INTERVIEW:Producing one of the biggest hit movies of 2008 hasn't stopped Belfast producer Mark Huffam from fostering an indigenous film-making community in Northern Ireland writes ROBBIE MEREDITH.
A QUIET BACKSTREET close to Belfast's Queen's University isn't where you would normally expect to find the office of the producer responsible for one of the hit films of 2008, the Abba-themed musical Mamma Mia!, but Mark Huffam is as far removed from the movie mogul of Hollywood legend as it's possible to get.
Despite a CV that also includes production credits on blockbusters such as Saving Private Ryanand The Hours, he is modest and quietly spoken, and it's only when he mentions Meryl, Pierce and Benny as we talk that I realise just how well connected he is.
Huffam’s relatively exalted place in the film world is no overnight success, but the result of decades of experience. He began his career as a BBC runner in his native Northern Ireland.
“I started work for three days on a local election programme. The results came in on a telex machine which was on the second floor while the studio was on the seventh floor. I ran the results upstairs. After that I ended up in the post room and the print room.”
From these lowly beginnings, he eventually became a studio floor manager, specialising in television drama, before crossing the Border to work in Dublin as the Irish film industry blossomed in the 1990s. A further chance to broaden his horizons arrived when he was offered work on Ridley Scott's adventure White Squall, filmed in the Caribbean. Then came his biggest break.
"From that, I got offered Saving Private Ryanas production manager. I was given an associate producer credit on that as well, so it was my first producer credit. It's hard to beat the adrenaline rush of doing a film like that with Stephen Spielberg. The man is a genius."
Working on the film gave him insight into the sheer breadth of a producer’s role, from film finance, crewing and casting to deciding that Curracloe beach in Co Wicklow was the ideal place to recreate the D-Day landings.
"A producer is basically the person who has put the entire package together, to the stage where you're ready to make a film," he says. "And then on a studio film, such as Mamma Mia!, the studio will put on an executive producer who will run the film." Huffam took this role on Mamma Mia!, planning exactly how the film was made.
Was he surprised by its extraordinary success? "Yes," he laughs, "The film was always going to be a success because the show had such a core audience, but I think in the credit crisis, a feel-good film is what everybody wants, and Mamma Mia!just came out at the right time when everybody wanted a smile."
He reveals that Benny Andersson put all of the cast through a private singing test before they were confirmed in their roles – nobody failed – and Huffam stands up for Pierce Brosnan’s vocal abilities.
“Everybody knew Meryl could sing – there’s a fair amount of intelligence you can gather! I know Pierce Brosnan has had a rough ride but I don’t think he deserved it. The critics gave him a hard time but I never heard the audience give him a hard time about it whatsoever. If anything, quite the contrary.”
Given his recent track record, it’s a fair bet that Huffam could work anywhere he wants at the moment. Yet, on a blustery March morning, he’s wrapped in a fleece in Belfast rather than soaking up the sun in LA. He set up Generator Entertainment as a joint venture a year ago. It is a production company that aims to make successful low-budget, high-concept films using local talent.
"I've always been based here – I've just commuted to wherever was necessary. I made a film about five years ago called MickyBo and Me, which was the first film I'd made here for a long time, and which was a great experience." This planted the seed for where he is now. "It's a way of developing our own projects on a regular basis and making them. There is a wealth of young talent coming up here, and a great enthusiasm."
Cherrybombis an early result. While Rupert Grint – Ron Weasley in the Harry Potterseries – and James Nesbitt provide the star names in a tale of teenage love, the film was scripted by the Armagh writer Daragh Carville, scored by David Holmes, set and shot in Belfast, and has two young local directors in Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa, and a local co-producer, Michael Casey. Huffam is proud of what they've done.
“They would have made a film anyway, with or without us, but we’ve set up a structure which gets films made. Until you’ve done it you don’t know how hard that is.” And not without risk, especially in the current economic climate, but Huffam refuses to be despondent about the challenges ahead.
“Fewer films will get made, but they’ll still get made, and we have advantages, so use the advantages. To build a business, you need to grow talent – the writers, the directors, the producers and the crew, but you also need to keep them working. It’s a bit harder than it was, but you can’t despair. Films will still get made.”
Cherrybombopens at the Belfast Film Festival on Monday.