Recently during a Reddit AMA, with Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls & Mark Oosterveen, co-directors & actor of Grand Theft Hamlet, streaming exclusively on MUBI. It’s an award-winning documentary about attempting to stage a Shakespeare adaptation inside the chaotic world of Grand Theft Auto online. Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls are co-directors of award-winning feature documentary Grand Theft Hamlet. Launching exclusively on MUBI on February 21, Grand Theft Hamlet tells the story of two out-of-work actors, Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen, who attempt the seemingly impossible task of mounting a full production of Hamlet inside the chaotic world of Grand Theft Auto, shot entirely within the game itself.On needing Rockstar Games support to be able to release this movie. Sam: They became aware of the project from very early on, and have always been supportive, but never wanted to get directly involved. It’s completely independent, not a T2 or Rockstar filmOn having any experience with the game before you started this journey.MARK: I played Grand Theft Auto V to death when it first came out, on the PS4 back in 2013. I completed the single player content 100% according to the in-game stats. I also played a LOT of GTA Online, getting to level 100 with my character and getting the Platinum trophy. And then when it came out on PS5 I did it all again! However, I drifted away to other games around 2015 or so, and there were a lot of updates and new content since then which I was not familiar with.On the creative process of Mods they could’ve used. Pinny – we didnt use any mods – we just recorded our playstation feeds in 4K through a capture card – we had a tricky time with the sound though – the party chat gives you better quality sound but then the lips of avatars dont move – we also recorded our own voices (Mark Sam and Me ) so at least we had clean versions of those recorded. Everything is just raw in game footage. We edited on Adobe Premier – and got a professional composer to do music (Jamie Perera) as we did not want to use any of the in game music (switched that off). And the music was from our brilliant composer Jamie Perera, who’s an incredible talent and a truly lovely man.On what percentage of the film is scripted vs organic? Did you begin recording at the beginning of the process knowing that you were making a film about staging Hamlet in GTA, or did the idea for the film manifest later on?Pinny:. Thanks for your question. All documentaries are to some degree a ‘creative treatment of reality’ as the great documentarian Grierson said. Its impossible to make a film and keep all 300 hours of footage in there – you have to make some choices. However everything that happened in the documentary happened for real – and we wanted to make it as authentic as possible by using a non modded game – we recorded our genuine feeds from Playstation – which is why the HUD is in there – we wanted it to have the genuine feel of game play.On how they responded to criticism?Pinny: Thanks for your question. All documentaries are to some degree a ‘creative treatment of reality’ as the great documentarian Grierson said. Its impossible to make a film and keep all 300 hours of footage in there – you have to make some choices. However everything that happened in the documentary happened for real – and we wanted to make it as authentic as possible by using a non modded game – we recorded our genuine feeds from Playstation – which is why the HUD is in there – we wanted it to have the genuine feel of game play.What was the most difficult part of the process? Was it funding, editing, finding distribution, or simply staging the play?Sam: Thanks so much, hope you enjoy! To be honest, each and every stage of the process was extremely challenging, and there were many times that we thought we wouldn’t be able to get through it. But probably the editing was the most challenging – i think we had 3 or 4 hundred hours of footage.Did you guys know about the roleplay servers at the time? Like NoPixel, etc.Sam: Yes, I was aware of rp servers like NoPixel, and thought they were fascinating. But we really wanted to see if we could work in the vanilla playstation game, and all the restrictions that entailed. Sometimes, restrictions and limits can really encourage creativity.Did you have a chance to play the film at any film festivals? If so, how was that like? Any favorite fests or moments?Sam: Yes! We played at loads of festivals, and it was amazing seeing how audiences responded all over the world, from South Korea to New Zealand, to Iceland. We had our premiere at SXSW in Texas, and seeing it with an audience for the first time, with everyone laughing like crazy, and cheering at the end, was kind of mind-blowingMARK: SXSW where it debuted was really special. There was also something completely surreal about showing it at the London Film Festival, and selling out the huge IMAX screen here in WaterlooOn people who might not like it for being Shakespeare-related. MARK: We’ve had so many people who hate Shakespeare see the film and really enjoy it – honestly, it isn’t really about Shakespeare. It isn’t really about video games either. We tried to make it about something universal, something everyone could connect to, no matter what their interests are. Maybe if it wins you over, we succeeded?What’s the most exciting part of releasing your film and do you guys plan on making more ?!Pinny – it was amazing to release the film in cinemas – as I feel that the film plays really well when its shared with an audience – brings it full circle and back into a theatrical space. We also loved travelling the world with the film through the festivals – on one weekend Sam was in South Korea for DMZ Docs (where we won best documentary award) and I was in Iceland! We really want to make more films – and have a few ideas cooking so watch this space…And finally would they ever consider making something in another online game?Yes we are open to ideas….and suggestions from you guys!We are clocking off now. Thanks so much for all your questions guys…some great ones….keep them coming and we will try and answer if we can…love Pinny Sam and Mark x