Rapper Plan B, whose real name is Ben Drew, has written and director his first feature film, the East London drama Ill Manors, which stars Riz Ahmed. Ben has revealed how he has always had a thing for movie making and that he intends to make many more, since moving from his first love music into the movie industry.
Drew explained, "My music's my first love, and I feel, out of everything I do, it's what I'm a master at, whereas filmmaking, obviously I'm still learning. But I saw it as a logical progression, because I've always tried to tell stories within my music. When I made the short film, I remembered Pusher by Nicolas Winding Refn. I just liked the way it was shot. It was a short film, I only had four grand, I couldn't afford Steadicam or anything So there was a big reference, and there was even one shot I called the Pusher shot.”
He added, “And when I shot the feature, I wanted it to have the same sort of character that the short film had. I'm always planning the next thing. For me, this was never a one-off. I had another film I wrote, before Ill Manors. It could be my masterpiece. It's called Trigger - it's a working title. It's the first thing I ever wrote, I wrote it when I was 20. I don't know if it's going to be the next one, but when I make it, it could be a masterpiece. The story is f**king great." Ill Manors is set to be released on May 4, 2012.
