Matthew Cooper Director – Deal of the Dead

We finished and released our first micro budget feature film last month – Markham which is getting decent DVD sales and on demand screenings on Vimeo.  Almost straight away I’m moving onto my next low budget feature – the slightly more ambitious Sci-Fi/Horror Deal of the Dead.

We’ve learned a hell of a lot of things from the making of Markham, and these lessons are all being ploughed into Deal of the Dead, the biggest lesson being most of Deal of the Dead is being shot in one location, in Leeds (the location is being kept under wraps for now). The location covers just about all the exterior shots we need, and is available for night and day shoots without much hassle.

Markham, in contrast was shot in Staithes, Whitby, Liverpool, Morecambe, Leeds and Kefalonia (and that’s not even the complete list).  So much time was spent moving from one location to another – we’re not doing that again, on a low budget.

While Markham had some gory special effects, Deal of the Dead is hugely effects heavy, from practical make-up effects to stop motion animation, and we’re doing all of this in-house.   This is the bit that alongside working with the actors excites me most as a director.  We’re setting up a kind of old school mini ILM- it’s fun.

As well as directing I’ll also be operating as the main director of photography.

We’re hoping that on Deal of the Dead we’ll be able to secure a slightly wider release and distribution deal once the film is completed – so watch this space.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire, and UK script consultant.  He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb and you can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.