Will McDowell is a filmmaker, short shorts wearer and Rihanna fan living in Berlin. Speaking of shorts, short films are what he specializes in, and his beguiling, intense work has already garnered him attention on both sides of the English Channel. 

He started off life as an innocent student, living in a townhouse in Camden and going to house parties with Charli XCX. So not that innocent actually (he’s NOT. THAT. INNOCENT).

His film ‘Never Better’, recently featured by Dazed & Confused, is a satire on our 20’s millennial (yes, THAT WORD AGAIN) generation. Shoegazing, Lena Dunham-inspired normcore, all that jazz. It’s very good, very modern and very knowing. He chatted to Dylan Jones about EricVideos, screenplays, and impulsive vegetarianism.

Hey Will! Describe yourself in one gorgey sentence.

Good girl gone bad. Is that enough of a sentence? I’m Rihanna’s only real fan.

So you’ve moved to Berlin, what’s the scene like there?

I have been spending a lot of time in Berlin, yes. The scene is exactly as you’d image it: dark, dank and lyricless. Not a pop song in sight. There’s a hip hop party here that has about 50 attendees and you’ve never seen people so happy to hear lyrics and lightness. I’ve graduated into one of those people who doesn’t go out that much, talks about settling down, but has sculled a few bottles at a dinner party consistently for 7 days. That’s my scene.

You were friends with Charli XCX before Boom Clap weren’t you. What’s she like?

She’s the coolest vegan I know. My pre-Boom Clap interactions were minimal. Charli was an unapologetic fan of the synth pop duo I was in called Das Kitten and I can’t help thinking ‘Fancy’ was inspired by our song ‘Get In My Eurozone’. Needless to say, Charli’s music has sold millions and Das Kitten’s recent hit ‘Popperz Delevingne’ is nearing 100 plays on Soundcloud.

But really, I had very little time to create the soundtrack to my film and Charli really helped me out, especially by pointing me towards CuckooLander who is now signed to Charli’s record label Vroom Vroom Recordings.

How did you get into filmmaking?

How did filmmaking get into me? At school we made classic documentaries. My first was about the postal service when I was 12. It was 90 seconds long. I’m now 16 and Never Better is feature length.

“London is a trashy hellhole. It is neon and blue and beer is served in plastic pint glasses and cigarette burns are par for the course. Berlin is über cool, effortless, sinister, not frenetic.”

As a budding filmmaker, who’s your fave film director?

Harmony Korine, who is now directing Rihanna’s new video in Miami. I can’t even!

Have you heard of EricVideos? We think their directing is stellar.

I haven’t heard of Eric’s videos, he sounds like a cool guy. I know a guy called Tim who makes short movies, his sound is good. Sound is so important, don’t you think? (I’m kidding, I have heard of Eric Videos, in fact I have it bookmarked).

How does the Berlin scene compare to London?

London is a trashy hellhole. It is neon and blue and beer is served in plastic pint glasses and cigarette burns are par for the course. Berlin is über cool, effortless, sinister, not frenetic. In terms that make sense to me, London would be ‘Shut Up and Drive’ and Berlin would be ‘Pour It Up’.

I think Londoners should take that as a compliment. What do you have in store for the future?

I’ve just finished the screenplay for my next film. It’s about the drug abuse epidemic in the gay community and so it’s dark, but sarcastic and funny and aggressive and hopefully endearing. I’m really not holding back on this one it’s going to be a slap in the face, a punch in the stomach and a little tickle on the old ribs. Heart and passion, I’m not going to turn it into a moral issue.

Tell us all about your work! What are you making and stuff?

I’m writing a novel in my underwear, giving talks about the future of things for brands with my company Futuramen, and eating a lot less meat. Oh and I want to write for TV – I’d like to collaborate more.

• Never Better is out now.