Yes it’s true, Hitchin is about to hit the big screen! We spoke to Sean Vincent, co-director and producer of forthcoming film Shoot The DJ, to find out more.

Q1     You’ve been running a successful record label since
2005 – why did you switch to film-making?

I run the Sonic-Hub Records dance label with my partners, Dan Peters and Rick Wilde. We’d been finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the bigger labels, which all have massive marketing budgets, and had been trying to find a new way to get our music out there. That’s when I came up with the idea of making a film about our record label, featuring all our acts.


Q2     So is Shoot The DJ a biopic?

No, it’s a fictional story, but the three characters that own the record label are based on exaggerated versions of me, Dan and Rick. The plot had been floating around my head for some time, so it only took five days to write the script.


Q3    What is the film about?

It’s about two DJs who are struggling to make ends meet. They desperately need to find a way of making money, but want to avoid getting a proper job, so they decide to start supplying illegal drugs. Shoot The DJ is centred on the relationship between the supplier, the dealer and the user. It’s a fast-moving film full of straight-faced, uniquely British humour, with a plot that’s got more twists and turns than a plate of spaghetti!

Q4    Is it true that you made the film on a budget of just £5,000?

Yes – the ethos behind our record label has always been ‘don’t spend money unnecessarily’. We’ve got loads of contacts in the music industry and they were all up for it, so we got them working for free. We also blagged the use of expensive cars, great locations and even a helicopter – it’s amazing what you can get for nothing if you ask! All it cost us was an endless supply of tea, coffee, sausage rolls and sandwiches.


Q5    Did you manage to get any big stars involved?

Two of the biggest names in the film are Tony Hadley (from 80s band Spandau Ballet), who’s perfect for the ‘Eddie’ character, and Kim Wilde, Rick’s sister, who plays herself. Like the rest of the 60-strong cast, they didn’t take a fee; everyone’s on a cut, so they’ll get paid when we do.


Q6    I hear the police were called out when you were filming in Stevenage?

    That’s right. We were filming on an industrial estate in Stevenage, shooting a scene where my character is bundled into a car. Someone saw it happening and phoned the police to say they’d seen a man being kidnapped! Luckily, the policewoman who turned up to investigate was old enough to remember the 80s – she recognised Tony, so let us off.  


Q7    Does the film achieve the original objective: to promote the acts on your Sonic-Hub record label?

    The film started out as a means of publicising our music, so all our acts feature in it and there’s a great soundtrack. But Shoot The DJ has since taken on a life of its own and we’re all now concentrating on getting it finished and released.


Q8    Where and when will Shoot The DJ be premiered?

We shot some of the dialogue and a lot of the nightclub scenes at Remix, in Hitchin, which is a great venue for live music. We filmed at Halloween last year – the place was packed out – and got all the footage we needed in just one night. So we’re hoping to be able to hold the premiere at Remix before the end of the year, but this will depend on finding a suitable date. It will definitely be in Hitchin somewhere.


 

By Victoria Penfold