Page 29 - Fujifilm Exposure_5 The Wings Of The Dove_ok

THE FILM CONSORTIUM
THE FILM CONSORTIUM
PRESENTS
THREE NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDED BRITISH FILM FRANCHISES, SHARING A TOTAL OF £92.25 MILLION PRODUCTION CASH OVER THE NEXT SIX YEARS, WERE ANNOUNCED AT THE 50TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL LAST MAY. A YEAR ON, WE REVEAL HOW ONE OF THESE NEW UK ‘MINI STUDIOS’ IS RESPONDING TO AN EXCITING CHALLENGE.
O f the three franchises unveiled by Heritage Minister Chris Smith on the French Riviera last year at Cannes, The Film Consortium seems to have stolen an early movie-making march on DNA Films and Pathe Productions, the other two
British recipients of Lottery cash. Though only officially launched on September 1, the outfit has already completed two new prestigious Anglo- French co-productions and is absolut- ley determined, according to energetic production head Colin Vaines, to fulfil its stated intention of adding another brace of films within the first 12
months of operation.
The Film Consortium, which can
call on up to £30.25m of Lottery monies, comprises four already well- established British shareholder pro- duction companies - Skreba, Greenpoint, Parallax and Scala. Virgin Cinemas also has a financial interest, there’s gap funding from a French bank, Cofiloisirs, and the Consortium itself has a significant stake in The Sales Company. With a reported, though as yet unconfirmed, UK the- atrical distribution deal pending with UIP as well as advanced plans for TV and video tie-ups, not to mention an in-house marketing person, it’s clear the Consortium means business on a genuinely broad basis.
This ambitious recipe, involving production, marketing, international sales and distribution, appears to be the perfect riposte to the criticism which has to date dogged Lottery involvement in the British film indus- try. Depending on whom you believe, there could be up to 50 completed films perpetually stacked on the shelf from hell like various canine strays in
the celluloid equivalent of a home for unwanted dogs.
Expect no such ignominy for The Film Consortium’s first two forays into production. Hideous Kinky stars dou- ble Oscar nominee Kate Winslet and newcomer Said Taghmaoui. Directed by Gillies Mackinnon from Esther Freud’s novel, it’s the colourful story of a young mother and her daughters adrift on the hippie trail in 70s Morocco. The Lost Son is described as a ‘dark, Chandleresque thriller’ follow- ing the fortunes of a world-weary French detective (Daniel Auteuil) liv- ing in London. Director is Chris Menges, already winner of two Hollywood Oscars for cinematography (The Killing Fields, The Mission).
According to Vaines, who came to his new job after spells as, variously, a journalist, administrator of the National Film Development Fund and International Emmy award-winning producer, both films are ‘very simple’, very emotional and take you into another world altogether. It’s merely coincidental that our first two have a French dimension. Both are absolutely British films but we’re determined to do stuff that’s not UK-centric to an insane degree, ones that will take in wider issues.”
On day one of operation, Vaines and his chief executive, film lawyer Kate Wilson, had the exciting if knotty problem of deciding which films to ‘greenlight’ first: “All our shareholders had films in various stages of develop- ment. Hideous Kinky, with Greenpoint and BBC involvement, was already advanced enough to look at the script seriously. By the time we officially got going on September 1, it was up and running. The Lost Son came via Scala and already had French money and Daniel Auteuil in place when we decid- ed to press ahead with it.”
Just in case producers think that The Film Consortium’s Lottery hand- out is simply a closed-shop bonus for its shareholders, Vaines is anxious to disabuse them of that notion: “They have a first-look deal with us but we can say ‘no’ to shareholder projects ... and already have.
“They know ours must be a stand- alone operation. The idea is that we should, if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor, be able to arm-wrestle with them on a level playing field.
“It’s proving to be a genuinely constructive relationship. Kate and I can unilaterally put up to £750,000 Lottery money into a film without Board approval. Anything over that has to be signed off by the Board. On the other hand, and I believe quite rightly, the Board cannot comment on each other’s projects.
“The deal really is this. We can draw on £30.25m over six years - that’s effectively £4m a year - and there is also another £3.25m total available for development as wells as prints and advertising. We can put Lottery money into a film up to a third of the budget, to a ceiling of £2m per film. Our origi- nal business plan was to make four films in the first year then incremen- tally increase from that point on. After year three, there’ll be a review to see we’re doing everything we said we would in the bid document then carry on from there. The intention is that if we’re successful, it will eventually become a ‘stand alone’ company no longer having Lottery cash.
“In an ideal world what we’re real- ly looking for is for people to come to us with some money already on the table and we can then see how we fit into that picture. Basically, we’re offer- ing a fast-track to the Lottery money. To make a single application takes three or four months at present. We
can move much faster than that if we’re interested in the project. Obviously we charge an executive pro- ducer fee for our involvement but what we negotiate are extremely good deals for all concerned.
“Theoretically, there’s lots more money out there. In principle, I don’t think you are necessarily going to see lots more films being made. What’s happening is that people are becoming much more cautious about the films they want to invest in. As everyone knows it’s really all about distribution.
“How are we answerable? If the films come out and no one’s interest- ed, that will speak for itself. The idea is to use the money to create an ongoing business. Part of our set-up is a large group of shareholders and producers who’ve never been able to follow through before. They’ve simply stum- bled from film to film without any sense of continuity. We have a real opportunity to do films which are ambitious, have an artistic quality, yet are also part of an ongoing business.
“We have a commercial brief but we are also trying actively to cultivate new British talent. However, we are not simply going to produce films for the sake of it,” stated Vaines.
“As far as I’m concerned I like films with emotional stories with a real sense of cinema about them. I have read a lot of decent scripts - more than 350 to date - but they weren’t neces- sarily ones that I nor Kate felt passion- ately about. We’re not in the business of just bunging in a bit of money then hoping for the best. That’s not what we are about.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Profiles of both DNA Films and P at h e P r o d u c t i o n s w i l l ap p e ar i n future issues of EXPOSURE.