Q&A with Scott Eathorne, Australian Director of 'Selling Hopkins'

Q&A with Scott Eathorne, Australian Director of 'Selling Hopkins'

CIFF: How did you develop your characters and their apparent quirks?

Scott Eathorne (SE): The characters Mya and Toby actually came about pretty quickly. I'm kind of fascinated by socially awkward people, and thought the idea of putting two of them in
the same room would allow for some great awkward comedy. Having Toby as an unemployed man, and Mya as a saleswoman, just seemed to be the perfect fit for their interaction. The comedy stemmed from character first, then circumstance.


CIFF: I found myself wondering if he actually liked her or perhaps she just came along at an inconvenient convenient time. What was your intention?

SE: Yeah, it's absolutely left to interpretation. I didn't want to spoon feed the audience at all. These characters meet at a time in their lives where they need to make a choice about the way they want to live, and they find strange comfort in eachother. What happens after that is up to them, but at least they're making a go at it.


CIFF: With our Showcase on Australia this year,Calgarians are no doubt curious about the Australian film industry. Is it a fairly tight knit community or are projects spread out across the country?

SE: We're spread throughout! I'm from Western Australia, and the heart of the industry is over East in Sydney, so there's certainly distance. We have two funding bodies here in WA - Screenwest and the Film & Television Institute, and they're very supportive to local filmmakers. A lot of people finance their own projects independently though, depending on the
percieved marketability of the project.
CIFF: Do you have any other films in the works right now?

SE: I'm looking at shooting my next short film - mockingbird - toward the end of the year. It's fardarker than Selling Hopkins and deals with issues of loss. It's simplistic but I think it'll make a damn good drama. I'm also writing my first feature so after mockingbird's done, if it's received well, I 'll work towards getting that off the ground.

CIFF: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

SE: I guess it comes from character first - I'm a big fan of character driven films. I think that comes through in my shorts. I'll create a character in my head that intrigues me, and run with it. I like quirky character studies, little snapshots of life, with regular people. There's a wealth of material out there.

Read more about the film and Scott Eathorne at http://www.quikmarkmedia.com/hopkins
Selling Hopkins is part of the "Spotlight on Australia: Short Film Series"
It is playing on the 23rd of September at 1pm.