Seeing Thailand Through Film: Director Paul Spurrier [S5.E62]

Ed interviews Paul Spurrier, a
British expat in Thailand who has been in the film industry his
entire life. Paul begins at the beginning, how his first movie
ever in a movie theater was "The Sound of Music," and it had such
an impact on him that he decided to become an actor (at age 8!).
After a prolific career as a child on stage and screen, including
films with stars such as Richard Harris, Richard Burton and Roger
Moore, he decided he didn't want to re-invent himself as an adult
actor and instead went to film school.


His film education luckily included virtually all aspects
of filmmaking from writing to lighting to directing to editing.
This eventually led Paul to start his own production company in
London where he worked on a variety of commercial products.
Eventually on a whim he took a short-term job in Thailand, but
fell so in love with the place that he closed up his company and
made the full move to the Land of Smiles to continue his career
as a filmmaker here.


Ed and Paul discuss what it's like to be a farang filmmaker
in Thailand, as well as Paul's unusual choice of making most of
his films in the Thai language. The guys also address the
question of whether Thai audiences really are that different from
audiences around the world, and discuss a few funny stories about
assimilating into a new culture.


Listen in for the full interview with one of the most
interesting expats in Thailand and check out links to some of his
films on IMDB, like P, The
Forest, Eullenia or
The Maestro.


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