interview: Staten Cousins Roe and actress, Poppy Roe key us in on A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE

As well as getting the opportunity to review the excellent A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life   I also had the amazing opportunity to interview director, Staten Cousins Roe and  star of the film actress, Poppy Roe.

Described as“ Sightseers meets Thelma and Louise” (Deborah Haywood, Pin Cushion), A Serial Killer's Guide to Life is written and directed by Staten Cousins Roe( This Way Out) and produced by ForwardMotion Pictures–a multi award-winning production company run by husband and wife team Staten Cousins Roe and Poppy Roe, who have just been longlisted as ‘Breakthrough Producers’ for the 2019 BIFAs

A Serial Killer's Guide to Life follows Lou Farnt (Katie Brayben): a 30-something, self-help addict who wants nothing more than to escape her overly controlling mother and the dead-end seaside town where she grew up. So when strange and strikingly confident new life coach Val (Poppy Roe) suddenly arrives on the scene and invites her on a road trip of alternative therapies, Lou finds the perfect opportunity to leave, and the perfect person to become. Unfortunately for Lou, Val’s a serial killer. A Serial Killer's Guide to Life is guaranteed to satisfy the self-help generation, and the modern human’s blood lust.

HOW’D THE SUCCESS OF YOUR SHORT FILM (THIS WAY OUT) LEAD INTO A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE?

STATEN COUSINS ROE: “I think they’re (This Way Out and A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life) very connected. When we made This Way Out it was very similar to the process where we crowd-funded the money and shot it in our flat with a crack team of people made up of friends and recommendations. Katie (Brayben) and Poppy had been friends since drama school and done theatre together as well.”

POPPY ROE: “Staten, got the initial idea for the short because we (Katie and them) were having a cup of tea together and discussing the idea of euthanasia not being very funny.”

S: “And we thought, ‘there’s a hit comedy right there.’ But underneath the hood of that is a satirical element towards the target-driven society that we’re in with a jet-black, dark comedy edge. That went out into the world and we were very lucky to do 30-some festivals and it received a lovely reception, which led to a number of meetings with sizable film companies. But after I came out of one of them, I had this gut-reaction of wanting to do our first feature film the same way.”

​P: “He [Staten] phoned me up because he went to one of these meetings that went really great and he just went, ‘let’s just do this ourselves and we can make it now instead of a few years’ time.’ And I reacted positively to it, which little did we know was absolutely mental. We ended up adding another producer with Giles (Giles Alderson) and called up all the same people involved with This Way Out down to the extras sitting in the waiting room. We went on to make the Kickstarter and decided if we raised the money and it received a good response then we’d make the film. That takes us to when we started to shoot.”

S: “In terms of the story I found self-help in the academic proportions for which its consumed particularly the western world. It’s another system that was ripe to be poked in the same jet-black comedy, but perhaps a bit more violent and fun way.”

P: “He [Staten] phoned me up because he went to one of these meetings that went really great and he just went, ‘let’s just do this ourselves and we can make it now instead of a few years’ time.’ And I reacted positively to it, which little did we know was absolutely mental. We ended up adding another producer with Giles (Giles Alderson) and called up all the same people involved with This Way Out down to the extras sitting in the waiting room. We went on to make the Kickstarter and decided if we raised the money and it received a good response then we’d make the film. That takes us to when we started to shoot.”

S: “In terms of the story I found self-help in the academic proportions for which its consumed particularly the western world. It’s another system that was ripe to be poked in the same jet-black comedy, but perhaps a bit more violent and fun way.”

WHAT WAS THE SELF-HELP RESEARCH THAT WENT INTO FORMING THIS STORY AND PERFORMANCES?

S: “I did a lot of reading and watching of documentaries that go underneath the veneer of prolific self-help procurers. It was this interesting thing where you start to find a level of quackery. It wasn’t necessarily the actions that these people were told to do like nature therapy but rather the agendas of the individuals peddling these ‘quick fixes.’”

P: “We had a lot of fun looking into all of these programs, and some of them were too big and extreme to believe but you can’t write this stuff like rebirthing therapy. The stories you read about the people that have done these things and the accidents that have happened as well, it’s incredibly rich and gets quite cult-like. For Val, I looked up webinars and the charisma of these leaders and some of them came off more disturbing than serial killers. Just the kind of huge belief and unwavering self confidence that they had when looked at from a certain angle could be creepy. Though I looked at decisive serial killer movies like Christian Bale (American Psycho) or Jack Nicholson (The Shining), I didn’t feel that Val was a serial killer. She just really believed in her method and ambition, and people kept getting in the way that she didn’t believe in so she had to remove them.”

WHEN DEALING WITH THE SUBJECT MATTER AND BLACK COMEDY, HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO KEEP HEART INTO THE STORY?

P: “Well it’s actually a road trip movie and a buddy movie. The heart of it is between these two women and one’s helping another one that’s very much lost in life and needs rescuing. While there’s the self-help world and the satire, the core of it is these two oddball characters.”

S: “I think there’s that feeling that we’d all like a Val in our lives to take us by the hand and lead us. People recognize that in Lou and Val and coming across people with their agendas that want to take.”

WHILE THERE IS SOME AMBIGUITY IN THE FILM, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WISH TO LEAVE WITH THE AUDIENCE?

S: “I like the idea of the audience owning the story themselves at the end and it reflects on who they are. Are you a Lou or a Val? Who do they want to be in a way? Being structured like a self-help book it’s the antithesis of self-help. The one you watch in order to undo the messy strands you get from consuming this quackery, peddled by people asking for you to give them your money. Listen to the voice inside of you.”

P: “For me, it’s nice to see someone who needs help and having someone that has no qualms about telling people off. It’s a refreshing thing to see and play, because we don’t always get to do that in normal life.”

WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR YOUR FORWARD MOTION PICTURES PRODUCTION COMPANY?

S: “We’re currently writing our next project together which is a supernatural horror story.”

Thanks to Staten and Poppy for participating in this interview, as they were incredibly personable and their passion for the project bled through. Unfortunately, some hilarious on-set stories and quips between the two were unable to make it in but if given the chance I’d do an extensive chat with them again in a heartbeat.

A Serial Killer's Guide To Life will be available on AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video and all other UK, US and Canadian digital platforms from 13th January 2020. Staten has also stated that the iTunes version will come with a behind the scene featurette that should have more content.

For upcoming news on a  Serial Killer's Guide To Life,  Staten and Poppy, their company (Forward Motion Pictures), or Arrow Films, check out:
ASerialKillersGuidetoLife.com
ForwardMotionPictures.co.uk
Arrow Video's Facebook Page 
Forward Motion's Facebook Page 
Or follow on them  Twitter at: @FMPictures, @AKillersGuide, and @ArrowFilmsVideo or by using the #aserialkillersguidetolife hashtag ​