Bob Dylan is angry… and he’s got a vengeance in The Curse of Bob Dylan, the ATVA debut of creator’s Emma Henry and Rebecca Thomson, is a wild ride through genres; equal parts horror, dark comedy and… biopic!
“The films based on a true story. The car crash, real. A women crashed into us while listening to Knockin on’ Heaven’s Door, the Guns N’ Roses cover. Bob’s an omen. He was angry at us for playing a cover version.”
“He’d come up on our TikTok and everything, we really were seeing and hearing Bob everywhere…”
An intense amount of research went into the film, with easter-eggs aplenty.
“We got a lot of Bob items from the McQuaid’s and we also used them as Bob himself. A lot of research went into the film.”
The duo highlighted the challenge of acting and directing simultaneously.
“I wanted to be behind the camera and make sure the shots were as I imagined them”, said Emma. While Rebecca highlighted “having to re-say camera instructions” due to being unable to see what a shot looked like from in front of the camera. They found it easy to work with friends as “you can guide them better”. Towards the end, the crew began to stress.
“We finished filming on Monday, and the film was due in Tuesday so the turn around was tight. We were all sat trying to edit the film with the deadline pressing.”
The crew recons Bob was with them, in spirit* (*no, Bob isn’t dead), throughout the shoot.^
“Bob did cause some problems, purposely bringing the wind when we walked up the Wallace monument, and when we tried to light up a candle on the Bob shrine it was a nightmare, the batteries in the camera were dead after we’d walked all the way up to the monument.”
(^For legal reasons, we do not genuinely claim Bob Dylan to be cursing AirTV… however…
… Are you Bob?)
“Throughout the film, a transformation happens. We can let you guess what goes on with that.”
“We just used whoever was near for side characters, except from the McQuaid’s who were the only on purpose casting because they look like Bob. There’s three easter eggs on the poster on that.”
When asked what lessons they learned from their first ATVA shoot the two responded, “don’t leave it last minute Rebecca gets crabby, becomes like a demon! And also just make sure batteries are charged… please, charge the f-cking batteries. Oh, and don’t displease Bob Dylan…”
Featured Image Credit: AIRTV/Rebecca Thomson
He/Him
Arts Editor 24/25
Press email: arts@brignews.com
