Mixing filmmaking and the family

Brothers Anthony and Tim Smythe, the owners of Filmworks, talk to Vinita Bharadwaj

Dialogue is the essence of a strong relationship. We listen and learn every week.

Hollywood has the Coen brothers and the Farrelly brothers, just to highlight a few, while here in Dubai, we have the Smythe brothers. Though both Anthony and Tim Smythe would cringe at the cliché, it's too hard to resist.

Filmmakers are rare in Dubai. Filmmakers from the same family are rarer in Dubai and filmmakers from the same family, working together and having a great time, are precious.

The Smythe brothers own Filmworks, a production house that deals with almost all aspects of filmmaking. They work six and a half days a week averaging more than 10 hours a day.

Their personalities are different, but their ideologies similar, which might be the secret of their success. Their mutual respect for each other is evident and there is a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. As they both say, it's critical to accept one's individual limitations in a family undertaking.

Filmworks is their baby. Their pride and joy, and as they enter their seventh year, the Smythe brothers share a bit of their experiences in mixing filmmaking and the family.

Anthony Smythe
Tim is two years older to me and he came to Dubai 10 years ago. I'm the filmmaker in the family, specialising in cinematography and he's the producer. Filmworks is six years old and we've started it from scratch with four employees.

As far as defining roles and responsibilities go, it wasn't really a problem as it depended on our skills, experiences and areas of expertise. I've been involved in production, having more real-time experience, as it's the only profession I've been in, so it was a natural progression that I'd handle and oversee the production aspects of projects we take.

Tim has had more of a business exposure and so when he saw the potential Dubai had and asked me to come over and be a part of Filmworks, it was best for him to take up the managerial side of things. Designations are really just labels, but Tim being managing director, just means he's got all the responsibility (laughs).

Jokes apart, I enjoy working with Tim as a producer rather than with other people in the same capacity and it's not just because we're related. I find "creative producers" a rather rare sort so it's fun to work with him. The fact that we're brothers helps, I suppose, as we understand and know each other really well and so it becomes easy to deal with situations that otherwise might be sensitive or difficult.

We're both married, but it's not like we live adjacent to each other, so we do have some space between us!

In terms of creativity, I'd say Tim is the more visually creative one, he's better as a story-teller and I'd probably say I'm more technically oriented as I've got more experience on the field. Between the two of us, we've got 35 years of experience in this industry.

I think one of the reasons we've worked as a team is because we respect each other as individuals. We've found the right balance of combining our interests and keeping each informed but at the same time ensuring that we don't interfere in each other's territory.

Tim Smythe
Anthony and I have a third brother who is in South Africa. We grew up in Johannesburg and the three of us have always been really close. We had a good childhood and are quite fortunate to have the opportunity to work together as well.

It feels good to be able to share work with a family member, but I suppose it could be a bit frustrating for other staff members. We try and keep the "personal" side of our relationship out of work, but there's no way you can eliminate it completely. So we just make sure it doesn't spill over in an uncomfortable way.

It's inevitable though, that we talk about work at home or when we meet in a social setting. But then the nature of our jobs and work is such that it's an integral part of our lives and we can't really make a conscious effort to shut it out as soon as we leave the premises. I'd say it's got more to do with the industry we're in and not necessarily because we're related.

Of course we have fights and arguments. It would be unhealthy if we didn't but then both of us strongly believe in forgiving and forgetting, so it's not an issue at all. If you start taking things personally in this industry, then it's impossible to survive.

Anthony is definitely the more talkative one and I'm more of a listener by nature. We work well together as we complement each other. It's been a pretty good journey so far and we're keen on learning more and growing up in this industry together.