Camera Lucida: All that because of Games of Thrones? Is it an extraordinary sense of power?
Andrew Reid: Yes, in a way, but we had to do it. It was a health & safety issue. We had horses, children, actors, several hundred extras etc. All had to be carefully managed so that nobody got hurt. The drones could hurt people, or horses could get scared. It was a huge health &safety risk

Camera Lucida: So, you were in charge of that as well? You were a sort of a problem-solver?
Andrew Reid: Well, HBO would come to me and say “how do we solve this?” And I was like “ahhh… give me a few minutes”. For the vast majority of the show, they had so many people, so they were able to sort out most things, but a few times, they needed my help. They were brilliant to work with and we extracted a great value in terms of training and investment.

Camera Lucida: It sounds a bit Hollywood-esque. How would you describe their approach?
Andrew Reid: We dealt with all major studios in the last ten years. On the ground, we have had 3 of 6 major studios filming. And HBO were generous, they worked with us, they understood our needs in terms of skills development, infrastructure, they told us what they needed, but they talked to us about anything they thought would benefit Northern Ireland in the long term. They never came to us saying ‘for our show we need X and you will pay for it”. They’d say “we think this would be useful, you’ll need this”, for example sound stages. In later years, they needed water tanks. And they could have said ‘build us water tanks’ and that might have been the end of the conversation. 

What they said was “We’ll build water tanks. We can make it permanent or we can just do temporary ones for our filming needs’. So, they paid for that and we might need them, or maybe not.  In 22 years we’ve rarely needed a water tank. I heard all sorts of stories from other potential clients: “Build that” etc. which you’d never need again. We never had that with them. They are great partners, brilliant to work with.

Camera Lucida: When they film in Northern Ireland do they get tax relief?
Andrew Reid: They got UK tax credit, which is worth  25% of eligible spend plus our incentive. But for the first two seasons, there was no UK tax credit, for TV dramas. 

In fact, Northern Ireland Screen wrote the case study on GoT that delivered the tax credit for the UK. So, one of the legacies for UK from Game of Thrones is tax credit. 

Camera Lucida: So, the incentives were revised thanks to Games of Thrones?
Andrew Reid: Yes, at the start of the series, it was up to NI, in terms of bringing the project and keeping, that was solely up to Northern Ireland Screen. By the end of it, they had a UK tax credit, a national fund for training. But not for first three years.

Camera Lucida: Whom from the cast did you know? 
Andrew Reid: One of the great things was that G of T used a lot of local cast, such as Conleth Hill, Michelle Fairly, Richard Dormer, Ciran Hinds, Ian McIlhenny, and Ian Beattie. I knew a lot of the cast before they became famous internationally. I met Michelle Fairly 25 years ago. Michelle did a drama for the BBC for which I was a runner when I was still at University, a few years later I was a location manager for a comedy drama and while on a recce with the director I suggested  her to act in that show. It was great to see them being picked up on this show. 

I was never formally introduced to Peter Dinklage, I know he knows my face.  Over the past 10 years I’ve been on set, at premieres in the US and Belfast etc. and we’ve been in the same room quite a few times, but never introduced.  Then, last year, I was sitting in the reception at Apple in Santa Monica. I had my GoT rucksack with me– my wife says I don’t have anything that’s not branded G of T (smiles) -  and in walks Peter… who gave a long dark stare at me and my rucksack Peter must think I’m a stalker, he has no idea who I am. The people who were with me were asking “what have you done to him?” (laughs) We’ve never actually spoken  - I respect the formula ‘leave the talent alone’ (smiles)

Camera Lucida: How did you get in the film industry?
Andrew Reid: Sheer bad luck. (smiles)

Camera Lucida: But you wouldn’t call it that now? 
Andrew Reid: When I was at school, I joined the backstage team for the local drama club and I really enjoyed it. I was supposed to join the Navy, from the age of 5 I was joining the Navy, always the Navy. By the age of 17-18 I got involved with backstage drama club and suddenly I changed directions. So, instead of joining the Navy and becoming a navigation officer – which probably would not have been a good fit (laughs) - I ran away to join the film industry. I enjoyed my backstage drama club, I staged a drama for a local director, I designed the set. We won in the Irish festivals and we came second in UK. As I really liked it, I applied for a University drama course, I took a year out to work in local theatres and found out how badly everything was paid in local theatres, so I immediately sold out, starting writing to companies and got a job as a runner in a local company that was doing adverts.

Camera Lucida: What does a runner actually do?
Andrew Reid: A runner was the lowest of the lowest. My official title was “general operative”, but the nickname for it is Gopher “go for this, go for that”.  But it’s a great place to start.

Camera Lucida: Do you regret not going to the Navy?
Andrew Reid: Sometimes I do. But I wouldn’t have met my wife had I joined the Navy. She has nothing to do with film industry. She lived in Cannes and I was there, running the Irish Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival. Effectively I ran an Irish bar for two weeks a year, she was the project manager for the company that built the exhibition stands and I met her through the film festival. So, I regret not joining the Navy in terms of missing the discipline and structure; I wish I’d had a more formal training in something.  But nothing else 

Camera Lucida: What happens now after the end of GoT?
Andrew Reid: We have many plans, with New Regency and other studios.  I terms of all the other areas we have a series on Netflix called “LINE OF DUTY”, a new series from BBC “BLOOD LANDS’, 4 independent films, animation, children series, our 1st animation feature film between NI & China, one company that delivered a game, called SUPER MARKET SHRIEK for Microsoft Games Pass Plus we have a game, Paleo Pines, in production with a local company. So we are very busy, a queue of people waiting to use the studios.

Camera Lucida: What are the Irish film names of the last decade to watch out for?
Andrew Reid: Lisa Baros D’Sa and Glenn Layburn’s Ordinary love, premiered in Toronto, and London festival, Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville a story of an ordinary couple, Lesley’s character is diagnosed with cancer and the couple have to adapt to living life with cancer.  BAD DAY FOR THE CUT on Netflix the best farmer revenge thriller you’ll ever see and the a follow up vampire horror from Chris Baugh and Brendan Mullin and a comedy, A BUMP ALONG THE WAY from Tess McGowan, Shelly Love and Louise Gallagher. 

Camera Lucida: Where will we see those films?
Andrew Reid: Ordinary love, you’ll see. “Boys…” will be more difficult. It’ll screen in Sundance, which will make it easier to see elsewhere. An engaging, amazing film (on witchcraft), audiences are just falling in love with it.

Camera Lucida: Are there many Irish women filmmakers?
Andrew Reid: Last calendar year we have made 5 first-time female directors’ films Shelley Love’s A BUMP ALONG THE WAY), Cathy Brady’s WILDFIRE,  Grace Sweeny’s SHERRIF, Aoife Creghan’ LAST RITE and Loretta Van Horsts BEHIND THE BLOOD. We have another two in pre-production Oorlagh George’s STRANGER WITH A CAMERA and Stracey Greg’s HERE BEFORE.

Camera Lucida: Do you think that films made in NI (by either gender) have a certain national specificity?
Andrew Reid: If I were a filmmaker, I’d be upset if I were compared to anyone else. I was talking to a film-maker a while ago, he was making his first feature a thriller but there was no depth to the characters, it was very good, but flat characters. I said to him, ‘look at Reservoir dogs”, I was haunted by that film, still thought about it a month later. For a first feature I thought it was a great piece of filmmaking.. The filmmaker asked me: “So, you want me to be Tarantino?’ I said ‘no, I want you to be you. You need to have a distinctive voice, it’s your take on the genre”.  But what is a NI film I have no idea. There are all kinds of genres, they are thematically different etc. Is there a Montenegrin film?

Camera Lucida: No, not yet, at least. I don’t know if we have a film industry. Do you know any Montenegrin filmmakers? Or have you met any?
Andrew Reid: I know very little. We used to say that we have no film industry, we have film activities. We still need to grow. I’ve met a few of your filmmakers this morning, but we had barely any time to talk. 

Camera Lucida: From what you’ve just told me, it sounds as an industry in NI.
Andrew Reid: But we still need to grow. You don’t need much infrastructure, but you need daily jobs for people. 

Camera Lucida: Do you think Montenegro could be a good filming location?
Andrew Reid: Yes, definitely. The reality is we are bringing in these shows, but the indigenous skills are developing. In a film industry you need jobs for the crew and for the filmmakers otherwise they leave for places where they can work.

Camera Lucida: Any recommendations you might have?
Andrew Reid: How do you give advice to another country? Hmm…  It depends on the history of your story-telling culture and your incentives. I can only speak about our case. It took us 10 years to really get Government support and build up the credibility that allowed us to start building the screen sector we have now, there is no quick fix. I see agencies spending a lot of money on attending festivals and markets, but there are no infinite pots of money so I’d rather give more opportunities to new talent.  

My advice to filmmakers is: there is so much going on, so much content being made, but you need to stand out. If you do manage to get a project done, take any opportunity that comes from it - if that’s a TV job, take it, work on commercials, take that too. It’s much better than sitting in your bedroom at home and waiting for an opportunity to happen. But I’m not a film-maker, I’m not a producer, so it’s easy for me to say that.

Camera Lucida: What do you consider yourself, then?  
Andrew Reid: A shepherd of talent. When we do our jobs properly, we create opportunity and we find talent. Success or failure is down to the individuals themselves. We provide the building blocks, mentoring, we can send you on courses, opportunities, but in the end it’s about you, it’s your project, what you develop and create. 

Camera Lucida: I can’t resist this question. How will Brexit affect film funding in your country?
Andrew Reid: We’ll face whatever difficulties Brexit throws at us. We are the smallest nation in the UK, we have the only land border with EU and we have spent about 20 years on freedom of movement, of people, of goods, of services, of capital. Yes, it will be a challenge. NI Screen does not receive any EU funding, so our funding will not change, UK tax credit does not rely on EU, so they will not change.  Access to the Media programme, that will change, that will be missed – but you don’t miss things until they are gone. So, how it will affect us, I don’t know until it lands. We’ll just have to deal with it. And take the next day as it is. It may not be as bright as the previous one, the sun may not be out, but we still have to go to work.

Maja Bogojević