Film set maker Jozef Mičo during christening of his book The Passion Called Film last year. (source: TASR)
"My favourite film is A Knight's Tale. In the film I see a great parallel with my life," says Jozef Mičo, a film set builder from Terchová, north Slovakia. When he was small, he was poor just like the main character William. But he persisted and made himself a name even among Hollywood and domestic film crews alike, for whom he created castles, even entire streets.
How did you get into making film sets?
My first film was Dragonheart and I became involved by chance. It was a big Hollywood production. Coincidentally, Vladimír Ondruš from Terchová was the head of Koliba Film Studios. They needed carpenters who knew the old craft, meaning that the wood was not cut, but chopped. He asked me if I had any experience and if we would like to create sets. I had no idea what that entailed. I came to Bratislava and when I saw how they were working, I knew that we could handle this easily. We were given a task and we built a house opposite Strečno Castle for one of the characters named Felton.
In your line of work, was it something completely new for you, or had you done anything similar?
It was a completely a new thing. If I had received this offer when I was older I probably would not have accepted it, because I would have been scared. I think of it as youthful imprudence, because it was really very different from classic construction work. Before I had been teaching the guys to make everything straight, according to drawings, and suddenly they were being told to make it crooked and shabby. We experienced major problems in the beginning. However, films are a drug that you try once and you keep coming back. You just have to. I instantly fell in love with the work and have continued to do so ever since.
How many films have you worked on?
In total, I have collaborated on more than 70 feature films so far. At least 20 were Hollywood or foreign productions. I was very lucky at the beginning. Film crews from abroad started coming to Slovakia right after the Velvet Revolution. On the one hand, it was cheap for them to come, and moreover, the country was new and undiscovered with relatively hard-working people and beautiful women. All in all, they really liked working here. If we had studios, they would love to come even today.
What do you think of film production in Slovakia?
