{"id":394024,"date":"2026-01-28T00:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394024\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T00:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T00:06:13","slug":"i-swear-filmmaker-kirk-jones-sold-his-house-to-finance-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394024\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Swear\u2019 Filmmaker Kirk Jones Sold His House To Finance Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Kirk Jones<\/a>, the writer and director of StudioCanal\u2019s\u00a0I Swear<\/a>\u00a0movie that collected five competitive BAFTA Award nominations<\/a> today \u2014 six if we include the Rising Star Award nom that the movie\u2019s lead Robert Aramayo<\/a> had already nabbed \u2014 swore that he and his wife would bankroll the production in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen people ask me why there are no other recognizable names at the front of the film, no\u00a0BBC Film, no Film4, all that kind of stuff, I say the film was financed in a very, very unique way, which gave me total and complete freedom over the script, the casting shoot, everything,\u201d Jones tells Deadline. Until now he has kept quiet about the fact that Jones and Cindy, his wife of over three decades, ponied up the film\u2019s budget themselves, which was roughly in the area of\u00a0\u00a32.8 million (about $3.73 million).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTwo things ran in parallel,\u201d Jones explains. He and his wife sold their house in Buckinghamshire, on the outskirts of London, where they\u2019d lived for 30 years. \u201cEverything I had from my career was in that property, and we decided to move to the West Country,\u201d to Bristol, where Jones grew up and where his parent\u2019s reside. \u201cSo it was basically like coming home,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe couple figured they\u2019d invest the money and rent until\u00a0they found a new house.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: BAFTA Film Heads On How Breakout Titles Like \u201cI Swear\u2019 Keep The Awards Body Distinctive: \u201cI Don\u2019t Think Our British Flavor Is In Danger\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tIn parallel to that, Jones penned\u00a0I Swear, a feature based on the life of John Davidson, a Scot who was diagnosed with the neurological disorder known as Tourette syndrome, whereby an impulse to the brain makes him spout streams of four-lettered words. The film, with Jones\u2019 witty script and Aramayo\u2019s standout performance, is an unmissable delight.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was\u00a0told how much the budget was going to be, and my key worry was that because there was so much swearing in there, if we went a traditional route to finance the film, someone would start saying, \u2018Guys, listen, you\u2019ve got to bring it down. You\u2019ve just got to bring the C-word down and the F-word down.\u2019\u00a0And we only had one informal conversation with one UK sales agent and they said exactly that,\u201d Jones recalled during a post-BAFTA nominations announcement interview.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe filmmaker behind\u00a0Waking Ned Devine\u00a0and\u00a0Nanny McPhee\u00a0consulted with Cindy, a fashion graduate who\u00a0went on to style\u00a0films and commercials, and then checked in with their bank.\u00a0\u201cAnd I said to the bank, \u2018If we give you everything that we\u2019ve got, can we leverage a loan to pay for the film one hundred percent?\u2019And they said, yes, they could make it work. So after dinner one night in the kitchen, I pitched it to my wife and she took about three seconds to literally say the most incredible words, which were: \u201cIf you feel really strongly about it, if you believe in it, then let\u2019s do it.\u201d So we financed the film for one hundred percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: BAFTA Nominations Snubs & Surprises: Chase Infiniti, Odessa A\u2019zion & Brit Indie \u2018I Swear\u2019 Feel The Love, But \u2018Wicked\u2019s Tough Awards Run Continues<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAfter making movies for 30 years, especially in America, \u201cwhere there\u2019s always an army of people wanting to tell you what to do, how to do this, we don\u2019t agree with this. Can you change this? Can you make them fall in love? Can you make it more happier? After 30 years of that, I finally got to make a film with an incredible crew, an incredible cast, and with just me on my own. And because the crew knew the situation and how invested my wife and I were in it, it was the most incredible shoot we all knew. We were there for John Davidson. And to tell John\u2019s story. \u201c<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Robert<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobert Aramayo in \u2018I Swear\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraeme Hunter<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked why he has kept silent on the subject of financing\u00a0I Swear\u00a0until now, Jones observed that \u201cthe trouble is when people know that a director has put their own money into a film, it usually means that no one else wants to put money in. But on this occasion, we never went to anyone. We had one brief conversation and then thought, you know what? Let\u2019s just do it ourselves,\u201d he declares.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, Jones declined to reveal the name of the sales executive he was in communication with. \u201cThey basically said, \u2018Look, we love it, but in its current form, we don\u2019t think we can take on because people are going to have trouble with the swearing.\u2019 And by then I was so invested in Tourettes and John, I knew that the swearing wasn\u2019t an issue. And the film, if you look online, there must be thousands of people who have commented on the film. Luckily, most people like it. I haven\u2019t seen one single comment about the swearing, because as soon as the film starts, you understand that it has no meaning at all. It\u2019s not said in malice, it\u2019s not vicious, it\u2019s not violent. It\u2019s a medical condition,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film shows how Davidson, with the help of friends played by Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan \u2014 the latter who is nominated in BAFTA\u2019s Supporting Actor category \u2014 learned how to try and control his outbursts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobert Aramayo, left, and Peter Mullan on the set of \u2018I Swear\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraeme Hunter<\/p>\n

\n\tShrewdly, Jones opens the film with Davidson, as portrayed by Aramayo, attending a reception, where the late Queen Elizabeth II presents him with an honor, and the ceremony is accompanied by the sound of profanities issued from Davidson\u2019s mouth. Her Maj takes it in her stride, which is a subtle signal for the audience to just go along with it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd that\u00a0[scene with Queen Elizabeth] was\u00a0real, all those stories, everything in the film was real,\u201d Jones notes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI still have a view that when left alone, writers, directors and crew can make some really, really special films. They will also make some huge turkeys and they\u2019ll make huge mistakes. But you cannot tell me that every film that studios turn out are massive hits and successes with critics and audiences. So it feels really good that we committed to it. We did it on our own. And you look at that budget, I think\u00a0One Battle After Another\u00a0was something like $170 million budget. We wouldn\u2019t even pay for their craft catering\u201d\u00a0from our entire budget. We feel great, he suggests.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat it\u2019s so low budget and it\u2019s a purely British film is just great,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo far,\u00a0I Swear\u00a0has taken around $8.2 million at the UK box office. Sony Picture Classics is due to release the film in the U.S. in April.<\/p>\n

\n\tJones admits there were a few occasions\u00a0during the shoot when he\u2019d look around the set \u201cat the lights, the trailers, the toilets, the catering, the crew, the trucks, everything, and thinking, \u2018Oh my God, this is like, I\u2019m paying for this with my wife.\u2019 And I think on the second day we were rained off in the afternoon and we were all stood under a tarpaulin\u00a0sheltering from the rain. And Cindy, my wife, called me and said, \u2018How\u2019s it going?\u2019 And I said, \u2018We\u2019ve lost half a day because it\u2019s raining and I\u2019m just sat here.\u2019 And I was even looking at how much tea and biscuits people were eating. Do they need that much? But do you know what? Once we got going every single day, I came back to where I was staying and I didn\u2019t have a single regret since the day we decided to finance the film. I have not had one second of regret. We have yet to see a single penny come back to us. But I\u2019m told that if we\u2019re patient, then in a year or two or three, we should at least get our money back and anything else would be a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked to clarify, Jones says: \u201dAnd everyone of course thinks I\u2019ve got some massive share of the box office and this, that and the other. But absolutely nothing has come back to earth. We have to pay down the debt of the film that\u2019s still very large. And then with marketing and stuff, StudioCanal did an incredible job, a brilliant job. But that all has to be paid off. That\u2019s offset against the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobert Aramayo with Kirk Jones on the set of \u2018I Swear.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudioCanal<\/p>\n

\n\tJones is happy to still be renting in Bristol. \u201cWe\u2019re very happy. It\u2019s a nice house. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re living in a caravan, but it was a decision and we just put everything into the film. Had\u00a0it not worked, if it had been a disaster and I hadn\u2019t even finished it and we couldn\u2019t have sold it, I would\u2019ve lost pretty much everything and my wife. So that was the level of the commitment. But fortunately, StudioCanal bought it on the back of the trailer. They hadn\u2019t even seen the film. We\u2019ve sold it to most territories around the world, pretty much everywhere, actually. So we\u2019re going to be okay. We know we\u2019re going to be okay,\u201d Jones says in a relaxed manner.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m impressed by his calm demeanor, but surely there were some sleepless nights, I ask?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s not been one sleepless night,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd it\u2019s because every day and every scene we shot, and every time we moved on, I looked and I thought, \u2018I am so glad that we have decided to finance this film because I could see it was working.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know. You never know until the whole film\u2019s put together really what you\u2019ve got. But every single day I could see that it was working. And every single day I asked myself that question: If I could change my mind now, would I, and suddenly bring a financier on board and get my money back? And not once did I think I wanted to do that. I could see it was something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJones says that basically \u201cI\u2019ve worked for free for three years. I haven\u2019t even been paid a penny because it didn\u2019t make sense if I paid myself anything.\u201c<\/p>\n

\n\tThe crew were extraordinary, he says. Some worked \u201ccompletely for free and a lot of crew agreed to cut their fees in half and then defer their payments if and when the film went into profit. So it was a very unusual project,\u201d Jones explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tSuddenly, Jones starts chuckling as he works out how much other films like\u00a0Marty Supreme\u00a0and\u00a0Hamnet\u00a0cost to make. \u201cAnd it\u2019s why when I look at the awards, and\u00a0I mean, we\u2019re a million miles away from those kind of movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYet, I Swear\u00a0is BAFTA-nominated for Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay, Casting, Supporting Actor, Rising Star, and Aramayo is like a Shakespearean hero (let\u2019s say\u00a0Henry V) completely surrounded by rivals Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia) in the Leading Actor race.<\/p>\n

\n\tJones has no worries about Hollywood pictures dominating the top categories. \u201dI guess everybody wants to be judged on the world stage, and that\u2019s what happens. And I don\u2019t think it helps the British film industry if the nominations are swamped by American candidates. But having said that, I think this year\u2019s pretty good. It was quite a good year actually,\u201d he reasons.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe reckons that the idea of Best British Film\u00a0is a \u201creal showcase\u201d for UK cinema, adding that he\u2019s a fan of the British film\u00a0The Ballad of Wallis Island. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful,\u201d he says of the movie that\u2019s also BAFTA nominated.<\/p>\n

\n\tI push him again about the reasons behind him and his wife financially underpinning\u00a0I Swear.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe admits that prior experiences, particularly in the U.S., left him \u201cfrustrated\u201d by the feeling\u00a0that \u201cthe politics can even overrule the quality of the finished film. You would think that everyone in the room just wanted the very best version of the film that scored the highest with audiences and was the most rewarding and interesting and funny and moving. And I realized at one point that even that is not true, that the politics overrule that and don\u2019t always deliver the best version of the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was another consideration, he tells me. \u201cI turned 60 a year ago, and I thought, \u2018Well, how many films have I got left in me?\u2019 And do I really want to go to America and have all that stress and all those politics? And all I want to do now is make essentially British films. And you are very welcome to write about me or ring me up if you see me going off to America to doing something. Because as I sit here at the moment, I\u2019ve really got no interest. I just want to focus on the UK and UK crew and UK stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"'I<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018I Swear\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudiocanal<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s working on an another movie project that he describes as \u201ca complete change of direction\u201d from\u00a0I Swear. Jones declines to reveal any detail of the new film\u00a0because \u201cthe contracts are being talked about\u201d this week.<\/p>\n

\n\tJones insists he won\u2019t be using his own money to fund the next picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNever again. Because even if we get our money back, and even if I actually get a fee out of it, which I would normally have done, I literally think it\u2019s putting money on a horse. And we might\u2019ve been lucky enough to put it on a horse that actually survives the race and comes through the end. But next time we could easily put it on one that falls at the next first hurdle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJones and Aramayo spoke just a few moments today ahead of our chat on Zoom.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI said I\u2019ll talk to him later and he just said, \u2018\u201d\u2019What the absolute f*ck, what the f*ck?!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhich is, when you think about the film\u2019s subject matter, a wholly appropriate response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Kirk Jones, the writer and director of StudioCanal\u2019s\u00a0I Swear\u00a0movie that collected five competitive BAFTA Award nominations today…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[145663,147906,47636,6491,96,58085,58086,58087,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-394024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-awardsfeature","tag-bafta-film-awards","tag-breaking-baz","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-i-swear","tag-kirk-jones","tag-robert-aramayo","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}