Page 14 - AFM 2001 DIARY_full done

PAGE12 BERLIN • LOSANGELES • MILAN • FOYER • CANNES • TOKYO • LONDON DIARY
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moving ahead under the auspices of Leavesden Developments, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of any another DKH hold- ing, Millennium Group Ltd.
As studio man- ager with Eon and
now under the new
regime, Dark admits
he “just happened tobetheguyinthe
driving seat when the present owners came along and bought the place.” Long before moving fulltime to Leavesden, Dark had first cut his film teeth in production eventually gradu- ating to assistant director. Then he “flipped over” to special effects spending the next 10 years “playing with boys’ toys, blowing things up” on, among other things, a couple of Bonds as well as part of the Oscar- winning SFX team on Aliens.
Out in Spain he helped create a new studio facility near Marbella for the ill-fated BBC soap, El Dorado: “My father’s original idea was to do a sort of Dallas/Dynasty with the emphasis on the glitzy and glamourous. The BBC wanted Eastenders in the sun. The great thing from my point of view was that we took over a green field site in the middle of nowhere and converted it into huge permanent sets within one hundred days. It was a totally Spanish crew, no manana, just hard, professional work.”
Leavesden in leafy Herts - may not be quite as sunny as his old Spanish sojourn but its specs are sure- ly more spectacular. Dark’s own office is in the aerodrome’s one-time control
tower, itself part of an eight-acre pro- duction block under just one roof. This allows cast and crew to move from workshop to stage, dressing room to stage, office to canteen with- out having to face either the elements or prying eyes - a distinct advantage for productions which demand tight security and a closed set. The com- plex also houses fully equipped make- up and wardrobe facilities, dressing rooms and gym. Outside there are some 100 acres of backlot - reputedly
the world’s biggest - boasting the added advan- tage of 180 degrees of clear horizon.
“It’s probably the best place I’ve
ever made a movie,” purred Phantom Menace’s producer Rick McCallum. “We were able to shoot and build at the
same time, effortlessly and seamlessly.” The facility’s huge square footage was converted to 10 stages and 60 sets, plus extensive areas for floor effects, special creature effects and costume manufac- turing. It even had its own rigging and fire departments.
As well as Goldeneye and The Phantom Menace , Leavesden’s roll call includes Titanic (pre-production design work), Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Onegin (a key exterior sequence of ice skating on the River Neva outside St Petersburg) and An Ideal Husband along with television productions like Alien Love Triangle, Touching Evil II, The Alchemist and Silent Witness - not to mention music videos (Jamiroquai and Smashing Pumpkins) and commer- cials (Carlsberg Export, Nestlé Gold Blend etc).
Much more recently it has been host to two ambitious new produc- tions - Channel 4’s true-life drama, Longitude, and Tim Burton’s all-star period fantasy, Sleepy Hollow, co- starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson and Christopher Walken. Nose about inside a former hangar at one end of the aerodrome and you’ll suddenly
LEAVESDENFLYINGHIGH
Photos top: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Jake Lloyd in
Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace; above: Leavesden’s MD Daniel Dark