Imagine Me & You Clip Watch a scene from Ol Parker's Brit rom-com.

Ol Parker made his mark in the 1990s with two acclaimed TV drama scripts: Loved Up (1995) and In Your Dreams (1997). He followed that with the screenplay for Metin Hüseyin's thriller It Was An Accident (2000). An adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong got stuck in development, but now he's making his directorial debut with Imagine Me & You (formerly known as Click), a smart rom-com with Piper Perabo and Lena Headey. He spoke to us from Los Angeles about how he found the transition from writer to writer/director.

When I visited the film's set you seemed remarkably laid back for a first-time director. How did you find the job?
I was lucky enough to hire really good people who took care of me, basically. There was a point a couple of nights before we started where my wife [Thandie Newton] was like, 'You're about to direct a film and you've never directed traffic. Why aren't you s******g yourself?' And it was because smart people had got my back covered. Also, it could have been the only time anyone had let me do this, so I wanted to have fun whilst doing it. If you're in this business at all for the rewards then you're always let down.

What was the hardest thing for you as a director?
Oh, the sex scene, an absolute nightmare. The girls [Piper Perabo, Lena Headey] were absolutely fine, they were totally happy and giggled their way through it. And I was so deeply embarrassed by the whole thing. I just kept on going, "One more time? Do you mind? Er, could you try and put your hand on her... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." A terrible day for me.

And how did you find the post-production process?
As a writer it can be tempting to believe that the process of filming and then editing is just a factory putting something together that you've already designed. And that's not really true, it's its own entity. So you get to write the script three times - you write the script, you direct the script, and you edit the script, and it changes massively each time.

And if you're not alive to the changes, and excited by those changes, then as a writer it can be a very difficult experience. Actors come up with stuff and make your rather paltry scripts considerably better. People ask if I mind improvising - of course not! Many of the funniest lines in the film are not mine, but my name's on the script so I get the credit.

Can you tell us about the process of making a romantic comedy, because it's a hard genre to get right...
It's a nightmare! Everyone uses words like 'crowd-pleaser' like they're pejorative, you know what I mean? And it's so ****ing hard to get a laugh, I realise that now. There's no such thing as a laugh that's too low, any laugh you can get is a triumph. I'd never written one before, I wanted to write about love, and love at first sight, and then I had this idea. And it's literally the only high concept idea I have ever had in my life! I normally think. 'I want to write about drugs', and then try and find a skimpy plot to hang whatever I want to say about drugs on.

Did you do many test screenings for the film?
It wasn't like we had a whole lot left on the cutting room floor, or that we were going to be able to go back and reshoot. We tested it twice, and it's an absolute nightmare having to sit and listen to the focus group. You sit several rows back and listen to them murder you - that's just a uniquely appalling process! There was a guy with a ponytail who I'd still like to seek out, hunt and kill!

What type of feedback were you getting from him?
They have their own momentum these things. If you tell me that you really liked the film and I said, "Did you? I thought it was a piece of s***!", it immediately makes you doubt your own opinion. And so all these focus groups, you're told to only listen to the first two minutes because they all have a downhill momentum; if there's any dissenting voice, then that voice will become the loudest and the most effective. At the beginning there were 20 people and they were asked, "Who thought it was excellent?" And I think 13 hands went up. "Very good?" Another five. "Who thought it was good?" One. "Adequate?" One. And I was like, "F***ing hell that's fantastic!" And then if you'd taken another vote at the end, the one had them all pretty much on his side - the f***er with the ponytail!

I'd still like to seek out, hunt and kill the guy with a ponytail.

Your wife Thandie has been involved in some big budget movies. How much do you look at her experience of making films in Hollywood and think you're better off with the autonomy of shooting smaller movies in the UK?
I was really lucky and had really respectful producers on Imagine Me & You, they really let me make the film that I wanted - for better or worse. I look at it and that's my film. The things that are wrong with it I have to own because there's no big Harvey Weinstein figure behind me to blame, and that's a fantastic thing for me. I have no idea whether my next film will be here or there or if there'll be one, but it doesn't look as much fun making the films that my wife makes as the fun I had making this one. And I'd very much love the chance to do this again.

What advice would you give people from the experience you've had as a writer moving into directing?
Hire good people to look after you - it's all about the cast and the crew. I was very comfortable with my technical ignorance and inexpertise, but I'm not dumb. I'd say, "You're going to have to tell me everything once but you won't have to tell me twice." I was very happy saying, "Excuse me, I don't know what that means." Or, "You lost me there, that's jargon." And by the end I had most of it. What crews fear, rightly, is someone pretending to know more than they do. You don't make a twat of yourself, you don't walk around going, "OK, I've got no clue now, can anybody help me? I have no idea, how do we get this f***** off the floor?" They need someone to respect and trust. You've also got to be comfortable with the things you don't know, and you walk that line basically.

Imagine Me & You is released in UK cinemas on Friday 16th June 2006.

Adrian Hennigan | Published 15 June 06

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