The Other Fellow Director on why EON has a Closed Door

The Other Fellow is a film/documentary documenting 15 gentlemen around the world, 'the other fellows' that share the namesake of Britain's favourite fictional spy, James Bond. The film's Director and Producer Matthew Bauer spoke on the From Tailors With Love podcast about the film, and also what he thinks is a 'closed door' policy that the makers of the Bond films, (EON Productions) adhere to. 

The Other Fellow is now streaming on ITVX, but was it designed for the big screen? 

It was designed with the big screen in mind and in somewhat emulates a Bond film there is a lot of globetrotting. There is a surprising amount of planes and cars and explosions going on. I grew up as a fan of the Bond films so we were following that template.

What’s it been like doing the press junkets?

This is the easy part, (talking about it) the hard part was making the film. There is a lot of travel involved in the PR process and film festivals etc. The hard part on this film was going out and filming 15 men around the world called James Bond and then figuring out how to put it together into good film. And that difficulty was the hardest part of this process.

Any Bonds hit the cutting room floor?

Everyone that we filmed is in the film at some point. There is a helicopter pilot and a doctor called James Bond who is only in it for a few seconds, but we wanted to keep everyone in. They took the time to film with us and it's kind of funny that some only pop up for 3 seconds.

There is far too many men called James Bond in this film so it's only right we have a couple of random ones. I tried to get a few in it. There was one James Bond who had his photo taken with Timothy Dalton on the set of The Living Daylights, he didn't want to be in the movie. There is a famous cinema projectionist called James Bond who didn't want to be in it. The people with a slightly higher profile didn't want to know about it. I guess because they've managed to succeed and become their own man despite the Bond thing.

Were you a Bond fan going in?

I was on the forums back in 2001. This was the stage during early internet it was more about the information about the making of the films. I remember someone on the forums asking 'what luggage does James Bond travel with?' We called him a wanker at the time, but now that has become more of a thing. The Bond Lifestyle has become more of a thing and Instagram and Social Media has propelled that.

Have you started to dress like Bond yourself?

I think it has improved my personal style. David Zaritsky (The Bond Experience) advised me on the suits to wear for premieres. I was just wearing black and he advised me to wear charcoal grey, saying black is for funerals. I think for the fandom is has made us more stylish individuals than we were in the year 2000.

Have you had any engagement with EON?

No. EON has a bit of a closed door policy, and coming from film I understand why because. If some guy in China sends them a script saying 'I have written a new James Bond movie and there is a bike chase along the Great Wall of China'. If they don't accept it and they want to do a bike chase along the Great Wall of China in 20 years’ time, that guy could come back and say you've stole my idea. Naturally they have a closed door policy.

The closest we had was Daniel Craig's brother came to a screening of the film and I had a great chat with him after. The themes of the film resonated with Daniel Craig's brother in a completely unexpected way. Maybe he mentioned to Daniel and Rachel over Christmas dinner? Who knows.

The Other Fellow is streaming now on ITVX.