Fathers of Girls - Back Story
Karl Howman and Ethem Cetintas have worked on many 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.

Karl of course, has a long career as an actor in feature films, TV and stage, as well as a director of stage, commercials and promotional films, he has a huge admiration for the tradition of European cinema. Ethem also has a very long career in the film industry starting in newsreel, current affairs and later moving on to documentaries, features, commercials and promotional films. Ethem comes from a Turkish tradition, very much based on the Italian and French cinema with an Eastern influence. It wasn’t long before the two realised they had huge amounts in common and their goal for making a certain kind of film was the same.

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. 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 and no compromise would be made for mass commercial appeal. The idea for ‘Fathers Of Girls’ was now born which they decided to fund themselves.

To this end, they formed a new production company FoG Films Ltd and the two directors now became known as Howman & Cetintas.

The criterion was 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 it’s own as a fully-fledged feature film, which meant, producing it on 35mm, in Scope with Dolby sound! The cast was also from a tight brief of employing professional experienced actors. The project suddenly took on a momentum of its own and with its own demands. The film would be shot entirely on location, using natural light wherever was possible, enhanced by lighting when required, with a small tight experienced crew who have worked with Howman & Cetintas for many years. The main actor was only available for ten days so many creative short cuts were designed to allow scenes to 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 but the task of making it happen became a true goal for all cast and crew who rose to the challenge.

The filming was completed in ten days, for a very small amount of money and with no excuses needing to be made. The rest is now dependent on the content and performances of all concerned. Howman & Cetintas are already working on a new thriller film project titled ‘A Silent Bark’ planned for 2011.

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