'A bunch of scumbags from the comedy circuit managed to weasel their way into this show'

Sam Campbell on Make That Movie

Sam Campbell's new show Make That Movie lands on Channel 4 next week. Here's what it's about in the comedian's own words...

How would you describe Make That Movie?

Gather round viewers, fasten your eyeballs, I am ready for my exclusive TELL ALL.

Make That Movie is a television programme for thrill-seekers and people who like ogling the IMDB trivia section after they watch a flick. It’s about a group of film-makers who scour the land looking for regular Joes with fantastic movie ideas and use their expertise to bring them to the big screen.

I guess REALLY it is about people who find themselves in predicaments, trying to untangle them in unhelpful but hopefully funny ways.

I really like high concept / batshit premises and this felt like a neat way to do a whole bunch of those within the sitcom structure.

We spent a lot of time on the outlines for each episode. I had the tendency to get carried away with a zillion set pieces and going full Gosford Park and adding loads of characters. I needed reining in. I needed to be admonished. Money does not grow on trees!

Were there ideas you were convinced would make it in, but didn’t survive the process?

I still want to do an episode where they make a movie for an airplane pilot’s last ever flight. To play on all the passengers’ screens.

Plane screens are so advanced and have so many movies but the TV section is wild. Often only two episodes from the fifth season of a TV show. And not even episodes 1 and 2 it will be like 7 and 8. I just don’t get it.

The people involved feel really intentional. What was the process like for finding the right people to get involved? 

One word – Lighting. Wait, sorry – Casting.

We had a very amazing casting director called Lauren and also a bunch of scumbags from the comedy circuit managed to weasel their way in.

What was it like to play yourself as a ‘hotshot director’?

My guy has a helluva lot to learn. Don’t we all?

I like to think I am playing a pretty exaggerated version of myself. I promise I am not nearly as villainous and have not done a lick of human trafficking.

At what point did it hit you that this wasn’t just an idea anymore, but a full-on production with lots of moving parts?

There is a pretty gnarly shot they built a big water tank for. A bastard rising from the depths of a swamp. Watching all that being finagled made me smile from ear to ear I must say.

How did the ideas for the films come about?

A lot of them are genuine ideas I have had, only to be told I was something of a nutjob. A few from riffing. A guy called Olly Cambridge, who helped get the scripts into shape, and I spoke a lot about if ET was found by some Millwall fans and that slowly morphed into The Yooglet idea. The film in the last episode appeared to me in a dream.

Tell me about the rest of the cast – what was it like working with everyone?

Let’s just say I’m glad there was a make-up department. Boy did they have to lay it on thick!

The core cast are all people I know pretty well. Only David Hargreaves – who played Winnie – I had not met before we started. I am so glad to know him he is a shining gem and would often recite an ancient poem about the battle of Hastings to lift morale.

What do you hope audiences take away from Make That Movie?

I hope they get really into it and start smashing up all their furniture and try to enter the show by diving headfirst into their TV…

My desire is that a disenfranchised teen will stumble upon the show and what do you know? It excites them. Their older siblings wander in and are slowly won over. Their parents hear all the commotion and perch on either arm of the sofa. They too are in awe.

Before long grandparents, neighbours and high-profile influencers are spilling into the living room and experiencing what they all collectively describe as ‘That Make That Movie Magic!’

This is my only wish.

If you had to describe Make That Movie in three words, what would they be and why?

Perfect Stocking Filler. I happen to think we should use stockings to carry gifts all year round not just at Christmas. Who’s with me!?

Finally, can you describe your own movie idea in a couple of sentences?

A romantic comedy about a guy who owns a stationery store falling in love with a lady who runs a revolving restaurant. Against all odds they make it work.

• Make That Movie launches on Channel 4 at 10pm next Thursday – straight after Taskmaster – with a double episode.

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