How To Stop Being A Loser gets its release this coming Friday and you can read our generally pretty positive review right here.

As part of our coverage of Loser, I recently interviewed its director, Dominic Burns about the film, his development as a director and the exciting new projects he has in the pipeline. We also spoke to the film’s leading man, Simon Phillips, and you can read that interview here.

HeyUGuys: You acted for a few yeas before turning to directing, how did that progression come about?

Dominic Burns: I had always wanted to be an actor. Then we were setting up Cut [2010 horror film which Burns starred in and wrote] which was going to be the first ever single-take horror film. For it to work, the location was absolutely key and that changed at the last minute, which meant the guy scheduled to direct couldn’t any more. By that point I was too close to the film to let it go, so I looked at directing it myself. I found I could direct and in particular I could direct actors really well. I think I understand what actors need from a director and I have continued to work [as an actor] with other directors to keep learning from them.

You have now directed Julian Glover, Jean Claude Van Damme and Sean Pertwee. Does it remain daunting or have you become confident in your abilities?

The key is to be confident without being arrogant, to believe in your ability and your ability to draw a performance out of an actor. It’s important that you all feel like you are pulling in the same direction. If you just smile and be a yes man, then you do the actors a disservice. If you tell them tha what they’ve done is great and it’s not, then when they see it up on the screen they’re going to be pissed at you.

Comparing HTSBAL with something like Airborne, they are very different films to shoot. Which did you find easier or more enjoyable?

With Loser, I giggled from day one to the last day. I guess I’m just very immature. In terms of camera language, you can express yourself much more in more serious stuff. I really enjoyed shooting Airborne and UFO and I feel that UFO is a culmination of me developing as a director.

You have films where you are acting, producing, writing and directing. Is that simply a matter of convenience in relation to funding and budgeting, or do you enjoy keeping all of those plates spinning?

In terms of directing, I suppose that is me, but with the other roles although it’s credited one way it is really collaborative. I had some input on the scripts for Airborne and Loser, but it’s not just me. Simon Phillips deserves as much credit as anyone for the script on Loser, in terms of what he put into it. It’s not the Dominic Burns show; if you haven’t got a team, the whole thing falls apart.

You managed to rope in some pretty well-known performers for Loser. Did that require a lot of grafting?

As your reputation grows, it does become a bit easier to attract others. Richard E Grant was one of the first to come on board and if you can show other performers that you have a well-known actor, it gives confidence to others to join in. We can’t pay them much, so if they do turn up it shows they have a degree of passion for what we are doing. For example with Mark Hamill on Airborne, Simon Phillips and I were brainstorming the casting at four in the morning and suddenly thought how great it would be if we could get Mark Hamill. So we contacted his agent and tried our luck.

In a similar vein, how s Jean Claude Van Damme been to work with on UFO?

He was great. Working with him was a fantastic experience. We had Bianca Bree, his daughter and Sean Brosnan as well and we feel that with those two we’ve really found a pair of hidden gems who are really going to turn heads. Jean Claude Van Damme really fitted in, engaged with all of the on-set banter, but Bianca Bree and Sean Brosnan will, I think, end up being the real story on UFO.

I stand by my work on Loser and Airborne, but I feel that I’m progressing and UFO is evidence of that progress. With Loser I arrived on set five minutes before Sheridan Smith, because there’ no money for locations scouts or managers. I’m really happy with Loser and Airborne, but I feel that UFO represents the development of my ability.

How is your time being spent at the moment?

I’m doing some writing and we’re finishing post-production on Airborne and also doing post-production on UFO. There’s a lot of CGI post-production on UFO, so that’s taking some time. UFO is getting a great reception in the US, it’s really exciting and I can’t really say any more at the moment, but as soon as I can you’ll be the first to know.