<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Leaving behind the sharp suits and soul crooning, Plan B&amp;#039;s Ben Drew steps behind the camera this week to make his directorial debut with iLL Manors. The drama is a pulverisingly brutal look at pimps, dealers and drug addicts scrambling to survive in the criminal underworld. iLL Manors&amp;#039;s explosive subject matter lends the film extra weight in the wake of last summer&amp;#039;s London riots.  Speaking to Digital Spy, Drew explained that he has long held an ambition to move into directing, finding support from his Adulthood director Noel Clarke. &amp;quot;The desire&amp;#039;s been there from the start, from when I created Plan B. I was telling stories in music, it was always a plan of mine to get to this point,&amp;quot; Drew said. &amp;quot;iLL Manors came from a short film called Michelle. It was something I wrote and directed to prove that I could direct. I actually wrote a script before this that a film company had offered to make. They offered me funds to make it until I expressed my desire to actually direct the film. It went quiet. Then I decided I needed to go off on my own, shoot the short film to prove to them that I could direct. &amp;quot;I made Michelle and was really interested in adapting that into the feature iLL Manors. Noel Clarke saw the short film and he said, &amp;#039;You should make this into a feature.&amp;#039; I thought, &amp;#039;Maybe I should&amp;#039;, because it&amp;#039;s a way of tapping into a fanbase that already exists through my music.&amp;quot; iLL Manors opens in cinemas on Wednesday, June 6. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/interviews/a385261/ben-drew-interview-noel-clarke-encouraged-me-to-make-ill-manors/>