become involved or become players in the picture. There are the ones that are responsible for the delivery of the film on schedule and on budget and so they were another party of executives who were taking a very keen interset in what was going down, it's a very intense process. that's when alot of the things that you didn't expect in terms of actual creative process actually happened, but you've got to ride it. ...... (The full interview appears in Black filmmaker (Feb/March 98)