Take any opportunity you can get!
Especially for high potential CHANCES Stuart Chapman explains why believing in yourself is most important for success.
Stuart Chapman has fulfilled his dreams. As a producer and director the 37 year old accompanies Pirelli every year while shooting their famous calendar seeing exotic places all over the world meeting photographers like Bruce Webber and of course the most beautiful women on the world like Kate Moss and Heidi Klum are part of his job.
 What do you do for a living?
I run a film and video production company and work as a producer and director.
Are you happy in your job and if yes, why?
Yes, I’m very happy in my job. I’m in the fortunate position to work on some very creative and fulfilling projects that I find both technically and creatively challenging and I find myself in a position where I can choose the people I work with. Channelling my clients’ budgets into teams of highly skilled and creative people I’m personally able to handpick for a job is very exciting. Also, it is nice to be your own boss and I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity of working in some amazing and exotic locations and have met some really interesting people.
How did you get to where you are now, what education and training did you have?
After doing my A-levels at a British public school, I enrolled in one of the first practical media courses in the country at the time, Bournemouth College of Film, Art and Design, which is now known as Bournemouth University, and ironically this course has now become the country’s leading film and media course.
I adapted, produced and directed a short drama at film school which I used to get my first job, working as a video tape editor for a small provincial production company, where I did mainly corporate programmes. In this job I met a producer who persuaded me to go freelance and work for him as a creative director and editor on a number of projects, that he had in the pipeline. These included some pop videos for Sony Music and EMI Music and a commercial for the British Army. This experience proved to be an invaluable learning curve for a 23-year old aspiring director.
Still relatively fresh out of film school I found myself directing and editing at quite an early age.
And quite early you started to be self employed...
In 1991, I set up my own production company Utopia Productions and managed to secure a contract with the tour operator ‘Thomas Cook’ producing promotional films about the Caribbean Islands and Canada. Lucrative contracts with IBM and Black & Decker followed as well as various music videos.
In 1993, whilst editing a music video in a studio in Soho, London, the Art Director of the Pirelli Calendar walked in and announced that he was looking for a visual and creative director to take on the project of producing a documentary about the making of the Pirelli Calendar which would feature photographer Herb Ritts and international supermodels Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen and Karen Alexander. The studio receptionist, a friend of mine, offered my services and so began a long and fruitful relationship with Pirelli Tyres and the wonderful phenomenon that is the ‘Pirelli Calendar’. The calendar project has become an enormous project for me and constitutes at least 70% of our yearly business. I am still working on the project to date and last year worked with the photographer Bruce Weber on the 2003 Pirelli Calendar which was shot in Southern Italy on the Amalfi Coast.
Have you always known what you want to do or were you ever unsure what the right job for you would be?
I knew from the early age of about 11 that I wanted to be involved in music, film or television. I wouldn’t say it’s imperative for young people to know what they want to do. There were other areas that interested me: Architecture, interior design, law, and, of course, being an international footballer, but quite simply, music and film absorbed me more than anything else.
You are doing something arty, where it is difficult, especially at the start of the career to know if you can earn enough. Where did you get your security from and what did your parents say?
To be honest, it was difficult for me. My parents had made the decision to put me through the British public school system which traditionally focused its students on careers in the professions such as medicine, law or accountancy.
In those days it was frowned upon for a member of the school to want to pursue a career in the arts. However, I was undeterred in my goals and against the wishes of the school and the advice of the careers department I went off to Art College to pursue a career in the media. Nobody at the school took me very seriously.
As a chartered accountant my father was naturally concerned that I would not be able to make a living in this field, but I said to him (and I believe that this is very important point for any young person wanting to pursue their dreams) that if my commitment to the quality of my work and my art was top of the list of my priorities, in time, the financial security would follow. The most important thing is to believe in your ability, treat people well and deliver the best quality job you can do at all times.
Then I believe, you have the chance to succeed even if the odds are against you.
What do you think distinguishes an artistic person from a person doing a ‘normal’ job: do you have to have a certain affinity or personality, and do you ‘feel’ artistic work more intensely?
Personally, I’ve never been very interested in the concept of a 9-5 job. I like to create things, however many hours of my time it may take. Whether writing a song or producing and making a film, I find the idea of having something tangible to show for my efforts over a period of time very rewarding and absorbing. Your individually created piece of work is like your baby: It grows as an entity from the original idea and conception to the finished product and you grow with it as a person.
As an artistic person, sometimes the journey is painful and frustrating, but if you feel passionately about something you’re working on, the end result is very rewarding.
I think, at the end of the day, artists can’t really help themselves when it comes to their drive and commitment. Whether you are a painter, a poet, a musician, a novelist or a film maker, artists need to create to find fulfilment in their lives.
What do you enjoy most about your work and do you have a dream about a certain project that you would like to realise one day?
Travelling and seeing the world, delivering quality work that exceeds my clients’ expectations and providing employment and opportunities for other people in my team who have enormous integrity and commitment to their work.
To answer the second part of your question: Maybe a few years ago, like most directors, my ultimate goal would have been to direct a successful movie. However, nowadays I find so many different aspects of this industry challenging and rewarding that it is hard to pinpoint a single and ultimate goal. Having said that, I’ve written a screenplay for a film, which I would like to direct, which is set in Naples in Italy. Plus, I’m working with a bunch of musicians on a soundtrack for a film and it would be great to start playing gigs again with my band.
How would you regard London as a source of inspiration?
I think it’s pretty widely accepted that London has an amazing music scene. British films are growing in stature in the international arena and I believe that London is the leading creative force in advertising. However, I am very pro-european and have drawn massive influences and energy from my time working in Italy. I’m not a great fan of the Hollywood system and I would prefer a British or European low-budget independent film to a Hollywood blockbuster any time.
London is definitely a creative hub. It will always be a city that inspires me.
When do you work, where do you work and how do you gather new impressions that flow into your art?
I alternate my working life between my new high-tech office in London , my edit suite at my house and my music studio in the country. I tend to work long hours and for some bizarre reason I still seem to produce my most creative work at night. An idea can hit you at the oddest moment: on a plane or in the pub. It is very unlikely that an idea will materialise at 9 o’clock first thing on a Monday morning. It just doesn’t work like that for me. Creativity and inspiration is very spontaneous.
It would be nice if you could explain to us how your job works, using the Pirelli film as an example. What happens at the shoot and what is it like to work with so many beautiful women?
Using the Pirelli Calendar project as an example, normally about a month before the shoot I will recce the location and meet the photographer to discuss the concept and choice of models. I then work out my shooting schedule and formulate my creative ideas for the film. I pick my crew and choose the shooting format - a combination of film and digital video. Location filming is always really intense: Early starts, late nights and lots of energy and enthusiasm required. Using last year’s shoot in Amalfi in Italy as an example, it’s always an amazing thrill for me to work with the most beautiful and acclaimed models in the world. Very often, the very big names are the most professional. Heidi Klum was simply adorable - very charming, creative and totally professional. This is a girl who can deliver the most sexy performance to camera and then after the shoot reveal the most incredible down-to-earth nature and personality. It is always fascinating to work with international superstars who turn out to be very grounded regular human beings. It is moments like this that make the Pirelli Calendar job so cool!
What advice would you give to those people that want to do something like you: What further education route would you suggest and do you know of a good film and music institute in London?
I think if you have an ambition or are passionate about something, you should just do it. In this industry it is important to realise that you have to perform to the best of your ability if given the opportunity and I still stress that you need 100% commitment to survive. If late nights and long hours are not part of your work remit then maybe the media industry is not for you. An interesting thing happened to me the other day: a film student sent me her CV and some examples of her work. When we spoke on the telephone, I could sense her enthusiasm, energy and commitment to achieving her goals, and her ideas are really good and very original. It was very encouraging that somebody so young could be so clear in their direction. I’m sure she’ll go on to produce some great films in the future. With regards to education, I think it is always important to train yourself in your chosen career. However, I also believe that a degree in film making from a film school or university will not necessarily guarantee you a job in the industry. There are many high quality courses in music and film at institutes in London, but ultimately in my opinion it will be a balance of education and experience that will lead to a good job.
Artistic and creative jobs experience lots of problems during hard economic times. Do you think that it takes special courage to move into the artistic and creative industry these days?
The main problem in this day and age is the number of people who want to enter the industry. The universities and colleges are over-subscribed and there simply aren’t enough jobs to go round. However, with the massive developments and advances in IT in the film making and creative industries, the young people today have certain advantages: Major aspects of film making such as editing, special effects, CGI, animation and design are all readily available on the desktop. Software is becoming cheaper, very accessible and the younger generation can absorb this technology so much quicker and exploit it so much more effectively. Likewise, with regard to filming, video cameras are becoming more sophisticated, producing better images at lower cost and young people can utilise this technology to produce their own films in order to more easily convey their abilities. So I think it does take a lot of courage to enter an industry that is very competitive but if you are well trained and eager to learn then you should succeed.
Looking back, would you say that you made mistakes at school or university because you did not take up certain opportunities?
My first job offer after I left film school was for a production company in the heart of Soho in London. The job was not very inspiring but the future opportunities within the company would probably have been good. However, I opted to go and work for a smaller company doing a job that would offer me more responsibility and more hands-on experience. I always wondered if I would regret this decision in later life, but ultimately things have worked out really well.
In Britain, time spent abroad is not as crucial a career enhancer as it is in Germany, but generally I would say: take any opportunity you can get - e.g. go abroad - and make the most of it.
And finally: what is your special advice for young people looking for that ideal job after school which they hope will give them life-long happiness?
I think it is a very subjective thing - the notion of an ‘ideal job’ or how you measure ‘success’ in life. All you can ever hope for is that you find a job that you really enjoy doing that can also provide you with an adequate level of financial security. Work hard, stay focused, build up a network of contacts and hope for that little bit of luck. I would always encourage young people to follow their dreams as they might just come true. Mine did!…..
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