Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, currently blazing a trail at the box office, is reputed to have had a budget of $225 million.
Six Semesters, a full-length romantic comedy written and directed by DCU student John McKeown, with an all-Irish student cast and crew, has a budget of €12,000. How does McKeown feel about having to compete with Hollywood ? ”To be honest, it never occurred to me,” he says. ”We’ll launch the film around October with its premiere in DCU where all the students are studying, and then we’ll try to have it shown at festivals wherever we can. It’s unlikely that it’ll go on the same circuit as the blockbusters, although you can never tell. There are festivals for Irish films in New York, San Francisco and around Europe which we’ll have a look at, but the focus for the moment is completing the shooting and then getting into post-production.”
Not that such a low budget is the drawback it might seem to outsiders. “One of the most important aspects of doing this film this way is that it proves what can be done nowadays with the technology that’s available and without having to have a huge budget. A few years ago it would have been impossible, so I’m hoping that Six Semesters will send out a signal to other budding film-makers that what was once impossible is now possible.”
Set primarily on DCU’s north Dublin campus, Six Semesters looks set to overturn the well-worn stereotype of the Irish matchmaker. The film tells the story of the main character Eddie and his offbeat way of subsidising student life: running an agency offering one half of a couple a discreet and hassle-free service to break-up a relationship. Is Eddie based on McKeown’s own experiences? He smiles at the idea. “I suppose there’s part of me in Eddie, especially in terms of the insecurities I’ve often felt around romantic relationships, but I’ve dramatised it.” So will he be embarrassed if people confuse him with his creation? “Not really. Eddie’s a bit of a charmer, so I won’t have any problem if people think he’s me,” he says.
Apart from persuading DCU to fund the film, what obstacles had to be overcome? “Not so much obstacles as such,” explains the self-effacing McKeown, “but there were some surprises along the way. For example, about 80 people auditioned for parts in the film, including some of my friends. I hadn’t realised that I would have to tell some of them that I hadn’t been able to cast them, and although none of them took it badly, I did feel uncomfortable about it, and that I hadn’t expected.”
Meanwhile, as many of their colleagues slip off on their J1 visas to the US, this group of enterprising students will be working hard on post-production duties for Six Semesters. Is there a contradiction between the Irish setting and the Americanism in the title. “I don’t know what the Irish equivalent would be," says McKeown. ”If you called it ‘Six Terms’ it could be about anything, whereas using the word ‘semester’ immediately implies that it’s set on-campus somewhere. Anyway, if you look at the DCU website the schedule uses the word ‘semester’, so the word is already in use here anyway.”