Director Jim Archer, actors and writers David Earl and Chris Hayward on the offbeat film, Brian and Charles

Brian and Charles is about an awkward and lonely inventor, Brian,
who lives in rural Wales. He rarely makes contraptions that are
useful or work right, but one day, he finally creates a robot.
Charles Petrescu, built out of an old washing machine and a
mannequin, becomes Brian's friend. But as Charles becomes more and
more curious and self-aware, he decides he wants to explore the
world on his own. Actor David Earl is a comedian and came up with
the eccentric character of Brian as a bit on the stand up circuit
in the UK. One day on an internet radio call in show, a friend
called in to interact with David's character using computer voice
simulation software. Fellow actor and comedian Chris Hayward heard
it, came up with the idea of Charles as Brian's robot sidekick, and
the two took it on the road as a live show. Chris built the Charles
robot character as a costume, and another friend would type in what
Charles would say into the voice simulator to interact with the
audience. In 2017, the two teamed up with director Jim Archer to
make a short film about the characters, and it did well at
festivals. After that, the UK production company Film4 backed
developing the script into a feature film. For the feature version
of Brian and Charles, director Jim Archer decided to expand on the
mockumentary style. He wanted it to look like a real documentary,
with a serious dramatic and cinematic look rather than as a wink
and a nod to other mockumentaries. The friends were inspired by the
documentaries American Movie and Monster Road – true stories about
lonely people desperate for their dream to come true. Brian and
Charles premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is
currently playing in theaters.
https://www.focusfeatures.com/brian-and-charles/watch/ Jim Archer:
Instagram & Twitter: @alrightjim David Earl: Instagram
@davidearlhello Chris Hayward:
https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/chris-hayward Charles Petrescu
has his own twitter account: @CharlesPetrescu Find out even more
about this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com//ep173/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Arri: https://www.arri.com/en
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