Charlotte Fantelli has long been known for her racing films; from her Directorial debut in 2014 with worldwide hit ‘Journey to Le Mans’ narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, through her work on Gentleman Driver, and now in 2021/2022 she is reigniting a world-class racing rivalry in her new feature ‘Sons of Speed: Hunt Vs Lauda’.
What you may not know about her however, is that this kick ass, martial arts loving woman who heads her own film production company, has released two Stallone features to the Worldwide market, is currently working on some SWAT inspired shoot-em-up formats, and is now on the lookout for new talent and ideas in the ‘mans world’ she has dominated for almost a decade.
We talk to Charlotte, hot off the back of the London Premiere of her latest film; Access All Areas fabukmagazine.com
Charlotte, tell us more about how you came into the world of male action features.
“Ha, it was never intentionally ‘male’ skewing content that I wanted to create, it just happens these are the things that impassion me. I suppose these can be considered traditionally male; motorsport, boxing, martial arts, action, but then the world is opening their minds past the gender stereotypes now, why shouldn’t a woman be making kick ass content. It is very empowering.”
Absolutely. What are you most proud of in your career to date?
“That is a hard one because being in business there are always so many ups and downs, more so in show business. I would say I am proudest of getting back up after the knocks I have had, whatever these have been.”
“As for which films I am proudest of, I would say ‘Journey to Le Mans’ will always have a special place in my heart as it was my first, and although I watch it and cringe at the editing and naivety of myself as a filmmaker, it is testament to what is possible.”
“Equally the film we have just completed; ‘Access All Areas’ is a truly incredible story of a wonderful man and now dear friend Simon Sansome, who, along with his wife, overcame hugely traumatic disability and is now a very successful and inspiring man.”
“Well I have been working on some massively exciting projects, not least a feature we are due to release early next year; ‘Sons of Speed; Hunt Vs Lauda’ in which we take the racing sons of F1 world champion legends James Hunt and Niki Lauda and put them head to head. There is a lot more to it than that and we got to spend a lot of time with Freddie (Hunt) and Matthias (Lauda) and their families and were welcomely immersed into these two exciting worlds.”
“Racing fans really will not want to miss it, anyone who knows anything about F1 or who has watched Ron Howards Rush, will want to see this!”
How did you become involved in the project?
“I was approached by a guy on social media who hooked me up with Joseph Thomas the original creator of the project who had started it many years ago. He told me he admired my work in motorsport and asked me if I was interested in Directing and bringing it to fruition, of course I absolutely jumped at the chance!”
You also recently released two ‘Stallone’ features, tell us about this.
“Yeah Braded Studios was lucky enough to pick up the rights to ‘Becoming Rocky: The Birth of a Classic’ the story of how Sylvester Stallone came up with the incredible character that we all know and love, and ‘Stallone, Frank That Is’ a fantastic biographical feature doc about the mega
talented Frank Stallone starring the man himself, as well as his brother Sylvester, Arnie, Talia Shire, Sugar Ray Leonard and so many more mega stars!”
“The Director of both is a guy called Derek Wayne Johnson, and very much like me he has been a lifelong fan of this world and I fell in love with his work and wanted to be involved somehow, so handling the Worldwide release through Branded was a dream come true! Sadly it was during a worldwide lockdown so it had its challenges, but none the less a genuine pleasure.”
What would you say to women filmmakers out there?
“I think I’d say to women, or anyone else; don’t pigeon hole yourself, or let yourself be viewed in a certain way. Anything is possible and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I think we as humans are most guilty of believing the boundaries others give to us, when the only boundary is our own imagination.”
“I love the saying by Ayn Rand; ‘The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.’ I live my life by this saying and, having come close to death on a few occasions, I can honestly say have never regretted that philosophy.
You say you are on the lookout for new talent and ideas tell us how readers can get involved?
“Yeah, as the owner of a production company we thrive on great talent and ideas, but further to this I am working on two very exciting projects that should develop this side of what I do. I can’t say too much as both the projects are in their infancy, but both will see me on the lookout for the next big thing in the industry.”
“Best thing for people to do is keep an eye on brandedstudios.co.uk or my own website or social channels, subscribe or get in touch via these and all should be revealed in the next six months or so.”
