INTERVIEW with Phil John
Interview with Phil John, writer and producer of Last Orders, Baobab Theatre & Film
How long have you been making films? How did you decide to start?
My background is primarily in theatre. I studied theatre at Dartington College of Arts in Devon during the 1990s and have spent much of my creative life writing, directing and developing work for performance.
Film emerged as a natural extension of that practice. I've always been fascinated by the relationship between the performer, the audience and the stories we construct around ourselves. Cinema offers another language for exploring those relationships.
My collaboration with director Jason Housecroft has allowed us to bring our theatrical sensibilities into filmmaking. We're interested in the spaces where the two disciplines overlap, rather than simply reproducing theatrical conventions on screen.
Why did you do this project?
Last Orders grew from an interest in power, hubris and the stories people tell themselves to justify their behaviour. What we remember, what we forget.
There's a strong theatrical influence running through the film, particularly Shakespeare's King Lear, with its exploration of authority, ageing, vulnerability and the consequences of an inability to recognise one's own limitations.
I was interested in taking some of those ideas and placing them within a more intimate, contemporary and psychologically unsettling world.
We also wanted to demonstrate what could be achieved through a small, committed group of collaborators without the resources normally associated with feature filmmaking. There was something creatively liberating about that.
How much budget did you have for this project?
The actual production budget was tiny, any figure doesn't begin to reflect the amount of time, energy and expertise donated by everyone involved.
In conventional production terms, it was an extraordinarily low-budget feature.
However, I've always been interested in how creative limitations can become opportunities. When you don't have significant resources, you're forced to think carefully about what is essential to the storytelling.
Was it self-funded, or did you have producers or investors?
It was essentially a self-funded, collaborative production, made possible through the generosity and commitment of the people involved.
We didn't have external investors or a conventional production infrastructure. Instead, we relied on our collective experience, available equipment, locations in South Devon and a shared belief in the project.
That kind of filmmaking requires considerable trust. People contribute because they believe in the work rather than because there's a substantial financial reward.
How long did it take from the initial idea to being ready for release?
The film was completed in August 2026, following a process of writing, development, filming and post-production undertaken with my Baobab colleagues Jason, Tim and Dan alongside our other professional commitments.
Working independently means that production often has to accommodate the realities of everyday life. There isn't a large organisation behind you keeping everything moving.
But that also gives you time to reflect on the material and allow the film to develop through collaboration.
The film's actual start date was before the pandemic and the piece evolved over time, delayed by pandemic restrictions. Consequently, the film evolved over about eight years, including a long and protracted post-production. Small teams, much work!
Are you happy with the result?
Yes, very much so.
Naturally, when you make something, there are always things you might approach differently with hindsight. But I think it's important to judge a film in relation to what it set out to achieve, rather than the resources it didn't have.
I'm particularly pleased that Last Orders retains a distinctive character. It doesn't necessarily behave like a conventional genre film, and I think that's one of its strengths.
There's also enormous satisfaction in seeing something that began as a piece of writing become a completed feature through the imagination and commitment of other artists.
What phase is the project in now?
We're at the beginning of the festival submission process.
The film was completed in August 2026, and we've begun submitting it to a mixture of established independent festivals, smaller specialist events and international awards competitions.
We're particularly interested in festivals that support unconventional storytelling, emerging independent voices and films that don't fit comfortably within established commercial categories.
It's early days, but we're looking forward to discovering how audiences respond to the work.
How has your experience with festivals been so far? Where could they improve?
It's been an interesting learning experience.
One of the encouraging things is discovering just how many festivals exist specifically to support independent filmmakers and unusual work. There are organisations genuinely interested in finding distinctive voices, regardless of production budget.
However, the sheer number of festivals can make navigating the circuit quite challenging, particularly for filmmakers working with limited resources.
Greater transparency around selection processes, screening opportunities, judging criteria and the distinction between official selections and awards would be enormously helpful.
Submission fees also accumulate quickly. For a film made for approximately £1,000, a substantial festival campaign can represent a significant proportion of the original production budget.
Ultimately, I think festivals are at their best when they create meaningful relationships between filmmakers, audiences and other artists.
Which platforms do you use to submit your films?
We've primarily been using FilmFreeway.
It provides a useful central platform for managing submissions, tracking notification dates and researching festivals internationally.
The challenge is less about the technology and more about identifying which festivals genuinely suit the film. We're trying to be thoughtful about where we submit, rather than simply accumulating entries.
Were you inspired by any directors or films? What are your references?
My influences come as much from theatre, literature and philosophy as from cinema.
Samuel Beckett has been a particularly important influence on my thinking about performance, human behaviour and the absurdity of existence. I'm also interested in the work of Albert Camus and the questions he raises about meaning, responsibility and the human condition.
Shakespeare's King Lear provides an important thematic reference for Last Orders, particularly its treatment of power, hubris and the fragility beneath our assumptions of authority.
In cinematic terms, I'm drawn to filmmakers who are comfortable with ambiguity and who trust audiences to participate in constructing meaning. I have become fascinated by the work of Tarkovsky, not just his films but his apporach and philosophy towards filmmaking, his understanding of what is captured "in camera", and the poetics of capturing time and place in the lens.
I don't think films always need to explain themselves completely. Sometimes the most interesting response is a question that stays with the audience long after the credits have finished.
What is your favourite movie?
It's almost impossible to choose a single film because different works have influenced me at different stages of my life.
The first film that really grabbed me as a teenager was Bladerunner, and I loved the weirdness and ambiguity of the Original Dune adaptation
Favourite series?
I have a particular affection for Severance, also I have enjoyed Foundation
At its best, speculative fiction allows us to examine contemporary human behaviour from an unfamiliar perspective. That's something I find enormously appealing as a writer.
Do you see yourself making films in five years? Where do you see yourself?
Absolutely, although I don't necessarily see film replacing theatre.
What interests me is continuing to work across different forms: cinema, theatre, audio drama and site-specific performance.
I think each medium offers a different relationship with its audience, and moving between them can be creatively productive.
In five years, I'd hope we're still making work that challenges us, experimenting with form and finding ways to tell stories without waiting for substantial financial backing.
If we can continue developing meaningful collaborations and reaching new audiences, I'll consider that a success.
Do you have any other projects in mind?
Several, actually.
We're developing another film project, Captura, which explores questions of control, identity and the unsettling relationship between memory and experience which is currently in pre-production.
I've also written an original radio drama, 3 Hills, which we're hoping to produce in 2027.
Alongside that, I'm developing a site-specific theatrical production for the Totnes Fringe Festival in Devon, drawing on mythology and contemporary questions about care, belonging and personal identity.
Although these projects take different forms, they're connected by a recurring interest in how people construct meaning and negotiate the forces that shape their lives.
What do you ask for the future, cinematographically speaking?
I'd like to see a film culture that remains genuinely open to experimentation and difference.
Digital technology has made filmmaking more accessible than ever, but accessibility of production doesn't necessarily translate into accessibility of distribution or audiences.
There's a danger that independent cinema becomes increasingly pressured to imitate the aesthetics and storytelling conventions of much larger productions.
I'd love to see more space for films that are strange, difficult, intimate, theatrical, philosophical or simply unlike anything else.
The value of independent filmmaking shouldn't be measured solely by how closely it resembles mainstream cinema.
Sometimes its greatest contribution is showing us something we didn't know we wanted to see.
Your best experience in a movie theatre?
For me, the most powerful cinema experiences are those where you become acutely aware of the audience sharing something extraordinary.
There's a particular kind of silence that can descend on a cinema when a film has completely captured everyone's attention. As someone from a theatre background, I find that collective experience fascinating.
It's one of the things that distinguishes cinema from watching a film alone at home. Recently, watching Denis Villeneuve's Dune and his Bladerunner sequel have been a treat in the cinema, grand epics, huge sound. A wonderful experience to share in a cinema!