Paul Andrew Williams, 35, is the man behind London to Brighton, an acclaimed thriller, and horror film The Cottage.

Matthew Burrell met the writer/director to talk about the upcoming project Song For Marion, the nature of success and his role in the Film department at Kingston University.

Song For Marion is about 78-year-old Arthur who, after caring for his ailing wife Marion for years, has to face up to her death. When the choir that Marion has been part of win entry to a festival; Arthur decides to take her place.

At the offices of his production company Steel Mill Pictures, Williams explains that Song For Marion is his most personal film yet.  He drew on the relationship between his own grandparents when creating Arthur and Marion, and began wondering how his grandfather would have reacted to certain situations.  “It came from there.  I had a very, very rough idea and started writing, chipping away at it over a period of time whilst I was getting ready to shoot The Cottage.”

Like all films, the project is running to an inexact calendar, despite the involvement of the BBC and Pathe.  It has been two years since Song For Marion was pitched, and it may well be another couple of years before it reaches the screens. 

But Williams is in no rush, as the last three years have seen his profile skyrocket thanks to the hugely favourable response to his debut feature London to Brighton, which picked up six awards, and marked him out as a serious new talent. The film, about a prostitute and a 12-year-old girl who flee to Brighton to escape gangsters, came out in 2006 and was followed in 2008 by The Cottage, a vivid horror in which most of the characters meet inventively gruesome ends.

Williams plays down the violent aspects of both films, saying that a lot of the violence in London to Brighton was suggested rather than shown directly.  The same can hardly be said about The Cottage “Yes, but in some ways it was very silly, a film not be taken too seriously.  It’s all good humour in the end.” 

After only a few moments of watching the viral ad he made for the Halifax Building Society, it is apparent that the director’s sense of humour makes an important imprint on his work.  The ad is about a student who decides to get over his money worries by having an operation that will change him into a mouse, thus cutting down on food and living expenses. 

But it was Williams’ ability to convey gritty situations that made The National Centre for Domestic Violence approach him about a new campaign. The end result they call “raw and menacing” – 30 seconds of film which belie the old ‘clumsiness and a cupboard door’ excuse to explain a woman’s bruises.

Williams takes a pragmatic approach to his profession, placing equal emphasis on commercial and film work.  Speaking about the nature of the relatively small British film industry, he says: “To be honest it hasn’t changed and it won’t change.  It’s remained exactly the same as it was a few years ago.”  But he agrees that the success of  London to Brighton has opened more doors. “It helped get my scripts read and taken much more seriously.  People believed I could make a film which is what you want in order to get them to invest in you.”

The man who is both writer and director on most of his projects did not attend film school or do any type of further education.  In October 2007 Williams joined the film department at Kingston University.  He sees his job as helping students to find practical ways of getting involved in the film industry, and the importance of understanding the physical processes involved.  He smiles when he says that he has never known about any film theory and never will.  He cites determination - and an ability not to worry about all the rejections that most film students receive when starting out - as the two key ingredients for success.

Williams is a modest man, despite the enviable critical and commercial profile he has won since his recent successes, he says: “I just surrounded myself with people who knew what they were doing.”  At the end of the day “It’s all about making stuff.  I just like making things.”  Most film students will share the sentiment.