For many filmmakers, their projects are considered outlets and products of their personal journeys. When it comes to the film Schemers, this may be too on the nose. Directed and co-written by Dave McLean, the film depicts a time when McLean and his friends pulled off their first major concert in their hometown of Dundee, Scotland. Deep in debt with a dangerous local gangster, he was desperate to pull off the perfect scheme.
By Belton DeLaine-Facey for Winter Film Awards
See the NYC Premiere of “Schemers” on Friday Feb 21 @6:30pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
Now holding a successful career managing and promoting some of the most successful bands of the past few decades, McLean spoke about making that time of his life the subject of his directorial debut.
For McLean, the idea for the film first came to him when the band he co-manages, Placebo, weren’t on tour. Having used stories of the music business to entertain those around him for years, he decided to give one a proper telling and wrote the script.
From that point on, the process was as close to home as possible. Holding auditions in Dundee and London, using local locations, and keeping some familiar faces around such as Kit Clarke, who plays his father and is a former client.
The fondness and joy McLean has for these memories shines through the film, which was proudly shot in Dundee. “Everything was great,” McLean said of the experience. “It was great to go back and revisit a lot of the old bars and hotels I used to go to, meet up with old friends, [and] see all the changes that have taken place in the city.”
Through all the changes, McLean and his team used various locations of the city while maintaining a sense of familiarity within the chaos happening in the story. He claimed no research was necessary as he remembered a lot of it, just changing some names. However, this was still a first time experience for him which meant some growing pains. “It started out as a bit of fun, but events along the way created a lot of problems. I had to reshoot a lot of scenes, do rewrites, change key members of cast…I now have a great team of people around me to make the next movie.”
While the film is fun to watch, it definitely adds some humor to know McLean has been successful working with big names such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Green Day. He claims everything you see is true, even him not reading a contract. If there’s a lesson to come from this, he says, “Never let anyone tell you, you can’t do this and you can’t do that,…Don’t be afraid to fail, take chances…Don’t look back and say ‘I could have done that’”
While there’s no straight path to his profession, McLean is proud of how it started. Despite the hardships, he and his friends put on a show and he’s even working with the same band mangers again. The only thing he’s unsure of is if he could’ve done it with the internet around. “Everyone knows everything about everybody now. Back then it was just phone calls and letters. If you were a good talker you could get ahead, Now, it’s easy to check history, profile, [and] research people”
Part comedy, part coming of age, yet all true. Schemers is a lesson to us all to follow our ambitions.
Belton DeLaine-Facey
Belton is a passionate screenwriter, film director, and stand-up comedian. As well as research skills from his time earning a biology degree, he has developed a strong ability to mix satire and wit with storytelling. He makes short films as well as writes feature-length & pilot scripts, and performs stand-up comedy. Recently, his short film, America’s Dating Game, screened at the Oregon Short Film Festival and the Austin Comedy Film Festival. You can also check out his podcast, Film vs. Movie, which he hosts and produces with Chris Shurr. He’s currently developing a narrative podcast series, The Near Disaster.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 20-29 2020. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 79 fantastic films in all genres from 27 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
