My crazy idea

Hi all,

I've had a crazy or brilliant idea, depending on which way you look at it.

There's a book I want to adapt to a screenplay- and shoot it in the UK, Ireland and perhaps a bit in Venice.

Having NO experience in filming in Great Britain, I would like to hear what those of you who make films there think are the biggest issues/obstacles.

Also, should this actually pan out, who here would be interested in working on it?

Being a big dreamer, I am hoping to attach two name actors to the project, one of whom would greatly aid in gaining studio access and location access in Europe.

There are many many steps between the genesis of this idea and actually getting all the ducks in a row to make this film. Just looking for some brainstorming.

Thanks
 
...sounds great, of course, you know the one to ask is our man in the U.K., clive is a wealth of information....

...if I can brainstorm with you, I am all for trying to come up with something that will be of assistance....

--spinner :cool:
 
The European perspective seems to be lacking here.... Anyone? Since it's Clive's birthday I'll give him till tomorrow to bug him. :)
 
I can help you out with any info you might need with regards shooting in either the UK or almost anywhere in Europe. The only place I'd be working blind is Ireland (Which is ironic as my family originates there).

There aren't any particular obstacles to shooting in the UK that you wouldn't find in the USA. I suppose the only thing you might find hard is if you decided to shoot on an NTSC format because technical support is going to be harder (but not impossible) to obtain if your camera goes down.

You'll want to look at your production insurance fairly early in the planning stages, as my experience is that the more countries you got on your policy the wilder it gets.

Another thing you might want to look at is whether you are going to cast/crew over here or whether you are going to cast/crew in the USA and move people around with you.

I've got pro-equipment houses I deal with and it would be easy to find out what level of support they could offer.

I think Venice can be quite a tricky place to shoot in. I've friends in Croatia (just an hour away from Venice) who do lots of business in there; they may be able to make some inquiries. The other thing you might want to consider is relocating that part of the shoot to elsewhere in Europe. I guess it depends on whether you actually need a shot of someone in St Peter's Square, or whether you just need that "European" look. If it's the later there are other countries and cities where your moeny will go further and life can be made easier.

Email me if you want to get into specifics. I'll do what I can to help.
 
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Well.... if not shooting on film, but rather video, isn't the PAL format a better origination for transfer to film than NTSC anyway? As it's framerate is much closer, being off by only 1 frame per second versus 5.97? :)
 
Clive, Thanks for the offer. I have gotten a first response from the publisher on the rights to the story- they're looking into it.

I would happily fake European locations... I need someplace to be Picadilly Circus, an English manor house & grounds, a seaside village, and that pesky Venetian pallazzo. But we are FAR from location scouting at this time.

Unless I fall woefully short of my goals for this project, it will be shot on super 16 (or 35 mm if I get increadibly lucky). I would like to mix and match crew. There are some very talented people here that I'd like to make sure are 'in on it', but I would love to employ as many English and other Europeans as possible.

Thanks for the tip on insurance. If I could keep it all in one country- the UK for instance- I'd love to.

Do you, or anyone you know have a connection for Shepperton Studios? I think they may have several of the locales I am looking for on site. Didn't Branagh shoot "Love's Labours Lost" entirely at Shepperton?

Thanks again guys. :)
 
Do you, or anyone you know have a connection for Shepperton Studios?

I don't, but it wouldn't be that hard to talk to them.

Of the stuff you've listed only Picadilly Circus would present problems. It's absolute the heart of London and teaming with people 24/7. It connects Shaftsbury Avenue (Theatre district), Regent Street/Oxford Street (The primary shopping centre) and Picadilly (Mayfair posh stuff) I can't see any chance at all of doing a controlled shoot there. And if you could it, it would be massively expensive.

I know you were saying that this is an out of print book, is this a period piece? If it is one of the studios is going to be your best option.
 
Ah the UK.... what can I say.

Crap weather. Nice locations. Dreadful film comisioning bodies. Long story...

You'll find that, as a whole, the Uk is far easier to working in than the states. Less permits, nicer police departments to work with. Again not sure if this is the same in Ireland however but appart from one incident with a police armed response unit a few years ago... never had any issues!

We have a few good tax breaks as well... but yeah if the projects interesting i'd love to take a shot at it when it comes together.
 
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