Meet: Martin Gooch

We recently chatted with director Martin Gooch, an MA Screenwriting graduate from London College of Communication, UAL all about his career, and his love of TV and film. He shared some advice on how to make it as director (“make and use your contacts”), as well as his career highlights (a rainy night shoot in Leeds for ITV soap opera Emmerdale).

You studied MA Screenwriting at LCC; what made you choose this course?

I did a 2-year part-time Screenwriting MA from 2008 – 2010 at London College of Communication, UAL.

Since I was 5, I’d always wanted to be a director. By 2008, I had been working as a cameraman and camera assistant for film and TV, and I’d Directed shows like Hollyoaks and Doctors.

I went to Hollywood in 2007 and ended up selling a feature film screenplay almost by accident. Sadly, it never got made, but it was an experience and I realised I wanted to learn how to write screenplays properly. I wanted to be able to use words like protagonist instead of good guys and inciting incident in conversations with producers.

The MA was also on a Friday, which fitted in with my work schedule, so that was a major factor. And at the time it wasn't that expensive...

Can you tell us about your career before you started the MA?

I've always wanted to work in Film and TV; ever since an aunt took me to see Disney’s The Rescuers when I was 5. I remember it so well: the cinema, the curtains, the ice cream, the excitement. But that was the 70s/80s and getting into film and TV was an impossible dream unless you were connected. I even wrote to the TV and film critic, Barry Norman for advice, and he wrote back saying “why don't you ask your school career advisor?” Well, he must have gone to a much more organised school than I did as we didn't have any careers people!

Eventually, in 1994 I became a runner in Soho for a film company called Cinesite and worked my way up to being a director in 2006 on Doctors (BBC1), which was my first paying gig. I did about 100 TV shows, pop videos, commercials and films in the camera department (including Harry Potter, Eastenders, Robot Wars, Big Brother).

I made a lot of short films as a director and it was one of these Arthur’s Amazing Things which won a BBC Talent Best New Director search in 2001. Then I won it again in 2002 and eventually the Beeb gave me a job.

Since then, I’ve written 21 movies, 6 have been made, 2 sold outright, and 4 optioned. So, a good average! I've also written a couple of TV series, which I’m hoping will get commissioned.

How has the MA helped your career since?

I think learning how to structure and the discipline to write are the most useful things. Setting aside an hour or two every day to work on a project is the only way they get done. Writing is a skill, but it is also mostly hard graft. There are so many people who will say “I’m working on my first feature film script…” well just do it. I wrote a feature in 9 days which then got made.

Structure teaches you where things go and how to fit a feature film together, so it’s less daunting to write. I know I can write a feature in 6 weeks, and I can concentrate on enjoying the writing and creating something good that audiences will like.

As a director, you need to be able to direct the actors, camera, and script. I thought the MA was the best way to learn how to really understand screenplays as they’re the fundamental building blocks of all productions. It also means I can give good notes on other people's scripts when I am directing.

You recently directed 4 episodes of Emmerdale; what was that experience like?

It was fantastic working for ITV in Leeds. They’re so well set up. From day one, you know exactly where you are supposed to go and what you are supposed to be doing. There’s Emmerdale house style of course, and the scripts are already written, but there is a huge amount of opportunity to ‘do it your way’ whilst being mindful of how the crew are used to working and how the actors’ work.

The episodes will be on ITV on 28, 29, 30 November if you wish to tune in.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a director?

It’s a very, very tough industry. Unfortunately, the UK film and TV is not expanding, and the number of jobs is not increasing. There’s only 1 director on a film or TV episode where there might be a dozen actor roles, and everyone knows that acting is tough! The downsides are living in hotels for months on end, being away from home, and loneliness. The hours are long, and the pay is much less than people imagine. The only way in is through contacts. Jobs are not advertised, and if, like me, you have no family in the biz and didn't go to Oxbridge or the National Film and Television School (NFTS), then it can take years to get the contacts to move up in the industry. You can do a great job on a show and win awards and then quite simply not get hired, and you’ll never know why. There is no line manager, no one to report to or get an opinion from; you’re on your own. It can affect your mental health very much.

But I love it. Some of the greatest and best days of my life have been on set. The sense of achievement when things work out, or you get a fantastic performance from an actor, is huge and can last for months. I've been directing a scene where when I said CUT, the crew burst out in spontaneous applause, and that does not happen very often! When everything works out, and you shoot something that just looks wonderful, camera, lighting, makeup, wardrobe, art, and everyone has all come together under your leadership and direction to create a beautiful work of art is really something. Really something!

I have travelled all over the world and met all sorts of interesting people, from Royalty to megastars. The highs are fantastic, but the lows can be long, and you can get the serious morbs (post-shoot blues) once a gig is over.

My main advice is to think long and hard if this is what you really want to do. The dropout rate is 84% (BFI stats). Most people who want to be directors do it for one movie or TV show and then realise how hard it is and give up. You’ve got to really want it. There are more professional footballers in the UK than working directors, but if I tell people I want to be a footballer, they just laugh. Mean.

What has been a career highlight for you?

That’s a very tricky question. We just did a fantastic night shoot on Emmerdale in the pouring rain with multiple actors, which was really hard work, but a huge sense of satisfaction when I saw it all edited together.

We spent one day filming a WW2 tank on The Search for Simon (my second feature film from 2013). It was a super low-budget movie - we did the whole thing for about £16K, and I was the producer as well as Director (and actor). I wanted the film to open in WW2 with tanks and soldiers and look epic, so getting that together with loads of actors in the West country when everyone was based in London was a formidable task, but we did it! It was an utterly freezing February day, and the tank, which is made of iron, was so cold! But everyone turned up - it was a fantastic day, and as I drove home that night, I just felt this incredible rush that we’d achieved this insane thing! I know films with huge budgets that wouldn't have been able to do all that in one day. It was brilliant.

What’s next for you?

I have a couple of feature films I hope I can get off the ground and a totally awesome sci-fi TV series that I was born to make which I’m trying to get commissioned. I’m still looking for an agent, and I hope to do more with ITV in the future. I’m available to direct exciting film and TV!

Earlier this year I spent a month in LA and did the MediaXchange Showrunner LA program, which was fantastic and a beautiful way to combine directing and writing. I hope that will lead to future opportunities as a showrunner.

• Find out more about Martin's work: martingooch.com
• Read his IMDB page