'This guy is both good and bad. Genius and trouble'
Robert Hull talks to Telstar’s writer-director Nick Moran and Crystal Palace chairman turned film producer Simon Jordan about their Joe Meek biopic
Robert Hull: Was there always going to be a tragic end to the Joe Meek story?
Nick Moran: Yes, it was always going to happen. That’s just kind of the nature of the man.
Simon Jordan: He was a fucking genius. It’s a word that’s used too much, especially around people like footballers, but here was a guy operating above a handbag shop on the Holloway Road, and he produced a record that was number one in the US. It was the first British record to top the US charts, and, as is typical in this country, he was lambasted and criticised.
RH: Would you like to have met him?
Both: Yes!
SJ: I see a lot of myself in him – obviously not in his homosexuality (laughs) – in the way he went about things. I like to do things in a certain way, and sometimes people don’t like that. But I am trying to do things that have a certain quality.
RH: What was the most challenging aspect of shooting?
NM: Not having a three-storey house to shoot in, as Joe’s flat on the Holloway Road was part of a three-storey building. This caused delays in shooting certain bits where a character is running down the stairs – we had to shoot stuff like that separately, and sometimes it was weeks apart.
From a continuity point of view though, the actors were all on it, all very professional, so no complaints there.
RH: Were there any major changes or elements you reworked?
NM: I did actually have this really grand opening sequence planned. Joe’s body would be brought out of the house and Patrick (Sid Mitchell) was going to be there, covered in blood. The camera moves and angles were going to be very dramatic, but in the end it was a good call from Simon not to do it. It would have given away the ending of the film, and I wanted there to be tension at the conclusion. So Simon was spot on.
RH: Did you have test screenings of the film?
NM: Yes we did. And it was very interesting. At one screening people actually gasped when Violet (Pam Ferris) was shot, and again when … well I’m doing it again, giving away the ending … (laughs).
RH: As a first-time film producer, what “kind” of producer were you?
SJ: I was very hands on. I was there, on set, everyday of the shoot and everyday of postproduction. It wasn’t just a case of me writing a cheque – though I did that too!
NM: You have to take your hat off to Simon’s enthusiasm. I didn’t even have to pitch the film. Simon called me up and said what about this film? I said: “what film?” So, no, it wasn’t hard to get the film made. [Originally written as a stage play, by James Hicks and Nick Moran, Telstar received its premiere in 2005.]
RH: What do you think are the most compelling aspects of Joe's story?
NM: For me it’s the fact that this guy is both good and bad. Genius and trouble. You can’t really have one without the other with him. And if you made a film about a cheery music producer it’d be fucking boring.
SJ: Here was someone without whom you wouldn’t have had loads of music producers. No George Martin [The Beatles' producer], no Phil Spector [… mmm, perhaps in hindsight …]. And so I think the line between success and failure is what makes Joe’s story so fascinating.