STEVE BARRON INTERVIEW

A key player in the development of the music video in the 80’s, Steve Barron directed some of that decades most iconic videos: A-ha’s ‘Take On Me’, Michael Jackson’ s ‘Billy Jean’, Dire Straits ‘Money for Nothing’ and countless others for the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, ZZ Top, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Culture Club. His entry into feature filmmaking was on Ridley Scott’s first feature: “My parents were in the business, Mum was a production secretary and Dad was soundman. I was pretty crap at school so I looked to get out as soon as possible; when I left I got a job working as a tea boy at a camera hire company. I soon ended up working as a clapper loader on The Duellists, A Bridge Too Far and Superman I and II.” “I was pretty young in the business and learning fast, with music videos it was a case of ‘right place, right time’. The first one I shot was for The Jam and their song ‘Strange Town’… soon after I was shooting videos for Adam and the Ants, The Human League and Heaven 17.“ Barron worked solidly for the next ten years as one of Europe’s top music video directors. “I was asked to do a couple of David Bowie music videos for the movie Labyrinth. I met with Jim Henson and he showed me around the set, he was lovely man, just a total gent…he offered me the chance to direct a pilot for a new TV series he was developing called Storyteller. It was written by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), who at the time was a BBC writer and it involved working with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to create the creatures…which was a great experience”. It was Minghella who recommended Barron as a candidate to direct an adaptation of the underground comic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, already a popular children’s animated TV show. “I immediately jumped on it, thinking it was something extraordinary that I wanted to get involved with”. Barron spoke to Jim Henson, requesting the Creature Shop’s expertise: “he wasn’t too keen to get his creature shop involved, he thought the comic was pretty bloody“ but once persuaded of Barron’s intent to focus on humour and to take a lighter tone, Henson agreed to help, a major advantage as the animatronic Turtle suits were key to the films success. Similarly the fight choreography needed to work “we had a really great fight choreographer who was brought in from Hong Kong… and he got that it was a going to have a sense of humour to it… but some of it we definitely made in the cutting room”. Barron worked closely on balancing the dark tone and slapstick fights with his Editor Sally Menke, who would go on to be Quentin Tarantino’s editor of choice or as Barron quips “he nicked her and used her forever”...Menke was tragically killed last year). Once completed, the darker tone worried the producers: “they really thought it would put kids off, in their heads it was all going to be big, bright coloured foam and what they saw was very different to that”. Upon its release, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was nothing short of a phenomenon at the US Box Office becoming the most successful independent film ever made (until, ironically, Pulp Fiction knocked it from its perch). TMNT has gone on to etch itself into popular culture spawning two sequels, a CG animated feature in 2007 and recently its been announced that Michael Bay will produce a live action re-boot which Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles) is slated to helm. Barron is philosophical about the longevity of the Turtle franchise: “these stories are not just nostalgia, they have ideas that strike a note with kids, they’re fun-loving, fascinating super heroes. I think it’s all about re-invention when it comes to kids, if its done right they’ll want to go along again for the ride”. JARROD WALKER