We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Mardon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My original love was art. I love drawing. My degree is in Fine Art so I had always hoped to be able to make a living from being creative in some way. That rarely happens though and I was left with no option but to get my Secondary Art Teaching PGCE qualification from Goldsmith’s University. I taught on and off for nearly 20 years. At some point I had the opportunity to be a zombie in a low budget film called Gangsters, Guns and Zombies. I really enjoyed the experience and joined an Extras agency. I totally forgot about it until out of the blue I got work on The Tunnel Season three which again, was great fun. I then did various jobs as an extra but really wanted to act. I auditioned for a role in Darren Ward’s Beyond Fury, which I got, and it all went from there. So it was a late start but I always wanted to do something creative and artistic; with a family and financial responsibilities that isn’t always possible though.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So I mentioned my initial toe-dipping into the industry in the previous question. After Beyond Fury I auditioned here and there and got a few parts. Notably in James Edward Newton’s Black Lizard Tales and in TIS Films, Mosaic and Video Shop Tales of Terror. Somewhere amongst all this I decided to create my own feature film, The Witches of the Sands. This has been going on four five years now and we are approaching a finish at last. Budget-wise I set up a crowdfunded on Indiegogo which was very successful and then I financed the rest myself. Obviously budget is a problem to manage and overcome.
I’m very proud to have accomplished this- it was a steep learning curve. Never underestimate the importance of good people around you. Always be receptive to input. Although The Witches of the Sands remains my project, it has been accomplished with the help, expertise, professionalism, knowledge and enthusiasm of others.
My fiancee, Lauren, and I have also been working on other projects together- notably an anthology horror film featuring five short stories. Lauren wrote the Darner section which we both act in. James Edward Newton directed- James and I also co-directed the Libra and Rabbit sections too. This film, working title, ‘Psychosis’, is having up to be very, very good indeed and again, with very little budget, I believe we are creating something worthwhile.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I often wished I could be content with a 9-5 job. I managed it for a long time but it ate away at my soul. I imagine many people will not understand giving up a reasonably well paid job to ‘try to make it work’ and I understand that. It was a contributing factor to the failure of my marriage in fact. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing fun about having no money and struggling to make ends meet- I was delivering take aways and working as a cleaner in order to survive whilst making Witches- but now, having made it (almost) I can breathe a sigh of relief and know it was the right thing to do. But like I said, I understand that the majority of people live to make as much money as possible and I have nothing against that either.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think like most creative people, whether that’s in music, the visual arts, writing or whatever, the journey, to some extent, is the goal. I don’t think there will be a defining goal as such. The discovery, the mistakes, the pain, the elation and the problem solving is all there can be isn’t it? Without that, is whatever you are doing worth doing? I am very much looking forward to finishing The Witches of the Sands and then Psychosis and also having our book (about plants in horror films) published and then I am looking forward to a long rest where I do very little until some sort of inspiration strikes again.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonymardon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonymardon/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWitchesoftheSands
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7678736/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNceGJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBDR29MWUd6VFVQcDR4b2JpAR5f-A3HCL11UAEIaS-oMD6U-bSfXnsCmCHN1eTwjvn5JokeA2Ln5pMdF5HX1Q_aem_4ZC7qCDmqWG7wng_FLFitg&ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Image Credits

David Ince
Aaron Moran