News

THREE WINNING DIGITAL DEPARTURES FEATURE FILMS ANNOUNCED

2008-02-06T16:58:00.000Z

ICONIC British film director, Don Boyd, today announced the three finalists in Liverpool’s prestigious, cutting edge Digital Departures micro-budget filmmaking initiative. The three teams have made it through a rigorous selection process, focusing on all aspects of feature film production and fighting off competition from over 150 other submissions.

At a dedicated launch in Liverpool, the finalists, an inspiring blend of new and established, local and national talent, spoke about the films which are about to go into production and will then be premiered as part of Liverpool’s 08 Capital of Culture programme.

Northwest Vision and Media who devised the scheme, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, have now awarded each of the three filmmaking teams £250,000 to make their feature film dreams a reality.

Marking his return to his hometown, internationally-renowned director, Terence Davies, (Distant Voices, Still Lives) says he’s thrilled to have his documentary, Of Time And The City, his first time working with the digital medium, commissioned by the Digital Departures initiative.

The second feature film to make the final three is Salvage, a horror film written by former Hollyoaks Story Editor, Colin O’Donnell, and which will use the former set of Brookside as its central location.

Also making the final three is Starstruck, a drama written by Liverpool writer Leigh Campbell, who has seen her scriptwriting career supported and nurtured by Vision and Media since 2002.

The winning finalists in the Digital Departures micro-budget filmmaking initiative (L-R) Andy Stebbing, Solon Papadopoulos, Terence Davies, Roy Boulter, Lindy Heymann, Leigh Campbell, Alan Pattison, Julie Lau, Lawrence Gough and Stephen Cheers.

As the premier film project in the 08 Capital of Culture celebrations, Digital Departures attracted an incredibly high calibre of entrants when the initiative was launched in 2007.

“The standard of submissions was very high, so it’s been an incredibly difficult journey choosing which projects to green-light and ultimately launch onto the world stage. We’re very excited about the films, which all tap into Liverpool’s unique character in different and imaginative ways,” says Lisa Marie Russo, Executive Producer for Digital Departures.

An incredible 156 filmmaking teams originally submitted ideas to the Digital Departures initiative. After a series of panel interviews and development a short-list of 25 projects was drawn up. This was then reduced to 12 ideas, before the final six film projects were announced last year.

Only three of those features will now go into production. However, some of the projects which didn’t make the final cut have not been abandoned. “The joy of Digital Departures is that it should deliver six professionally developed feature film projects,” says Chris Moll, Production, Trade and Investment Director for Northwest Vision and Media, the agency behind the initiative.

“Resources mean we can only actually make three of the films, but we will be doing everything we can to support the other filmmakers set up their projects. Digital Departures isn’t just about the final three, it’s about discovering and developing talent in digital film making locally and nationally,” adds Chris.

Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, says there is great excitement about the impact of Digital Departures within the city. "We’re all looking forward to the creativity of Liverpool's filmmaking community taking centre stage, with both emerging and established film talent being able to show the world what they’re capable of doing,” says Cllr. Bradley.

In addition to being broadcast on the BBC, it’s hoped the Digital Departure films will be distributed both nationally and internationally across a variety of digital platforms.

“There is a wave of optimism in the film arts at the moment, anything seems possible, and I’m confident that everyone will be genuinely impressed with the range and quality of filming that the three Digital Departures films will produce,” explains Steve Jenkins, Head of Films at BBC Programme Acquisitions.

Tim Cagney, Head of UK Partnerships at the UK Film Council, agrees: “We are really proud to have supported Digital Departures with £200,000 of Lottery funding, putting film at the heart of the European Capital of Culture celebrations. We are confident that it will unearth some outstanding talent, deliver great films and be a model for the rest of the world.”

THE FINALISTS AND JUDGES COMMENTS

THE following three filmmaking teams have each been awarded £250,000 to make their Digital Departures feature film:

OF TIME AND THE CITY

GENRE: Documentary.
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Terence Davies of Essex (originally from Liverpool).
PRODUCERS: Solon Papadopoulos and
Roy Boulter, both of Liverpool.

Digital Departures judge Steve Jenkins, Head of Films at BBC Programme Acquisitions, says:

“Terence Davies' poetic documentary project offered a great opportunity to fund a new film by one of the UK's few world-class directors. Films like Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes had the city, culture and people of Liverpool at their very heart. The idea of the film-maker revisiting the past, both his own and Liverpool's, but within the context of how the city has changed over the last half-century, seemed absolutely tailor-made for the Digital Departures scheme.”

STARSTRUCK

GENRE: Drama.
WRITER: Leigh Campbell of Liverpool.
DIRECTOR: Lindy Heymann of London.
PRODUCER: Andy Stebbing of London.
CO PRODUCER: Stephen Cheers of Liverpool.

Digital Departures judge Andrew Eaton, Deputy Chairman of the UK Film Council, says:

“Starstruck is such a contemporary film, which will attract a very different audience to the other Digital Departures features. It covers controversial subjects involving teenagers, celebrities and football, which will be brilliantly portrayed by the wonderful pairing of Leigh Campbell and Lindy Heymann. Vision and Media have been following and assisting Leigh’s development as a writer for several years, and we’re confident Starstruck will be a fitting testament to her undoubted talent.”

SALVAGE

GENRE: Horror.
WRITER: Colin O’Donnell of Liverpool / Belfast.
DIRECTOR: Lawrence Gough of Cheshire.
PRODUCER: Julie Lau of Liverpool.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Alan Pattison of Manchester.

Digital Departures judge Fiona Gasper, Executive Director for Capital of Culture, says:

“We were particularly attracted by the Salvage team’s seemingly endless enthusiasm for their story, together with the creativity and vision of this young, dynamic new talent. Just as importantly, the film isn’t stereotypically Liverpool, but an all-round, exciting feature which I’m sure will have international appeal.”

DIGITAL DEPARTURES – THE STORY SO FAR

2008-02-05T17:19:00.000Z

LIVERPOOL is already widely viewed as a pioneering city for film initiatives, and known for having an innovative and forward-looking role regarding new media and the future of the screen industries.

With such a glowing reputation, therefore, the city’s very positive film brand is ripe for further development – so Digital Departures is Northwest Vision and Media’s answer to that progression.

Together with its partners, the Liverpool Culture Company and the UK Film Council, Vision and Media wants to radically transform the feature film landscape of Liverpool and the broader Northwest by harnessing cutting-edge digital technology and micro-budget production methods.

Digital Departures will create three innovative feature films in Liverpool, due to premiere in the city during the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations, and each with a fully-funded budget of £250,000.

In February 2007 the Digital Departures initiative was officially launched, gaining both regional and national publicity, as filmmakers were encouraged to form writer/director/producer teams and begin to think about new and exciting stories they wanted to tell.

Over 500 would-be filmmakers went on line to register their interest in the Digital Departures scheme. When applications eventually opened in April filmmakers were asked to submit two-page micro-budget film proposals.

Although writer/director/producer teams were encouraged to apply, applications could also be made by individual filmmakers – provided they lived in Liverpool. Indeed, eligibility for the scheme depended entirely upon the main applicant being Liverpool-based.

With the submission deadline of 1pm on Friday 11th May 2007 approaching, Vision and Media stepped-up their search to find an Executive Producer to oversee the films and undertake key creative responsibilities.

In May Lisa Marie Russo was appointed. A highly regarded producer whose credits include Brothers of the Head, winner of the Michael Powell Award at Edinburgh in 2006, and Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart for BBC Two.

Her first job was to narrow down the 156 Digital Departures submissions to a short-list of just 25 production teams, each of whom would be interviewed by a panel of industry experts, to determine the strength of their stories.

The panel comprised Lisa Marie Russo, Chris Moll (Northwest Vision and Media, Director of Production, Trade and Investment), Fiona Gasper (Liverpool Culture Company, Executive Director), Steve Jenkins (Head of Films at BBC Programme Acquisitions), the esteemed producer and director Don Boyd, writer Smita Bhide and Liz Rosenthal (Digital Distribution Consultant).

In June, after a hectic four days of interviews, 12 Liverpool-based filmmaking teams were told they’d made the long short-list, moving one-step closer to the filmmaking destination of their dreams.

Each team then took part in a three-day development workshop in Liverpool, from June 16-18, which helped them devise a development plan to take their early synopsis through to treatment.

After submitting the treatment, and being subject to a further panel review, a final short list of six movie making teams was announced in August – and given just eight weeks to produce a knock-out script.

Next, came the toughest interview of them all, as each team tried to convince a panel of top industry experts, including writer Tony Marchant, that their project should be one of three to be green-lit.

The decision was never going to be easy. And with each filmmaking team reaching different milestones at different times, it was inevitable the process of picking which feature was good-to-go would be spread out over several weeks.

As 2007 reached its close, however, the final three films were eventually chosen and February 2008 sees the announcement of the fabulous three films set for take off with Digital Departures.

STARSTRUCK

2008-02-05T16:37:00.000Z

Genre: DRAMA WRITER: Leigh Campbell, of Liverpool. DIRECTOR: Lindy Heymann, of London. PRODUCER: Andy Stebbing, of London. CO PRODUCER: Stephen Cheers, of Liverpool.

Two Liverpool teenage girls, obsessed with a young premiership footballer, lure him to a caravan for a night of passion – but things don’t play out quite how they imagine.

IN 2002 WRITER LEIGH CAMPBELL wrote Unhinged, which became one of Northwest Vision and Media’s most commercially successful digital-short films. The following year she won the Screen England national pitching competition for her feature, Big Stella, Little Stella at the Cannes International Film Festival.

ANDY STEBBING has been working on films as a Line Producer with some of the UK’s leading Directors and Producers. Most recently he worked on the Film Four adaptation of Monica Ali’s book, Brick Lane and was Production Manager on the BBC hit feature, Tomorrow La Scala! Starstruck will be his first film as a Producer.

LINDY HEYMANN graduated from Central/St Martins after completing a BA in Fine Art/Film and was soon commissioned to direct her first documentary, 3 Hours In High Heels In Heaven, for Channel 4. She went on to direct music videos, winning a Creative Futures Award for most promising newcomer. She has directed over one hundred music videos, working with artists such as The Charlatans, Suede, Leftfield, Terry Hall, Faithless, Ronan Keating and Paul McCartney. In 2003 she co-wrote and directed a faux-documentary feature film, Showboy, in America, which was released in 2004, picking up a BIFA Award for Best Directorial Debut and Best Picture at the Milan Independent Film Festival. She recently completed Service, a 30-minute comedy drama for Channel 4.

LIVERPOOL CO-PRODUCER STEPHEN CHEERS has 15 years experience as a Location and Production Manager and 1st Assistant Director, and recently achieved his first credit as a Producer. He is a published columnist and in the 1990s edited the listings section of the Liverpool magazine What Goes On. His last credit as a Line Producer was for Awaydays, and previously he’s worked on productions as varied as Bodies, Trial and Retribution and the feature film, Offside.

SYNOPSIS AND BACKGROUND

“Starstruck is a story about two teenage girls who become obsessed by a young premiership footballer. The film is about society’s obsession with celebrity,” explains Leigh Campbell.

Although the story was originally written over ten years ago by Laurence Coriat (Wonderland), producer Andy Stebbing was keen to update the script, so he approached Leigh and asked if she would work her magic.

“The story was obviously dated, and didn’t have any connection to Liverpool, so I’ve completely re-written it and adapted the initial idea,” Leigh explains. “It’s now quite a dark drama, which is a complete contrast to the comedy scripts I often write.”

Leigh first began writing scripts eight years ago, with her first success coming in 2002 with a short film, Unhinged, becoming one of Vision and Media’s most commercially successful digital-short films. The following year she won the Screen England national pitching competition for her feature, Big Stella, Little Stella at the Cannes International Film Festival.

That feature has now been optioned, and she has been commissioned to write another once her Digital Departures work is done.

“Vision and Media have always been so supportive of my writing. All the courses I’ve done with the agency over the years have proved to be really useful somewhere along the line, and finally they’ve helped me get to this point. It’s been an amazing experience – although it’s all happened so quickly,” she says.

“I only started working on the Starstruck treatment back in May 2007, and here we are about to go into production – so in film terms, that’s a very quick turnaround.”

Originally, only Leigh and Andy submitted their feature film idea to Digital Departures. When their project was short-listed, however, the search for a director began.

“It was vital that we found the right director to come on board, so were really pleased to find Lindy Heymann,” explains Andy. “She has a very cinematic vision of the film, which is crucial, and she is as passionate about the story as Leigh and I.”

“Lindy also had some quite radical views on how we could improve the treatment and script, so it was great to see that new perspective,” adds Leigh.

Lindy says she was ecstatic to be asked to become a member of the team. “I think Andy was keen to have a female director as he felt the film needed a woman’s perspective, but I know he interviewed a lot of people before they offered me the job,” she says.

As soon as Lindy read the film’s outline, however, she knew she wanted to be involved. “I just completely got it, straight away I knew I wanted to do this film. I think I was probably a little over-zealous at first, phoning Andy all the time, making suggestions and giving him my opinion, but they obviously liked that because they asked me to join the team,” says Lindy.

“Certain projects just hit a chord with you straight away, and this one certainly did with me. It’s so of-the-moment in terms of what is actually going on in Britain, and young people’s obsession with celebrity, yet the idea hasn’t yet been tackled in a film. Starstruck is saying something that has not been said before, and doing it in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

“I think it’s going to have a really big audience,” adds Lindy. Producer Andy Stebbing agrees: “Although Leigh’s script stays true to the original story, she’s made it her own and it’s now a very Liverpool film,” he says. Andy admits, though, that he never thought his application to Digital Departures would produce such a brilliant result.

“It was such a competitive scheme, that I honestly didn’t think we’d actually get to the final three,” says Andy. “Having said that, we worked our hearts out on the project, and we pushed and pushed to make things happen, so we’re completely chuffed that we got it. It’s definitely the biggest thing that has ever happened to any of the team, and we’re so grateful to have been given the opportunity.”

Leigh agrees: “I think we make a great team, we’re completely bonded and have a shared vision of how the film will look. Given the time constraints we’ve had to work in, I think we’ve done so much in a short space of time and I can’t wait to see the finished film.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to do with the script, because I think it says a lot about the world we live in,” she adds. The film also says a lot about Liverpool.

“We really want to make a film for Liverpool, and in many ways this film just couldn’t be made anywhere other than in Liverpool. It’s a film which has got a lot of heart, and I’m sure that will shine through,” continues Lindy.

“Now the script is finished we’re looking into casting and crewing, and we’re hoping to be ready to shoot around March or April time. The action in the film actually takes place at Easter, so it would be a nice coincidence if we’re actually filming around that time,” she adds.

“We’re also hoping to involve a lot of Liverpool people in the film as extras – we’ve got quite a few group scenes in nightclubs and bars, so it’d be great if Liverpool people can come along and take part in the scenes.”

SALVAGE

2008-02-05T16:29:00.000Z

Genre: HORROR WRITER: Colin O’Donnell of Liverpool / Belfast DIRECTOR: Lawrence Gough of Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire PRODUCER: Julie Lau of Liverpool ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Alan Pattison of Manchester

With her street quarantined by a military unit attempting to destroy a savage renegade, a single mother battles to bring her estranged daughter to safety.

AWARD-WINNING WRITER COLIN O’DONNELL was discovered during his Screen Writing MA, snatching the 2003 Lynda La Plante writing award. As Story Editor for Hollyoaks at Liverpool’s Lime Pictures, he was part of the winning team that devised the ‘teacher and student affair’ storyline, scooping Best Storyline at the 2006 Soap Awards. Colin also has a parallel career in writing thriller feature film scripts, a number of which are in development.

DIRECTOR LAWRENCE GOUGH is new to feature film but has directed some impressive short films through his company Hoax Films, winning awards such as Best in the Northwest and Best Drama, from Cornerhouse Cinema. He has great technical filmmaking knowledge, and has also passed on his skills through filmmaking classes at both Liverpool and Manchester University.

PRODUCER JULIE LAU has worked predominantly with digital projects and has the ability to deliver high production value projects on a very tight budget. Most recently she has worked as Production Manager on feature film All Night And All Day. Her drama credits include Daydream, 2006, and O Jerusalem, 2005 and she also has a background in music videos.

MANCHESTER-BASED ASSOCIATE PRODUCER ALAN PATTISON started out in directing a wide variety of plays in Manchester theatre, including King Lear at the Contact, Rita, Sue and Bob Too at the Library, and Abigail’s Party and Endgame for the Green Room. In the last five years he has gone on to produce films with Lawrence Gough at Hoax Films.

SYNOPSIS AND BACKGROUND

HORROR film, Salvage, follows the physical and psychological journey of its central female character, a mother who is desperate to rescue her daughter and save her from the grip of an out-of-control savage.

It’s a raw and robust film project, says writer Colin O’Donnell, rooted in heightened but realistic concepts. It’s also Colin’s first horror script – but it won’t be his last.

“I’ve mainly written thrillers in the past, but Lawrence and Alan had an idea for a horror film and were looking for a writer, and I was recommended to them by someone we’d both worked with in the past,” he explains. After meeting up, the trio knew immediately they wanted to work together. And Colin became hooked on horror.

“I’ve just written the 6th draft of Salvage, and will be re-writing well into production. The script’s getting better all the time, although time’s something we’ve been short on from the word go,” says Colin, who admits there’s been significant changes in the story since the team first submitted their treatment to Digital Departures.

“Because of budget restrictions we had to cut a couple of big moments in the script, which was a little disheartening at the time, but then we managed to come up with some really creative solutions, telling the same story without blowing the budget,” adds Colin, who recently left Hollyoaks to freelance on other TV dramas.

“I can still only write part-time as I have to do a day-job, so it’s been difficult fitting everything in. But hopefully all the hard work will pay off,” says Colin, who despite his past successes sees this Digital Departures film as his big screen debut.

“I’ve already had one feature produced and I’ve written other thrillers in the past, but this film is by far my biggest break,” explains Colin.

It was Director, Lawrence Gough, who came up with the original concept for the film. “I thought it would be really interesting to have a shipping container washed up on a beach, and there being something terrible inside it,” explains Lawrence.

From that original idea, Salvage soon developed and it was decided to set the film within a cul-de-sac. “We loved the idea of the characters being contained, and of a mother trying to rescue her daughter,” adds Lawrence, who was intrigued by producer Julie Lau’s idea to set the horror within the former set used by TV soap, Brookside.

“I decided to pay a visit to the Close and started talking to the security guard who was looking after the empty properties. He put me in touch with the owner, and as the houses are all standing empty he was happy for us to use the set as our central location for Salvage,” explains Lawrence.

Producer Julie Lau is thrilled to be involved with such a thrilling story. “I haven’t been attached to the project for long, but because I was involved in another Digital Departures project I’d already met the guys and knew all about their story, which I thought was brilliant,” explains Julie.

“We’ll start filming at the end of February and the shoot throws up a number of challenges from a military siege to all the blood and gore viewers expect from a horror. We hope to have finished by the end of March, so it’s going to be a very busy few weeks, but I can’t wait!” she adds.

Lawrence admits he never dared dream his project would be one of the final three Digital Departures films to be commissioned.

“I never expected to win,” he says. “I always tend to play on the safe side of things, but having said that I’ve never worked so hard to try and make something happen,” he confides. “The only thing I was ever confident about was the idea. I knew it was good, and I knew it would make a brilliant film as it pulls together contemporary issues and explores this using the popular horror genre.”

OF TIME AND THE CITY

2008-02-05T16:24:00.000Z

Genre: DOCUMENTARY

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Terence Davies, originally from Liverpool, now living in Essex. To arrange an interview email katrinad@visionandmedia.co.uk.

PRODUCERS: Solon Papadopoulos of Liverpool. Roy Boulter of Liverpool.

A poetic, visual journey portraying Liverpool – the city of the director’s youth, and the much-changed city of today.

LIVERPOOL AUTEUR TERENCE DAVIES is one of the most respected British filmmakers in cinema today. His films have garnered recognition from all the A List festivals around the world.

Terence came to world prominence with his uncompromising dramatic interpretations of post-war Liverpool. His trilogy of films, and specifically Distant Voices, Still Lives, created a visual feast that stands out as one of the most powerful and evocative tableaus of working class life in fifties Liverpool.

The film was based on his memories of childhood and adolescence in Liverpool during the 50s and 60s, a time when Liverpool’s grandeur on the world stage was beginning to fade.

SOL PAPADOPOULOS AND ROY BOULTER are Merseyside-based producers of both factual and fictional film. Together, they have produced shorts, single dramas and international documentary series. As Hurricane Films they have been short-listed for an Emmy, nominated for a BAFTA and won four Royal Television Awards, not to mention a variety of awards for shorts, since the company’s inception in 2000. Their 2007-released feature, Under The Mud, is currently receiving international critical acclaim at film festivals around the world.

SYNOPSIS AND BACKGROUND

Of Time And The City is an abstract, visual poem of the first 28 years of Terence Davies’s life, up until 1973 when he left Liverpool for London. Combining aural and archive clips, music and poetry, the documentary charts the re-birth of Liverpool, right up to present day.

Terence has been in the Northwest for the past few months, working on the documentary with producers, Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter.

“I’ve been having a wonderful time, absolutely wonderful!” he says. “The team we’ve got work together so well, Sol and Roy are terrific and we’ve already captured some incredible work.”

However, Of Time And The City very nearly didn’t even get past the idea stage. As Terence explains: “This film would not have been made without Sol. Many years ago, he took some photos of my mother – which I still have – and they were the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen,” explains Terence.

“When Sol and Roy then wanted to get involved in Digital Departures, Sol phoned and asked if I wanted to make a film about Liverpool. I said no, because I had already done two documentaries about me growing up in the city, and I didn’t feel there was anything else I could do.

“But then we spoke some more, and it occurred to me there was a story I needed to tell, a story which captured the nature of our city.

“After seven years of not being able to get anything off the ground, this project and working with Sol and Roy has made me feel worthwhile again. That’s why I want to publicly thank them for getting me involved in this, because if you’re not mainstream cinema, there aren’t that many opportunities for your work.”

For Terence, making the Digital Departures documentary has evoked memories and emotions he hadn’t expected. “The whole experience has made me quite rueful. Walking around Liverpool, everything has changed. I’d remember that little shop on the corner of the street – but now it’s gone. And I remember there were eight cinemas within walking distance of the street I grew up on – but they’ve all gone now, too,” he says.

Of Time And The City captures the emotions those discoveries provoke. “I received my education at the movies – I remember going to see Singing In The Rain at the Odeon cinema, and that made such a huge impression on me, it’s stayed with me throughout my life,” says Terence, who left Liverpool in 1973.

“When I left, the city was a very down at heel sort of place, but I really do feel that the city is reviving, and with it, so too has my heart. I really didn’t expect that to happen simply by doing this film, but it has.”

The team are hoping to have the documentary completed by March, although as Terence confides: “There are still some elements I am struggling with. The pop revival in the 1960s, for example, I was never in to popular music, but that didn’t stop me, or anyone else, being able to feel the excitement the music created.

“There was the most incredible feeling in the air, you could almost touch it, and I want to try and capture it. It’s not as easy as using old news reels from the time, I want to re-create that feeling on screen.”

Helping him re-create those feelings on screen are Sol and Roy. The Liverpool-based filmmaking duo have been working together for seven years, after first meeting when former professional photographer, Sol, was asked to take a photo for a record cover, featuring Roy’s band, The Farm.

But they both knew they wanted to do greater things. Sol, a former stills photographer, funded himself through a short film course before making the break and setting up Hurricane Films in 2000, with Roy joining the partnership soon afterwards.

Having now produced around 30 short films, the friends have overcome their fair share of hurdles – many of them financial – and are now established as key players in Northwest film. Not only have they acquired a growing reputation, but a raft of industry awards, too, including a BAFTA nomination for a BBC children’s drama, and a Royal Television Society Award for Best Educational Drama.

More recently, Sol won the 2007 USA CINE Golden Eagle Award for Warplane, a landmark series which was originally produced in association with Granada for an American network, and has since been aired in over 50 countries worldwide.

“Getting awards certainly helps to break the ice, but it’s a bizarre world – you still have to work hard for every commission out there, especially if you’re in the regions,” says Roy, whose recent writing commissions include an acclaimed episode of Emmy-award-winning BBC series, The Street.

The pair currently have several other projects in development, and are working on a co-production for BBC3.

Their first feature film, Under The Mud, written by a group of teenagers from a deprived part of Liverpool, is currently playing to film festivals around the world, regularly receiving stand ovations. The pair also received a Royal Television Society Award for their Granada documentary charting the making of Mud.

“We really do put our hearts and souls into every project,” says Sol, “and we’re really excited about Of Time And The City. It’s a very ambitious film, a visual poem similar in style to Humphrey Jennings’ classic 1940s film, Listen To Britain.”

“By also presenting his own take on contemporary Liverpool, Terence brings the documentary right up to date and we’re able to witness the civic pride of a city in renaissance,” adds Roy.

DIGITAL DEPARTURES ANNOUNCE FILMMAKING FINALISTS

2007-09-26T16:04:00.000Z

SIX Northwest movie making teams have been named as finalists in the prestigious Digital Departures micro-budget filmmaking initiative – and are now just one step away from securing funding of £250,000 to make their feature film.

An intriguing blend of established, rising and new talent, the final six filmmaking teams now have just eight weeks to produce a knock-out script – and convince a panel of top industry experts that their project should be one of three to be greenlit.

“It was incredibly difficult to pick just six projects from the hugely impressive shortlist of filmmakers,” says Lisa Marie Russo, Executive Producer for Digital Departures. “We’ve been able to attract some of the country’s finest creative talent to this initiative, and as we near the deadline for choosing the final three films, the quality of the projects has just been phenomenal.”

Earlier this year, Northwest Vision and Media, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, invited writers, producers and directors from across Liverpool and the UK to get involved in Digital Departures. The initiative will see three £250,000 features developed, shot and premiered in Liverpool as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations.

Chris Moll, Head of Funds for Vision and Media, which supports the region’s film, TV and digital content industries, says the initiative has already exceeded expectations.

"Digital Departures is fully engaging the creativity of Liverpool's and the Northwest's directors, writers, producers, performers, technicians and musicians in the run up to '08 as well as drawing to the city some of the most exciting, young filmmaking talent currently at work in the UK. Where else would you see an internationally renowned director like Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives) standing shoulder to shoulder with upcoming local writers Colin O'Donnell and Leigh Campbell, rock legend Pete Wylie and stand-up comedian John Bishop?

“The teams now have until early October to deliver their scripts, and we hope to announce the final three soon after that,” adds Chris.

THE FOLLOWING SIX FILMMAKING TEAMS HAVE BEEN
SELECTED AS DIGITAL DEPARTURES FINALISTS

OF TIME AND THE CITY
Genre: Documentary
Writer/Director: Terence Davies
Producers: Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter

THE DON
Genre: Musical Drama
Writers: Jeff Young and Pete Wylie
Director: TBC
Producer: Tishna Molla

STARSTRUCK
Genre: Drama
Writer: Leigh Campbell
Director: Lindy Heymann
Producer: Andy Stebbing

WHORES WITH GUNS
Genre: Comedy
Writer: John Bishop
Director: James Marquand
Producer: Philip Evers

LEFT HANDED
Genre: Drama/comedy
Writers/Directors: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
Producer: Julie Lau

SALVAGE
Genre: Horror
Writer: Colin O’Donnell
Director: Lawrence Gough
Producer: Alan Pattison

SHORT LIST OF 12 FILMMAKING TEAMS ANNOUNCED

2007-07-02T10:42:00.000Z

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.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR DIGITAL DEPARTURES

2007-06-26T16:28:00.000Z

LISA MARIE RUSSO has been appointed Executive Producer for Digital Departures, an ambitious plan which will produce three feature-length films in the Northwest within the next 18 months.

North West Vision, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, invited writers, producers and directors from across the Northwest to get involved in the ground-breaking Digital Departures project, with each film guaranteed a cash budget of £250,000,
The deadline for submissions to the innovative project was on Friday May 11, with Lisa Marie now joining with a team of industry professionals to narrow down the 151 entries to a short list of 25 production teams.

“It’s thrilling to be in on a project right from the start, and to be part of an initiative where we can throw out the filmmaking rule book and introduce new and exciting working methods,” says Lisa Marie, who will have ultimate responsibility for executive producing the three winning feature films.

“With micro budget production the budget really does dictate the aesthetic. It can be revolutionary because the restrictions force people to be creative within a certain space,” she adds.

Guided throughout by experienced industry professionals, each of the three Digital Departures films will be developed, shot and post-produced in Liverpool and will premiere in the city in the autumn of 2008, during the capital of Culture celebrations. 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.
Raised in America, Lisa Marie is currently living in London, but will be based in the Northwest during production. “I look forward to experiencing Northern humour and hospitality,” she says.

Lisa Marie is no stranger to the Northwest, having spent six months studying at Manchester University as a student. More recently, her filming work has seen here spending much of her time in the region over the last three years.
“I started my career in public TV in America,” she says. “I was a documentary director and I ran an independent film series for TV, then someone asked me to produce their micro-budget film about four people trapped in a nuclear fallout bunker. It was a case of everyone working for free, and just getting on and doing it – and I loved it! That’s when I got the taste for feature films.”
In the mid-90s Lisa Marie moved to London to be with her now husband, the director Marc Munden (who recently directed Mark of Cain for Channel 4 and together with Lisa Marie created Shiny Shin Bright New Hole In My Heart for the BBC.)

As a producer, Lisa Marie’s feature film credits include Brothers Of The Head, a Gothic tale of a rock producer who discovers conjoined twin brothers and turns them into a pre-punk act. The film premiered in Toronto Film Festival and opened Panorama section of Berlin Film Festival in 2006 and won the Michael Powell Award at Edinburgh.

In TV Drama, Lisa Marie conceived the improv drama Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart about a shopping addict. Broadcast in the summer of 2006 for BBC Films, it was produced with Ruth Caleb and stared Sally Hawkins, Steven MackIntosh and Daniela Nardini.

Lisa Marie directed two documentaries for the C4 series Strictly Dancing in 1996, including one film about Raqs Sharqi belly dancers in Manchester. She is a member of BAFTA and ACE, a European Producers Network, and is a Governor of the London Film School. She was also was Head of Drama Development at Blast! Films 2001-02.

“I was attracted to Digital Departures because it was a chance to get back to my roots,” says Lisa Marie. “Do-it-yourself filmmaking is relatively new to the UK and people are generally becoming very supportive of other people’s efforts.

“There is a wave of optimism in the film arts at the moment – anything seems possible and it is the perfect time to launch such a special initiative as Digital Departures.”

Digital Departures arrives in Liverpool

2007-02-15T17:23:00.000Z

LIVERPOOL is set to become Europe’s shining light for micro-budget filmmaking with an ambitious plan to produce three feature-length films in the city in the run up to the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations.

North West Vision, together with its partners the Liverpool Culture Company, the UK Film Council and the BBC, is inviting writers, producers and directors from the city and across the broader Northwest to get involved in the ground-breaking Digital Departures project.

“Liverpool is already recognised as a city of exceptional screenwriting talent and as a film-friendly location, but this brand new initiative will maximise the potential of the region's most talented filmmaking teams and provide a global platform for their work,” says Chris Moll, Head of Funds for North West Vision, the film, TV and digital media development agency for the Northwest.

Tim Cagney, Head of UK Partnerships at the UK Film Council agrees: “Digital Departures will ensure that film plays a central role in the European Capital of Culture celebrations. We are confident that it will unearth some outstanding talent, deliver great films and become a dynamic model of micro budget production that Liverpool can export across the world.”

Guided throughout by experienced industry professionals, each of the three Digital Departures films will have a cash budget of £250,000, to be fully financed by the partners. They will be developed, shot and post-produced in Liverpool and will premiere in the city in the autumn 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.

North West Vision and its partners are also planning to offer a range of assistance to filmmakers including comprehensive training through a bespoke initiative called Digital Arrivals, in-kind support from leading facilities and service companies, specialised marketing and distribution advice and an innovative ‘revenue share’ model which ensures that everyone involved in the production benefits in its financial success.

“Digital Departures is an opportunity for filmmakers to immerse themselves in the creative opportunities of low-budget filmmaking,” explains Steve Jenkins Head of Films at BBC Programme Acquisitions. “We are essentially looking for two things: ideas which are fresh, bold and distinctive, and talent who can grasp the challenge and deliver to an audience with very high expectations.”

“In keeping with the spirit of 2008, these productions will fully engage the creativity of the region’s directors, writers, producers, performers, technicians and musicians as well as drawing to Liverpool some of the most exciting, young filmmaking talent currently at work in UK and across Europe,” says Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council.

Jason Harborow, Chief Executive of the Liverpool Culture Company, adds: “Digital Departures will usher in a new era for film in Liverpool and forms part of the commissioning strand of the 2008 programme. Sustainable film production in the city will ultimately come from equipping local filmmakers with the skills, self–confidence and relationships to grow into internationally successful artists.”

To find out how to get involved with this fantastic scheme please visit: www.digitaldepartures.co.uk

North West Vision’s website is www.northwestvision.co.uk