(which he wrote and directed) is his feature debut, starring a\u00a0magnetic Frank Dillane as Mike, a\u00a0drifter in London who can\u2019t keep out of trouble.<\/span><\/p>\nLWLies: Was directing always something you were interested in or did that come after you started acting?<\/strong><\/p>\nDickinson: Actually, I\u00a0probably wanted to be a\u00a0filmmaker before acting became a\u00a0real interest. I\u00a0know that my fascination with films and cameras in general was very early, I\u00a0was probably 9<\/span>\u00a0or 10<\/span>. I\u00a0was making little things in the forest and I\u00a0was making skate videos and I\u00a0just loved filming, editing stuff and putting things together. Then it turned to a\u00a0sketch show when I\u00a0was 13<\/span>, and I\u00a0did weekly episodes and that was more comedic material\u2026at least I\u00a0thought it was comedic. When I\u00a0started to get a\u00a0bit older and understand drama a\u00a0bit more, I\u00a0was making these really crap short films with my friends and my family, and I\u2019d get everyone involved but I\u00a0never acted in them, but that led me to Raw Academy which is a\u00a0local theatre school that\u2019s still going. Acting was a\u00a0way for me to express myself in a\u00a0way that I\u2019d never done before. I\u00a0was trying to climb both ladders at the same time but once I\u00a0started to get work as an actor, I\u00a0didn\u2019t prioritise filmmaking because it felt counter-intuitive to try and also do that. I\u00a0had to prioritise auditions and self-tapes and earning money elsewhere, so it fell to the side, but it was always there. I\u00a0was always writing stuff.<\/span><\/p>\nAs someone who did work on sets for a\u00a0bit as a\u00a0runner, and has now seen the other side as an actor, how does that inform the environment you wanted to create on sets? It can be pretty rough sometimes for runners.<\/strong><\/p>\nYeah, it\u2019s bad. I\u2019ve been treated like that on sets as well as a\u00a0runner, it\u2019s horrible. But I\u2019ve also spent years as an actor being protected, or at least they attempt to \u2013 people think they can hide what\u2019s going on. I\u00a0know that doesn\u2019t make me unique in the sense I\u00a0can understand what\u2019s going on, a\u00a0lot of people probably could understand the behind-the-scenes drama on a\u00a0set. But that\u2019s what I\u00a0liked making\u00a0<\/span>Urchin \u2013\u00a0<\/i>we made it very clear from the get-go, because I\u00a0produced it as well. Archie and I\u00a0at Devisio [<\/span>the production company Dickinson runs with Archie Pearch<\/span><\/i>] we spent a\u00a0lot of time talking about how we create the right kind of atmosphere from the very start, and that comes from everyone that comes from each department and there\u2019s no weak links there. It\u2019s a\u00a0constant battle because it\u2019s a\u00a0high stress environment, but you have to stay diligent with that, otherwise you can get complacent.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Get more Little White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
I know Agn\u00e8s Varda\u2019s <\/strong><\/span>Vagabond<\/strong><\/i> was a\u00a0big influence on\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Urchin \u2013\u00a0<\/strong><\/i>were there any other films that were touchstones?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m almost reluctant to talk about them because it feels like setting yourself up. But we screened six films for the cast and crew. To preface this, these are films that I\u00a0liked, it wasn\u2019t like \u200b\u2018<\/span>These films we\u2019re trying to copy\u2019 \u2013 we screened <\/span>Vagabond, Manila in the Claws of Light, Punch-Drunk Love,\u00a0<\/i>some documentaries by Marc Isaacs, <\/span>8<\/span>\u00a0\u00bd <\/i>by Fellini, <\/span>Lovers on the Bridge\u00a0<\/i>by Leos Carax and <\/span>Nostalghia\u00a0<\/i>by Tarkovsky. Then we might have done a\u00a0few more. It was fun, it meant that we could watch stuff together, have a\u00a0collective experience and talk about it afterwards. It meant everyone felt a\u00a0bit more incentivised and inspired to make something a\u00a0bit more high level, even if we don\u2019t get\u00a0there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s also important with a\u00a0story about homelessness that there is a\u00a0degree of authenticity and you\u2019re not a\u00a0tourist in these worlds. Jack Gregory is credited as the homelessness and addiction advisor \u2013 what else went into the <\/strong>Urchin <\/strong><\/i>research process?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think it was a\u00a0process of informing each other continuously. I\u00a0was doing some work at this local place in Walthamstow called Project Parker which was a\u00a0refuge for unhoused locals. Then the council shut that down because it was deemed unsafe and there was a\u00a0lack of regulation, whatever, whatever. I\u00a0became interested and concerned with what was going on locally and obviously all over the country and all over the world, and I\u00a0started to feel a\u00a0little helpless in a\u00a0sense. Then I\u00a0got introduced to a\u00a0charity called Under One Sky and I\u00a0started to work with them for a\u00a0bit, but that work felt separate from the research for <\/span>Urchin<\/span><\/i>, because I\u00a0never wanted to be there trying to absorb stuff for material \u2013 I\u00a0just felt like it was a\u00a0necessary thing to go and get involved in. We opened up the script to scrutiny from people in probation, prison reform, restorative justice, mental health specialists, and we went into prisons and talked to people like Jack that had lived experience with homelessness and addiction and really just welcomed scrutiny and allowing people to be absolutely honest and brutal with their feedback and that for me was a\u00a0really important part of the script.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI spent a\u00a0lot of time getting people to trust that I\u00a0was going to depict this world with a\u00a0bit of grace. And also, to not try and exploit it in a\u00a0way and just show it for what it is without any sense of tragedy, I\u00a0wanted them to feel like a\u00a0little community because that\u2019s exactly what it is, and there\u2019s also a\u00a0lot of joy there. We had a\u00a0lot of people from Cardboard Citizens which are an amazing theatre company that work with performers that have had experience with homelessness and domestic abuse. So we made that a\u00a0big part of the tapestry of the film and ensured that that was a\u00a0continual process, but I\u00a0didn\u2019t want to make a\u00a0documentary or a\u00a0laboured social justice film. I\u00a0also wanted to make something that had scope and scale, that was a\u00a0bit of an adventure. There\u2019s room to base something in truth and then take it elsewhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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