Director Ed Sayers is bringing the straight 8 industry shootout to ADFEST for the first time in 2018, all the way from London.
 
Sayers runs his own production company, Seven Productions, which also services overseas productions shooting in London. When he’s not directing and producing, he is the founder of straight 8 – a short film competition in which competitors must shoot on super 8 cartridge, with no editing.
 
Twenty films by 20 creative companies will premiere at the ADFEST straight 8 industry shootout. To be part of the fun, don’t forget to register on Wednesday 13^th December via straight8.net/adfest-2018


Your motto is beautifully simple: ‘Do stuff.’ What sort of stuff have you done this year?
 
'Do Stuff' should be a tattoo but I'm not brave enough! I'm ducking the answer slightly to say that I'm actively looking for a project to tie in with the trip to ADFEST in March. I'm looking to work with a charity to run a straight 8 workshop with people who've got stories and would never get to try this out.

That's a Do Stuff that someone reading this may be able to help with... Something worthwhile, in the region. We've held workshops where in one day you conceive, plan, shoot, hand-process and project your straight 8 film, come nightfall.  I'd like something like that to be my next Do Stuff. So if you're reading this and have an idea, please contact me.
 

What inspired you to bring the straight 8 industry shootout to ADFEST next year?
 
The straight 8 industry shootout format has been going since 2016 when we took it to Cannes.  It was based on an event I ran with Steve Davies from the APA in 2003 and 2005 for London ad agencies called straight 8 agency shootout. We decided to re-boot it and open it to any companies working in the ad industry.
 
This really celebrates the benefit of straight 8's level playing field. You'll see a music company going head to head with a major agency for example, and all for charity.
 
The event went really well in Cannes in 2016 and again in 2017 so we decided to try it somewhere else. CICLOPE Festival of Craft was next, in Berlin, and we had a tremendous global response from different types of companies from 13 different countries including Japan, Estonia, USA, France, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and more.
 
So now, boldly, we thought we'd go further afield again! The organisers of ADFEST were cautious at first, but then totally got it and we're all excited about what stories people will tell with their straight 8 films, and from where.
 

You’re a director yourself. What do you love about shooting on super 8 cartridge?
 
Confession: I haven't shot much super 8 myself for ages. Firstly, I have a better excuse than anyone in the world not to enter straight 8 (apart from being scared of the opposition). I did make one in 2012, ‘A Day Out In Time' [https://vimeo.com/58096934] – let me know if you like it.
 
Secondly, as a director most of my work is multi-cam surprises on the public and documentary/real people.  The thing that it has most in common with straight 8 is probably the lack of second takes, but shooting that much film, having to re-load and needing quiet cameras, super 8 doesn't really feel quite right!
 
I was a producer and at one point I worked on things like the T-Mobile 'Dance' at Liverpool Street Station and a one-hour event,  'Singalong' in Trafalgar Square. Both campaigns had the same sense of jeopardy as straight 8 where so much had to go right and it would not be about fixing anything in post.
 
Another example was a stage show that I produced, 'Pot Noodle The Musical', for Mother London that went to Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  It occurred to me that I'm drawn to things where you try to control as much as possible but you also 'go with it' once it's started.
 

Why should creatives think about being part of straight 8 at ADFEST 2018?
 
Here's a massive empty cinema screen. Have two and half minutes of it to show hundreds of creative people whatever you want, WITH NO BRIEF. Where do you go for your idea? Your heart, your head, your community, a dream? Make the film you want to make, yes, but also tell it in a way that will make the audience feel gripped, entertained, enlightened. Idea, as ever, will trump execution, but get a great idea and see how people will be magnetised toward it... people with a camera, people who make props, composers – probably not an editor, unless you need help storyboarding it. 
 
It's probably not going to turn out 'perfect' but you won't spend months or even a minute in edit suites and post-houses and no-one will be questioning anything about the edit – because there won't be one. You'll just be waiting anxiously to see it weeks later, at ADFEST, big, in front of your peers and competitors. If you like creative pressure, what's not to like?!
 

Favorite film of 2017?
 
It's been a good year.  The Square, Get Out, Lady Macbeth, 120 Beats Per Minute, Lion, A Ghost Story, Dunkirk, The Founder, La La Land, Paddington 2 plus more I've yet to see.
 
Then on TV: Westworld, A Handmaid's Tale, Bojack Horseman Season 4 are all great. So much to watch, so little time. I think I just gave away my Do Stuff of 2017. And to not answer your question properly, like with straight 8 films, I don't have a favourite.
 
edsayers.co.uk
straight8.net