NEW COPS - COPS ON THE BEAT, CRIMINALS IN THE STREET

One day, two men sat down and decided they wanted to make a movie together. When suddenly, out of the blue, something happened. Something so big, so huge, and so fantastic, that something led to another something that led to another something, the end. So now, James, it's over to you. Tell us about your film.

1) What are your own origins, James?   Well, I always wanted to create stuff, so there's that I suppose. I also met Tim Morton in high school and David Maloney as far back as grade school, but we didn't really hang out until we were older and started working on things.

2) What inspired you to create ‘New Cops’, plus how are you involved with this project?   Basically, David and Tim wanted to do a movie together. It started off being about a lounge singer who was also a ghost, and eventually it transformed itself into becoming New Cops. They also wanted me to help out and have some fun doing it with them too, which I did, of course.

By chance, it just so happened that David and Tim were both cast as brothers to star in a civil war movie, Men Go to Battle, around about the same time a new Matthew McConaughey civil war movie was released. So now these two films got a sort of Deep Impact / Armageddon thing going on, inadvertently giving this no budget movie a bit more spotlight than it normally would.

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   Two guys hang out and stuff happens.

4) What song would you say best represents this film and why?   I would select the song, Do Re Mi. It appears at the end of the film and it's a ska version of the Woody Guthrie version. It has a more relaxed vibe like we're at the beach.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   Most probably Muhammad Ali, as he was pretty good at self-promotion and very well-known. If we are talking actors we would like to work with, maybe Bill Murray or Rick Moranis.

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour?   That if you stick with it you can get anything done. We are proud of what we did, either good or bad, and we hope it feels different from all the other movies that come out each year. After all, there is no sense in making something that's been done before.

For the next movie we're making we are mixing some of the improvisation from New Cops with a written screenplay. It was really created in editing and only had one page written. The one following that, Psycho Computer, has 30 pages with a clear beginning, middle, and end, which we can use to improv off of.

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead?   To me, it's knowing that you have a film-making partner who is working just as hard if not harder than you, making you want to see the project through. Even though it did feel like a two person job we had a lot of help as well. Obviously this came from David, the other actors, and our composer, Ben Zoeller, who really gave New Cops a bigger feel.

8) If ‘New Cops’ had a motto, what would it be?   New Cops: Cops on the beat, criminals in the street.

And so on that note, I'd like to thank James for telling us about his movie, New Cops, before directing you towards his official no-budget website.