It's the stuff every movie maker dreams of: your movie project is spied by the big guns in Hollywood, snapped up and suddenly you're on the movie map. British director Gareth Edwards knows how this feels, after his 2010 independant sci-fi movie, Monsters, became an overnight success.
Now rumoured to be working on the re-make of Godzilla, MSN Movies sat down to chat to him for a few minutes at the Jameson Empire Done in 60 Seconds global semi-final, which he was judging. The competition challenges aspiring filmmakers to remake any big hit in exactly 60 seconds. No small feat.
Gareth's tight-lipped when it comes to letting any Godzilla details slip, so when asked what he's been up for the past year, says gingerly: "I've been trying to make a film... It's all really good, if you look at people, if I look at people whose careers I've looked to emulate, if you do that IMDB game (of looking at their projects) they do tend to have had a two or three year gap - there's not much you can do about it. There's just a long process before it all goes ahead."
Talking about his own experiences as a young director, he told us: "I guess, in terms of, when I was a film student, and trying to make films, I was always emulating the big films. The first thing I ever did at college was Terminator. The next thing I did was like Cape Fear... So, if you can tell a story in a minute, then it means the story works. You often say to the editor when working, you say 'try and do a one minute version of the film', because it teaches you what you can get rid of."
Another one of the judges in the competition is movie critic Alex Zane, who we grabbed a few minutes with to chat about the movie he'd make in 60 seconds.
"I'd probably try and do Jaws purely because it's my fave film of all time and I have a bath in my house," he quipped.
Talking about movies and being a critic, he said: "It's very mood-depedent watching movies. I've reviewed films badly, I've sat back and hated myself, and gone, you know what it wasn't that bad, you were just in a bad mood. So I have to catch myself. Conversely though, I'll be in a really good mood. Like, you know, the movie MacGruber (a 2010 action comedy). I watched that and I laughed from start to finish."
"I gave it four stars and then it comes out on DVD and I get friends round, to come round and watch it and I put it on, and for about 40 mins people just sat in silence looking at me going 'Is this a joke?' I must just have been giddy with life on the day I saw it first!"
The winner of the Done in 60 Seconds competition is being announced at the Jameson Empire movie awards on Sunday 25th March. MSN Movies will be there on the red carpet bringing you all of the action, news and gossip!
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