A Wigan film director is being approached by big Hollywood studios for work after his involvement in the Mission: Impossible films.
Chris Jones was splinter unit director on the two most recent blockbusters in the movie franchise, the latest of which – The Final Reckoning – is now playing to huge cinema audiences across the world.
For the uninitiated, a splinter unit is a small film crews who can lavish more time on filming details, other angles and special effects.
The work on the two films has seen Billinge-born Chris working with all the main cast, including Tom Cruise, and his association with such big names and productions is paying off.
The 58-year-old is fresh back from the Cannes Film Festival and it is clear that his work is getting noticed.
Chris said: “I met a producer in Cannes on the back of my work on Mission: Impossible and there were discussions about a major project.
“I can’t possibly reveal any details at this stage – indeed it’s speculative at the moment – but it’s right up my street and very big.
“But other Hollywood big players have been asking about my availabililty too which is very exciting.”
As for the new Mission: Impossible film, Chris spent three months working at Longcross Film Studios in Surrey.
He said: “We shot a heck of a lot of scenes and a lot of them appear in the final cut.
“Tom Cruise was as involved as ever. He has the most incredible work ethic. His dedication to great story-telling is remarkable and all his energy and intensiveness is there to see on the screen in every facet of the production.
“I spent a lot of time shooting a giant countdown clock which, for those who haven’t see the film yet, is very relevant to the story. The film also contains what is surely the longest continuous action sequence in cinematic history. It was a pleasure to work on the project.”
Chris made made an international name for himself by producing – and teaching others how to make – movies on a shoestring.
Chris had been due to go to university to study geology in the mid-1980s when he and a friend decided to make a zombie movie which received such a huge and positive reception from fellow Winstanley College students that he decided that film was for him and he was granted an extra year at the college by the then principal Dennis Lavelle to explore these new avenues.
It led to increasingly ambitious, if still low budget, films – including the 2008 short subject Gone Fishing which was shortlisted for an Oscar – and the writing of The Guerilla Film Maker’s Handbook for all those wanting to put together a movie on the tightest of budgets.
And it was an old friend of Chris – who had worked on Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossibles – who put his name forward for “splinter unit” director.
Chris has also been recently running the annual London Screenwriters’ Festival and is says he is developing his own projects to direct too.
