Filmmaking is quite boring 
After helming British indies Twin Town and The Big Tease, actor-turned-director Kevin Allen seems an odd choice to direct Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. He only landed the gig when original director Harold Zwart quit over "budgetary disagreements", but if he was under any pressure from his Hollywood paymasters, Allen certainly didn't show it when ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔi FILMS met him on location at Pinewood Studios...
What's it like directing a kids' movie?
I've only just had kids, so it's all really new for me. I'm no connoisseur of this kind of movie, but as long as you make things real, I don't think it matters if it's for kids or adults.
What about directing action? That must be new too...
Yeah, the action stuff is new for me as a filmmaker. I specialise in actors and comedy, so I'm learning it as I go along. But the helicopters and stuff are not that big a deal - it's just big lumps of metal with lots of wranglers around to deliver it, make it work, and take it away again.
It must be a lot of fun though...
It is great fun. I never thought about making a film like this, ever. We have all these toys, and I get to be the first one to have a go at everything. I'm in my 40s, but I still take advantage of it. And I love getting my mates' kids to be extras, because I know how much they love toys and action.
How have you found working with CGI and special effects?
You know, half the time you realise a lot of stuff doesn't need to be CGI. Just because you can do it with CGI doesn't mean you have to do it. In terms of stunts and action, you always look at the practical way of making things work in the camera. You can do a lot using real people and real props, so there's no point going over budget just because CGI is available.
Is it especially tough working with child actors?
Writing stuff for lots of kids is great, until 12 of them turn up on a dinner table and you have to cover them. Filmmaking is quite boring: there's a lot of downtime, so keeping kids on the ball is very difficult.
Are you looking forward to showing the film to your own kids?
I'm so looking forward to it. For my kids to see a movie their dad made and be entertained by it - I think it's great. It's bizarre how this came along, but now I've got a taste for it. And you can get away with a lot. It's not about being clever, but you can get away with a lot more than you can with an adult film. You can be quite subversive.
