Portugal: Marco Espirito Santo

The young Portuguese director got the film bug while studying business in New York, where his head was turned by art and bohemian living. With his eclectic reel and serious ambitions, the business world’s loss has been filmmaking’s gain, as Joe Lancaster discovers.

Marco Espirito Santo loves Portugal, but the economic downturn has led to what the director sees as a drought in interesting advertising, and he’s not happy about it. “The country’s not in the greatest shape, so suddenly there’s less money to make commercials and clients are a bit fearful. A lot of the stuff being made is too safe.”

It’s frustration rather than arrogance that makes him speak so passionately about the lack of creativity, which he insists isn’t due to a lack of ideas. “I know we have great creatives and I think the Portuguese as a people are pretty creative, but it’s tricky to convince agencies and clients to take risks.” Born in London to Portuguese parents, Espirito Santo grew up just outside Lisbon. After finishing school, he left to study business at Pace University in New York, but found the bohemian lifestyle more alluring.

“New York got me into all the arts, music, film, exhibits. I had exposure to loads of amazing modern artists who’ve influenced me, like Jasper Johns and Chuck Close.” He spent his spare time with art students and pouring his ideas and feelings onto paper. “I was writing a lot of poetry, which is what kind of led me into film. I did a scriptwriting course during my last year there and loved it.” On graduating he moved back to Europe and found himself at the London Film School. “I didn’t enjoy it much. I learned loads from my fellow students, but I felt the lecturers sucked the confidence out of me, so when I came out I was a bit lost.”

He got a job at a production company, before getting signed to Pulse Films, where he stayed for a couple of years until realising things just didn’t feel right. “It didn’t become everything I hoped for. It was no one’s fault, but by the end of it I was looking forward to moving back to Portugal.” So he returned to the same small town where he grew up, and soon got a call from Take It Easy Films.

In the year since, he’s found a renewed passion for filmmaking, as well as for his country. “It’s been nice to rediscover my culture and my city.” A look at Espirito Santo’s reel reveals ads, music videos, shorts and corporate films shot in myriad styles. It’s difficult to decide what his best style is, which he knows could turn off potential employers.

“Commercially, it probably does hinder me, but I don’t see myself as a commercial director, I see myself as a director who does commercials. It’s not like I don’t worry about it, but I’m much more interested in finding my voice than creating a body of work that appeals to the agencies.”

One of his favourite projects concerns belief in home-grown talent. The First Frontier is a short that he made and later sold to a national TV channel, about the adventures of three young guys who go to Spain to follow their dreams. “In Spain it’s more of a ‘can do’ attitude and here it’s more like, ‘oh, I’m worried, maybe you shouldn’t do this, maybe you shouldn’t do that’ and I’m just really fed up with it,” he says. “I think we have really amazing brains, we’re just having a self-confidence crisis at the moment. One day I’d like to teach film to young students and empower them. They feel like their destiny isn’t in their hands and I think it is.”

And what can the industry do? “Give people more chances. Don’t look at established directors every time, because there’s a handful of people doing almost everything and it’s not because they’re better. They’re good, but they’re not leagues ahead of everybody else. It’s not particularly healthy for the industry. You don’t renew yourself enough.” What it all comes down to with Espirito Santo is belief. He believes so strongly in making films that he’d rather do something else than forfeit his creativity.

“I don’t make films just to make films, or just to make money, or to further my reputation.I believe in the medium and I believe it can make a difference. If it works out it’s because it was meant to be, and if it doesn’t then that’s fine, too, because I was honest with myself. I always thought when going into directing that if it’s not to make original stuff then it’s not worth it, and I still feel that way.”