With three films in official selection here at Cannes, BBC Films has proved itself to be a consistent supplier of quality product. Now, as outlined to Moving Pictures by the BBC's film supremos Mark Shivas and George Faber, it is looking to up the ante, both in the number and scale of projects on its slate.
BBC Films' deal with UGC on the US$3 million feature My Son, The Fanatic, represents a strategic shift by the UK broadcaster, as it increasingly looks for alliances with international partners. Its policy of nurturing young talent continues, however.Developed in association with newly-launched UK outfit Zephyr Films, My Son, The Fanatic, which is directed by Udayan Prasad (Brothers in Trouble) from a script by Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette), typifies this policy.
So do newly-announced projects from hot directors Michael Winterbottom (Jude), Antonia Bird (Priest), Richard Spence (Different for Girls) and Gillies Mackinnon (Small Faces).
Winterbottom is lined up to direct the US$6 million The Mayor of Kingdom Come, a "potato western" loosely based on Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Butterfly Kiss). The BBC is seeking a substantial partner for it at Cannes, with PolyGram and Dreamworks rumoured to be in the running.
Bird is attached to the BBC's US$13 million drama In Search of the Assassin (aka Blown Apart), while Spence is set to direct the US$5 million heist movie Face, from a script by Ronan Bennett. Gillies Mackinnon is currently considering scripts developed for the BBC by his brother Billy (an adaptation of Esther Freud's Hideous Kinky) and Allan Scott (from Pat Barker's novel Regeneration).
The much-mooted establishment of BBC Films Ltd as an entity outside the corporation structure, allowing Shivas and Faber to ring-fence money for their own projects, has yet to be rubber-stamped, with various logistical matters still to be resolved. But the BBC's evolution into a major provider of features carries on regardless.Nick Thomas
Love for sales
The Australian romantic comedy Love and Other Catastrophes may have become the hottest small film at the Cannes market after its early screenings, securing sales "well into seven figures" from buyers in Europe, after the Fox Searchlight deal announced earlier.
Lucky Red in Italy, Kinowelt in Germany and Shani in Israel have shelled out serious cash for the rights to the fresh and funny film from first-time director Emma-Kate Croghan, hosted at a party by the Australian Film Commission on Sunday night, as Beyond Films sales executives beamed million dollar smiles. The film was screened in Paris by Beyond before the Cannes market, the screening scheduled when it was thought it might get a slot in the festival. It probably should have.
The film was originally made for A$55,000 (US$49,000) that was begged or borrowed. When the Australia Film Commission's Tim Read and Sue Murray saw a rough cut on double head, they recommended an immediate investment of A$500,000 (US$390,000) to complete the film, blow it up to 35mm and pay for the marketing trip for the cast and the director to Cannes.Andrew L. Urban
Following an Oscar nod and US$2 million box-office for Antonia's Line, First Look Pictures announced the promotions of Erica Potter and Suzanne LeRoy from director to vp positions. Shelly Josias moves from New Line Cinema to First Look's newly- created Director of Publicity slot.
Elephant Productions Inc, a new production company headed by Executive Producer Patrick Strong Ferrell, was announced here. It already has three theatrical features in development: Roses in the Desert is about a women's volleyball team who challenge the pros; The Duke of Duval is a political drama; and Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever, is a live action/animated children's story.
Ida Martins, principal of Germany-based sales company Media Luna, announced the sale of all rights to French-speaking territories France Belgium and Switzerland to distributor Les Films du Paradoxe for Director's Fortnight entry, Vaska. The tale of two thieves was passed down from a poet who heard it in the gulag. Hungarian director Peter Gothar received the prix de la jeunesse for his 1982 Director's Fortnight entry, Time Stands Still. Gothar, here last year with Outpost, is unable to attend this year due to a sudden operation. Media Luna also announced the pick-up of American film Hearts Lonely Club for world sales from producer Beatrix Ost. Hearts, first feature by Daniel Kuttner, will premiere at the Munich Festival.
