Let Cameras Roll

The following appeared in Letters to the Editor of The Scotsman (June 11th) in response to the announcement that Creative Scotland, the body responsible for the development of Scotland’s film industry, had appointed key executives with no previous experience of the film business.

With the film-making component of Creative Scotland well under way, (Leadership Team Lines Up, June 10th) one can hope that encouraging and supporting Scottish artists will contribute not only to our cultural heritage but also to our exports.

As one of a relatively small number of Scottish screenwriters who has had a film or two produced, my own experience with previous bodies was less than happy. Twenty years ago, British Screen told me my scripts were too commercial and had the potential to make a profit. A frightening thought. Scottish Screen were much more enthusiastic and welcoming but unfortunately lost my script behind a filing cabinet for three years.

In despair, I went to America. I sold my first script within three weeks. Two months later, I pitched a story about Edinburgh’s criminal underworld to Madonna’s Maverick Pictures. They bought the idea and rewrote it for a Miami location.

That summed it up for me at the time, but in retrospect I should have stuck my ground in Scotland and not succumbed to the mighty dollar.

We should be making films by ourselves, about ourselves. Digital technology has given us the means to do so relatively inexpensively. We have the finest locations and remarkable talents in all departments. Not least, we have stories from our past and our present.

We cannot compete toe-to-toe with Hollywood but if we can focus less on bringing expensive foreign productions to Scotland and more on the worldwide distribution of well-crafted Scottish films, we’ll have the mindset to succeed. And perhaps make hefty profits too!

Markus Innocenti

Creative Scotland

The recent amalgamation of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen into a single entity called Creative Scotland has been announced. But doubts about the experience of the people chosen to lead this new “Quango” (Quasi-Autonomous-National-Government-Organization) have already been raised. To quote Scotland’s national paper “The Scotsman” (June 10th); “Senior figures in the Scottish arts community yesterday privately questioned whether any of the three (executives) boasted a proven expertise in the needs of the Scottish Film Industry.

And why should “senior figures” have raised these doubts? Lets take a look at the three key executives. Caroline Parkinson, who will be in charge of Skills Training for the Visual Arts (among others duties,) has a resume with no experience in this area. She is a photographer and a member of Scotland’s rhythmic gymnastics squad. Iain Munro, who will be a director of creative development (in other words, deciding which filmmakers and which projects get development funding) is a student of singing and economics who has overseen Lottery Funding for arts and creative industries. Perhaps the most experienced of the three named so far is Venu Dhupa. A former chief executive of Nottingham Theatre, her tenure as Head of Arts at the British Council ended in resignation after her strategy and methods “sparked an artists’ revolt”.

It took me a moment to digest this - perhaps because of weary disbelief. But only a moment.

Not one of these key people appears to have had any film industry experience. They may have some experience in handing out taxpayer or lottery player money to “artists” - but none in evaluating film projects or in developing screenplays. Nor do they have any experience in film financing, film production or, most important of all, film distribution.

I was not one of the “senior figures” referred to. Obviously an over-sight! So I decided to write a Letter to The Editor of The Scotsman. You can find it in my next post.

Triumph in Chicagoland

Jesse Pomeroy’s “worldfullofnothing”, a feature drama centered on an internet suicide hoax, was an official selection at the 2009 Naperville Independent Film Festival this past week. Jesse and I attended, along with the Executive Producers, and we picked up nominations in three categories: Best Feature (Producers Jesse Pomeroy, Markus Innocenti), Best Actress (Angela Bozier) and Best Director (Jesse Pomeroy).

Saturday night’s Gala Award ceremony brought indie film-lovers out from all over the Chicago area. Roger Ebert received an emotional welcome, Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) was there to hand over the Best Actress award, and Jim Peterik (Survivor, .38 Special) performed a rousing acoustic version of his “Eye of The Tiger” which got the audience suitably pumped to rise up to the challenge of a rival.

“worldfullofnothing” lost out to G.R. Kearny’s  “Handicapped” for Best Feature, but in a tense, Oscar-worthy moment, the announcement for Best Director came down to two words. Jesse Pomeroy.

Much excitement ensued from the “worldfullofnothing” table as Jesse collected a handsome trophy (fabricated by the same folks who make the better-known Academy Award) — and I learned that it is a good feeling to stroll around the after-party with an award under your arm.

Naperville is a fest still in its infancy, but organizers Glessna and Edmond Coisson, Daniel Nigg and Gary Pradel are working hard to create a must-go-to fest in the Mid-West.

Now, if they could just sort out the catastrophe that calls itself American Airlines, all would be good in the world.

Cavegirl Gets Clubbed

That lovely and talented Manchester lass, Ms. Laura Shields, was spotted clubbing in Hollywood tonight and gave “The Missing Link” a name-check. Laura plays ‘Ana’ in the caveman comedy, adding the kind of glamor it is hard to imagine in pre-historic times.  She’s also featured in Maxim’s 2010 calendar - not, however, wearing the cavegirl bikini she wears in “Link”. To see that, you’ll have to wait a little longer - so, for now, her she is night-clubbing.

Laura Shields in Hollywood

Hannah Cowley’s new project goes into “active” development

Heard the one about the producer-writer-director who made a 20 minute short feature on 35mm? Received wisdom, to hear the industry-speak, is that investing $5,000 on a “short” and producing it on ‘film’ no less, is about the stupidest thing a filmmaker can do. But guess what - the filmmaker in question has made $35,000 so far in domestic and international distribution.

That’s a return on investment few filmmakers get to see, so I think there’s a new paradigm being put into place. “And what is that”? you ask. People are getting used to seeing stories told in a very short time frame. Thank you, You Tube. It’s no longer a weird stretch to watch a “short”.

Which brings me to filmmaker Hannah Cowley and her debut short feature, “Flame of The West”. A sparkling debut mentored by Jane Campion (yes, that Jane Campion) and executive produced by your humble servant. “Flame of the West” was made for a small ‘two-figure’ sum. It has, so far, garnered a ‘three-figure’ sum in North American distribution fees, giving Hannah a substantial ROI.

Hannah talks about the film in an interview with Emrhys Cooper of Mamma Mia! fame. You can watch it here.

Emrhys Cooper gets intimate with Hannah Cowley

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