Pre production issues for Chatroom, a 2010 film by Hideo Nataka.

1. Chatroom: A Case Study.
Sarah Byard.

2. The Plot.
• Chatroom is a film directed by Hideo
Nakata, which was released in 2010. It is about
the lives of five teenagers: William, Jim, Emily, Eva
and Mo.
• They meet on an online chatroom and soon
become close, divulging personal information
with each other, which proves to be deadly for
Jim.
• He tells them that he is depressed, which William
latches on to and uses it against him to try and
make him kill himself. William is more than
slightly messed up in the head.

3. Whose idea was the film? Did the idea
start with the writer, or were writers
brought in to develop a preconceived idea?
• The idea for the film came from the execs at
Ruby Films and Film4, who had seen the
original play, written by Enda Walsh.
• They saw the potential of it and realised how
it related to teenagers today, so employed
Enda to write a screenplay based on his play.

4. What are the issues with the genre of
the film?
• This film is a psychological thriller, which presents
many problems to any filmmaker, but especially Hideo
Nakata, as he is mainly a horror director. There is a fine
line between psychological thriller and horror, and it is
easy to cross that line.
• Psychological thrillers have to seem realistic, or they
will not affect the audience in any way. If it is too over
the top, then people will lose interest and think it too
over the top.
• With the internet side of the film, they had to think
about how they were going to make the chatroom a
reality. They had to make the choice as to whether they
would have people sitting at their computers, or
whether to bring them to live, and if so, how to do it.

5. Where did the idea come from?
• The film is based on a 2005 play of the same
name, written by Enda Walsh. Enda Walsh
says he got his inspiration from the movies of
his childhood, such as The Breakfast Club, as
he wanted to make ‘something for 15 year
olds today’.

6. Who wrote the original script? Did
other people become involved in the
writing as the project progressed?
• Enda Walsh wrote the original screenplay, and
nobody else was brought in to change it.
Hideo Nakata gave Walsh direction when he
thought something needed to be changed, but
Walsh was the sole writer of the script.

7. How easy was it to arrange the
financial backing to make the film?
Who were the financial backers? Why?
• The crew of Chatroom were awarded £700 000
for production and £39 860 for development by
the UK Film Council’s Lottery Award.
• Revolver, the company that distributed the
film, was awarded £200 000 for doing so.
• It was relatively easy for them to arrange
backing, as Film4 has worked closely with the UK
Film Council many times in making films (28 Days
Later, for example). They just had to apply, which
can be done online, and then wait for the
company to assess their case.

8. Who were cast in the main roles and
why? What other films featured the
stars? What were the associations they
brought with them?
• Aaron Johnson – William.
• Matthew Beard – Jim.
• Daniel Kayuula – Mo.
• Imogen Poots – Eva.
• Hannah Murray – Emily.
Each were chosen because of their childhood acting
backgrounds, commitment to the film and because
they have shown skill in acting across the board
(TV, film, stage etc).

9. Aaron Johnson
• Aaron Johnson has been acting since he was a
child.
• He has been in many things, including The
Illusionist, Kick Ass, Macbeth, All My Sons and
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

10. Matthew Beard
• Matthew Beard has been acting since he was
a child.
• He has been in many things including And
When Did You Last See Your Father?, Sons and
Lovers, An Angel For May and The Royal.

11. Daniel Kayuula
• Daniel Kayuula has been in Skins, The Fades,
Psychoville and has appeared as a guest star in
many things, including Doctor Who, Silent
Witness and Lewis.

12. Imogen Poots
• Imogen Poots has been in Bouquet of Barbed
Wire, 28 Weeks Later, Me & Orson Wells and
has guest starred in Casualty.

13. Hannah Murray
• Hannah Murray has been in Skins, In
Bruges, Womb and is to star soon in Game of
Thrones
All of the actors chosen bring the youthful
association with them required to make this film
realistic. Hannah Murray and Daniel Kayuula
especially bring this as they have been in
Skins, something nearly every young person
watches and can connect with. The fact they have
been in that also gives them the reputation for
doing what they shouldn’t, which is a huge part in

14. Who was the producer? How did he or
she become involved?
• The producers of Chatroom are Laura
Hastings-Smith, Alison Owen and Paul Trijbits.
• Alison Owen and Paul Trijbits have worked
with Ruby Films for many years and were
drafted in by them to direct the film.
• Laura Hasting-Smith has produced one of
Walsh’s other plays, Hunger, so he would have
known her style and have been happy with
it, so would have wanted her to be involved.

15. Who was the director? How did he or
she become involved?
• The director of the film is Hideo Nakata, a famous
Japanese horror director.
• He was brought in as a result of a meeting
between himself, Chatroom's Sales Agent and Eve
Schoukroun at WestEnd Films. They thought that
he could bring a fresh and international approach
to the film.
• Hideo himself was very interested in becoming a
part of the film, as he was interested in how
technology had advanced since Ringu. In
Ringu, Nakata took the latest techonology (VCR)
and turned it into something evil; something he
has done once again in Chatroom.

16. Who composed the film music and
why was he or she chosen?
• Kenji Kawai composed the in-film music for Chatroom.
He is not a well known artist and there was no official
soundtrack released for the film. Kawai is more of a
refined taste, but has worked many times before with
Hideo Nakata and they work very well together.
• The music was not received very well; people said that
it was too ‘horror’, which I agree with. He uses too
much suspense music, to make it seem like a horror
film.
• The other music used in the film is fitting as well. They
use a track named ‘Disconnected’ by Plastikman, which
is appropriate, as the main character feels
disconnected. The band is also appropriate, as William
makes little plastic men to produce short films.