Mark Cousins believes Youtube and Netflix do not threaten traditional filmmaking
Renowned film maker Mark Cousins has told Glasgow residents that he does not believe the likes of YouTube and Netflix threaten traditional filmmaking.
Speaking as part of the weekly Creative Conversations event at the University of Glasgow, he contested the idea that internet platforms are changing viewing habits.
He said: “Look what’s happening with the long form. The Breaking Bads. The getting lost in something. It’s always there and always will be there.
“We shouldn’t be narcissistic and think our age thinks differently. Things like that haven’t changed at all.”
He made the comments as part of a wide-ranging interview about his creative inspirations and thoughts on film production in front of an audience of over 75 people.
Mr Cousins is famous for his 1997-2001 documentary series Scene By Scene, in which he interviewed famous film industry figures such as Martin Scorsese and Sean Connery.
On the making of the series, he said: “It was a selfish thing. I wanted to learn how to make films.
“In each case I was hungry for knowledge and how they had been creative.”
He has less admiration for the 2007 film 300, which stars Scottish actor Gerard Butler.
He said: “This was a film that expressed America’s fear and hatred of Iran. If we have an example of a fascist film, this is it.”
He attributes his success to never having adopted a professional attitude.
He said: “I’ve never been a professional, not once. I feel on my passport it should say explorer.
“In the creative field it’s dangerous to think of yourself as a professional. There’s a danger in that. Professional is not an imaginative category.”
The Creative Conversations events are a weekly talk with creative professionals in the University of Glasgow’s Memorial Chapel.
The discussions are open to the public and next week’s speaker is the novelist Jacob Ross.
By Samuel Casey
