Feel free to use ideas from your study of ‘The English Patient,’ ‘The Duchess’ or ‘The Last King of Scotland’ to help you answer these questions.
What issues of media ownership in the contemporary film industry are raised by the film ‘London to Brighton’?
How does ‘London to Brighton’ highlight the importance of synergy in the production and distribution of a film?
What is the importance of cross media convergence in the distribution of films like ‘London to Brighton’?
Were any new technologies of production, distribution, marketing or exchange used by ‘London to Brighton’?
Tip 1 – think about if filmmakers working on a small budget would be able to use ‘film’ rather than ‘digital’ cameras – which do you think is most expensive? Can cinemas use digital projectors yet? Did you even know that digital projectors existed?
Tip 2 – Remember the last case study…film companies use new technologies, mobile ‘phones, video games, the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc to help them produce, distribute and market their films – how do they work?
What issues are raised by ‘London to Brighton’ in the targeting of British audiences by the film’s makers?
Tip – Why might ‘London to Brighton’ not be popular with international audiences?
The general questions again:
What is the significance of the proliferation of hardware (e.g. DVD/BluRay/‘the Internet’) for the film industry and film audiences?
What is the significance of the increase in the number and different types of films being made (by the film industry and others) on the film industry and film audiences at home or in the cinema?
What is the importance of technological convergence for the film industry and film audiences?
In what ways do your own experiences of watching this film illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour?
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Case Study - London to Brighton (2006)
Budget - £80,000 (shooting budget) £200,000 (estimated – post-production budget)
Box Office Gross - $not known
Main Production Companies – Steel Mill Pictures, Wellington.
http://www.steelmillpictures.co.uk/londontobrighton.asp
http://www.wellingtonfilms.co.uk/
Producers - Ken Marshall, Steel Mill Pictures.
Distributors – Vertigo Films – UK - http://www.vertigofilms.com/home.php
Release Dates – UK - 18th August 2006 (Edinburgh Film Festival)
Website - http://www.l2b-themovie.co.uk/l2b.html
Synopsis - It’s 3:07am and two girls burst into a run down toilet. Joanne is crying her eyes out and her clothing is ripped. Kelly's face is bruised and starting to swell. Duncan Allen lies in his bathroom bleeding to death. Duncan's son, Stuart, has found his father and wants answers. Derek, Kelly's pimp, needs to find Kelly or it will be him who pays. Kelly and Joanne need to get through the next 24 hours.
LONDON TO BRIGHTON is a gritty thriller that follows a prostitute and a young runaway on the run to Brighton in a desperate fight to save their own lives before it's too late. Amid murder, prostitution and revenge, all Kelly and Joanne have is hope and each other.
Other websites
Review - http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/movies/08brig.html
Podcast - http://www.directorsnotes.com/2007/09/12/dn-special-lighthouse-cineville-london-to-brighton/
Box Office Gross - $not known
Main Production Companies – Steel Mill Pictures, Wellington.
http://www.steelmillpictures.co.uk/londontobrighton.asp
http://www.wellingtonfilms.co.uk/
Producers - Ken Marshall, Steel Mill Pictures.
Distributors – Vertigo Films – UK - http://www.vertigofilms.com/home.php
Release Dates – UK - 18th August 2006 (Edinburgh Film Festival)
Website - http://www.l2b-themovie.co.uk/l2b.html
Synopsis - It’s 3:07am and two girls burst into a run down toilet. Joanne is crying her eyes out and her clothing is ripped. Kelly's face is bruised and starting to swell. Duncan Allen lies in his bathroom bleeding to death. Duncan's son, Stuart, has found his father and wants answers. Derek, Kelly's pimp, needs to find Kelly or it will be him who pays. Kelly and Joanne need to get through the next 24 hours.
LONDON TO BRIGHTON is a gritty thriller that follows a prostitute and a young runaway on the run to Brighton in a desperate fight to save their own lives before it's too late. Amid murder, prostitution and revenge, all Kelly and Joanne have is hope and each other.
Other websites
Review - http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/movies/08brig.html
Podcast - http://www.directorsnotes.com/2007/09/12/dn-special-lighthouse-cineville-london-to-brighton/
Production Notes – London to Brighton
The Aim
As Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON he set out to create a world generally ignored in today's society, a world full of characters that we pass each day with barely a moments thought. Rather than tell a story in such a way that a "message" was rammed down an audience's throat, he sought simply to show what can and does go on in London's underworld. Although essentially a character piece, the story LONDON TO BRIGHTON tells is a thriller - Will the two girls get caught by Derek? If so, will he turn them in to Stuart? What will Stuart do with everybody in order to satisfy his need for revenge? As a result, the film has a dynamic energy to it, and a pacing that is unusual for realist low budget British films in that it defiantly seeks to draw the audience into its world and the experiences of these characters in a highly dramatic and personal way. As such LONDON TO BRIGHTON has some similarities with Fernando Meirelles' CITY OF GOD, and Mike Leigh's NAKED, whilst remaining original and thoroughly engaging in its own right.
The Script
After Paul had made the short film ROYALTY he was hungry to work with the main actors from the film on a larger feature project.
"Even after auditioning the actors I knew they were something special, people who were able to immerse themselves in a role while still keeping the external self aware enough to be directed well and to debate ideas in order to make the character and scene better."
Paul wrote the script with Johnny Harris and Lorraine firmly set in his mind for the main roles.
"Being aware of their talent and understanding of the characters they have already played it made it much easier for me to write the script as I could see how they would do it in my head."
But finding a young actress to play the role of Joanne was not as easy as he didn't have enough money to hold massive auditions. Strangely enough when Paul first laid eyes on Georgia Groome, he thought she looked great.
"I walked into the Carlton Workshop in Nottingham, and she was the first girl I saw sitting down. I immediately thought she looked perfect. After her improvisation, I thought she was also brilliant. But her script reading wasn't so good so I carried on auditioning. After seeing more girls we held another workshop, a few days before I watched the old tape and after seeing Georgia again I thought she was actually pretty good. We arranged for her to come down again and after another recall it was clear that her maturity and openness as an actor was what we needed for the part of Joanne."
In May 2005 Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON, a story adapted from his acclaimed short film ROYALTY. In just four days the first draft of the script was written.
The Production in Summary
Upon completing the script in May 2005, Paul took it upon himself to get the film made and through several private investors he managed to raise some money. By mid-August 2005 LONDON TO BRIGHTON was in pre-production, during which time Paul worked very closely with the actors to develop their characters. By the beginning of October cameras were rolling, with all cast, crew and facilities companies working on deferred fees. After a grueling 19 day shoot (in 22 days) principal photography was completed. After editing on weekends and weeknights, on software purchased for the editor from the production budget, in February 2006 some more private money was raised and 5 days of pick-ups were shot. By mid-March the British Council had agreed to screen it for the Director's Fortnight selection committee, the UK Film Council had verbally agreed to provide completion funding and by the beginning of April several UK distributors were interested in securing distribution rights. Vertigo Films won out in the end. Not bad for a truly independent British feature film shot and edited for the cost of most films' catering budgets.
The Look
In his preparation for the shoot Paul decided that the camera must become a character in itself, in order to fully involve the audience in every scene, and to effectively immerse them in this taut and perilous world. The hand held aspect gives LONDON TO BRIGHTON an edge - a certain kind of roughness - and an immediacy that the story needed. The technique was used in every scene apart from the one in Duncan Allen's house, where track and dolly were used to convey power, slyness and cunning, and to depict a world of wealth that none of the other characters had seen before.
Locations
As the film's title suggests, both London and Brighton make up the key locations for the story. In London it was essential for Paul to have dark, menacing and dirty spaces in order to fit with the story. Fortunately the locations in London (including Bermondsey, Hackney and Waterloo) were pretty easy to come by - there is so much life in certain parts of the capital that it was easy for Paul to create a cinematic world that already exists in the look and surroundings of many of the city's streets.
Numerous locations, especially the exteriors came about at the last minute without giving the director or cameraman a chance to see them before they turned up to film. For example, the café where Joanne meets Derek for the first time was found only the day before shooting. Strangely it turned out to be one of the best looking locations with a colour scheme that really fit the scene.
There was also much begging and borrowing - the Duncan Allen house scenes for example were filmed in the residences of two of our private investors in the film. The flat of the character Shane was actually one of the producer's.
One of the most challenging parts of the shoot turned out to be filming on a train, in the scene in which Joanne and Kelly make their run for Brighton. The production team had no budget for anything that resembled a modern day train, and therefore had to make do with an old tourist train. Worse still, the authorities would only allow Paul to shoot for two hours, and in that time the train only moved for 45 minutes. Shooting one large scene and two smaller ones in that time proved to be an immense challenge.
Arriving in Brighton Paul and his team were welcomed by the sun and some terrific filming weather. Being Britain it could not last, and on the following day when the weather was due to match, the shoot was disrupted by hurricane force winds and monsoon rain. Fortunately this initial disruption would not set the tone for the entire Brighton shoot. Ultimately all the locations selected for the film (including the ones planned in advance, and those found literally the day or night before) worked perfectly, becoming characters in their own right and situating the audience in a world that they may not often see.
The Music
After watching an early cut of LONDON TO BRIGHTON Vertigo Films' music supervisor Lol Hammond (The Football Factory, It's All Gone Pete Tong, The Business) knew immediately that this was a very exciting and special British film that needed a similarly dynamic soundtrack. With the multi talented composer Laura Rossi already hard at work orchestrating the film's score with the Prague Philharmonic, Hammond set about sourcing tracks. Taking his cue from the film's gritty urban style, and high energy, he looked to the thriving world of UK Hip Hop for inspiration. First up was the world beating mix champions SCRATCH PERVERTS who weighed in with their tracks FREAKS featuring the explosive TY and DYNAMITE on the mike. Then came ice cool drum and base artist JANO WAT? For the closing credits, Hammond looked to one of the country's finest new talents PLAN B (Ben Drew), who offered up a dark and twisted lament with his EVERYDAY composition. Not finished there, Hammond approached the London based German composer Tom. E. Morrison for some dark and broody electronica, and added his own lightly chilled track ROOM WITHOUT LIGHTS (a collaboration with Roger Eno) to the mix.
The Finished Film
Despite the challenges of the shoot, Paul and the producers were incredibly proud of their achievement. The aim had been to shoot a cool urban thriller, informed by a realist aesthetic, on a budget small enough to cover only the catering budgets of most larger films. In May 2006, Shane Danielson (the artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival) sent a personal email to the filmmakers to congratulate them on the film, and invite LONDON TO BRIGHTON to play in the British Gala section of the festival where it would be eligible for three prestigious awards. Describing the film as "One of the discoveries of the year", the festival will hopefully set the tone for the coming months as LONDON TO BRIGHTON moves towards its UK theatrical release on December 1st.
As Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON he set out to create a world generally ignored in today's society, a world full of characters that we pass each day with barely a moments thought. Rather than tell a story in such a way that a "message" was rammed down an audience's throat, he sought simply to show what can and does go on in London's underworld. Although essentially a character piece, the story LONDON TO BRIGHTON tells is a thriller - Will the two girls get caught by Derek? If so, will he turn them in to Stuart? What will Stuart do with everybody in order to satisfy his need for revenge? As a result, the film has a dynamic energy to it, and a pacing that is unusual for realist low budget British films in that it defiantly seeks to draw the audience into its world and the experiences of these characters in a highly dramatic and personal way. As such LONDON TO BRIGHTON has some similarities with Fernando Meirelles' CITY OF GOD, and Mike Leigh's NAKED, whilst remaining original and thoroughly engaging in its own right.
The Script
After Paul had made the short film ROYALTY he was hungry to work with the main actors from the film on a larger feature project.
"Even after auditioning the actors I knew they were something special, people who were able to immerse themselves in a role while still keeping the external self aware enough to be directed well and to debate ideas in order to make the character and scene better."
Paul wrote the script with Johnny Harris and Lorraine firmly set in his mind for the main roles.
"Being aware of their talent and understanding of the characters they have already played it made it much easier for me to write the script as I could see how they would do it in my head."
But finding a young actress to play the role of Joanne was not as easy as he didn't have enough money to hold massive auditions. Strangely enough when Paul first laid eyes on Georgia Groome, he thought she looked great.
"I walked into the Carlton Workshop in Nottingham, and she was the first girl I saw sitting down. I immediately thought she looked perfect. After her improvisation, I thought she was also brilliant. But her script reading wasn't so good so I carried on auditioning. After seeing more girls we held another workshop, a few days before I watched the old tape and after seeing Georgia again I thought she was actually pretty good. We arranged for her to come down again and after another recall it was clear that her maturity and openness as an actor was what we needed for the part of Joanne."
In May 2005 Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON, a story adapted from his acclaimed short film ROYALTY. In just four days the first draft of the script was written.
The Production in Summary
Upon completing the script in May 2005, Paul took it upon himself to get the film made and through several private investors he managed to raise some money. By mid-August 2005 LONDON TO BRIGHTON was in pre-production, during which time Paul worked very closely with the actors to develop their characters. By the beginning of October cameras were rolling, with all cast, crew and facilities companies working on deferred fees. After a grueling 19 day shoot (in 22 days) principal photography was completed. After editing on weekends and weeknights, on software purchased for the editor from the production budget, in February 2006 some more private money was raised and 5 days of pick-ups were shot. By mid-March the British Council had agreed to screen it for the Director's Fortnight selection committee, the UK Film Council had verbally agreed to provide completion funding and by the beginning of April several UK distributors were interested in securing distribution rights. Vertigo Films won out in the end. Not bad for a truly independent British feature film shot and edited for the cost of most films' catering budgets.
The Look
In his preparation for the shoot Paul decided that the camera must become a character in itself, in order to fully involve the audience in every scene, and to effectively immerse them in this taut and perilous world. The hand held aspect gives LONDON TO BRIGHTON an edge - a certain kind of roughness - and an immediacy that the story needed. The technique was used in every scene apart from the one in Duncan Allen's house, where track and dolly were used to convey power, slyness and cunning, and to depict a world of wealth that none of the other characters had seen before.
Locations
As the film's title suggests, both London and Brighton make up the key locations for the story. In London it was essential for Paul to have dark, menacing and dirty spaces in order to fit with the story. Fortunately the locations in London (including Bermondsey, Hackney and Waterloo) were pretty easy to come by - there is so much life in certain parts of the capital that it was easy for Paul to create a cinematic world that already exists in the look and surroundings of many of the city's streets.
Numerous locations, especially the exteriors came about at the last minute without giving the director or cameraman a chance to see them before they turned up to film. For example, the café where Joanne meets Derek for the first time was found only the day before shooting. Strangely it turned out to be one of the best looking locations with a colour scheme that really fit the scene.
There was also much begging and borrowing - the Duncan Allen house scenes for example were filmed in the residences of two of our private investors in the film. The flat of the character Shane was actually one of the producer's.
One of the most challenging parts of the shoot turned out to be filming on a train, in the scene in which Joanne and Kelly make their run for Brighton. The production team had no budget for anything that resembled a modern day train, and therefore had to make do with an old tourist train. Worse still, the authorities would only allow Paul to shoot for two hours, and in that time the train only moved for 45 minutes. Shooting one large scene and two smaller ones in that time proved to be an immense challenge.
Arriving in Brighton Paul and his team were welcomed by the sun and some terrific filming weather. Being Britain it could not last, and on the following day when the weather was due to match, the shoot was disrupted by hurricane force winds and monsoon rain. Fortunately this initial disruption would not set the tone for the entire Brighton shoot. Ultimately all the locations selected for the film (including the ones planned in advance, and those found literally the day or night before) worked perfectly, becoming characters in their own right and situating the audience in a world that they may not often see.
The Music
After watching an early cut of LONDON TO BRIGHTON Vertigo Films' music supervisor Lol Hammond (The Football Factory, It's All Gone Pete Tong, The Business) knew immediately that this was a very exciting and special British film that needed a similarly dynamic soundtrack. With the multi talented composer Laura Rossi already hard at work orchestrating the film's score with the Prague Philharmonic, Hammond set about sourcing tracks. Taking his cue from the film's gritty urban style, and high energy, he looked to the thriving world of UK Hip Hop for inspiration. First up was the world beating mix champions SCRATCH PERVERTS who weighed in with their tracks FREAKS featuring the explosive TY and DYNAMITE on the mike. Then came ice cool drum and base artist JANO WAT? For the closing credits, Hammond looked to one of the country's finest new talents PLAN B (Ben Drew), who offered up a dark and twisted lament with his EVERYDAY composition. Not finished there, Hammond approached the London based German composer Tom. E. Morrison for some dark and broody electronica, and added his own lightly chilled track ROOM WITHOUT LIGHTS (a collaboration with Roger Eno) to the mix.
The Finished Film
Despite the challenges of the shoot, Paul and the producers were incredibly proud of their achievement. The aim had been to shoot a cool urban thriller, informed by a realist aesthetic, on a budget small enough to cover only the catering budgets of most larger films. In May 2006, Shane Danielson (the artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival) sent a personal email to the filmmakers to congratulate them on the film, and invite LONDON TO BRIGHTON to play in the British Gala section of the festival where it would be eligible for three prestigious awards. Describing the film as "One of the discoveries of the year", the festival will hopefully set the tone for the coming months as LONDON TO BRIGHTON moves towards its UK theatrical release on December 1st.
Production Notes – London to Brighton
London to Brighton - Film Maker's Comments - Steel Mill
The aim of LONDON TO BRIGHTON was to create a piece of work that bled reality, that created a world generally ignored in today's society, a world full of characters that we pass by every day. We wanted to tell a story in such a way that it didn't ram a message down an audience's throat, it simply showed them what can and does go on.
Although this is essentially a character piece the story itself is a thriller. Will the girls get caught by Derek? If so will he turn them in to Stuart and what will he do with everybody in order satisfy his need for revenge?
Aside from this important element to the film, it is a gritty look at the subject of paedophilia and the consequences for people who allow themselves to be a part of such a terrible world.
I feel that with all the elements of this film, from characters, costume, locations, dialogue and story we have realistically captured a day in the life of some pretty unfortunate and interesting characters. From the beginning of the film we are not sure who to trust, who will survive and who will at least have a chance to go forward.
Paul Andrew Williams - Director
Paul began his career as an actor but then moved into writing and directing a number of successful pop-promo's, viral ads and short films. His start as a feature film director began with "London to Brighton", inspired by the 2001 short film "Royalty". "London to Brighton" premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, winning numerous awards in the Uk and overseas. The film earned Paul a nomination for The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or PRoducer in their First Feature Film. In 2008, Paul's second film "The Cottage" was released across Britain, distribution through Pathe. It is currently playing in festivals around the world and will be out on DVD in the UK in July.
Ken Marshall - Producer
In 2000 Ken joined Random Harvest Pictures as a Junior Development Executive and worked as a post-production assistant for the feature WAR BRIDE. He was assistant to the director/producers during production of feature film OCTANE, and he joined the camera department as a trainee on the six-week shoot of feature film LD50. Throughout both productions, Ken continued to work as a Development Executive for RH and its genre label Four Horsemen Films, eventually becoming the Head of Development in 2003. In spring 2005 Ken left RH to produce his first feature film. The award-winning LONDON TO BRIGHTON, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams, was released theatrically in December 2006 to critical acclaim. Ken and Paul formed their production company Steel Mill Pictures in 2006 and in early 2008 completed their second feature film THE COTTAGE, which was shot in Isle of Man and Yorkshire and financed by Isle of Man Film, UK Film Council Premiere Fund and Screen Yorkshire.
The aim of LONDON TO BRIGHTON was to create a piece of work that bled reality, that created a world generally ignored in today's society, a world full of characters that we pass by every day. We wanted to tell a story in such a way that it didn't ram a message down an audience's throat, it simply showed them what can and does go on.
Although this is essentially a character piece the story itself is a thriller. Will the girls get caught by Derek? If so will he turn them in to Stuart and what will he do with everybody in order satisfy his need for revenge?
Aside from this important element to the film, it is a gritty look at the subject of paedophilia and the consequences for people who allow themselves to be a part of such a terrible world.
I feel that with all the elements of this film, from characters, costume, locations, dialogue and story we have realistically captured a day in the life of some pretty unfortunate and interesting characters. From the beginning of the film we are not sure who to trust, who will survive and who will at least have a chance to go forward.
Paul Andrew Williams - Director
Paul began his career as an actor but then moved into writing and directing a number of successful pop-promo's, viral ads and short films. His start as a feature film director began with "London to Brighton", inspired by the 2001 short film "Royalty". "London to Brighton" premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, winning numerous awards in the Uk and overseas. The film earned Paul a nomination for The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or PRoducer in their First Feature Film. In 2008, Paul's second film "The Cottage" was released across Britain, distribution through Pathe. It is currently playing in festivals around the world and will be out on DVD in the UK in July.
Ken Marshall - Producer
In 2000 Ken joined Random Harvest Pictures as a Junior Development Executive and worked as a post-production assistant for the feature WAR BRIDE. He was assistant to the director/producers during production of feature film OCTANE, and he joined the camera department as a trainee on the six-week shoot of feature film LD50. Throughout both productions, Ken continued to work as a Development Executive for RH and its genre label Four Horsemen Films, eventually becoming the Head of Development in 2003. In spring 2005 Ken left RH to produce his first feature film. The award-winning LONDON TO BRIGHTON, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams, was released theatrically in December 2006 to critical acclaim. Ken and Paul formed their production company Steel Mill Pictures in 2006 and in early 2008 completed their second feature film THE COTTAGE, which was shot in Isle of Man and Yorkshire and financed by Isle of Man Film, UK Film Council Premiere Fund and Screen Yorkshire.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Questions on 'The Last King of Scotland'
I've posted several articles here for you to read in the double lesson. When you have read them, try and answer the questions listed below. They are difficult and will need you to think carefully and think around the subject of the film and the film industry.
Feel free to use ideas from your study of ‘The English Patient’ and ‘The Duchess’ and any other films you think might be appropriate to help you answer these questions.
What issues of media ownership in the contemporary film industry are raised by the film ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip - Think about the way the film was produced by lots of different, small companies. How does this affect the way films get made? Think about ‘The English Patient’ and the Miramax / Disney dynamic.
How does ‘The Last King of Scotland’ highlight the importance of synergy (different companies working together) in the production and distribution of a film?
Tip – Think about how film companies share the risk of producing films.
What is the importance of cross media convergence in the production, distribution and marketing of films like ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip – How do film companies use TV, cinema, the Internet, games consoles, to help them produce, distribute and market their films?
Were any new technologies of production, distribution, marketing or exchange used by ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip – How do film companies use new technologies, mobile ‘phones, video games, the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc to help them produce, distribute and market their films?
What issues are raised by ‘The Last King of Scotland’ in the targeting of British audiences by the film’s makers?
Tip – Why might ‘The Last King of Scotland’ be popular with British audiences?
What is the significance of the proliferation of hardware (e.g. DVD/BluRay/‘the Internet’) for the film industry and film audiences?
What is the significance of the increase in the number and different types of films being made (by the film industry and others) on the film industry and film audiences at home or in the cinema?
What is the importance of technological convergence for the film industry and film audiences?
In what ways do your own experiences of watching this film illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour?
Feel free to use ideas from your study of ‘The English Patient’ and ‘The Duchess’ and any other films you think might be appropriate to help you answer these questions.
What issues of media ownership in the contemporary film industry are raised by the film ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip - Think about the way the film was produced by lots of different, small companies. How does this affect the way films get made? Think about ‘The English Patient’ and the Miramax / Disney dynamic.
How does ‘The Last King of Scotland’ highlight the importance of synergy (different companies working together) in the production and distribution of a film?
Tip – Think about how film companies share the risk of producing films.
What is the importance of cross media convergence in the production, distribution and marketing of films like ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip – How do film companies use TV, cinema, the Internet, games consoles, to help them produce, distribute and market their films?
Were any new technologies of production, distribution, marketing or exchange used by ‘The Last King of Scotland’?
Tip – How do film companies use new technologies, mobile ‘phones, video games, the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc to help them produce, distribute and market their films?
What issues are raised by ‘The Last King of Scotland’ in the targeting of British audiences by the film’s makers?
Tip – Why might ‘The Last King of Scotland’ be popular with British audiences?
What is the significance of the proliferation of hardware (e.g. DVD/BluRay/‘the Internet’) for the film industry and film audiences?
What is the significance of the increase in the number and different types of films being made (by the film industry and others) on the film industry and film audiences at home or in the cinema?
What is the importance of technological convergence for the film industry and film audiences?
In what ways do your own experiences of watching this film illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour?
The Last King of Scotland - Case Study
Budget - $6,000,000
Box Office Gross - $17,605,861 (US) - $10,301,931 (UK) correct up to May 2007
Main Production Companies – DNA Films (Budget commitment £1,368,634), Fox Searchlight Pictures, Film4, UK Film Council.
Producers - Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer & Charles SteelDistributors - 20th Century Fox - UK
Release Dates – 18th October 2006 (London Film Festival) – 1st September 2006 (US)
Website - http://www.foxsearchlight.com/lastkingofscotland/
The Official Synopsis
In an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Though Garrigan is at first flattered and fascinated by his new position, he soon awakens to Amin's savagery -- and his own complicity in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and get out of Uganda alive.
Box Office Gross - $17,605,861 (US) - $10,301,931 (UK) correct up to May 2007
Main Production Companies – DNA Films (Budget commitment £1,368,634), Fox Searchlight Pictures, Film4, UK Film Council.
Producers - Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer & Charles SteelDistributors - 20th Century Fox - UK
Release Dates – 18th October 2006 (London Film Festival) – 1st September 2006 (US)
Website - http://www.foxsearchlight.com/lastkingofscotland/
The Official Synopsis
In an incredible twist of fate, a Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most barbaric figures: Idi Amin. Impressed by Dr. Garrigan's brazen attitude in a moment of crisis, the newly self-appointed Ugandan President Amin hand picks him as his personal physician and closest confidante. Though Garrigan is at first flattered and fascinated by his new position, he soon awakens to Amin's savagery -- and his own complicity in it. Horror and betrayal ensue as Garrigan tries to right his wrongs and get out of Uganda alive.
The Last King of Scotland - DNA Films
DNA's founder, Andrew MacDonald, above, has worked over two decades to mould an idiosyncratic slate, from iconic works such as Trainspotting, above, to The Last King Of Scotland (directed by his brother, Kevin).
MacDonald originally created DNA as an Arts Council-backed funding company with Duncan Kenworthy in the 1990s. In 2001, though, he turned it into DNA films when he entered a 50-50 joint venture with Fox Searchlight, a division of 20th Century Fox. Since then, DNA has produced seven films, with recent projects including Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench.
MacDonald's long collaboration with the director Danny Boyle began in 1994 with Shallow Grave. They followed that success up two years later with Trainspotting, then The Beach in 2000 and 28 Days Later in 2002.
MacDonald, 41, began his career as a runner for a television documentary. He says the ethos of the company is to pick films that reflect high-quality storytelling and directing, and that have a chance of being commercially successful.
"There are lots of very good films that never find an audience and that can't cross over," he says. "Our aim is to find an audience. One of the hardest things for a British producer is that Brits don't always go for British films. Our audiences are very picky. So we want to make edgy, quirky, quality films that can travel."
Press Release by DNA Films
April 15, 2005 - Forest Whitaker has landed the lead role in "The Last King of Scotland." Whitaker will star as the tyrannical Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film, which will be directed by Oscar-winning documentary director Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September," ""Touching the Void").
Whitaker joins James McAvoy for the film which tells the story of the strange relationship between a Scottish doctor (McAvoy) and the dictator Idi Amin. "The Last King of Scotland" is based on the book by Giles Foden and was adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock.
Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer and Charles Steel are producing the film, with Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, and Tessa Ross executive producing.
In a press release announcing the casting of Whitaker, producer Calderwood was quoted as saying, "There are so many African stories to be told. It's a continent full of extremes and untapped cinematic potential. This story, in particular, has a continuing contemporary resonance."
Executive Producer Ross added, "A master of storytelling through the documentary genre, Kevin Macdonald is the perfect choice to direct this fascinating project."
"The Last King of Scotland" was developed by Film Four. Film Four and DNA are financing the film which will be distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Filming will take place in Uganda and the United Kingdom.
MacDonald originally created DNA as an Arts Council-backed funding company with Duncan Kenworthy in the 1990s. In 2001, though, he turned it into DNA films when he entered a 50-50 joint venture with Fox Searchlight, a division of 20th Century Fox. Since then, DNA has produced seven films, with recent projects including Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench.
MacDonald's long collaboration with the director Danny Boyle began in 1994 with Shallow Grave. They followed that success up two years later with Trainspotting, then The Beach in 2000 and 28 Days Later in 2002.
MacDonald, 41, began his career as a runner for a television documentary. He says the ethos of the company is to pick films that reflect high-quality storytelling and directing, and that have a chance of being commercially successful.
"There are lots of very good films that never find an audience and that can't cross over," he says. "Our aim is to find an audience. One of the hardest things for a British producer is that Brits don't always go for British films. Our audiences are very picky. So we want to make edgy, quirky, quality films that can travel."
Press Release by DNA Films
April 15, 2005 - Forest Whitaker has landed the lead role in "The Last King of Scotland." Whitaker will star as the tyrannical Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film, which will be directed by Oscar-winning documentary director Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September," ""Touching the Void").
Whitaker joins James McAvoy for the film which tells the story of the strange relationship between a Scottish doctor (McAvoy) and the dictator Idi Amin. "The Last King of Scotland" is based on the book by Giles Foden and was adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock.
Andrea Calderwood, Lisa Bryer and Charles Steel are producing the film, with Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, and Tessa Ross executive producing.
In a press release announcing the casting of Whitaker, producer Calderwood was quoted as saying, "There are so many African stories to be told. It's a continent full of extremes and untapped cinematic potential. This story, in particular, has a continuing contemporary resonance."
Executive Producer Ross added, "A master of storytelling through the documentary genre, Kevin Macdonald is the perfect choice to direct this fascinating project."
"The Last King of Scotland" was developed by Film Four. Film Four and DNA are financing the film which will be distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Filming will take place in Uganda and the United Kingdom.
The Last King of Scotland - British film industry fights back after disastrous 2005
Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent, The Independent Monday, 15 January 2007
The British film industry has bounced back from tax break paralysis to secure the second highest production spending figures on record thanks to a string of big Hollywood productions.
After the disaster of 2005, when a Government crackdown on abuse of the tax system and uncertainty over new tax breaks caused a slump in film-making, the industry has staged a miraculous recovery with investment up 48 per cent on 2005.
New figures from the UK Film Council published today show that £840m was spent on making movies in the UK last year including the first part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the latest Harry Potter and an adaptation of Ian McEwan's family drama, Atonement.
Only in 2003 were figures higher, at £1.17bn, but that was a year of swords and sandals epics as well as a new Bridget Jones and Harry Potter - and tax relief abuse. But the agreement of a new tax deal, combined with a transitional extension of the old break, appears finally to have settled industry nerves about working in the UK.
The amount of inward investment from international film-makers was particularly strong, up 83 per cent on 2005 to £570m, as Hollywood studios filmed several major productions in Britain.
They included The Bourne Ultimatum starring Matt Damon and directed by the British director Paul Greengrass, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, Matthew Vaughn's Stardust starring Robert De Niro, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller, and Fred Claus with Kevin Spacey and Kathy Bates.
The amount of money spent on home-grown films fell by 11 per cent to £148m. But the Film Council believes that was because the use by some financiers of certain loopholes - later and controversially closed down by the Treasury - had artificially inflated the cost of making British films for a while. The number of British movies made last year rose from 37 in 2005 to 50. They included adaptations of the books Atonement with James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, The Restraint of Beasts, with Rhys Ifans and Ben Whishaw, And When Did You Last See Your Father with Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth and Brick Lane, the novel by Monica Ali.
Kenneth Branagh filmed the opera The Magic Flute in English, Rowan Atkinson made a new Mr Bean movie and Robert Carlyle starred in 28 Weeks Later, a sequel to the surprise hit 28 Days Later. There were also 57 co-productions with a combined UK spend of £122.5m, including Closing the Ring, directed by Richard Attenborough, Death Defying Acts with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce about Harry Houdini's love affair with a psychic, and the Jane Austen biopic, Becoming Jane.
John Woodward, chief executive officer of the UK Film Council, said: "We are back in business with British film-makers winning international awards, a crop of great British films produced and British talent and facilities in demand from film-makers around the world. "The new tax credit which came into force this year will ensure that the UK stays one of the best places in the world to produce a film." Films such as The Queen and the lottery-funded The Last King of Scotland and Venus are tipped to do well in the forthcoming awards season, he added. And this year sees the release of a number of exciting new films including This is England, Notes on a Scandal and The Other Boleyn Girl.
Paul Brett, a film financier with Prescience Film Finance, said the effect of £3.5bn in tax relief from the Treasury since 1997 and investment in skills training had been to create a "really substantial film industry" as confirmed by the latest production statistics.
Films were now being "commissioned like they're going out of fashion" because there were excellent projects around and the money to back them. The only "slightly disappointing" issue was the possibility that the new rules governing what qualified for tax relief were discouraging international co-productions.
Reel figures
134 feature films were produced by the UK in 2006, up from 124 in 2005, including 27 inward investment films and 57 UK co-productions
£840.1m was spent on film production in the UK, up 48 per cent in the disastrous 2005
£569.9m The amo-unt of investment from international film-makers, such as the major Hollywood studios locating productions in the UK
50 indigenous UK feature films were produced in 2006, a rise of 35 per cent from 37 in 2005
The British film industry has bounced back from tax break paralysis to secure the second highest production spending figures on record thanks to a string of big Hollywood productions.
After the disaster of 2005, when a Government crackdown on abuse of the tax system and uncertainty over new tax breaks caused a slump in film-making, the industry has staged a miraculous recovery with investment up 48 per cent on 2005.
New figures from the UK Film Council published today show that £840m was spent on making movies in the UK last year including the first part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the latest Harry Potter and an adaptation of Ian McEwan's family drama, Atonement.
Only in 2003 were figures higher, at £1.17bn, but that was a year of swords and sandals epics as well as a new Bridget Jones and Harry Potter - and tax relief abuse. But the agreement of a new tax deal, combined with a transitional extension of the old break, appears finally to have settled industry nerves about working in the UK.
The amount of inward investment from international film-makers was particularly strong, up 83 per cent on 2005 to £570m, as Hollywood studios filmed several major productions in Britain.
They included The Bourne Ultimatum starring Matt Damon and directed by the British director Paul Greengrass, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, Matthew Vaughn's Stardust starring Robert De Niro, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller, and Fred Claus with Kevin Spacey and Kathy Bates.
The amount of money spent on home-grown films fell by 11 per cent to £148m. But the Film Council believes that was because the use by some financiers of certain loopholes - later and controversially closed down by the Treasury - had artificially inflated the cost of making British films for a while. The number of British movies made last year rose from 37 in 2005 to 50. They included adaptations of the books Atonement with James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, The Restraint of Beasts, with Rhys Ifans and Ben Whishaw, And When Did You Last See Your Father with Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth and Brick Lane, the novel by Monica Ali.
Kenneth Branagh filmed the opera The Magic Flute in English, Rowan Atkinson made a new Mr Bean movie and Robert Carlyle starred in 28 Weeks Later, a sequel to the surprise hit 28 Days Later. There were also 57 co-productions with a combined UK spend of £122.5m, including Closing the Ring, directed by Richard Attenborough, Death Defying Acts with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce about Harry Houdini's love affair with a psychic, and the Jane Austen biopic, Becoming Jane.
John Woodward, chief executive officer of the UK Film Council, said: "We are back in business with British film-makers winning international awards, a crop of great British films produced and British talent and facilities in demand from film-makers around the world. "The new tax credit which came into force this year will ensure that the UK stays one of the best places in the world to produce a film." Films such as The Queen and the lottery-funded The Last King of Scotland and Venus are tipped to do well in the forthcoming awards season, he added. And this year sees the release of a number of exciting new films including This is England, Notes on a Scandal and The Other Boleyn Girl.
Paul Brett, a film financier with Prescience Film Finance, said the effect of £3.5bn in tax relief from the Treasury since 1997 and investment in skills training had been to create a "really substantial film industry" as confirmed by the latest production statistics.
Films were now being "commissioned like they're going out of fashion" because there were excellent projects around and the money to back them. The only "slightly disappointing" issue was the possibility that the new rules governing what qualified for tax relief were discouraging international co-productions.
Reel figures
134 feature films were produced by the UK in 2006, up from 124 in 2005, including 27 inward investment films and 57 UK co-productions
£840.1m was spent on film production in the UK, up 48 per cent in the disastrous 2005
£569.9m The amo-unt of investment from international film-makers, such as the major Hollywood studios locating productions in the UK
50 indigenous UK feature films were produced in 2006, a rise of 35 per cent from 37 in 2005
The Last King of Scotland - Lottery helps British blockbusters reap box-office takings of £126m
Lottery helps British blockbusters reap box-office takings of £126m
By Danielle Demetriou - Monday, 13 October 2003
The British film industry is emerging from the commercial shadows of Hollywood after a string of blockbusters, the UK Film Council said today. The British film industry is emerging from the commercial shadows of Hollywood after a string of blockbusters, the UK Film Council said today.
Recent successes including Gosford Park, Bend It Like Beckham and The Magdalene Sisters were in part due to the allocation of over £13m of National Lottery grants to the council over the past two years, a spokesman said.
During that period, 20 British films were made with the assistance of lottery grants, attracting audiences of 31.5 million across the world and generating a combined box-office revenue of nearly £126m. John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council, which co-financed the films, said that the British film industry benefited extensively from the grants.
"Without support from the lottery and the tax incentives provided by the Government these films would not have been made," he said.
"Our film talent would have had less opportunity to develop their skills, and millions of people in the UK and across the world would have lost the opportunity to enjoy exciting films."
The most commercially successful of the 20 British films wasGosford Park. The film, about a murder in a country house in the 1930s starring Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon, took £49.3m at the box office.
Bend It Like Beckham, which launched the career of Keira Knightley, was next with takings of £39.7m followed by The Importance of Being Earnest, (£10.7m), starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Judi Dench and Reese Witherspoon. A further nine films took more than £1m each, while at the other end of the spectrum four productions took less than £100,000. Bend It Like Beckham, Gosford Park, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Magdalene Sisters each attracted more than one million cinema-goers worldwide. Many of the films were released to critical acclaim. Julian Fellowes, the screenwriter of Gosford Park, won an Oscar for his work on the film.
But Mr Woodward said that the industry required less restrictions in order to generate more successes. He said: "There is still a long way to go. The release of many UK films has been restricted owing to market conditions, limiting the number of people who actually have the opportunity to see what are often imaginative and entertaining films."
The new century has so far been a relatively successful one for the British film industry. Many British films have found a wide international audience, and some of the independent production companies, such as Working Title, have secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios. Working Title scored three major international successes, all starring Hugh Grant, with the romantic comedies Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which grossed $254 million world-wide; the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which earned $228 million; and Richard Curtis's directorial debut Love Actually (2003), which grossed $239 million. At the same time, critically-acclaimed films such as Gosford Park (2001), Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), The Queen (2006) and The Last King of Scotland (2006) also brought prestige to the British film industry.
The film industry remains an important earner for the British economy. According to a UK Film Council press release of 15 January 2007, £840.1 million was spent on making films in the UK during 2006.
By Danielle Demetriou - Monday, 13 October 2003
The British film industry is emerging from the commercial shadows of Hollywood after a string of blockbusters, the UK Film Council said today. The British film industry is emerging from the commercial shadows of Hollywood after a string of blockbusters, the UK Film Council said today.
Recent successes including Gosford Park, Bend It Like Beckham and The Magdalene Sisters were in part due to the allocation of over £13m of National Lottery grants to the council over the past two years, a spokesman said.
During that period, 20 British films were made with the assistance of lottery grants, attracting audiences of 31.5 million across the world and generating a combined box-office revenue of nearly £126m. John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council, which co-financed the films, said that the British film industry benefited extensively from the grants.
"Without support from the lottery and the tax incentives provided by the Government these films would not have been made," he said.
"Our film talent would have had less opportunity to develop their skills, and millions of people in the UK and across the world would have lost the opportunity to enjoy exciting films."
The most commercially successful of the 20 British films wasGosford Park. The film, about a murder in a country house in the 1930s starring Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon, took £49.3m at the box office.
Bend It Like Beckham, which launched the career of Keira Knightley, was next with takings of £39.7m followed by The Importance of Being Earnest, (£10.7m), starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Judi Dench and Reese Witherspoon. A further nine films took more than £1m each, while at the other end of the spectrum four productions took less than £100,000. Bend It Like Beckham, Gosford Park, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Magdalene Sisters each attracted more than one million cinema-goers worldwide. Many of the films were released to critical acclaim. Julian Fellowes, the screenwriter of Gosford Park, won an Oscar for his work on the film.
But Mr Woodward said that the industry required less restrictions in order to generate more successes. He said: "There is still a long way to go. The release of many UK films has been restricted owing to market conditions, limiting the number of people who actually have the opportunity to see what are often imaginative and entertaining films."
The new century has so far been a relatively successful one for the British film industry. Many British films have found a wide international audience, and some of the independent production companies, such as Working Title, have secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios. Working Title scored three major international successes, all starring Hugh Grant, with the romantic comedies Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which grossed $254 million world-wide; the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which earned $228 million; and Richard Curtis's directorial debut Love Actually (2003), which grossed $239 million. At the same time, critically-acclaimed films such as Gosford Park (2001), Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), The Queen (2006) and The Last King of Scotland (2006) also brought prestige to the British film industry.
The film industry remains an important earner for the British economy. According to a UK Film Council press release of 15 January 2007, £840.1 million was spent on making films in the UK during 2006.
Producing 'The Last King of Scotland'
The Last King of Scotland proved itself to be one of 2007’s major critical and commercial success stories, and saw star Forest Whitaker win an Oscar for his performance as Idi Amin. Producer Andrea Calderwood looks back on a seven year process that saw many twists and turns on the route to putting Giles Foden’s book on the screen.
“The story really begins when Lisa Bryer and Suzanne Warren of Cowboy Films brought the book to me when I was still at BBC Scotland in 1997,” says Calderwood. “I was just leaving the BBC and couldn't follow up on it then, but Lisa and Suzanne set it up for development at Film Four, and when I set up Slate Films with FilmFour in 2000, Paul Webster asked me to get involved as a creative producer, and we agreed to develop it as a Cowboy/Slate co-production.”
Creating the right package for The Last King of Scotland meant finding the right director, and finance, not easy for a film which demanded foreign locations and a subject matter that was anything by conventional.
“We had originally set it up with a different script and director and were ready to shoot in 2002, when FilmFour was closed down. We re-set it up with Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock's script, and Kevin Macdonald directing, and we brought in the new version of FilmFour, along with DNA/ Fox Searchlight and Scottish Screen to finance it,” says Calderwood. “We knew Kevin had an interest in the book, as he'd seen it when he'd worked with Faber, the publishers. I saw an early screening of Touching The Void, and was very impressed at the way he was able to make a real story, where the outcome was already known, gripping and involving. When we met to discuss the project, he had a very confident approach to how he would handle the mix of fact and fiction in the story, to making it entertaining. So I knew he was the one to make the film as we'd imagined it.” Essentially a two hander between Amin and journalist Garrigan, a composite character based on three real life people, The Last King of Scotland’s success also hinged on casting.
“Early on, some people felt we should have an unknown actor play Idi Amin, someone who looked very like him, but I was convinced that we needed an experienced screen actor to carry the role of Idi, who has to go through a huge range of emotions,” says Calderwood. “Kevin and I met several established US actors for the role, and Forest Whitaker impressed us with his complete understanding of what motivated Idi, and his intention to play him from the inside out, not as a caricature. James McAvoy also had an innate understanding of who Garrigan's character was - both actors have quite different techniques, but they worked extremely well together.”
And one more considerable obstacle was the location; Uganda offered authenticity and local colour, but also posed considerable risks in terms of bringing in The Last King of Scotland on time and within its budget.
“Originally, the received wisdom was that it would be too difficult to shoot the film in Uganda, as there was no infrastructure there. I went to Uganda on a research trip in 2002, and felt there were great resources there in terms of the people, and the real locations,” Calderwood says. “With Kevin Macdonald's documentary background,
he was keen to see if you could shoot it there - we went on a recce with him to Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, and decided that Uganda was the only place to shoot it. I was pleased we were able to use the real place. Shooting in Uganda gave us so many things we wouldn't have got elsewhere the texture of the countryside, the real experience of the people, the language and atmosphere of the place all contribute to the film. Also the Ugandans were very generous with their experience and their knowledge, and all the cast got a lot out of being there, which I think contributes to their performances, particularly Forest's.”
Once the decision to shoot in Uganda had been made, Calderwood faced an uphill struggle to make the locations work for the film; that meant working closely with the Ugandan authorities. “Because we were the first feature film to shoot in Uganda, we needed to do a lot of work to establish support from the government. We met with
President Museveni before we began shooting, and he offered us the support of the army, use of government buildings, and rebates on VAT, which helped to offset the additional cost of shooting in a country with no film infrastructure,” she says. “He was pleased that we were telling the story of Idi Amin, and helping to put Uganda on the map, encouraging other film productions to go there. Unfortunately, the main building we wanted to shoot in, State House, had just been demolished a month before we got there - but after much searching we were able to find another house owned by the Mehta sugar estate (on which Idi had lived as a boy, by coincidence), and we were able to shoot there.”
Making The Last King of Scotland represented a considerable leap of faith for all concerned; Calderwood was well aware that the film’s unusual content could cause problems. “Making any film set in Africa is a challenge, as there is still a resistance
among financiers to backing films featuring black characters, as they are worried they won't find an audience. Also the central character, Nicholas Garrigan, can be seen as quite an unsympathetic character, because he gets involved with Idi Amin. In the book, that can be explained through his internal thought processes, but it was quite a challenge to find a way to dramatise it in the script,” she says. “One of the things I'm most pleased about in the response to the film is that people really got all the nuances
of what is a quite complex story, and as well as having awards and critical success, we reached a wide audience, showing that there is a market for this kind of film if it's done well.”
On a budget of around £4 million, The Last King of Scotland made over three times that at the US box office alone, helped by a successful Oscar campaign. It was a considerable triumph, which Calderwood sees as evidence that low-budget film can be a commercial proposition. “There is a polarisation of mainstream and independent filmmaking. Financiers are less and less willing to risk substantial budgets on edgyfilms, so films which are outside the mainstream have to have significantly lower budgets, or have elements in them which will attract financiers,” says Calderwood. “So it was particularly satisfying that a film like The Last King of Scotland, a complex story set in Africa, was able to find a commercial audience, and I hope it will help encourage financiers to see that films outside the usual formula can also work.”
“The story really begins when Lisa Bryer and Suzanne Warren of Cowboy Films brought the book to me when I was still at BBC Scotland in 1997,” says Calderwood. “I was just leaving the BBC and couldn't follow up on it then, but Lisa and Suzanne set it up for development at Film Four, and when I set up Slate Films with FilmFour in 2000, Paul Webster asked me to get involved as a creative producer, and we agreed to develop it as a Cowboy/Slate co-production.”
Creating the right package for The Last King of Scotland meant finding the right director, and finance, not easy for a film which demanded foreign locations and a subject matter that was anything by conventional.
“We had originally set it up with a different script and director and were ready to shoot in 2002, when FilmFour was closed down. We re-set it up with Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock's script, and Kevin Macdonald directing, and we brought in the new version of FilmFour, along with DNA/ Fox Searchlight and Scottish Screen to finance it,” says Calderwood. “We knew Kevin had an interest in the book, as he'd seen it when he'd worked with Faber, the publishers. I saw an early screening of Touching The Void, and was very impressed at the way he was able to make a real story, where the outcome was already known, gripping and involving. When we met to discuss the project, he had a very confident approach to how he would handle the mix of fact and fiction in the story, to making it entertaining. So I knew he was the one to make the film as we'd imagined it.” Essentially a two hander between Amin and journalist Garrigan, a composite character based on three real life people, The Last King of Scotland’s success also hinged on casting.
“Early on, some people felt we should have an unknown actor play Idi Amin, someone who looked very like him, but I was convinced that we needed an experienced screen actor to carry the role of Idi, who has to go through a huge range of emotions,” says Calderwood. “Kevin and I met several established US actors for the role, and Forest Whitaker impressed us with his complete understanding of what motivated Idi, and his intention to play him from the inside out, not as a caricature. James McAvoy also had an innate understanding of who Garrigan's character was - both actors have quite different techniques, but they worked extremely well together.”
And one more considerable obstacle was the location; Uganda offered authenticity and local colour, but also posed considerable risks in terms of bringing in The Last King of Scotland on time and within its budget.
“Originally, the received wisdom was that it would be too difficult to shoot the film in Uganda, as there was no infrastructure there. I went to Uganda on a research trip in 2002, and felt there were great resources there in terms of the people, and the real locations,” Calderwood says. “With Kevin Macdonald's documentary background,
he was keen to see if you could shoot it there - we went on a recce with him to Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, and decided that Uganda was the only place to shoot it. I was pleased we were able to use the real place. Shooting in Uganda gave us so many things we wouldn't have got elsewhere the texture of the countryside, the real experience of the people, the language and atmosphere of the place all contribute to the film. Also the Ugandans were very generous with their experience and their knowledge, and all the cast got a lot out of being there, which I think contributes to their performances, particularly Forest's.”
Once the decision to shoot in Uganda had been made, Calderwood faced an uphill struggle to make the locations work for the film; that meant working closely with the Ugandan authorities. “Because we were the first feature film to shoot in Uganda, we needed to do a lot of work to establish support from the government. We met with
President Museveni before we began shooting, and he offered us the support of the army, use of government buildings, and rebates on VAT, which helped to offset the additional cost of shooting in a country with no film infrastructure,” she says. “He was pleased that we were telling the story of Idi Amin, and helping to put Uganda on the map, encouraging other film productions to go there. Unfortunately, the main building we wanted to shoot in, State House, had just been demolished a month before we got there - but after much searching we were able to find another house owned by the Mehta sugar estate (on which Idi had lived as a boy, by coincidence), and we were able to shoot there.”
Making The Last King of Scotland represented a considerable leap of faith for all concerned; Calderwood was well aware that the film’s unusual content could cause problems. “Making any film set in Africa is a challenge, as there is still a resistance
among financiers to backing films featuring black characters, as they are worried they won't find an audience. Also the central character, Nicholas Garrigan, can be seen as quite an unsympathetic character, because he gets involved with Idi Amin. In the book, that can be explained through his internal thought processes, but it was quite a challenge to find a way to dramatise it in the script,” she says. “One of the things I'm most pleased about in the response to the film is that people really got all the nuances
of what is a quite complex story, and as well as having awards and critical success, we reached a wide audience, showing that there is a market for this kind of film if it's done well.”
On a budget of around £4 million, The Last King of Scotland made over three times that at the US box office alone, helped by a successful Oscar campaign. It was a considerable triumph, which Calderwood sees as evidence that low-budget film can be a commercial proposition. “There is a polarisation of mainstream and independent filmmaking. Financiers are less and less willing to risk substantial budgets on edgyfilms, so films which are outside the mainstream have to have significantly lower budgets, or have elements in them which will attract financiers,” says Calderwood. “So it was particularly satisfying that a film like The Last King of Scotland, a complex story set in Africa, was able to find a commercial audience, and I hope it will help encourage financiers to see that films outside the usual formula can also work.”
The Last King of Scotland - Written out of the Picture
Giles Foden, whose novel was turned into a Bafta-winning film, reflects on the dangers of being adapted
The Guardian, Saturday February 17 2007
It's been a good year for those lowliest of scribes, adaptors of books into films. Earlier this week, one of the most graceful of that crew, Peter Morgan, won a Bafta for his adaptation of my novel The Last King of Scotland, along with his co-writer Jeremy Brock.
Why lowly? I think so, at any rate, because adaptors of books are in an even worse bind than original scriptwriters. Not only do they suffer the usual ego-depressing ignominies that the film industry, like a prison chef serving sour dumplings, puts on all writers' plates, they also have to contend with the fact that, however brilliant their script may be, it's always a second-hand production.
This is why, despite having written the odd screenplay, I would never wish to adapt any of my own fiction. Quite apart from the awfulness of being told what to do by producers, again and again, I couldn't stomach being in a parasitical relationship to myself. It would be like being a tongue-louse on your own tongue.
I don't mean in any way to denigrate the adaptor's art, in particular not that of Morgan and Brock, two British masters whose next work Hollywood eagerly awaits. I feel very lucky to have been subjected to their talents: it is rather as if one has visited a very superior pair of masseurs at a Turkish bath and come out with a torso like Daniel Craig's. How could one not feel grateful?
Novels by Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman, Monica Ali are all in the process of being adapted for film. But producers must also give original screenwriters their head. The reason they go for adaptations is a fair one - to mitigate risk with a known cultural quantity - but the danger is that a whole generation of scriptwriters will fail to produce original work.
As for authors, they should remain wary. By and large I have had a good experience of adaptation, but not everybody can say the same. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece for the magazine of the Society of Authors advising its members on what to put in book-to-film contracts (answer: everything). One of many responses was from the writer Roger Lewis, whose The Life and Death of Peter Sellers came out as a movie in 2004. He had an awful time being adapted: in his letter he says he was not invited to any premieres and, in interviews, the director and cast described the film as constructed from "a variety of sources" and not exclusively from Lewis's book.
I heard of a similar case recently in which a writer was refused permission to use an image from the film on his tie-in edition. But these are actually the minor dangers to book writers. The real danger - and it doesn't just apply to authors - is the way screen-derived celebrity culture can seep into your head. Attending the Baftas, I was dumbfounded by the potential for displays of ruthless vanity.
The Guardian, Saturday February 17 2007
It's been a good year for those lowliest of scribes, adaptors of books into films. Earlier this week, one of the most graceful of that crew, Peter Morgan, won a Bafta for his adaptation of my novel The Last King of Scotland, along with his co-writer Jeremy Brock.
Why lowly? I think so, at any rate, because adaptors of books are in an even worse bind than original scriptwriters. Not only do they suffer the usual ego-depressing ignominies that the film industry, like a prison chef serving sour dumplings, puts on all writers' plates, they also have to contend with the fact that, however brilliant their script may be, it's always a second-hand production.
This is why, despite having written the odd screenplay, I would never wish to adapt any of my own fiction. Quite apart from the awfulness of being told what to do by producers, again and again, I couldn't stomach being in a parasitical relationship to myself. It would be like being a tongue-louse on your own tongue.
I don't mean in any way to denigrate the adaptor's art, in particular not that of Morgan and Brock, two British masters whose next work Hollywood eagerly awaits. I feel very lucky to have been subjected to their talents: it is rather as if one has visited a very superior pair of masseurs at a Turkish bath and come out with a torso like Daniel Craig's. How could one not feel grateful?
Novels by Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman, Monica Ali are all in the process of being adapted for film. But producers must also give original screenwriters their head. The reason they go for adaptations is a fair one - to mitigate risk with a known cultural quantity - but the danger is that a whole generation of scriptwriters will fail to produce original work.
As for authors, they should remain wary. By and large I have had a good experience of adaptation, but not everybody can say the same. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece for the magazine of the Society of Authors advising its members on what to put in book-to-film contracts (answer: everything). One of many responses was from the writer Roger Lewis, whose The Life and Death of Peter Sellers came out as a movie in 2004. He had an awful time being adapted: in his letter he says he was not invited to any premieres and, in interviews, the director and cast described the film as constructed from "a variety of sources" and not exclusively from Lewis's book.
I heard of a similar case recently in which a writer was refused permission to use an image from the film on his tie-in edition. But these are actually the minor dangers to book writers. The real danger - and it doesn't just apply to authors - is the way screen-derived celebrity culture can seep into your head. Attending the Baftas, I was dumbfounded by the potential for displays of ruthless vanity.
The Last King of Scotland - The King and I
With the film of his novel about Idi Amin's brutal regime released next week, in this extract Giles Foden describes visiting the crew in Uganda and the challenge of bringing a tyrant to life
The Guardian, Saturday January 6, 2007
…Idi Amin Dada was a man who attracted stories like a street lamp attracts termite flies. Yet I never envisaged it, back then, as a story on screen. I'm still rather surprised it has happened at all. As I write, Kevin Macdonald's film of the book has been out in United States for several months. One US review has described Forest Whitaker (who plays Amin) as "toggling between media-savvy jester and stone-cold killer". Just so.
The film also opened the London Film Festival. That was a strangely public experience for one such as myself, who spends most of his time sitting alone at a desk. From a balcony above Leicester Square, with the paparazzi gathered below, my wife and I watched Whitaker, James McAvoy (who plays Garrigan), Gillian Anderson and the other stars below as they came up the red carpet below. And then the real show began.
People have started asking me how I feel about it all. Mainly I reply: "lucky". Not so much in an individual sense, more as a generalised struggle against the indeterminate world. The whole business of film-making is a tug of war between the human will (writers, producers, directors) and external contingent processes (tax, "attachment of talent", exchange rates). It does seem like luck that anything at all gets made. And were it done, the chances of it being done well are almost off the scale…
…My agent sent out the novel. There were few takers. In the end, it was a company called Cowboy Films which optioned the rights, in 1998. Soon after, I was told FilmFour was willing to put some development money behind a script. I didn't hear anything from the film-makers for a while after that. The next I heard Joe Penhall was writing the script. He had written a couple of plays by then, and seemed to have a good grasp of the story. He delivered a first draft. It began with Amin in a boxing ring in the Ugandan night, surrounded by brutish British soldiers (they used to hit him on the head with a hammer to urge him on).
But we then entered a long period in which the film seemed to stall. There wasn't enough money. They might be fashionable now but no one was really interested in films about Africa back then, especially not ones with a "passive" hero, as my Doctor Garrigan was proving to be. It's no good telling film people, as I did, that the greatest drama ever (Hamlet) has a passive hero: there is nothing they dislike more.
In April 2000 I received a call from Penhall asking if I minded that a new play of his tangentially featured Idi Amin. I said I didn't see why I should. Joe's play blue/orange opened at the National Theatre a few days later. The stage was configured to resemble a boxing ring. The main character, Christopher, was a psychiatric patient who thought Idi Amin was his father. And the play dealt with issues of post- colonialism and hierarchical discourses. Amin's media promiscuity had struck again: he was, to employ a phrase of Sir Frank Kermode's, "endlessly patient of interested interpretation".
A few years later, just as it finally looked as if the film were actually going to happen - real disaster struck. In 2002 the Channel Four board voted effectively to dismantle FilmFour as an independent studio. In the wake of this imbroglio Joe Penhall somehow fell or was pushed off the plank. So it went on. Somehow, over the next two years the project was pulled from the mire. Director Kevin Macdonald and scriptwriter Peter Morgan came on board. It was during this period, too, that Amin himself died in exile in Saudi Arabia. This sounds significant, but its only real consequence was to relieve the film-makers from the possibility of libel.
Not long after Amin's death I read the new script, which introduced two major changes to the plot. I won't go into them now, as they would spoil watching the film. I wish I had thought of them. Morgan also solved the "problem" of Garrigan's passivity by turning him from a self-absorbed son of the manse into a kind of African Bay City Roller, up for kicks in the bundu [bush]. It was a role which James McAvoy was born to play. He lives in the next road to me in London, but we didn't meet properly until August 2005, when I found myself winding through Kampala in the middle of that rainstorm.
As the rain eased, I reflected on how amazing it was the producers had managed to persuade the money men to let them film here, given the financial risk if it all went wrong. Apart from some sequences of Mississippi Masala, the last major film to have been made in Uganda was The African Queen (1956) and that was no cake-walk.
…Whitaker, I soon realised, did not fraternise with the rest of the cast and crew. It was not arrogance or standoffishness (I'd met him before in London and that was not his style), but simply the need for rest, line-learning, and following "the method". He had gone completely into character: learning some Swahili, sitting under a mango tree chatting with Amin's brother, eating Ugandan food with his fingers. He even apparently spoke to his mum using his Amin voice on the phone. As Kerry Washington (who plays Amin's wife) said, "It's scary because he's Idi all the time."
Whitaker plays the role for real, alongside a mainly white production team. Mentioning Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King in interviews, he exploits Amin's status as a black power icon and someone with whom Ugandans have an ambiguous relationship. They in their turn sometimes took him at face value. During a scene at Mulago hospital, people started chanting "Dada" in approbation when he appeared - and then one woman began to curse him loudly. At another point, after successive takes, a passer-by asked why Idi was giving the same speech so many times.
The effect of the massively built Whitaker strolling onto the set was electric. His normal shyness was gone: he now exuded charisma. As he began to take questions from the journalists (some of them actual newshounds from Uganda's New Vision paper), I really saw why he had been chosen for the part. None of this would have worked without Whitaker. Equally, his swagger wouldn't have worked without the delicately judged flaws McAvoy elicited from Garrigan…
It was a strange feeling, seeing one's "characters" come to life like this: I felt oddly detached from it all. It wasn't that I felt they were being taken away from me, more a sense of relief that I didn't have to deal with them any more, that at last someone else was taking on the challenge of character development. I suppose it was a bit like a troublesome relative you have nonetheless cared for finally dying. The most satisfying thing was seeing minor characters, like health minister Wasswa - played superbly by Uganda's greatest actor, Stephen Rwangyezi - take on a verve they didn't have in the novel.
The Guardian, Saturday January 6, 2007
…Idi Amin Dada was a man who attracted stories like a street lamp attracts termite flies. Yet I never envisaged it, back then, as a story on screen. I'm still rather surprised it has happened at all. As I write, Kevin Macdonald's film of the book has been out in United States for several months. One US review has described Forest Whitaker (who plays Amin) as "toggling between media-savvy jester and stone-cold killer". Just so.
The film also opened the London Film Festival. That was a strangely public experience for one such as myself, who spends most of his time sitting alone at a desk. From a balcony above Leicester Square, with the paparazzi gathered below, my wife and I watched Whitaker, James McAvoy (who plays Garrigan), Gillian Anderson and the other stars below as they came up the red carpet below. And then the real show began.
People have started asking me how I feel about it all. Mainly I reply: "lucky". Not so much in an individual sense, more as a generalised struggle against the indeterminate world. The whole business of film-making is a tug of war between the human will (writers, producers, directors) and external contingent processes (tax, "attachment of talent", exchange rates). It does seem like luck that anything at all gets made. And were it done, the chances of it being done well are almost off the scale…
…My agent sent out the novel. There were few takers. In the end, it was a company called Cowboy Films which optioned the rights, in 1998. Soon after, I was told FilmFour was willing to put some development money behind a script. I didn't hear anything from the film-makers for a while after that. The next I heard Joe Penhall was writing the script. He had written a couple of plays by then, and seemed to have a good grasp of the story. He delivered a first draft. It began with Amin in a boxing ring in the Ugandan night, surrounded by brutish British soldiers (they used to hit him on the head with a hammer to urge him on).
But we then entered a long period in which the film seemed to stall. There wasn't enough money. They might be fashionable now but no one was really interested in films about Africa back then, especially not ones with a "passive" hero, as my Doctor Garrigan was proving to be. It's no good telling film people, as I did, that the greatest drama ever (Hamlet) has a passive hero: there is nothing they dislike more.
In April 2000 I received a call from Penhall asking if I minded that a new play of his tangentially featured Idi Amin. I said I didn't see why I should. Joe's play blue/orange opened at the National Theatre a few days later. The stage was configured to resemble a boxing ring. The main character, Christopher, was a psychiatric patient who thought Idi Amin was his father. And the play dealt with issues of post- colonialism and hierarchical discourses. Amin's media promiscuity had struck again: he was, to employ a phrase of Sir Frank Kermode's, "endlessly patient of interested interpretation".
A few years later, just as it finally looked as if the film were actually going to happen - real disaster struck. In 2002 the Channel Four board voted effectively to dismantle FilmFour as an independent studio. In the wake of this imbroglio Joe Penhall somehow fell or was pushed off the plank. So it went on. Somehow, over the next two years the project was pulled from the mire. Director Kevin Macdonald and scriptwriter Peter Morgan came on board. It was during this period, too, that Amin himself died in exile in Saudi Arabia. This sounds significant, but its only real consequence was to relieve the film-makers from the possibility of libel.
Not long after Amin's death I read the new script, which introduced two major changes to the plot. I won't go into them now, as they would spoil watching the film. I wish I had thought of them. Morgan also solved the "problem" of Garrigan's passivity by turning him from a self-absorbed son of the manse into a kind of African Bay City Roller, up for kicks in the bundu [bush]. It was a role which James McAvoy was born to play. He lives in the next road to me in London, but we didn't meet properly until August 2005, when I found myself winding through Kampala in the middle of that rainstorm.
As the rain eased, I reflected on how amazing it was the producers had managed to persuade the money men to let them film here, given the financial risk if it all went wrong. Apart from some sequences of Mississippi Masala, the last major film to have been made in Uganda was The African Queen (1956) and that was no cake-walk.
…Whitaker, I soon realised, did not fraternise with the rest of the cast and crew. It was not arrogance or standoffishness (I'd met him before in London and that was not his style), but simply the need for rest, line-learning, and following "the method". He had gone completely into character: learning some Swahili, sitting under a mango tree chatting with Amin's brother, eating Ugandan food with his fingers. He even apparently spoke to his mum using his Amin voice on the phone. As Kerry Washington (who plays Amin's wife) said, "It's scary because he's Idi all the time."
Whitaker plays the role for real, alongside a mainly white production team. Mentioning Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King in interviews, he exploits Amin's status as a black power icon and someone with whom Ugandans have an ambiguous relationship. They in their turn sometimes took him at face value. During a scene at Mulago hospital, people started chanting "Dada" in approbation when he appeared - and then one woman began to curse him loudly. At another point, after successive takes, a passer-by asked why Idi was giving the same speech so many times.
The effect of the massively built Whitaker strolling onto the set was electric. His normal shyness was gone: he now exuded charisma. As he began to take questions from the journalists (some of them actual newshounds from Uganda's New Vision paper), I really saw why he had been chosen for the part. None of this would have worked without Whitaker. Equally, his swagger wouldn't have worked without the delicately judged flaws McAvoy elicited from Garrigan…
It was a strange feeling, seeing one's "characters" come to life like this: I felt oddly detached from it all. It wasn't that I felt they were being taken away from me, more a sense of relief that I didn't have to deal with them any more, that at last someone else was taking on the challenge of character development. I suppose it was a bit like a troublesome relative you have nonetheless cared for finally dying. The most satisfying thing was seeing minor characters, like health minister Wasswa - played superbly by Uganda's greatest actor, Stephen Rwangyezi - take on a verve they didn't have in the novel.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Homework - Quantum of Solace
In preparation for our exciting, yes, exciting trip to see 'Quantum of Solace' on Tuesday, here's some back ground reading for homework...
Here's some of the marketing and promotional tie-ins from previous Bond outings:
http://money.cnn.com/2002/11/21/news/james_bond/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/15/magazines/business2/bond_phones.biz2/index.htm
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1093
http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/16/bond-movie-advertising-tech-media-cx_lr_1116bond.html
And some info on the new film:
http://www.007.com/
http://commanderbond.net/article/5712
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/11/advertising.thewhitestripes
http://www.007.com/mobile/
http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=6793&catid=106&t=mi6&s=news
http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Pages/CreativeShowcase.aspx?ArticleID=12055&Filter=0&Keywords=&Order=LATEST&Page=1&Title=Sony_TV_'Quantum_of_Solace'
Let me know what you think...
Here's some of the marketing and promotional tie-ins from previous Bond outings:
http://money.cnn.com/2002/11/21/news/james_bond/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/15/magazines/business2/bond_phones.biz2/index.htm
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1093
http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/16/bond-movie-advertising-tech-media-cx_lr_1116bond.html
And some info on the new film:
http://www.007.com/
http://commanderbond.net/article/5712
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/11/advertising.thewhitestripes
http://www.007.com/mobile/
http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=6793&catid=106&t=mi6&s=news
http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Pages/CreativeShowcase.aspx?ArticleID=12055&Filter=0&Keywords=&Order=LATEST&Page=1&Title=Sony_TV_'Quantum_of_Solace'
Let me know what you think...
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