SHORT LIST OF 12 FILMMAKING TEAMS ANNOUNCED

A STUNNING, world-class short-list of film and TV professionals have been selected as finalists in Liverpool’s prestigious Digital Departures micro-budget filmmaking initiative.

Northwest Vision + Media, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, are delighted to announce an impressive short-list of 12 filmmaking teams, each competing for a chance to make one of three £250,000 feature films in the city.

The final countdown sees a reunion for Liverpool Writers Frank Cottrell Boyce (24 Hour Party People, Millions) and Carl Hunter, whose current feature Grow Your Own has opened at cinemas across the country.

Internationally-renown Director, Terence Davies, (Distant Voices Still Lives) has also been short-listed, working with Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter, the Merseyside-based producers whose latest feature, Under The Mud, is also currently receiving international critical acclaim.

Liverpool Producer Chris Bernard (Letter To Brezhnev) teams up with Cumbria’s award-winning Writer/Director, Juliet Mckoen, who took the film industry by storm with her feature, Frozen, starring Shirley Henderson, winning a phenomenal 11 awards last year.

And Liverpool rock legend, Pete Wylie, joins forces with Eastenders writer, Jeff Young, in their musical feature, The Don.

In addition to established talent there are many new and emerging filmmakers involved in Digital Departures. Indeed, ten of the final 12 filmmaking teams have people within the core writer/director/producer group who have been developed by, and are featured in, Northwest Vision + Media’s new Talent Year Book 2007.

As the premier film project in the 08 Capital of Culture celebrations, Digital Departures will see three feature films being made in Liverpool over the next 14 months. Each film will be given a budget of £250,000.

Lisa Marie Russo, the recently-appointed Executive Producer for Digital Departures, says the calibre of entrants to the initiative was phenomenal. “The standard of submissions certainly surpassed our expectations,” she says.

“Of the 156 initial entries, we put together a long-list of 25 filmmaking teams, all of whom had to endure a rigorous interview by a panel of industry experts. It was difficult to narrow the field down to just 12 finalists,” adds Lisa Marie.

The 12 teams attended an intensive, three-day workshop at Liverpool’s John Moores University School of Art and Design (June16-18) led by Kate Ogborn (Producer: Under the Skin, One for the Road, This is not a Love Song) and Matthieu de Braconier (Executive Producer, Cinema Extreme).

In addition to receiving expert, one-to-one advice and tuition on the development of their projects, the finalists also attended a presentation by Sarah Golding (Script Executive, The Constant Gardner, Brothers of the Head) and watched a screening of the feature film Once (World Cinema Audience Award, Sundance 2007) ahead of its UK release.

After the screening of the film (which Screen International calls “a sublime, beautiful work”), the film’s Executive Producer, David Collins, also gave a presentation, as well as guidance on what to expect if the filmmakers progress in the Digital Departures initiative. Other speakers included director Tom Hunsinger, whose last film Sparkle, was shot in Liverpool.

“The workshops were not only enormously informative, offering the filmmakers access to some of the industry’s leading professionals, but they also helped to take each team further down the line, and helped us see more clearly which six projects should go forward to full script stage,” explains Chris Moll, Head of Funds for Northwest Vision + Media.

It is hoped the final six filmmaking teams will be announced in August. However, the six projects which aren’t selected won’t be abandoned. “It simply means their projects aren’t right for this scheme, but we will do everything we can to help them set up their project elsewhere,” adds Chris.

The three feature films which are eventually greenlit for production will each be developed, shot and post-produced in Liverpool and will premiere in the city in the autumn of 2008, as part of the city’s Capital of Culture celebrations.

Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, says there is great excitement about the impact of Digital Departures within the city. "We are delighted to be part of this extremely important project which will deliver three new feature films premiering in the city in 2008,” he says.

Jason Harborow, Chief Executive of the Liverpool Culture Company, adds: “The commissions will engage the creativity of Liverpool's film-making community and also draw in emerging and established film making talent from across the UK and the world. The commissions will be an important addition to the cultural legacy of 2008."

The films will then be distributed nationally and internationally across a variety of digital platforms including the UK’s rapidly-expanding Digital Screen Network. The BBC is taking UK broadcast TV rights.

“There is a wave of optimism in the film arts at the moment, anything seems possible, and it is the perfect time to be involved in something as special as Digital Departures.

“Liverpool certainly looks set to become Europe’s shining light for micro-budget feature filmmaking, and I am confident the Digital Departures films will play a significant role in the Capital of Culture celebrations, ” adds Lisa Marie.

Visit www.northwestvision.co.uk for a list of the filmmakers.