Like those two, Franny’s films put an entertaining spin on some serious social issues and prove in the process that sometimes a spoonful of sugar does, in fact, make the medicine go down. DOC recently had a chance to pick Ms. Armstrong’s brain about everything from her start in the documentary genre to her fiercely Independent production company Spanner films.
Documentary Channel: Can you talk a little bit about your background in filmmaking?
Franny Armstrong: I became a filmmaker by accident. I'd been playing drums in various pop groups since I left school, then I heard about the McLibel trial starting up, got in touch with the people involved, found out nobody was making a documentary about it and decided to have a go.
DOC: What initially drew you to the documentary medium?
FA: My dad was a documentary filmmaker, so I grew up around it. I never had any aspirations to follow in his footsteps, but then I was so inspired when I heard about the two people standing up against McDonald's, I just wanted to help in any way I could. Filmmaking equipment is what I happened to have access to. If my dad had had a printing press, I'd have been making posters.
DOC: Can you talk a bit about your company, Spanner Films?
FA: We work completely outside the mainstream industry, mainly so we can keep control of all the rights to our films and make sure they get seen by the most number of people. That's very much the aim, rather than getting rich or winning lots of awards. Fifty-five million people have watched so far. The other reason we are deliberately independent is that we keep editorial control. I'm not the kind of person who responds well to other people telling me what can or can't be in my film.
DOC: Your documentaries thus far have had their focus on political and social issues. How do you determine the subjects of your films? And do you think these are the sorts of stories you’ll always be drawn to tell?
FA: The fastest I've made a feature doc is three years—that was “Drowned Out.” So the main criteria is that I am completely obsessed with the subject. At the rate I make them, I'll be able to make only 10 or so films throughout my whole life, so I would hate to waste time doing something I didn't believe in on all sorts of levels. As to what subjects become my obsessions, the first two—“McLibel” and “Drowned Out”—were both about the small guy taking on impossible odds to defend a principle. And my second two—“Baked Alaska” and “Crude”—are about climate change.
DOC: What can we expect next from Spanner Films?
FA: We're three years into our new film, “Crude,” which will hopefully be coming to a cinema near you in early 2008. It's set in 2055, during runaway climate change, with an old guy watching "archive" footage from 2007, trying to work out why we didn't stop climate change while we had the chance. I'm making it with John Battsek—who won the Documentary Oscar for “One Day In September”—so hopefully he will be able to pull off the multiplex distribution I'm dreaming of. “Crude” was funded by selling "shares" to people who believe in us and are concerned about climate change, so again it's totally independent. We raised the first 250,000 pounds in 2006 and are now looking for the last few investors. If anyone would like to invest, check out
www.crudemovie.net .
Franny’s films “McLibel” and “Drowned Out” can be seen all this month only on the Documentary Channel. Check
HERE for listings.
The Films of Franny Armstrong