Released on July 2nd 2012 in the UK, The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan hits DVD with a gritty thud.

Charting the life of Mike Jacobs played by the excellent Nick Nevern, we find an unlikely football hooligan drawn into a life of white collar crime; credit card fraud, money laundering and a whole lot more besides.

When things eventually go wrong, Mike must not only protect the system that rewarded him handsomely, he must weigh up his own options. Can he leave this life of crime behind or has his supposed best friend Eddie (Simon Phillips) landed him so deep that the drugs, women and violence will slowly smother him until he is no more?

boxofficeBUZ has managed to wrestle Paul Tanter director of The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan into a chair and we've forced him to go through the insanity of answering some questions all designed to shatter his will, his nerve and above all his spirit.

Or.... we just want to help raise awareness of this gritty brit drama.

So let us begin...

First off, how did the idea for The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan come about?

It’s based on the real-life story of a guy called Ray (Raheel Riaz), who was recruited by an old friend into a credit card fraud gang. He rose through the ranks, got busted, served some time, got let back out and carried on rising up the ladder until everything ultimately went tits up and he faced the choice of dying at the hands of his old bosses or testifying against them – he chose the latter and is now living in witness protection. The football backdrop and some relationships have been added or tweaked, but when the text card at the beginning says “based on a true story”, it’s true.

When did you first realise that writing and directing was a career path you wanted to pursue? It's not an easy business to get in to....

Writing was always something I wanted to do, but I thought I’d end up trying to balance trying to be a novelist with a career as a journalist! I initially got into film writing through being recommended by someone at the right time. Many years ago, Rita Ramnani was attached to a film in pre-production, and the script needed some re-working from someone new. We were friends from university and she recommended me as someone who could give the job a fair go – as I’d always been involved in writing stuff at uni. She put me in contact with the producer, Simon Phillips and I re-wrote what was to become the film Jack Says. From there, we all worked well together and kind of started a little franchise going that has now resulted in a trilogy (Jack Says, Jack Said, Jack Falls). As we were making Jack Said, I realised that wanted more control over how my writing was being interpreted – which led to the directing job on Jack Falls. It’s definitely not an easy business to get into and I count myself very lucky to have got this far – I know how many people are striving to do the same.

You've done a number of gritty urban thrillers and dramas, the most notable being the Jack Falls and now The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligans, do you want to continue on writing and directing for the urban genre or do you have plans to branch out into different genres in future projects?

I’d never rule out any kind of genre. I want to make all kinds of films – comedy, rom-com, horror, sci-fi, western, you name it! I suppose at the moment I’ve hit a bit of a stride with the crime /thriller genre, and if there’s a demand for that then I’ll keep doing it

Hooliganism has made the press a lot recently with Euro 2012, what are your thoughts on actual hooliganism? The violence, the racism and other dirty things associated with it?

Obviously I don’t condone any of those things. One thing Mike makes clear in the opening of white Collar Hooligan is that it’s the camaraderie, the feeling of belonging to a group that matters, that really draws him to the mob. The hooligan element is really a backdrop for the main character and a way for them to meet – Mike and Eddie soon replace the need to be part of the pack with their own team that they form in the credit card fraud gang – and their friendship means that they gradually slip away from that old lifestyle.

How did your own personal thoughts and feelings above feed in to your treatment of Mike and Eddie as characters when writing the film?

It was important to humanise them as quickly as possible. If people don’t like the characters then you lose the audience. Mike is very likeable and the first ten or so minutes help to warm us to him. Eddie is bit more of a snake – likely to bite any moment – but at the same time he has a great charm about him which endear him to you and make you want to be his mate. As both characters become closer friends, their guards drop and you see the two young guys who are way in over their heads who you really feel for.

During the casting process was there any one thing you were looking for when casting the roles of Mike or Eddie?

I kind of had Simon in my minds eye already when I was writing Eddie; I’ve known him for five years now and we’re close friends so he’s easy to write for. I know his strengths as an actor and what he brings of himself to a part and can play to that in the script. I have to say I think this is possibly his best performance yet. In the early drafts, I still didn’t know who would be playing Mike but I had an idea it would be Nick when I was re-writing later on. Nick is a great actor and very under rated, so it was great to see him in the role. It was important to find a kind of everyman – someone we could all identify with. Nick has that combined with a certain x-factor quality that makes people stop and notice him.

When the film starts we're treated to a faceoff between Hooligans and the Police, how important was it for you to show the parallels in violence between Mike's old life and his new one where there wasn't a rabble to protect him when the fists or bullets started flying?

There isn’t a rabble to protect him, but rather than the unorganised mass, there’s the efficient, organised, albeit smaller, criminal fraternity that he’s now a part of. The violence he’s encountering has gone from the blunt to the precise. It was important to show that progression/journey from one life to the other. In his new life, he’s part of a team who has each other’s backs and looks out for each other – he even goes to prison rather than betray them.

In the production notes for the film a mysterious figure called "Ray" is mentioned as providing the inspiration and stories for the character of Mike. "Ray" is currently in witness protection, how did your meetings with "Ray" occur? Were there any rules.... can you even answer this question?

Ray is the guy who’s life the film is based on, so we had lunch a couple of times and he told me about how he got recruited into the organization, how he got arrested and nearly killed and how he got out the other side and wound up in witness protection. Ray is short for “Raheel”, but I don’t think that’s always been his real name. There were no “rules” for meeting him, though I did notice he always sat with his back to a wall where he could see the doors and where everyone else in the room was.

Were there any stories "Ray" told you that couldn't be included within the film? Did any of them truly shock or scare you?

There were more finite details, such as how he had ten or so mobile phones charging and in use at any one time, but we cover the main points of what genuinely happened to him, in the film. One thing that I didn’t use in the film was that when he was kidnapped, he kept in a metal box – almost like a coffin. This wasn’t very visually interesting so I changed it in the film for a more conventional “tied up” approach. He told me few things about the injuries he sustained during his kidnapping, but I didn’t want to labour on the violence too much in film. In reality, Ray was and is lucky to be alive.

How involved were the actors in the development or evolution of their characters during filming?

All actors bring something of themselves to a role and one of things I love about Nick, Simon, Rita, Peter and Rebecca is how seriously they take their job and the thought they put in to their characters. They all had great ideas and inputs into their roles, which makes the difference between actors saying lines and people seeing the characters.

How long was the shoot in total and did it run smoothly or were there a few hiccups along the way?

It was three weeks, shooting six days a week, so 18 days in total, then another day of pickups at a football match. That includes our Paris shoot too. Everything was relatively smooth. The shooting of the riot/hooligan scenes were challenging logistically – 100 extras, riot police, car blowing up, etc, but overall everything went pretty much according to schedule thanks to the crew working their arses off.

There was a montage that involved Mike getting a blow job from his bit on the side; how does a director go about instructing the giver and the receiver of said sex act? (I asked on twitter, I had to ask here too!)

I told Nick to just think of his first ever blow job. He said he didn’t want to as he could still remember the taste, so I told him to just try to enjoy himself. My advice to Rebecca was “don’t put your eye out”.

How do you go about finding funding for a film like The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan?

We’ve got enough of a track record behind us now that people can see we have a history of delivering commercially successful films, so we’re able to fund them on a mixture of private investment and pre-sales in some territories.

George Romero has had many issues with studio conflict in the past ten years... have you faced anything equally challenging when bringing a vision to life? Did you see things one way and financial backers want something different?

You occasionally have to argue for certain things... But I’m generally in the position where I know what the financial or logistical restriction are when I’m writing, so I make the necessary adaptions then. My producers are fairly hands off and let me get on with making the film, which suit them and I perfectly. They know I’ll deliver it on time and on budget, and give me relative freedom within that.

If you had any advice for budding film makers or writers looking to get into the business, what would it be?

Keep going and don’t give up! Take any and all work that you can in order to gain experience and widen your contacts. So much work is down to being remembered by the right person at the right time. Collaborate with friends to make films, learn from your mistakes and make sure you improve. And don’t friend request people on facebook trying to network – that’s what linkedin is for!

Are there plans for a follow up to the film, is Mike's story over or is there more to tell?

Plans are very much afoot at the moment. I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s plenty of characters left at the end of White Collar Hooligan who I want to revisit down the line. That’s something we’re planning on shooting very soon.

As we do also have a large US and Canadian audience, are there any plans to release the film in the US Territories?

Definitely. I don’t know what dates they’re looking at but we want it released everywhere. If you do live there and want to see it sooner though, please download it legally from iTunes, etc, or buy it from Amazon.co.uk. Don’t download it illegally; it’s killing the low budget filmmakers.

This is the part of the interview where things get truly difficult. It allows fans of film to see current and former influences and also opens up a dialog on a personal level. Plus these questions are designed to discover whether or not you are clinically psychotic.... don't worry, we ask everyone these questions, relax, take a deep breath...

What's your favourite film of all time and why?

Withnail & I. Brilliant script – it has the best dialogue ever. It’s such a simple set up – two actors escape the city for a few days in the country. Imagine pitching that now! The soundtrack is great but what makes the film are the brilliant performances from Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths and Ralph Brown. I know it’s become the “quoted by students” film – most of whom mangle the quotes anyway – but if I ever meet Bruce Robinson I want to thank the man for that film. Oh, but best ever car chase – The Blues Brothers!

Favourite Director and why?

Probably Martin Scorsese for his consistently near-perfect work. Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed are all in my top 20, but then Quentin Tarantino is breathing down his neck too.

Favourite Actor/Actress and why?

Actor – Gary Oldman. Such a varied career with such different roles, yet he excels at them all. Actress – Natalie Portman. She has that kind of “strong but vulnerable” quality, is very talented and smart too – how many Hollywood stars have a Harvard degree. It helps that these two are both in Leon, which is one of my all time favourite films.

Favourite Recording Artist and Why?

In terms of classics; it’s the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. More recently, I’ve become a huge fan of Greg Holden through some mutual friends who introduced me to him. He’s British singer/songwriter who’s based in New York and wrote the song “Home” that was performed by the winner of American Idol (Phillip Phillips). I’ve been to several of his gigs in London and Brighton and am always impressed and entertained.

Your song of the moment?

“Home” – but the Greg Holden version. Look for it on youtube.

What's the worst prank you've EVER played on someone? Did they live?

I don’t know about worst, but I’ve got two memorable ones – one which worked and one which didn’t. I tried the “put the sleeping persons hand in warm water and they’ll piss themselves” on Dave Tremaine, who plays Jamie in White Collar Hooligan, when we were sharing a flat at university... He woke up as soon as his hand hit the water – so that was a bit of a rubbish one. A good one was after watching a fairly creepy film, my girlfriend and I were getting ready to go to bed... While she’s brushing her teeth, I put several pillows under the duvet to look like I’m in bed, and then hid behind the door. She came in, saw the shape under the duvet and moved towards the bed, thinking I was going to sit up quickly to try to scare her. When I leapt out from behind the door, shouting, she jumped about three feet in the air. She made me promise to never do anything like that again. I think I lasted about a day before trying it again.

When you woke up this morning, which song would best describe your mood?

“Where is my mind” by The Pixies... I’m not good in the mornings.

What's your personal motto? i.e. "Look before you leap" / "Never Kill a Hooker until you've paid her first"

“Either hurry up or get out of my way”, but then I do live in London and use the tube, so that’s only to be expected.

THE RISE AND FALL OF A WHITE COLLAR HOOLIGAN IS OUT NOW ON DVD IN THE UK!