ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>Interview with Lance - Jerichos Walls are Falling</title> <meta name="Keywords" content="jerichos walls are falling, london, dan, stilwell, lance, nielson, brighton, gideon, turner, HIV, national aids day" /> <meta name="Description" content="Mentally, Physically, Emotionally, how would you cope?" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.jerichoswallsarefalling.com/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="container"> <div id="header"> <ul> <li><a href="index.html">Home</a></li> <li><a href="trailer.html">Trailer</a></li> <li><a href="synopsis.html">Synopsis</a></li> <li><a href="key-team.html">Key Team</a></li> <li><a href="cast.html">Cast</a></li> <li><a href="crew.html">Crew</a></li> <li><a href="sponsorship.html">Sponsorship</a></li> <li><a href="contact-us.html">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="synopsis"> <h3> Interview with Lance Nielsen</h3> <p align="center" class="MsoNormal"> <b>Q and A with Lance Nielsen, Director of  <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> s Walls Are Falling .<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p align="center" class="MsoNormal"> <b> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Sunday  1<sup>st</sup> Feb 2009<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR  </b>Tell me how the idea for  <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> came about?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  I directed a play called  Hi I m Vince , in the year 2000, which was three stories about HIV interwoven into one narrative. The <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city> based story (Vince s) formed the nucleus of the screenplay for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> which I started writing back in 2003.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR  </b>How long does it take you to write a script normally?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  It varies, the average is around 3 months for first draft but I have written one script in 11 days and others have taken well over a year. Much of it depends on how much affinity I have for the material and how much research is involved. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  What research did you have to do for <st1:place w:st="on"> <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> ?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  I was already well versed in HIV issues before I started work on this script. My cousin died of it in 1991 when he was 26, so I had always taken an interest in it from then as he and I were fairly close. By the time we did  Hi I m Vince I knew a great deal about it and made several positive friends as a result of that research. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Did meeting these people change any of your perceptions of HIV?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b> - The most important thing I learned is that it affects everyone differently and no one has a monopoly on the impact of it. I think one of the phrase s I heard one of the positive people say who came down to talk to the actors was  We all own our own journey in life and no two people s journeys are the same that summed it up well for me as this story is Jericho s journey s and no one else s.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Is the character of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"> Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> based on any one individual?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  He is based primarily on two people I met who had HIV, one of whom was a close friend of mine, the other, the cast got to meet at the rehearsals. There were elements of him based on a third individual who sadly is not longer with us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Do you put anything of yourself into the characters you write?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b> - As a writer I think you inevitably end up placing parts of yourself in a story and there are also little things I have taken from my own experiences that fill in some of the blanks of <st1:place w:st="on"> <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place>  s back story especially concerning the relationship with his parents.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  In the story it seems that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"> Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> isn t very close to his parents?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  No he isn t. The reason for this comes apparent in one of the scenes towards the end of the film, though I do not want to give it away here. He loves his parents and they love him, but they aren t close in the same way some families are.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Gideon Turner comes across very strongly as <st1:place w:st="on"> <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> in the trailer and having read the script it feels almost written for him. How did casting him come about?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Well my original vision for <st1:place w:st="on"> <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> was somewhat different. He was suppose to be a bit more quirky, someone who was the heart and soul of any room, but to some degree not the first person a girl would look at in the room so Gideon was not immediate choice for this role and another actor had been interested in the project for some time, but he dropped out and then the project was in state of limbo for some time during which I directed Gideon in a play called  Blue on Blue . Not only was he a very gifted actor but he and I had the same sense of humour and hit it off well from the beginning so I knew I wanted to work with him again and that was in 2006. When <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:city> started up again I felt it was important to have an actor I knew already in the lead role, so we sent the script out to a few people and Gideon said he was interested in the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> part, whereas I thought I would be lucky to get him in even a supporting role. I still wanted to see him read for the role as we knew Jericho could be aged anywhere between 20  30 years old and I wanted to see some of the other potential cast members act opposite him which is always really important. On every level he just blew everyone away. Now, truth be told, it would be very hard for me to see anyone else in the role because he made it his own. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  What qualities did he bring to the role?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Professionalism, humour and a layer of emotion that was as real as I have ever seen in any performance. I think you could probably put him up against some of the finest actors in the world and he would easily hold his own in a scene with them. You mentioned earlier that the role seemed written for him, as you have read the most recent re-write of the script, which is partly true because that draft was written after the trailer and I was able to take the character further because I knew Gideon would bring so much weight to the dialogue that I had written. He also a very giving actor with the other cast members, which helped to bring the best out of them in some very difficult scenes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  It is a very emotional piece; do you think perhaps people will find it too depressing?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Not at all. There is a saying that  People are at their best when times are at their worst. I think it would be more true to say you see the best of good people when times are at their worst and that is the case here. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> has to go through a number of challenges in the story, and he is far from a perfect individual but there s plenty of uplifting moments on that journey and you see people around him, good and bad for who they really are. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </b> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Do you think the film says that all HIV positive people are good people?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  No, it doesn t. I did actually want to have some Positive characters in the support group that are not the nicest people, because in any group there will always be some one who is more of an antagonist, when you get a group of people together not all them will like each other. But this is <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city>  s story and we are seeing the journey through his eyes. I don t think he would give someone any time who was like that, so perhaps that s why we don t see them. Also there is enough stigma against positive people already in the world.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  It is implied that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> contracts HIV from the Canadian girl he meets on holiday, but it is a little ambiguous. Is that ambiguity deliberate?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Yes, very much so. I didn t want to say with any certainty that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> contracted it from her. We know he gave blood about 6 months before that, so he is able to guess within that time frame who it might have been and she is one possibility, perhaps the strongest one but we are never truly certain. Even if it was her, we don t know that she knew she had it in the first place.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Do you think <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> before his diagnosis is a bit of a ladies man?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  I think it s rare that real life is that simple  people always want to put people into boxes but often we don t actually fit into one. Jericho is a flirt and has certainly had his fair share of female attention in his life, but it is suggested very early on in fact that he is at the stage in his life where he is open to something serious and we know later he is already in love with someone close to him but scared to tell her  Even the most confident of people fear rejection. But if your asking if I think he sleeps around, the answer would be no, but has he been sexually reckless in the heat of passion? Yes he has. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  So one of the lessons learned from the film is always use a condom?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Yes, absolutely. My personal view is that unless you re in a committed relationship you should always use a condom during sex. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  We see <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> collapse in the trailer  how likely is that these days with modern medication?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Medication is very effective at controlling the virus, slowing its progression and even reducing the odds of transmission to practically zero. So it is great in a lot of ways, what it isn t is a cure, and it s also not effective on everyone that takes it. The scene to which you refer happens before <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> starts his treatments in any event. HIV can still kill people, the people at the support group will tell you it is not a picnic. Medication also comes with a horrendous list of side effects and very few people take meds and get none of them. Of course the stigma of having HIV itself and all the mental pressures that come with it can make you ill also.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  In the film <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:city> stockpiles his medication to give to Ummiy to take back to <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>  How close is that to reality?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  It was reality, I know it happened. But as in the film, the person concerned started their tablets earlier than they really needed to and saved up six months worth, starting for real on the next batch. I don t think their doctor was too pleased with them. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Some of the people portrayed in the film are people in real life where as several others are fictional characters. Was that a conscious decision from the beginning, to have real people portrayed in the film or did that come on board later?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  In most cases it was a decision made before I even put pen to paper. Doctor Patrick French is a real HIV specialist doctor and he has been in many ways an unofficial consultant on the film, I should probably give him a credit as one, but he is played by an actor. Winnie Sanyu-Seruma is a well known HIV activist from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Uganda</st1:place></st1:country-region> and has been positive since 1984. She is an incredible woman and so dear to me that she is like my sister. Winnie and Patrick also both appeared as characters in  Hi I m Vince .</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  You have a few well known faces in the trailer. Was it hard to convince them to come on board? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  The more well known the actor the busier their schedule so a lot of it depends how much they have on. Jason Flemyng pretty much gave us three hours between two flights. He came in from Gran Canaria in the morning, came to our set and flew out to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"> Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region> the next day, filming with us between. People like that in this business are rare, but they know how to support independent films like ours. Patrick Robinson, Liz Crowther and Colin Bennett all did something very similar for us. We were going to have Danny Webb as well, but we lost him due to a scheduling conflict. All could only give us a day of filming or less, but those hours made all the difference. When I was directing plays in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> I invited as many people as possible I wanted to work with in the future to come and see the work and that helped secure them for future projects and take me seriously as a creative talent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  How did Dan Stilwell come on board?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  I knew Dan already and heard he was looking to film scenes for actors showreels. I sent him  <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> and he really wanted to make it. At first he wanted to play <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> , but in the end as he was also producing he played one of his best friends, Steve, in the trailer. I am certain Dan will play either the same role or a similar one in the feature. I am also writing a play for Dan, but it s not ready yet. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  I have seen three different pieces of your work now and I have noticed two common themes. One of these is that there are often strong female characters in your pieces with great dialogue and the second is that many of these females are often black. Care to comment?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Sure. The first point is true and you re not the only person to say that. The trick is often not to make anyone, male or female, too nice or too nasty because every person normally has good and bad things about them that you like or hate in real life. The TV Series  The Shield is probably better at examining that than any other. Another series that does this effectively is  The Wire . So I try to make as many characters like that as possible. It s harder in  <st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:city> because often you only see people through <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city>  s eyes, so you don t always get to see the whole person. Even Gina, who is I suppose one of the bad guys in the piece, comes across totally differently in the beginning. Oh yes, and the second point. In the last ten years three women have really had an impact in my life, all of them in different ways, I often find a way to write them into the piece, even though the circumstances of their character maybe very different, the personality is often the same. All three of them were black. So one of those three has appeared in every piece of work I have done since  Sticks and Stones , not including the  Inquiry plays.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Your work is also often about death and loss. Is that deliberate?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  No. First of all, my work is more about life than it s ever about death so I don t really think that is true.  Sticks was an epic story very much about guilt, love and redemption. Characters do die in <st1:city w:st="on"> Jericho</st1:city> , but it is not a film about death, it is about how <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> deals with the changes that HIV has on his life and how it changes him. I do tackle the issue of grief which often surrounds subjects like  <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jericho</st1:City></st1:place> and  Hillsborough because slipping into those shoes is not very difficult for me, having experienced loss and grief on several occasions myself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  I read somewhere that you lost a good friend during the film?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  It was actually just after we finished the trailer shoot, while I was editing it, Michael Edwards who use to be the front desk of the London Lighthouse died in October. He was HIV positive and was also battling cancer. He was going to play himself in the movie so I kept his character in the re-write and I know an actor who is perfect to play him called Peter Savizon. His loss was a huge one, felt by many. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  You do not say the year when  <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city> is set. Is that intentional?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Yes, we want to keep the support group scenes as up to date as possible and I will keep re-writing them with the most relevant issues possible until the week before we shoot them. I guess you can more or less pin down the era but it s very vague. The film is set over 5 years. And you re told the time scale as the film goes along. That is actually very important. Every thing is Diagnosis Day plus one, or Diagnosis Day plus three months and so on. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Why is that so important?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Because what you see in the movie are the flashpoints of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city>  s life where having HIV is relevant. Where the virus intrudes on his life where it s not really wanted. In between these scenes <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jericho</st1:place></st1:city>  s life carries on of course, what we see are the points when HIV intersects it if you like. What we do not want to say is his life is effected by HIV it all the time, because it is not.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Do you think the film says it is harder for a straight man to deal with his HIV than a gay man? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  No. I don t think the film sets out to make that statement</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  What do you hope the film will achieve?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  If we can make it on the scale and the budget that I hope we can, I think it will educate a lot of people, not just about HIV but other issues as well in terms of how we treat people on a daily basis and what love and friendship means. With the exception of the inquiry plays, friendship is certainly a theme in everything I write. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> At the very least I hope it will encourage people, young people especially, to always wear a condom.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>MLR</b>  Lance Nielsen, thank you very much.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p>&nbsp;</o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>Lance</b>  Thank you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <div class="synopsisitem"> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="clear"> </div> </div> <div id="imageholder"> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> <span class="clear"> <img src="images/clapper.jpg" alt="Jerichos Walls Are Falling" width="180" height="120" /></span><img src="images/collapse.jpg" alt="Collapse Scene" width="180" height="120" /><img src="images/date.jpg" alt="The Date" width="180" height="120" /><img src="images/jericho-and-steve.jpg" alt="Jericho And Steve" width="180" height="120" /></p> <p> &nbsp;</p> </div> <div id="footer"> <p> <strong>&copy; Copyright 2010 <a href="http://www.freestyleproductions.co.uk">Freestyle Productions</a> - All Rights Reserved</strong></p> <p> <strong>Photographs courtesy of Richard Unger, Simon Barnes, Alex Coxall &amp; Lance Nielsen </strong><strong>&copy;</strong></p> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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