Interview With Director Martin Wilson For His Debut Film, ‘Great White’

It’s summer, so that means it’s really fucking hot here in Phoenix. All I want to do is go swimming, but it’s even too hot for that, unless you like swimming in bath water. To make up for how disgusting it is outside, I thought it would be lovely to sit down and watch Great White, a film about friends on a boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere off the coast of Australia. Big mistake because apparently, lurking in the depths of that oh-so-inviting watery oasis, is a really big fucking shark with an agenda, and that agenda is to murder people. To celebrate the release of his directorial debut, I chatted with director Martin Wilson about filming in water, apex predators in the bush, and what’s next.

PopHorror: Hi Martin! How are you? 

Martin Wilson: Tiffany! I’m great! I’m excited.

PopHorror: I actually just watched Great White today.

Martin Wilson: Yeah?

PopHorror: And I really liked it. It was super intense.

Martin Wilson: Thank you!

PopHorror:  Had me on the edge of my seat.

Martin Wilson: That’s awesome! That’s great feedback. That’s what we were after.

PopHorror: You definitely achieved that. What intrigued you about a Great White and made you want to be a part of it?

Martin Wilson: I think firstly, the enthusiasm as a first time director. You just jump off when you’ve finally been given a chance, and I’d been waiting a long time. And of course, I loved the idea of a creature feature, and that’s where I wanted to take my next steps. And the thriller element and keeping people on the edge of their seats. I’d grown up with those types of films like The Thing and Aliens and all those types of movies. Jaws, of course, which I love. Duel, which I love. All the Hitchcock and Spielberg stuff. Not to say that that’s who we are, but we obviously try and emulate these blokes—these guys—as best you can with what you’ve got.

But I wanted to really showcase that there’s a point of difference, because what’s so hard to do when making a shark film is the environment of Northwest Australia, like the northern climate and the tropical, beautiful, vast epic-looking sea and landscapes that we have here. The water is so crisp; it’s so clean. It’s got that beautiful emerald green to it. You just want to dive in, yet you know that there’s something lurking, very dangerous, below it. You’ve got this juxtaposition between beauty and danger. And also the sense that Australia’s an island. It’s got this vast ocean and you’ll be on this tiny little raft in the middle of nowhere with the sharks sort of stalking you. I guess it’s all those elements rolled into one.

PopHorror: I like that you brought up wanting to dive into the water because that was my first thought. But then, it’s movies like yours that remind me why I don’t. So, you’re not gonna find me out there on a boat. 

Martin Wilson: For good reason!

PopHorror: It was very ambitious of you to take on a feature filmed almost entirely in water, your first feature at that. What were some of the challenges that you faced?

Martin Wilson: People said, “Don’t work with kids or animals,” but they also say, “Don’t do it on the water.” But no one told me that. As a first time director, obviously, you just want to do it, so of course, you take on anything. You’ve got a 25 day schedule, which is incredible for action/adventure films set on the water. When you watch the film, hopefully you don’t know that or see that, but that’s what I had. I had to get everything done in that time. There’s no reshoots, no reschedules. Bang! That’s what I had.

Then you’re faced with the elements of wind, of tides, of the sun in Australia, which is belting down and brutally hot. You’ve got stingers and jellyfish roaming around the water that want to take a bit out of an actor. All those little things that you just cannot control. Someone goes off and gets sunburned, or a bite or an itch or the wind just gets too crazy, and you’ve lost two hours. Then you’ve got to try and absorb that into the coming days so there’s no… It’s just so intense, so intense.

PopHorror: Twenty-five days is not a lot of time! 

Martin Wilson: Shooting on water is a very, very tricky task.

PopHorror: What is up next for you, Martin? Is there anything that you’re currently working on?

Martin Wilson: Well, obviously, I love creature features. I want to go down and explore that path, and I’ve got a couple of projects that are simmering away. They’re not solidly developed. In Australia, we have the legend of the big cat, which is basically panthers and cougars and so forth. Obviously, we don’t have apex animals in Australia, but there’s legends of US servicemen that were here in WWII. They had mascots and when they back home, they let them loose up into the bush. They’ve been hiding and roaming around the bush ever since. I’ve got a similar story, like a coming-of-age Stand By Me, which I’d love to get going. Another one I’ve got is a werewolf thing that might be on a plane. So there’s a couple of things out there that I—fingers crossed—that once this film gets out there. Please, everyone! Go see it. Then I’ll get these other movies off the ground.

PopHorror: I’m intrigued. You’ve intrigued me. I had not heard that. So that’s really interesting. I like creature features as well, so that it’s right up my alley. 

Martin Wilson: Awesome, awesome!

PopHorror: And I just have one last question for you, Martin. What is your favorite scary movie?

Martin Wilson: The scariest movie that I’ve ever seen is The Exorcist, and that I will only ever watch in the daytime. That’s the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. I think my favorite scariest film… Let me see… It’s possibly Aliens. The second Alien film. I think that is a really brilliant film. Very tense, very scary. I think it’s a masterpiece.

 

Thank you so much, Martin, for speaking with us. Be sure to catch Great White when he murders audiences in theaters, VOD and digital on July 16, 2021.