Fathers of Girls - Back Story
Karl Howman and Ethem Cetintas have worked on various projects together as co-directors in commercials and promotional drama/docs. They had often discussed a possible time when they could make the feature film of their choice in the way they wished, without the pressure and artistic opinion that comes with financial help. Karl Howman’s vast experience of English drama mixed with the Turkish born Ethem Cetintas’ Eastern and European influences created a unique style.

The turning point for them was the fact that they were also fathers of girls, Karl, father of two daughters and grandfather of four girls and Ethem, also a father of two girls. They often spoke about how different it is to be the father of a girl as opposed to a boy and hence the first seeds of the idea for the film were sewn. The screenplay came in thick and fast, with no re-writes or previous drafts. It was written in a progressive fashion with each writer checking what their reactions would be and the consequences of the actions as a result. Logic and truth was the order of the day. The idea for Fathers of Girls was now born, which the writer/directors decided to fund themselves and from now on known simply as ‘Howman & Cetintas’.

So the co-production started; Karl’s company Linefilm Ltd. would take on the casting, pre-production rehearsals and marketing of the film, whilst Ethem’s company Silver Productions Ltd. would take on the production and post-production of the film. The criteria were very tight; they had a very small budget, but it would have to be done on film, without compromises and without having to make excuses for it later. It had to stand up on its own as a fully-fledged feature film, which meant, producing it on 35mm, in TechniScope with Dolby surround sound and using DI process! The cast was also from a tight brief of employing professional experienced actors.

It was at this time that Karl called upon his old friend Ray Winstone for an opinion on the script. Ray called a few days later and said the script had really struck a chord with him as he has three girls of his own. He also asked who was playing the lead? Karl replied that an actor he much admired had shown interest, but wasn’t available until the following year. Ray said: “Why don’t you ask me?”

Now that the main role was cast, there was one more twist to the story. Both Karl and Rays daughters are well-respected actresses and Ethem’s two daughters are studying drama. Suddenly the main roles of the girls were cast, playing daughters of fathers in a film, which their own dads were making.

The project suddenly took on a momentum of its own and with its own demands. Ray was only available for approximately two weeks in October as he was shooting a feature and another one after that. Winter was just around the corner and it was now coming up to September! Howman & Cetintas only option was to go back to the basics of film making and make some very inventive decisions on how they could do this without compromise.

The film would be shot entirely on location, around Salisbury, Wiltshire using natural light wherever possible, enhanced by theatrical lighting as and when required. Performance of the actors was of primary importance and they should never be hindered by any technical reason of camera, sound or lighting. Each scene would be designed to allow the cast complete freedom without any limitations and scenes would be captured in their entirety whenever possible in single takes to preserve the developing drama as understood and portrayed by the cast. This was a very unorthodox way of working for the crew members as there would be no cover shots, no re-takes for insurance purposes and they would not be able to get their equipment in where they would like it to be. Fortunately, as majority of the crew had worked with Howman & Cetintas over many years, the challenges of making it happen became a true goal for all concerned. There were no monitors available during the shoot. Ethem operated the camera whilst Karl directed the actors, the two trusting each other implicitly throughout.

A week into production, Ray was cast to replace Robert De Niro in Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness, an offer Ray could not refuse, which resulted in a loss to Fathers Of Girls of four days shooting. This meant having to cancel the studio shoot which had been planned for some of the interior scenes, which were later, switched to various locations instead. This was a nerve-wracking time as no one was sure if Ray would be delayed further. But, true to his word, Ray returned for an additional four days shoot later to everyone’s relief. He went back to finish Edge Of Darkness, the day our filming wrapped.

The film was now complete in the way the directors wished, for a very small amount of money and with no excuses needing to be made. The two directors enjoyed working together that they decided to form a production company called FoG Films Ltd. to produce films written and directed by Howman & Cetintas, specialising in emotive stories made using traditional cinema techniques.

After a positive response from the initial screening at BAFTA, FoG Films were encouraged to take Fathers of Girls to festivals and start negotiations with distributors. Latest news are published on our home page.

You can see a short trailer of the film here. For more information please contact us.