Search Results for: “"abi morgan"”

BAFTAs Draw Increasing Star And Studio Power Ahead Of Awards Ceremony

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday February 6, 2013 @ 5:43pm PSTTags: BAFTA

Joe Utichi contributes to Deadline’s UK coverage

In 2001, BAFTA chief executive Amanda Berry spearheaded an initiative to move the ‘British Oscars’ ahead of the Academy Awards, cementing their place on the season’s roadshow. This year, a calendar of events highlights their increasing importance. The organization and its sponsors now conduct a suite of pre- and post-awards events, with several studios expected to throw big after-parties next Sunday night following the official ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Just tonight, Idris Elba deejayed at a pre-celebration of the EE BAFTA Rising Star prize at the Savoy, and I hear Harvey Weinstein will toast his nominees – who this year include Quentin Tarantino, Christoph Waltz and Joaquin Phoenix – with an intimate dinner in Mayfair on Friday.

As hopefuls fly in, Bond Street jewelers Asprey hosts the official Nominees’ Party on Saturday night for the fifth consecutive year. Guests are expected to decamp from there to a party thrown annually by Charles Finch at Annabel’s in Berkeley Square. After Sunday’s kudos, an official dinner and after-party follow at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The Weinstein Company’s annual post-BAFTA bash will also happen in Mayfair, while Universal – with hopefuls Les Misérables and Zero Dark Thirty – will host an after-party nearby, too. Sources suggest other studios with large nominations hauls – including Warner Bros. and Fox, with headliners Argo and Lincoln and Life Of Pi – would have events planned this week also. Read More »

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‘The Hour’ Hits Ratings Low In 2nd Season UK Debut; U.S. Bow Is November 28

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday, 15 November 2012 14:55 UKTags: BBC America, The Hour

Just as the BBC faces its own real-life TV journalism crisis, the second season of 1950s newsroom drama The Hour kicked off on BBC Two last night. Overnight ratings were down sharply from the series’ debut last year. Hitting an all-time low, the combined audience was 1.33M for a 5.9% share, compared to last year’s start of 2.89M and a 12.65% share, according to measurement service BARB. Strong competition came from rival ITV1 which was airing a friendly soccer match between England and Sweden. The Abi Morgan-created The Hour stars Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Dominic West and Oona Chaplin and picks up this year as the Cold War looms. Joining the show this season is The Thick Of It‘s Peter Capaldi as head of news, Randall Brown. The show’s second season starts on BBC America on November 28 at 9PM ET.

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Rufus Norris’ ‘Broken’ Leads British Independent Film Awards Nominations

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday, 5 November 2012 13:00 UKTags: British Independent Film Awards, Broken, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

With nine nods, Rufus Norris’ Cannes Critics’ Week opener Broken leads the nominees for this year’s Moët British Independent Film Awards. Studiocanal is releasing Broken in the UK – although it has not yet been dated – and Film Movement has it domestically. The coming-of-age drama stars Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy and Rory Kinnear, who all received acting nods. Also scoring multiple shout-outs are Ben Wheatley’s comedy Sightseers and Peter Strickland’s horror film Berberian Sound Studio with seven each and Bart Layton’s The Imposter with six. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel also has a strong showing with nods for best film and director along with acting nominations for Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson. The 15th BIFAs will be handed out on December 9 in London. The full list of nominees follows:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Berberian Sound Studio
Broken
Sightseers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Imposter

BEST DIRECTOR
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Wheatley – Sightseers
John Madden – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio
Rufus Norris – Broken

Read More »

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Sony Pictures In Talks For ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Feature

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday October 1, 2012 @ 8:15am PDTTags: David Gordon Green, Scott Rudin, Sony Pictures
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures is in negotiations to turn Little House On The Prairie into a feature film that David Gordon Green will direct with Abi Morgan writing the script. Scott Rudin will produce with Trip Friendly. The deal hasn’t happened yet, but they are working toward giving the pioneer family a big screen incarnation.

Little House On The Prairie is based on the semi-autobiographical classic children’s book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder written between 1932 and 1943 about farm life in the late 19th Century American West. The books formed the basis for a TV series that ran from 1974-1983 and starred Michael Landon, and Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls Wilder. Morgan, repped by CAA and Independent Talent Group, last scripted the Steve McQueen-directed Michael Fassbender-starrer Shame, and the Phyllida Lloyd-directed The Iron Lady, which starred Meryl Streep. As for Green, he’s been focusing on comedies with Pineapple Express, The Sitter, Your Highness and Eastbound & Down, and is repped by CAA and Gotham Group.

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Emmys: Writing Nominees Are Honored At The TV Academy

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday September 21, 2012 @ 12:14pm PDTTags: Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences, Bryan Cranston, Community, Downton Abbey, Emmys, Frank Pierson, Game Change, Mad Men, Matt Weiner
Pete Hammond

If they don’t always get all the credit they deserve or a lot of time  on the Emmy show itself, this year’s nominated writers in five different categories got a lot of love and all the time they wanted to make a speech while accepting official certificates of nomination at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Thursday night.

Writing Governors Kirk Ellis and Margaret Nagle along with The Writers branch Peer Group Executive Committee threw a lively and loose pre-Emmy celebration of all things written for TV this year with a very well-attended cocktail party (nicely coordinated by the Academy’s Barbara Chase) plus formal presentation in the Academy’s massive Leonard Goldenson Theatre hosted by Breaking Bad’s 3-time Emmy winner and 2012 nominee Bryan Cranston. Clips of all the nominated achievements were shown followed by a ceremony in which stars of those shows gave Emmy certificates to their writers.

“Everybody says it all starts with a script but in this hall we really believe that,”  said Ellis in getting the evening rolling.  Then in introducing Cranston, Nagle pointed out the close relationship between actors and their writers by saying, “In interview after interview he always states his admiration for writers and he means it”.  Pointedly referencing Clint Eastwood’s rambling, improvised appearance at the GOP convention Cranston entered carrying an empty chair which he put beside the podium. “Was there ever … Read More »

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EMMYS: The Writers Race

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday August 26, 2012 @ 8:00pm PDTTags: Awardsline, Emmys, TV, Writers

Ray Richmond is an AwardsLine contributor

This year’s crop of Emmy nominees in writing for drama series, comedy series, and movie/miniseries/special include a good mix of first-time nominees, including Lena Dunham for HBO’s Girls and Amy Poehler for NBC’s Parks and Recreation. But the real question is, which of the three writing noms that AMC’s Mad Men earned will turn into a statuette at this year’s ceremony? What follows is our handicap of everyone’s chances:

COMEDY SERIES

Chris McKenna Community, “Remedial Chaos Theory” (NBC)

Lena Dunham Girls, “Pilot” (HBO)

Louis C.K. Louie, “Pregnant” (FX)

Amy Poehler Parks and Recreation, “The Debate” (NBC)

Michael Schur Parks and Recreation, “Win, Lose or Draw” (NBC)

What really distinguishes the category this time is the rare presence of two women here: indie film prodigy Dunham for the Girls pilot and Poehler for the Parks and Recreation episode “The Debate.” It’s exceedingly rare to have two females in the comedy writing lineup in the same Emmy year. In fact, the last time it happened was 2002, when Jennifer Crittenden landed a nom for Everybody Loves Raymond and Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky were honored for Sex and the City

Related: EMMYS: The Directors Race Read More »

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2012 EMMYS NOMINATIONS: BREAKING

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday July 19, 2012 @ 5:46am PDTTags: 2012 Emmy Nominations, Big Deals TV, Emmys

Emmy Nominations 2012BREAKING… The 64th Primetime/Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations announcement is taking place right now at 5:40 AM PST live at Emmys.com. All the nominees will be named here. Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game Of Thrones, Homeland, and Mad Men were nominated for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. And The Big Bang Theory, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, Modern Family, 30 Rock and Veep were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series. Scandal star Kerry Washington and Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel began announcing the nominees along with Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman/CEO Bruce Rosenblum from the Television Academy’s Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood:

Related:
Broadcast & Cable Scorecard
‘American Horror Story’ & ‘Mad Men’ Lead Nominations: Summary
2012 Emmys Nominations: By Network
Emmy Nominations Kerry Washington Jimmy Kimmel
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
64th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations

Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory • CBS • Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television

Curb Your Enthusiasm • HBO • HBO Entertainment

Girls • HBO • Apatow Productions and I am Jenni Konner Productions in association with HBO Entertainment

Modern Family • ABC • Levitan-Lloyd Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television

30 Rock • NBC • Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Television

Veep • HBO • Dundee Productions in association with HBO Entertainment

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy … Read More »

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‘Great Expectations’ Leads BAFTA’s Television Craft Award Nominees

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday, 16 April 2012 08:40 UKTags: BAFTA, Downton Abbey, Great Expectations

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominees for the British Academy Television Craft Awards. BBC One’s 3-part adaptation of Great Expectations leads the pack with 7 nominations. Both the BBC’s natural history series Frozen Planet and its adaptation of Birdsong starring My Week With Marilyn‘s Eddie Redmayne and Harry Potter‘s Clémence Poésy took 5 nods. ITV1′s 2-part drama Appropriate Adult scored 4 nominations. ITV’s Downton Abbey, Channel 4’s Top Boy, BBC One’s Sherlock and BBC Two’s The Crimson Petal And The White all received 3 nominations each. The awards ceremony will be held May 13 in London. Below is a full list of the nominees:

SPECIAL AWARD
Aidan Farrell

BREAK-THROUGH TALENT sponsored by Sara Putt Associates
Tom Basden (writer) – Fresh Meat
Channel 4/Objective Productions
Kwadjo Dajan (co-producer) – Appropriate Adult
ITV1/ITV Studios
Stefan Golaszewski (writer) – Him & Her
BBC Three/Big Talk Productions
Clare Johns (producer/director) – The Truth About Adoption (Panorama)
BBC One/Films Of Record Read More »

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BAFTA Film Award Full 2012 Nominations: ‘The Artist’ 12, ‘Tinker Tailor’ 11, ‘Hugo’ 9

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday January 16, 2012 @ 11:59pm PST

BAFTA announced its 2012 nominations early this morning with a handful of surprises in the batch. Although it was on the longlist, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 has been knocked out of contention for Outstanding British Film. It now has 4 nominations after receiving 11 nods on the longlist. Potter fans will be disappointed that Alan Rickman did not make the final field for Supporting Actor. Other eliminations include the locally-controversial The Iron Lady which had been longlisted as Best Film and Outstanding British Film. Meryl Streep, however, received a Best Actress nod for her Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo did not make the Best Film cut, but received 9 nominations including Best Director.

Only Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy overlaps the British and overall Best Film groups. With 11 nods, Tinker Tailor trails leader The Artist which has 12 and which gained even more momentum at Sunday’s Globes. The Artist will go head-to-head against The Descendants in the Best Film and Leading Actor races after competing side-by-side in the comedy/musical and drama categories at the Globes. In other news, Bridesmaids landed two nods, one for Original Screenplay and one for Supporting Actress while Drive, which widely peppered the longlist, now has 4 nominations including Best Film, Director, Supporting Actress and Editing. The Help went from 12 mentions on the longlist to 5 nominations including Best Film, Leading Actress for Viola Davis and one nod each for Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer in the Supporting Actress race. My Week With Marilyn, nominated in the British Film category, received 6 nods including acting mentions for Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. Also of note is that Senna made the shortlist in both the Outstanding British Film category and the Documentary race. The full list of nominees is below:

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 12 February at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. The ceremony will be hosted by Stephen Fry and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One. Red carpet coverage will be hosted by Edith Bowman on BBC Three:

2011 NOMINATIONS (presented in 2012)

BEST FILM
THE ARTIST – Thomas Langmann
THE DESCENDANTS – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
DRIVE – Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
THE HELP – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
SENNA – Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
SHAME – Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo,  Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno, Rory Stewart Kinnear

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK – Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND – Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS – Ralph Fiennes (Director)
SUBMARINE – Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
TYRANNOSAUR – Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘The Iron Lady’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 8, 2011 @ 7:35am PSTTags: Jim Broadbent, Margaret Thatcher, Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady, The Weinstein Co

Another trailer has gone up for The Weinstein Company release The Iron Lady. Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher who was prime minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990. Jim Broadbent plays her husband Denis Thatcher and Richard E. Grant is Conservative Party challenger Michael Heseltine. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, screenplay by Abi Morgan. It opens December 30 in limited release.

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‘Shame’, ‘Tinker, Tailor’ And ‘Tyrannosaur’ Lead Brit Indie Award Nominations

By TIM ADLER in London | Monday, 31 October 2011 13:29 UKTags: British Independent Film Awards, Shame, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tyrannosaur, We Need To Talk About Kevin

The three UK movies have received seven nods apiece for this year’s Moët British Independent Film Awards, due to take place in London on December 4. Each of them is battling for Best British Film Award, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor/Actress. The nominations were announced in London this morning. We Need To Talk About Kevin and Kill List each received six nominations, with Submarine following closely with five. Rebecca Hall (The Awakening), Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre), MyAnna Buring (Kill List), Olivia Colman (Tyrannosaur) and Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin) are vying for Best Actress. Leading men competing for Best Actor include Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor), Michael Fassbender (Shame) and Brendan Gleeson (The Guard).

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Toronto: Fox Searchlight Acquires ‘Shame’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday September 9, 2011 @ 3:54pm PDTTags: 2011 Toronto Film Festival, Carey Mulligan, Fox Searchlight, Michael Fassbender, Shame, Steve McQueen
Mike Fleming

UPDATE: Fox Searchlight toppers Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula have confirmed the acquisition of Shame at Toronto. Searchlight’s official release is after the jump.

EXCLUSIVE: In the first major deal of the Toronto Film Festival, Fox Searchlight has acquired Shame, the Steve McQueen-directed NC-17 drama that was the talk of Telluride. Bidding came down to Searchlight and The Weinstein Company. The film is said to showcase a tour de force performance by Michael Fassbender, who plays a New Yorker unable to manage his sex life when his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment, and his world spirals out of control. Searchlight had been the frontrunner in the bidding. The film is a provocative purchase for a number of reasons: It is unabashedly NC-17, features graphic sex scenes and nudity — one source said “think dungeon sex” — and McQueen has final cut and will not change a frame. It will be a controversial release for Searchlight, whose parent company has already weathered plenty of scandal lately. Also, the deal calls for a late-year release and Best Actor campaign for Fassbender; Searchlight will already be waging a campaign in the same category for George Clooney in the Alexander Payne-directed The Descendants. Hanway brokered the Shame deal. Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Rome, Poland, UK

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday August 26, 2011 @ 7:28pm PDTTags: BBC, RTL, The Hour, The Lady, Time Warner

‘The Lady’ Set As Opener At Rome Fest
Luc Besson’s The Lady, the political drama starring Michelle Yeoh and inspired by the recently freed Burmese opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been tapped to open the Rome International Film Festival on Oct. 27. It won’t be the first stop for the film, which will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12.

Reports: RTL, Time Warner Look At Polish Broadcaster TVN
Shares of stock in Polish TV network TVN  rose 10% today amid reports of sales talks. Europe’s biggest commercial broadcaster RTL Group is interested in ITI Group’s $800 million controlling stake in the Polish broadcaster, according to Reuters. And TVN CEO Markus Tellenbach has met with Time Warner reps, Warsaw’s Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper reported.

Hacking Scandal Inspires Satire On UK’s Channel 4
The show, with the working title Hacks, will be set in a fictional paper where staff indulge in phone hacking, blagging and “pinging” to get a story by any means necessary. Guy Jenkin (Drop Dead Donkey) is writing the script based on the scandal which has brought about the closure of the News Of The World and exits of News International execs and top Scotland Yard figures.

‘The Hour’ Back For Second Season On BBC
The BBC confirmed today that the series, written and created by Abi Morgan, will be back for six more episodes in its second season on BBC Two. Set in a BBC newsroom in the 1950s, The Hour is produced by … Read More »

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ITV Planning Britain’s Next ‘Downton Abbey’

By TIM ADLER in London | Tuesday, 24 May 2011 00:27 UKTags: Downton Abbey, Hit And Miss, ITV Studios, Luther, Sherlock, The Hour, Upstairs Downstairs

Andrew Davies, who wrote the script for The Three Musketeers and a slew of BBC period dramas, is adapting Lindy Woodhead’s nonfiction bestseller Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge for ITV Studios. I’m told that ITV hopes the story of how brash American retailer Harry Gordon Selfridge –”The Showman of Shopping” — opened the world’s first purpose-built department store in London in 1909 will repeat the success of Downton Abbey. That NBC Universal production has been a huge hit over here for ITV. Certainly there’s a plum role for the American actor playing Selfridge, who blew his fortune on mistresses and gambling before dying destitute. Selfridge’s girlfriends included famed dancer Isadora Duncan and Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. His massive overspending ultimately cost him control of Selfridges.

The second series of Downton Abbey, meanwhile, started shooting on location at Highclere stately home in Berkshire in March. Filming continues until July. PBS Masterpiece will premiere the second series on Jan. 8, 2012, following its ITV run starting this fall.

But that’s not the only bonnet-on-bonnet action coming your way on Masterpiece.

The second series of the BBC’s Upstairs Downstairs, a sequel to the original 1970s ITV show that chronicled the lives of the Edwardian Bellamy family, goes into production in September. The BBC originally announced its Upstairs Downstairs remake at the same time ITV unveiled Downton Abbey. “Upstairs Downstairs is elegantly entertaining but doesn’t reach the same heights as Downton Abbey,” sniffed the Daily Telegraph. Still, BBC1 controller Danny Cohen was pleased enough with the average 8.4 million viewers to commission another 6×60-minute series. There is no U.S. transmission date for Series 2 yet. Read More »

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Cannes: Weinstein Company Acquires Rights To ‘The Iron Lady,’ With Meryl Streep As Margaret Thatcher

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 13, 2011 @ 3:36am PDTTags: Cannes, Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Streep, Ron Burkle, The Iron Lady
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Another day on the Croisette brings another major distribution deal. After an all-night auction, The Weinstein Company emerged with U.S. distribution rights to The Iron Lady, the Pathe pic that stars Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. I’m told the deal was worth near $7 million and that Weinstein Company made it with Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa banner. I’m also told that Alliance will distribute in Canada. I’d heard last night that the likes of Summit, Relativity Media and Fox Searchlight chased it. There were at least two bids on the table at $6 million.

Numerous bidders were in on the action after Pathe showed five minutes of footage here. Harvey Weinstein will definitely open the film during Oscar season, relying on another British politics tale after The King’s Speech won Best Picture honors last year. Weinstein, his lieutenant David Glasser and Burkle worked into the night to make the deal. It is the same partnership structure they employed when that made the Sundance acquisitions My Idiot Brother and The Details. For TWC, it has already been a busy fest. They acquired world rights to Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film before the fest started, made a quick acquisition of the black-and-white silent film The Artist, and they bought  the Chinese film Dragon, both official festival selections.

Streep reunites with her Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd in the Abi Morgan-scripted film that also stars Harry Lloyd, Richard E. Grant and Jim Broadbent.

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BBC America To Co-Produce BBC Period Drama ‘The Hour’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 24, 2011 @ 7:12am PDTTags: BBC America, Ben Whishaw, Dominic West, Shine International, The Hour
Nellie Andreeva

BBC America has come on board to co-produce the new six-part drama series The Hour, announced in November by BBC Two. The series, which will premiere in the summer on BBC America, was  created and written by BAFTA-winning Abi Morgan (White Girl). It is a spy thriller set behind the scenes of the BBC’s newsroom in London in the mid 1950s and stars Dominic West (The Wire), Romola Garai (Emma) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star) locked in a highly competitive, sharp-witted and passionate love triangle. Produced by Kudos and BBC America for the BBC, it is distributed by Shine International, which will take the series to MIPTV next month.

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Now Carey Mulligan Agrees To Feel ‘Shame’

By TIM ADLER in London | Thursday, 9 December 2010 15:22 UKTags: Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Steve McQueen Shame

She’ll play Michael Fassbender’s sister in Steve McQueen’s next indie project, Shame, which begins shooting on location in New York in January. Sales agent Hanway Films has pre-sold the film to several territories including MK2 in France and Prokino in Germany. Fassbender stars as a thirtysomething man living in New York, who is unable to manage his sex life. Mulligan takes the role after just winning the high-profile part of Daisy in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. On Shame, Abi Morgan (Brick Lane) has written the screenplay with McQueen. Shame is produced by Iain Canning, currently riding high having produced The King’s Speech, who developed this new McQueen project with Film4. Canning produced McQueen’s first film Hunger, which also starred Fassbender as Irish Republican hunger striker Bobby Sands and won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2008.

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‘King’s Speech’ Producer Putting Money Into Terence Davies’ ‘Deep Blue Sea’

By TIM ADLER in London | Friday, 1 October 2010 09:51 UKTags: Fulcrum Media Finance, Movie Deals, Movies, Rachel Weisz, Terence Davies, The Deep Blue Sea, Tom Hiddleston, UK Film Funding, UK Tax Credit

EXCLUSIVE: Fulcrum Media Finance, the London- and Sydney-based film and TV financier, has closed its first wholly British deal. Rachel Weisz stars in Davies’ new screen version of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea. Shooting on the UK Film Council and Film4 backed project begins in November. Tom Hiddleston will play Weisz’s reprobate RAF pilot lover and Simon Russell Beale her stolid husband. Fulcrum is cash-flowing the UK tax credit, worth 20% of the budget. In the movie business, that’s as risk free as you can get.

The financier hopes to finance 24 UK projects a year. Fulcrum is co-owned by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, producers of Oscar-tipped The King’s Speech. Fulcrum offers to lend up to 95% of the value of the tax credit. Until now the financier has been financing either wholly Australian films or Australian/UK co-productions such as Oranges and Sunshine and Triangle. Canning tells me that UK producers should welcome working with a financier who’s a filmmaker too. Fulcrum says it will undercut banks such as Barclays and Coutts that offer this kind of finance. “As producers ourselves, we know filmmakers just want financiers to be straightforward with them and just get the job done,” Canning tells me. Read More »

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Working Title Remaking Little Mermaid

By TIM ADLER in London | Thursday, 8 July 2010 11:04 UKTags: Eric Fellner, Hanna, Joe Wright, The Little Mermaid, Working Title

Little_MermaidJoe Wright, who directed The Soloist for London-based Working Title, is developing a live-action feature of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. This adaptation, written by Abi Morgan (Brick Lane), has been particularly inspired by a production staged by The Little Angel Theatre Company using puppets. Wright’s father John Wright founded the theatre company. The project brings Wright back into the Working Title fold. Co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner gave Wright his first big break directing Pride and Prejudice, which he followed with Atonement. His most recent film, Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana, is currently in post-production.

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