Six of the Best - Ben Miller

15 March 10

Actor, comedian and director Ben Miller hands out his very own BAFTAs.

Luvvies Masquerading As Hard Men
Noel Clarke and Johnny Harris. Clarky rips it up in Kidulthood, Jonster spits bile in London To Brighton, but as I discovered during rehearsals for our forthcoming feature Huge, get the doilies out and show those two a bit of Polish cheesecake and it’s a different story.

Champions Of British Independent Film
Raindance, a teetering charabanc that embraces a film festival, a website, and year-round open-access courses, is an invaluable point academy magazine I 19 of entry for anyone contemplating a career in film. You will never meet such a merry band of expert practitioners, thrusting wannabes and downright nutters in all your life.

Most Daredevil Co-star
As well as doing the lion’s share of the car stunts on Johnny English, Rowan Atkinson took me for a spin in his McLaren F1 sports car. I am still waiting for my larynx to catch back up with me.

Money
Check out Film London - not only do they have the most incredible online presence at www.filmlondon.org.uk , and stacks of good advice about shooting in the capital, they actually have dosh for people to make their first films and a mentoring system to help them do it. The much-nominated Shifty starring Danny Mays was one of the first features off the production line; get your scripts in now!

Existential Movie Posing As Children’s Entertainment
Up. I swear Pixar movies are coming of age. Here’s the pitch: a misanthropic septuagenarian mourning the loss of his life partner learns that the real adventure of life is in living. Don’t be surprised if their summer tent-pole is about a wheelchair-bound Norwegian raccoon dealing with a crisis of faith.

Producers
Becks Farhall and Colin Jones. A bit cringey, this one, but with Huge they gave me my first break as a director. They have the bulldog, can do spirit of all independent British filmmakers… and what’s more they’ll be reading this article.

Ben Miller is best known as one half of BBC One’s comedy duo Armstrong & Miller. He is also a regular in Primeval and Moving Wallpaper and makes his feature directing debut with Huge later this year.