Creative Inspiration: David Slade

Because we value creativity above everything else, we’ve decided to start documenting what it is that inspires the artists that we respect, and we hope their answers inspire us in return.

David Slade is a British filmmaker who in just five years and three films has established himself as a key creative force in mainstream cinema.

With an idiosyncratic eye and vast knowledge of his craft, Slade broke onto the scene in memorable fashion with 2005’s Hard Candy, which was promptly followed by the widely acclaimed vampire chiller 30 Days of Night.

As a fresh twist on a stale subgenre, it was this latter effort that earned Slade a shot at helming the third instalment in the phenomenally successful Twilight franchise, Eclipse, for which he drew extensively on his personal influences.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Twilight: Eclipse

Who or what inspires you creatively?

Nicolas Roeg more than anyone. Nic Roeg’s early films – Track 29, which was a TV movie, Performance, Don’t Look Now… Because he really tore the craft apart, he really shoved the form of filmmaking in the audiences face. And at the time they accepted it. So he is really the biggest influence on me. Man Who Fell to Earth is, for me… It’s a phenomenal film. Growing up there was also Wim Wenders… It’s often the idiosyncratic stuff… Such astonishing films that were not just visually but emotionally so good. It hits you in the heart in such a powerful way. These are filmmakers I feel a certain affinity to because I don’t sense a reference in their work. There is no homage to other filmmakers. They are doing something totally unique and original. These guys really opened my eyes.