The folks at Pattinson Music had the opportunity to speak withWriter/Director Oliver Irving andComposer Joe Hastings as they prepared for the How To Bescreening tour. They have graciously allowed us to repost the interview here.

1. How long did it take for this film to come to life, from the original concept to now?

Oliver Irving: I started developing the idea in 2003 I guess. And after a year or so of having rehearsals with the actors I had and developing the script I found a producer and we started raising the money –which took about 2 years. In the meantime I was developing and adapting the script and casting. So we shot in February and March 2007, edited for about 6 months, then had to hurry up and get the grade and the sound mix. We finished just in time for it to premiere in Slamdance in January 2008. Since then we have been playing festivals mainly in the States, and are taking the film on a U.S. Tour starting in LA on April 14. I’ll be at all the screenings

2. Where did the inspiration for the film come from?

Oliver Irving: I think I was observing my peers at that weird time of life – not yet stuck into careers, but no longer in that protective cocoon of studying. As people become more adult they start to analyze their upbringings. I had read some self help or therapy books and found them just hilarious and fascinating. I wanted to apply that same mid-life crisis ethos to the quarter-life crisis I saw some of my friends going through…

Joe Hastings: I remember Oliver asking me to write down any ideas I had for a tentative concept pertaining to a young man going through a ‘quarter-life crisis’. I think this was in the summer of 2002. I wrote ideas relating to friends I knew and my own experiences and frustrations, and other things that I just found amusing.

3. How many people auditioned for the role of Art? What was it about Robert Pattinson that got him the role?

Oliver Irving: We did auditions for this for well over a year in bursts. I feel like I must have seen every young male actor in London! I was looking for someone who would work well with the others actors I had in place to play Art’s friends. These were non-actors whose approach had been tailored while we made home movies over the years, so the actor for Art needed not to seem like he had been to drama school. Rob has said that at the time he was thinking of giving up acting and pursuing music as he was unhappy with roles he was getting offered – But pretty much straight away I knew he was right for the part. He had a sort of playful energy perhaps even naivety which he brought to the part and he really seemed to understand the characters.

Christina Muller with Inside Cinequest interviewed Writer/Director Oliver Irving at the festival about the music, working with Robert Pattinson, the casting process and more.

Cinequest San Jose Film Festival interviewed writer and director Oliver Irving about How To Be for the CQ Central website.  They asked their five essential questions for every director.

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Now, let's have more of Oliver Irving as the Project requested a follow up interview with the filmmaker!

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Writing, directing and producing movies is certainly not for everyone. In your case, when was the first time that you really made the decision to pursue a career as a filmmaker?

It’s strange but there was never a moment where I made a conscious choice. I became obsessed with cinema from the kind of age where you can’t remember there being a time before. Perhaps it was when I was 4 and I saw Ghostbusters five times at the cinema – I kept dragging a parent along to go take me again.

Following Harry Potter, Pattinson developed his talent further by playing in two U.K. television films. In the first film, The Haunted Airman, Pattinson was cast as lead character Toby Jugg, a disabled and traumatized World War II airman. Jugg proved to be a complex character who suffered from hallucinations, which ultimately leads to his own mental undoing.

In the second film, The Bad Mother's Handbook, he played a minor role as nerdy Daniel Gale. Pattinson brought his own sense of eccentricity, which added a truth to the character.

In How to Be, he is able to display his musical talents by playing Art, a troubled 20-something who lives at home with a dysfunctional family but not how you might expect. This role is a bit of stretch for Pattinson as he actually has musical ability, unlike Art who does not play the guitar very well. Pattinson is modest about his musical talents:

I have been playing the piano for my entire life - since I was three or four. And the guitar - I used to play classical guitar from when I was about five to 12 years of age. Then I didn't play guitar for like years. About four or five years ago, I got out the guitar again and just started playing blues and stuff. I am not very good at the guitar, but I am all right.

With Robert's involvement in the blockbuster film Twilight (based on the New York Times Best Selling book by Stephenie Meyer) playing the male lead Edward Cullen, fans were exposed to his musical talents as Edward, who is known for his piano prowess. It was noted early on he would compose the famous musical piece in the book, "Bella's Lullaby", (this has since been changed). This fueled the interest from fans of Robert's musical persona. It was only a matter of time before his new fans from the Twilight community would see pictures of Pattinson popping up from the How to Be website of his character Art playing the guitar. With that, more interest grew into his role of How to Be.

With Pattinson's popularity soaring in cinema, his music definitely didn't take a backseat in attention by the fans. In fact, a public MySpace under the alias Bobby Dupea listed four tracks for people to sample. After its leak on a prominent Twilight fan site, it was deleted with no official word as to why. However, it was noted by the Director/Writer of "How to Be" Oliver Irving at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August, "....last time I spoke to him he said he was doing some recordings in L.A.". This exposure has not deterred his interest in being known for his music abilities in the public eye. It was reported recently on MTV's Twilight Tuesday that two of his original pieces will appear in the film Twilight (which we can expect to be featured on the soundtrack as well).

How to Be has invited us to enjoy Pattinson's musical side in an amusing way by expanding his range as an actor to downplay his musical talents but at the same time increasing his relatability with his fans who want to see this personal side of him. In the world of music, it is often cited by many musicians that their original pieces display what was on their mind at that particular moment; an event in their lives. Music can be very therapeutic and when we all need a little help sometimes, perhaps Pattinson will bring to life in Art the creative ways to fight through the path we call life.

Pattinson's next feature films include the highly anticipated New Moon and Little Ashes.

Mike Pearce is heavily involved in film in the UK. He studied film directing at the Arts Institute at the Bournemouth alongside Director/Writer Oliver Irving. After graduating from this institute, he was accepted into The National Film and Television School while How to Be was being filmed.

He was involved in developing the first Jersey International Film Festival in Branchage (UK). The Branchage Festival took place September 25th - 28th 2008.

Johnny White is known for his involvement in music. He is signed to Dreamboat Records in the UK and released an album under the alias The Rollercoaster Project titled Hatefield. He classifies his music on his MySpace as psychedelic, gothic, and ambient. In July 2008, he noted that a new album titled Revenge is in the works but it hasn't been mastered yet. Not only has he released music but he also remixed music for two other UK artists such as The Cribs and Forward Russia.

Besides How to Be, Johnny was also featured in a music video called "Love Me Tender" by another UK band The Research. 

Rebecca Pidgeon has a varied career in theater, music, film, and television. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in the UK. She made her Broadway debut in her husband David Mamet's "The Old Neighborhood." Pidgeon has also recorded two albums with the folk music group Ruby Blue but has also released three solo albums as well.

She has worked alongside actors such as Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the film State and Main (2000) for which she won an FFCC, NBR, and OFCS Award alongside her cast members for Best Ensemble Cast. More recently, she worked with Tim Allen in the television project Redbelt (2008).

Powell Jones worked in film and television his entire life as both an actor and Director. A Canadian native, he gained notice for his work in the UK in television in projects such as Anna Karenina (1977), The Good Shoe Maker (1965), and the Poor Fish Peddler (1965). Director Oliver Irving first cast him in his film New World.

How To Be is dedicated to the memory of Powell Jones, who died after its completion in 2007.

Oliver Irving, the writer and director of How To Be, took a quick interest to making films at a young age and later went on to attend the Film School in the UK.

Irving began working on the script for How To Be after leaving Bournemouth in 2003. He then started to develop the script and score with long time friend and composer, Joe Hastings, before having producer Justin Kelly join the project in 2004.

His last short film, which was titled New World, starred actor Malcolm Tierney and was shot on location at the famous Wilton House. Irving was also invited to Toronto in September 2008, and attended the Talent Lab as part of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.