Preview screening in London - 4th Sept

Preview screening in London - 4th Sept

(taken from www.shootingpeople.org )

Sunday, 4 Sep

SHOOTING PEOPLE FEATURES @ THE PHOENIX IN FINCHLEY, 14:00 - 18:00, £5

Location: The Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley, London

Contact: Ben Blaine/Paul Homer, paul@phoenixcinema.co.uk, 020 8442 0442

PHOENIX CINEMA AND SHOOTING PEOPLE TEAM UP TO PRESENT ‘FROM SHORTS TO FEATURES’

The Phoenix Cinema, North London’s leading independent cinema, has secured funding through Film London’s Audience Development Fund for a series of events looking at the trends in cinema today.

The second event in this series sees the cinema teaming up with Shooting People to present an afternoon examining the leap from being a short film-maker to a feature film-maker. The event takes place on Sunday 4th September at 2pm

A new generation of UK film makers is about to explode. Self funded, self taught and inspired by the freedom given by digital technology these are young, gutsy filmmakers whose work sticks two fingers up at convention and preconception.

The event will revolve around two case studies of film-makers who have done just that; Greg Hall’s ‘The Plague’ and Michael Booth’s ‘Diary of a Bad Lad’. There will also be advice on funding, budgets and scriptwriting. These films are two of the most exciting and challenging feature films of recent years.

The Plague (18) UK 2005 Dir. Greg Hall

The story of inner city London told through the eyes of four young multi-cultural friends.

Diary Of A Bad Lad (18) UK 2005 Dir. Michael Booth

A jet black comedy from the North West about a frustrated documentary maker getting in far too deep in his attempt to film a local businessman's shadier activities.

Along with both films there will be a Q&A with the directors, writers and cast.

Tickets are £5.00 and can be bought from the cinema or on 020 8444 6789

NOTES

The Phoenix Cinema is the oldest purpose-built cinema in constant operation in Britain. Through a commitment to independent and world cinema along side a full film education programme, it brings a range of brilliant films and events to North London. It is operated by a Charitable Trust. For further information on the Phoenix Cinema please call Paul Homer on 020 8442 0442. paul@phoenixcinema.co.uk www.phoenixcinema.co.uk
 

Booth

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Update from Shooting People's Ben Blaine:

Features From The Flames.From: Ben Blaine <ben*at*charlieproductions.co.uk>

Anyone reading this who is planning to make their own feature film -STOP - whatever you were doing on Sunday 4th September - CANCEL IT.You need to be in Finchley...

OK so we do shorts. Even someone who's not been paying attention must have noticed by now that Shooting People - we've got short films sewnup. But as last weeks arguments over twenty-quid show, short filmsdon't pay the rent. So why do we make shorts? Come on, own up - it'sso we can convince someone to give us some money to make a feature film.

And it doesn't take much money either - proof of that are the twoFEATURE films that we're screening at the Phoenix Cinema in EastFinchley - two features by two filmmakers who we really should all betalking about.

And not just about, but too - something else you'll be able to do ifyou come down on Sunday 4th September because they're all going to bethere to explain how they did it.

The first film "Diary Of A Bad Lad" by Michael Booth is actually thefilm that first convinced me that Shooters could make featureswithout first being picked up and whisked to LA. A comedy so black itmakes "Man Bites Dog" look like Disney this also features some of thebest performances I've ever seen... not least from writer/producerJohn Williams.

The second film "The Plague" by Greg Hall was made in about threeweeks for about thirty grand and went on to win the inaugural KatrinCartlidge award.

We start at 2pm. Tickets cost UKP5.00 and can be bought from thePhoenix Cinema on 020 8444 6789.

bB
 

Booth

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Today Ben Blaine posted a variant on the above on the Shooting People independent filmmaking newsletter, with a tagged on interview with producer/writer/actor Jonathan Williams entitled Heroes of Low Budget Filmmaking #1. Those of you who aren't SP members may read it below:

Heroes Of Low Budget Filmmaking #1... - 30/8/2005Anyone who is planning to make their own feature film - STOP - whatever you were doing on Sunday 4th September - CANCEL IT. You need to be in Finchley...

This Sunday Shooting People is teaming up with the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley (north London) to bring you two ultra-low budget feature films made by Shooters, both of which just happen to be pretty damn good. Anyone who is thinking of making their own film with some cash they found down the back of someone else's sofa really could do themselves a huge favour by coming down to see the films andtalk with the teams behind them.

We start at 2pm. Tickets cost UKP 5.00 and can be bought from the Phoenix Cinema on 020 8444 6789.

We're screening "The Plague" by Greg Hall and "Diary Of A Bad Lad" directed by Michael Booth and written by Jon Williams.

Jon not only wrote "Diary Of A Bad Lad" but he produced it and also takes the central role of dubious documentary filmmaker Barry Lick. Normally that list of credits spells a disastrous ego trip but I have to say Jon's performance in "Bad Lad" is one of the funniest and most truthful I've ever seen. Over the next couple of days I'm going to bring you interviews with Michael and Greg too but I thought I'd start with a quick chat with one of the most charming and impressiveindependent writer/producer/actors in the country...

Heroes Of Low Budget Film-making #1...JON WILLIAMS.

- What made you want to make films?

Because I love telling stories.

- What made you want to make this film?

Me and Michael had tried to launch various projects through the 'normal' channels, but no one seemed to want to take us seriously; so being a bit of a rebel I thought right, we'll show 'em, here's a great story which would only work if it was shot on dv on 'no-budget', so let's do it.

- Roughly what's your background? Did you study, what influenced you,what else have you done... stuff like that...

I'm 57 years old. I'd started off as a fringe theatre actor/writer doing some pretty weird stuff, but after a few years I got fed up with sleeping on people's floors. I thought I needed a proper job so I went knocking on doors and worked my way up to being a cameraman and general jack-of-all-trades. To begin with I was very influenced by the political documentaries and features, many from Latin America, that were being distributed by 'The Other Cinema', so me and Alan Hayling set up NEWSREEL with the aim of making such films in the UK. We got quite a lot of money off the BFI, made a few docs that were crap, but we also made some good stuff about the over throw of

fascism in Portugal and the Grunwick strike - which we also raised a lot of money for.

Then Thatcher came along and money for what we were doing soon started to dry up. I'd also become frustrated with the limitations of documentary but, around that time I came to be involved in a Costa-Gavras style political thriller that was going to be shot in the UK and Sri Lanka. Pretty soon just

about everything was in place and the Sri Lankan producer, who I was assisting, already had already raised about UKP 750k. But then he did a runner with the money! I was heavily in debt and my name was pretty much mud, so I ended up teaching production as I had to keep the bank managers off my back. I collaborated on some pieces of photo-journalism about the Miners Strike and South Africa with photographer, Nigel Dickinson (who went on to pick up some World Press awards). In 1997 I became very ill and ended up with ME. But that also meant I got early retirement, a bit of a pension, and the time to start doing some serious writing.

- What inspired/drove you to make this film yourself rather than hanging around waiting to be picked up by someone else?

I'd seen 'Man Bites Dog' when it was first released in the UK and thought it was a million times more exciting than all those big budget serial killer movies put together. 'Lock Stock' and things like that had been coming out and I thought they were awful, especially when compared with 1960's British

gangster films like 'Performance', so I wanted to make an 'MBG'-type response. But now there was no point in making something in the style of a 1960's black&white 16mm D.M. Pennebaker underground documentary, instead it would have to be dv-shot with Nick Broomfield as a major influence.

Together me and Michael knew several really talented (and frustrated!) people in our neck of the woods, we had enough kit to at least get the ball rolling, so we reckoned that if we could develop a strong enough script that was designed to be made in everyone's sparetime, that other people would

come on board on a profit-share basis. The one problem was that we weren't aiming to make a 'mock-doc' but a fiction film about an attempt at making an exploitative documentary which would also hold the filmmakers motivations up to question. And there aren't exactly very many precedents for such a

storyline, so it was actually going to take a lot of working out. Fortunately fate stepped in and gave me the time to write it first as a novel. Ever since then it seems as if fate has been pulling the strings - and youcan't argue with fate!

- How much did it cost?

It was made on a profit share basis in a very similar way to making a documentary, so it's very hard to say just how much value it represents. In cash terms the fx, tape, petrol, food and so on cost around UKP 3,500. We also bought more kit and hardware as we went along and a certain portion of

that expenditure should be added to the costof the film, so it's probably fair to say it cost a bit less than UKP 7k.

- How long did it take?

It took about 6 months to write and about another 4 months to finalise the cast. The story runs from Spring to Autumn with a lot of exteriors, so the weather and the number of leaves on the trees posed continuity problems - and it was also designed to be done in everyone's spare time, so it ended up

being shot over about two-and-a-half years. Part-time working also means it's been a really long time in post.

- Who helped you?

We helped ourselves! But seriously one local millionaire let us use his converted farmhouse and his cars - as well as paying the biggest fx bill. Another gave us whatever access we needed to one of her night clubs, and other club owners in the area helped out as well. Once we'd done a rough cut

Chris 'Letter to Brezhnev' Bernard (one of the founders of North-West Producers and Directors) spent a day ripping it to pieces, which was just what we needed at the time - and if you've never met Chris, well imagine what it would be like if you crossed Gordon Ramsey with Lilly Savage!

- Who didn't help you?

Once we'd got a final cut we thought that we could get some completion money from the likes of the Film Council to at least help get it to a 35mm print; but, at the time, they didn't seem to even want to have a look at it.

- What's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your film?

"It's a better film than Man Bites Dog", "It's art-house for the masses!"

- What are you doing now?

Sailing in what for us are the uncharted waters of 'getting it out there'.

To see Jon and Michael's film and ask him a question come to PhoenixCinema in East Finchley on Sunday at 2pm...

bB
 

Booth

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And here's Michaels interview with Ben Blaine:

Heroes Of Low Budget Filmmaking #3 - 2/9/2005Anyone who is planning to make their own feature film - STOP - whatever you were doing on Sunday 4th September - CANCEL IT. You need to be in Finchley...

This Sunday Shooting People is teaming up with the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley (north London) to bring you two ultra-low budgetfeature films made by Shooters, both of which just happen to be pretty damn good. Anyone who is thinking of making their own filmwith some cash they found down the back of someone else's sofa reallycould do themselves a huge favour by coming down to see the films andtalk with the teams behind them.

We start at 2pm. Tickets cost UKP5.00 and can be bought from the Phoenix Cinema on 020 8444 6789.

We're screening "The Plague" written and directed by Greg Hall and "Diary Of A Bad Lad" written by Jon Williams and Directed by Michael Booth.

Michael and Jon are a great team. I was lucky enough to bump into them both at Cannes this year and the way they bounce off each otheris a joy to watch. So, having already heard Jon's side of the story it only seems to fair that we end the week with Michael's take on "Diary Of A Bad Lad".

Heroes Of Low Budget Film-making #3...MICHAEL BOOTH

- What made you want to make films?

Coming from a small town in Lancashire, it wasn't something I aspired to do. Films came from a different planet. The street that I grew upon had a video rental shop. Being an only child, if I wasn't playing with my Star Wars figures I'd be watching the latest video nasty. At 13 years old my Mum and

Dad borrowed a full-size video camera from friends. I recorded anything and everything, making funky little pop videos with my kid sister, backyard wrestling with my mates, and even trying to do little adventure movies. At 17 I enrolled on the BTEC National diploma course at Blackburn college and

met Jonathan Williams who was a tutor. He was a cockney, and I'd never seen a cockney in real life before so I was enlightened by his lack of small town mentality. One day Jon stopped me in the corridor to tell me about a film he'd seen the night before. Kevin Smith had just made Clerks for USD 25,000 with a bunch of friends in New Jersey. He went onto say that he thought I could and should do that. And eventually, we did.

An alternative to this is that when I was about four years old, my Granddad took me to the cinema for the first time to see Herbie Goes Bananas. I'd already got a Herbie remote control car in my Christmas stocking that year, so I was hyped up to see the real Herbie in action. We got to the front of the queue and my Granddad had forgotten his wallet. I cried all the way home. Perhaps subconsciously this is the reason why I'm so obsessive about movies.I just need to get in that cinema, one way or another.

- What made you want to make this film?

I'd written a script called Day Tripping, which I'd always intended to be my first feature. We sent the script to all of the main film financiers, and it gained quite a lot of admiration. We also sent it to actors, and most notably Ewen Bremner from Trainspotting was interested in playing quite a

major role. Unfortunately it got rejected by most of the film funders, saying it's either 'too commercial' or 'not commercial enough'. It was at this point that we knew if we were going to make something, it'd have to be on our own terms and with a tailor-made script. I'd just written four drafts

of Day Tripping, and was burned out by the process so suggested Jon take on role of writer. He went off and started writing, then it turns out he'd written a novel! A good novel granted, but I needed a screenplay. Jon then went and converted it into a great 159 page screenplay. Even as a young

tyro, I knew I was being handed an immense gift.

So you could say that the problem of not having any money was solvedby developing something that didn't need any. And that's why I wanted to make this film - it didn't require money, it was a good script and we could.

- Roughly what's your background? Did you study, what influenced you, what else have you done... stuff like that...

In 1993 I did the course at Blackburn College, I was 17 years old. I came out of that course with 15 distinctions, and whilst there made a 40 minute video movie called Come With Me on high-band U-Matic. In 96' it got shown at the 31st Karlovy Vary Film Festival and received a special mention. I then went to Sheffield Hallam Uni to do a BA in Film Studies. It was rubbish and after 8 months I left. In 1998-99 I made two shorts, one of which didn't get finished, one of which came runner up in Manchester's Exposures festival. In 2000 I went back toUni doing Media Production. There I learned how to edit Avid, and whilst there I sold my car to buy a pc to edit with, and a 3 chip digital camera. I also started to get corporate work, which helped buy a microphone. We started on Diary of a Bad Lad around this time, but we'd been developing it since late 1997.

- What inspired/drove you to make this film yourself rather than hanging around waiting to be picked up by someone else?

I instinctively knew that the film industry isn't geared up to accept newcomers. You were supposed to work your way up the industry and if you were lucky, get a directing gig sometime in your forties. I didn't want to wait another twenty years for, when all my ideas might be stale. Also I was reading a lot of Faber & Faber books, especially Rebel with a Crew by Robert Rodriguez. I started following the American independent film scene, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Tod Solondz, Tom DiCillo, John

Pierson, Spike Lee, etc. It made me realise that it could be done rather than hanging around waiting. I didn't want to be one of those people who tells everyone that one day they are going to make a film, then never does.

They're the really important questions... less important but still interesting...

- How much did it cost?

After we removed all the Ridley Scott style aerial-vistas, and Jon convinced me that the exploding a monkey on a mountain scene was completely gratuitous, the budget eventually came to somewhere between UKP3000- UKP3500.

Of course if we hadn't have done it with everyone on deferrals it would have probably been way over UKP 100,000.

- How long did it take?

About 3 to 4 weeks... Only thing is, that was on and off over a four year period. We started shooting Diary of a Bad Lad when I was 24. I feel so old now, and I originally wanted to be the British Robert Rodriguez. Then again, I was never tall enough, he's a big lad.

- Who helped you?

My parents, kid sister, and gran were exceptionally supportive. Margo Grimshaw, a local entrepreneur allowed us the use of two of her night-clubs. John Sturgess, another local rich person allowed us to use his home, vehicles and business. He even gave us some money so that we could have two people shot, which was nice. Chris Bernard, who directed Letter to Brezhnev in the 80's was an amazing critic. He watched the first cut and told us exactly what needed to be chopped.Without him it might be a different movie. He's a genuine professional and one of the nicest people in the industry. Also Andrew Patrick was assigned to us by the business link as an approved advisor. Andrew has been in the industry for years and without him we wouldn't have gotten the film into the hands of people like

Chris Bernard and Alex Cox. I can't forget Bruno Coppola who decide to introduce the film at the Kino Festival in Manchester. He liked it that much that he wanted to tell everyone how good it was. What a great introduction. He's a top filmmaker too!

- Who didn't help you?

Muhahahahahaha... That's for another time. They know who they are. Let's just say the list gets ever longer.

- What's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your film?

It's amazing how many people react positively to it, but I think 'Fucking Superb' from Chris Bernard can't be topped. However mypersonal favorite is what Bruno Coppola said to the audience at the Kino Film Festival.

"It's one of the best things I've seen in this or any other festival.It's a superb film completely regardless of how much money was spent on it. The performances are outstanding, and it's made with a director's style which is completely gripping from beginning to end" I was blown away. I wanted to watch it again, and that's why I'm here now.

So just to single out a few things: the way it was shot did not feelin any

way like a small picture. It didn=92t have anything to beembarrassed about

when you put it up against something like =91LayerCake=92 which is in

cinemas now and cost 150 times as much money. And Iwould go on to say that

the performances are potentially even better..."

There's an MP3 of this here:

http://www.pleasedsheep.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3D4

- What's the dumbest thing anyone has ever said about your film?

"We've got to stop this from being shown. They shouldn't be showingthis

footage. This is the BBC!"

I kid you not. This was said by a fellow at a Northern Film Networkevening

at BBC North, where we were asked to show footage. He wastrying to enroll

me on a crusade to stop the footage being shown, ashe believed that the

people accompanying the film were realgangsters, and that what was being

shown was real drug abuse and hard-core pornography. What he didn't know

was that I was the director.This guy must have spoken to quite a lot of

people, because rumoursspread about the movie like Keyser Soze. We gained

quite a lot ofnotoriety from this, and got a full page devoted to us in

CityLifemagazine (the Manchester equivalent of Time Out). Then years on,

afew people lobbied for us to get kicked out of the NWPD (North

WestProducers & Directors - www.nwpd.org.uk) and apparently ChrisBernard,

Colin McKeown and Alex Cox fought fiercely to keep us in,even though at

this point we hadn't met any of them. Though ChrisBernard made sure to

check out that we weren't real gangsters beforewe met!

- What are you doing now?

In Cannes this year I was approached by prolific producer Harry Alan Towers to direct his next movie. He's in Toronto at the moment, and because of the recent problems in London, it's kept him from coming back to his office. So things have stalled a little on that front.I've been getting a fair amount

of corporate work too, which has kept me tied up. Sumners in Manchester liked the film so much that they're doing all the grading and HD mastering, on a Davinci2k, for free. Sowe should have a HDTV master soon, and we're trying to get a 35mm print, as that's what all the distributors still

require (if anyone can help with this, let us know!) I'm also working on a revised version of my script Day Tripping. Quite a few British producer have become interested in what I'd like to do next, so I guess time will tell.

For more of this sort of thing visit www.pleasedsheep.com, to see Michael and Jon's film and ask them questions come to Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley on Sunday at 2pm...

bB
 
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