BBFF2022 Meet the Filmmaker: Wilkins Ho

abrupt Chaos

Writer, director and editor Wilkins Ho has a created an exceptional proof on concept dramatic short film based on the first act of a feature length screenplay. The aftermath of a murder as two desperate souls are stuck with the clean-up work. Unbeknownst to them, bad company is right around the corner.

We had a chat to Wilkins Ho about the making of ‘Abrupt Chaos’ and his process from the initial story concept and writing to making a proof of concept.

Screening at Byron Theatre

• Saturday 29 October at 5:00pm with Sweet Adventure

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What was the process for you to get this film from an initial concept on page to screen?

When I was working for the networks in Hong Kong, my friends and I had conceptualised and made a short film with a similar premise, we wanted to create a "night of misfortune" for a protagonist. After I moved back to Sydney I wanted to expand on the idea and I decided to write a feature film for it. I was fortunate enough to win a screenplay contest at the Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival. When I won at Lift-off, I realised I had a strong enough story to execute on, so I decided to make a 10-minute proof of concept short film, based on the feature film's first act turning point.

How has your experience been as an independent filmmaker?

I don't remember a time when I didn't want to be a filmmaker. Like a lot of filmmakers, ever since I got my first camera when I was 14, I have never been able to put it down. I guess I'm very lucky to have grown up in an age of digital cinema, where anyone can film anything, they want to with ease. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to hone on my skills. When I got out of university, I flew back to Hong Kong and started working as a Production Assistant in the biggest TV network over there, I learned filmmaking in a professional environment where I was constantly challenged to work creatively under pressure by producers. I was able to apply the skills I've learnt towards my own independent short films. However, being not the most fluent Chinese screenwriter, I had always struggled to put good materials on the page, even though Cantonese is technically my mother tongue. So I have decided to move back home to Sydney last year, where I can make movies in a language I'm comfortable writing in. Abrupt Chaos is my first English film in 6 years. And it sure feels good!

As a filmmaker what is your favourite memory you had in the process of creating this film?

When we were filming a scene where the villains are harassing the female lead. A pedestrian thought there were actual villains harassing a lady in the car, and he intervened. At first, we thought he was being weird because we had so much filmmaking equipment surrounding the set. But I guess to a normal person, they just see these guys yelling inappropriate jokes at a girl. Our gaffer explained to him that we are filming a scene, and therefore no police officers were called. Even to this day, I wake up during the nights at how close we were to being arrested.

Why do you think short films are an important medium to explore creativity through?

Short film is extremely important, in a way more important than feature films, because it can lead to so many possibilities. In my case, I'm making my short film as a proof of concept for my feature film. And ultimately, it's the living proof of "a picture paints a thousand words", because this short film will pitch my feature film way better than any PowerPoint presentations, I was able to make it at the fraction of what it would cost to make a feature, and it costs less time to make than a feature. Through this process, I was able to meet with some amazing people in the industry, people that I wouldn't have been able to being onboard if I were to make a micro-budget short.

Part of the filmmaking process is you will face challenges, how did you overcome these?

When my DP and I at the time first started pre-production, we struggled to get a producer onboard. Being an unnamed director in Australia, I didn't really have any contacts to being to the table. My DP was kind enough to put together an entire crew while I started casting through Starnow. A couple of weeks before rehearsal, due to personal reasons my DP had to move away from Sydney, therefore we lost all the crew. Luckily he put me through to Tom, who was able to bring me a new crew to work with. But a week before rehearsal, my lead actress dropped out on the film, and I had to replace her in short notice.

If it wasn't for lockdown I would have never been able to writing the entire feature film in such short time. So I guess there were some good that came from the pandemic for this film. However, just before rehearsal I was tested positive, fortunately it didn't effect my crew so we didn't have a production outbreak, I was able to recover and get back to work very quickly. As to my professional career, because I moved back to Australia during the Delta outbreak, I was never able to film anything on set, that has affected me because I have been stuck in editing positions for a year now, and yearning to direct professionally again. This is one of the reasons why I had to make this film despite so many difficulties. I just can't survive without filmmaking.

What is next for you in the future?

I'm currently writing my next feature screenplay that I'm excited to bring to life once it's finished. In terms of jobs, I'm in the conversation to jump onboard a new season of a big reality TV show as a shooter producer, so fingers crossed that happens!

What is your biggest creative influence on your filmmaking style?

I have had many influences throughout the years. I'm more interested in what ways are the best to tell the specific story I have at hand. For this film, when I wrote the feature screenplay, I wrote it as if it was a Pulp Fiction knock-off. But when I filmed it, I was heavily influenced by Johnnie To's work, and thought it would be interesting to film an Australian film, in the style of early 2000s Hong Kong gangster cinema. I suppose my stories have styles, whereas I don't really have one.

What is a piece of advice you can give to all aspiring filmmakers?

Keep making films. There's a saying "Everybody has bad films in them, it's better to get them out early". I think it's foolish to not make/write films because you don't have a good idea yet. Because good ideas come when you've made mistakes, allowing yourself to make mistakes is the only way to get better at anything. Abrupt Chaos is just a short film about two people trying to stop four drunk bogans from stealing their car, and the film title is ripped from a subreddit forum. Letting myself go into writing something that was originally a practical joke between me and my friends, has led me to creating something that I'm really proud of.

BBFF was the first festival deadline I was planning for, way before post-production. I've always wanted my world premiere to be in NSW, and BBFF is the right place at the right time.

I think festivals are important because it helps filmmakers to meet other filmmakers. This being my first year in the industry in Australia, networking is extremely important. Festivals are great because it celebrates independent good work that would have otherwise been overlooked.