It’s Nice That: First off, can you tell us about your background working together, and how partnering on Make That Movie came about? What led to you wanting to make this type of show?
Joe Pelling: I met Sam after seeing his Edinburgh show in 2017. I think our mutual friend Charlie Perkins introduced us when she was working as head of comedy at Blink Industries. We made a short Comedy Blap together in 2019 called Get Real Dude, and then Sam worked with us on the TV adaptation of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared for Channel 4. Sam has a very original voice and doesn’t massively overthink stuff, so we always found it pretty enjoyable working with him on that show and he seemed to get the tone we were going for. I think the idea for Make That Movie came from Sam’s love of terrible amateur filmmaking and a lot of the chaos that goes down on set. Documentaries like Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau about Richard Stanley’s nightmare making a film with Marlon Brando were a big influence.
I think we wanted to make a comedy show that also had a strong visual flavour, like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Documentary Now! or The Mighty Boosh. This idea meant we could weave that stuff in naturally as part of the overall concept.
Sam Campbell: My cousin showed me the original Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared short on Youtube back in the day. My memory is hazy but I remember looking up the creators and saw they were in an art collective. I pictured them all living in a commune and waking up at the crack of dawn to build puppets and film maggots.
Sorry to nitpick but I actually met Joe in 2018 not 2017. He really does lie through his teeth! I found him very funny to talk to and indeed look at (pencil neck) so when the offer came through to make a Blap with him and evil production company Blink it felt like a no-brainer.
Will Kay, who was working on an animated sequence for Dora the Explorer movie at the time and ended up producing Make That Movie, was tasked with making the dream helmet because he has an affinity with wires and cords and the like.
The road to Make That Movie would make even the most seasoned traveller extremely car sick. I believe the germ of the idea is from our initial meetings in 2019. This comment is from an excel spreadsheet of stray concepts:
“We find obscure ebooks, interview the authors and adapt a scene from their work. – Wouldn’t this be cool?”