Noah Caplan, a seventeen year old filmmaker from Essex, has written, directed and produced many of his own short films. Caplan discusses the origin of his career, as well as advice for other aspiring filmmakers. 

 

Q1: When did you decide that you wanted to pursue film as a career? 

I’ve always been pretty creative to be honest. When I was younger, I enjoyed music and instruments but soon realised that I had more interest in the story behind the songs and music videos. I wrote a ‘kid’ version of James Bond called ‘Daniel Brand’ when I was 6. I was a class-clown in school and got into trouble, but amended this by pursuing what made me happy, which was film. My childhood friends have been really supportive despite people knocking my confidence when I joined a new school.

 

Q2: What personal projects have you undergone/are coming up in the future?

My childhood script on Daniel Brand never got made into a film, despite a letter I found recently, in which I asked Dwayne Johnson to be the lead. Between ages 12-14, I made my first two short films, ‘Feel The Pressure’ and ‘Cyanide.’ I’ve just made ‘Stepping Stone’, a mental-health charitable film, featuring Danny Dyer. I’m currently pursuing my debut-feature called ‘Wicked Smart’. I’ve got roughly 50 projects on the go, from a travel show, to podcast ‘Industry Babies’, and a series I worked on in the past, so it’s going to be a busy year. 

 

Q3: Who inspires you?

Zain Khan. Zain Khan is my inspiration. But within the industry, I know the team of the production company Wall Of Productions, who are doing a great job. A24 produce brilliant films as well as the new age directors Taika Watiti and Ryan Coogler. I also think Marvel is running the industry right now. In fact Disney, I think they keep cinema alive right now. My biggest goal is to work with Marvel and break the formula a bit. 

 

Q4: What style of filmmaking do you enjoy?

I don’t lean towards any particular style. I want to make films that benefit people and explore topics that aren’t spoken about, whether that’s inspiring creativity or breaking out of social judgement circles. Without pushing agendas, I think it’s cool when films have depth to them. I like when the lines between fiction and reality are blurred. I just think films should have a fair share of escapism and real world problems. 

 

Q5: The hardest question for any film fanatic, what are your favourite films?

To be honest, it's not even that hard for me. I have a list where I rank every film I watch. At the top of the list has got to be ‘Good Will Hunting’. It’s so cleverly written and influenced ‘The Stepping Stone.’ There’s the cinema experiences like ‘The Avengers’. I love ‘The Truman Show’, would love to do a remake of that one day. ‘La La Land’, even though I typically dislike musicals. There’s a small budget movie called ‘Breakthrough’ I absolutely love and relate to. ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Godfather’, ‘Scarface’, are brilliant. ‘Eternal Sunshine Of Spotless Mind’, ‘True Romance’ ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. And ‘Blue Story’ I love, and I had the pleasure of working with that crew in ‘Stepping Stone’. I could go on, but number one is definitely ‘Good Will Hunting’. 

 

Q6: What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers?

Without being patronising, if you have a story to tell, you can tell it. You don’t need funding or resources, you will just make it work, which is what filmmaking is all about. Films are so easy to make now. If you can take a snapchat video, then you can visually tell a story. And don’t let what others think put you off. At first, I knew that I was making sh*t films, but you’ve just gotta keep making sh*t films. I never went to film school, I just kind of made it up as I went along. Just use your imagination.