Emrhys Cooper, Writer/Director/Actor/Producer: We blocked out the shoot dates, we blocked out the post-production, this is before we even started writing any of the screenplays so we’d already had a whole plan in place.
Film Courage: What were the steps you went through from being an actor to becoming a storyteller/screenwriter? What changed? Did anything really change?
Emrhys: A lot has changed and I’d say for the better as I felt…what’s the word? Just being an actor I never felt very secure because I felt (as I said earlier) always at the mercy of opportunities coming to me and being cast. Whereas writing a screenplay and being a director, you’re taking control of your career and it was really hard to get there but I just knew that the story I wanted to get behind was something that should be out there. It was very challenging getting the investors and putting it all together because I wore many hats in this one. I was a producer, director, writer, and actor. I even made lunch at times. I was even a gaffer. I did everything, I even cleaned the toilets when they backed up. Literally I did it all…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
A native of Devon, England, Emrhys Cooper is an award-winning director, writer, producer and actor based in Los Angeles. He has enjoyed on-screen success in Person of Interest, Desperate Housewives, CSI: NY and the film Mamma Mia! He soon ventured into the world of production, which included such accomplishments as the romantic comedy Walk a Mile in My Pradas (Amazon Prime Video) and the dramedy Til We Meet Again (Netflix/Amazon Prime Video). In 2017, Cooper starred in and spearheaded the most widely-released Bhutanese film of all time, Kushuthara: Pattern of Love. Early 2018 marked Cooper’s directorial debut with the critically acclaimed LGBT short film, Trophy Boy [Cannes Film Festival Official Selection 2018], which is in development as a television series. Cooper now serves as a writer, producer, director and actor on The Shuroo Process, executive produced by Zachary Quinto and starring Rainey Qualley, Tommy Dorfman and Fiona Dourif, which is set to hit the 2021 festival circuit. As President of his newly founded independent entertainment company, Idyllwild Pictures, Emrhys aims to explore the unexplored in the film industry by directing and producing films that focus on thought provoking topics in today’s society. Up next, he’ll be seen in Gravitas Ventures’ dark comedy Paint, as well as Samuel Goldwyn’s recently announced horror thriller, Dreamcatcher.
CONNECT WITH EMRHYS COOPER
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