Last year I held an evening seminar with Stuart Hazeldine, UK screenwriter and now director. He has been very busy in the last 12 months with 2 films that he co-wrote being released, ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ and ‘Knowing’. At the time of the seminar, Stuart was in prep for his first feature as a director, a taught, single location thriller called EXAM… (you can listen to the podcast on screenwriting here).
Over several conversations with him, Gareth the producer and Mark Talbot Butler the editor, they took me on board as an Associate Producer, to make use of all the contacts and experience Gone Fishing had given me, on top of prior experience with the features I had made. At the time they were planning on shooting HD, but after several chats and Stuart watching Gone Fishing, they switched to 35mm. And it really shows. It was a unique film in many ways, set entirely in one location and shot in story order, from page one of the script as the narrative takes place in real time, 24 style…
I was unable to attend the cast and crew private premiere at BAFTA as I was in Australia at time, but we all get the chance to see it next month as it receives its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 19th as part of their Night Moves strand for genre films. GREAT NEWS!
They have a sales company on board too, Independent, and I have been helping Stuart and Gareth through sales delivery too, which could have easily turned into a very expensive and fraught experience – it was in a meeting with the sales company that I realised I needed to host a one day seminar about making delivery of a film as its such a minefield – this seminar is taking place on June 7th at Ealing Studios – more info here.
So well done Stuart, Gareth and of course Mark Talbot Butler, my crazy old mate who edited The Runner (my first feature film) all those years ago!
Here’s the EXAM sales pitch from the one sheet…
Tensions rise as the clock steadily descends towards zero and one candidate after the other is expelled for breaking the rules. In the course of this exam each candidate must decide how far they are willing to go to win the ultimate job . . .
Blimey!
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
I have been working on festival plans today, and specifically on the world premiere. Cannes is looming and it would be great to get into competition there and give them the world premiere. I have been reliably informed that if we have already done French subtitles, that will work in our favour – and so today, I have been figuring out how to get subtitles onto a DVD. It’s actually not too hard. 
Over the last few days I have received over 100 congratulatory emails. Thank you to everyone who wrote, it was touching, and also great for other cast and crew members to hear just how much you appreciated the design, costumes, makeup, image, music, sound… I don’t have space for them all, so here are a few…
Saturday 12 January 2008 was a day to remember. The seminar should be saved as a template for all future film making seminars. That was "The" Seminar... Save it!!! Nothing but the love of movies could have prepared us better for such a magnificent premiere of a well crafted story in pictures, sound and music on to the silver screen – all in ten minutes, a showing that was so complete, it felt like it was the viewing of a full-length feature. With the benefit of persistence of vision, I declare, it was a complete success. And thanks to your hard work Chris, you made it all happen.
What a journey you have been on. The standing ovation you received last night was a sign of the support you have from a huge number of industry colleagues and companies who believe that the talent and spirit you demonstrate in your film making is passionate and unstoppable. Although I played a very small part in the making of “Gone Fishing,” I was very proud to be sat in BAFTA being blown away by the superb surround mix that Andrew Stirk created at Videosonics. I hope that you will consider that this film is just a stepping stone on the way to greater things and I hope that you remain as focused as you have always been in your hunger for great movies. I will always find it a great inspiration and honour to be working with you on any of your projects. 
An Epic journey, with dividends for all involved way above our collective expectations. A short film to watch for a BAFTA and Oscar 2009! 
The night was a great success, and it makes you realise the sheer number of individuals involved (especially as I guess not everyone was there). Sophie, my fiancée had a great time, and really enjoyed the film. She was particularly impressed with the sound (and music) and quality of the picture - it does look beautiful. For me, the one shot that really stands out is that initial shot just before the opening credits tracking back from Old Bill surrounded by photographs - very powerful. We also met your mother, which was a great honour, and she was, of course, extremely proud of you and your latest film. So I wish you all the best with your bid for the festivals, and of course, the Oscars! 
who didn’t, I know came from some filming work and did not have the chance to get changed. To make such an effort made the event extra special and memorable.
The lights dimmed and we showed the trailer from Kodak, one of our major and very generous sponsors. The lights came up and I climbed the steps to the stage and was hit by a deafening wall of cheers! I was quite unprepared for that level of encouragement and quite humbled. For a moment I paused, a tear in my eye, a frog in my throat, but I pulled it back together… I had a speech to deliver, even though right now,
it was a piece of paper shaking in my hand! 
But I was particularly mortified to realise, as soon as I saw her after the screening, that I neglected to acknowledge my very good friend who I have known for years, Catherine Arton, our casting director. Catherine put in more work than any other single crew member on Gone Fishing, working tirelessly for months to find the right cast, working with sometimes very difficult agents, with no budget, in fact spending her own money! So Cathy, I am sorry, you know you are a superstar and that this film could not have been made without you!
To see the movie projected was awesome. It simply looked jaw dropping. All Vernon’s hard work (and the camera team, the Labs and Midnight Transfer) really paid off. The sound I think is what most people were surprised by though, just how BIG it was, much like a huge action movie! Thats all down to Ro Heap’s on set sound, Eddie’s editing and Videosonics mixing, all of which was first rate. 
and hope that we can all share that the standing ovation – it was really an outpouring of emotion for us all. This movie belongs to everyone involved.
My final thoughts? For me, this premiere will be remembered forever. It goes down as one of the top ten moments of my life so far, and it’s quite near the top too. 
Blimey! Blimey! And thrice blimey!
During the morning, we worked our way through several drafts of the script, getting feedback as we went. What was interesting is that most people were providing the same script feedback that we got during script development. Mid morning, casting director Catherine Arton came on stage and shared with us all, her knowledge of how casting a film like this can work. Then we read some more drafts and got a bit more intimate with the story. Everyone was in broad agreement that the extensive script development was improving the story no end. I even spoke to some guests who shared with me that they could now see clearly why their last short film had not worked as well as it could have, as they didn’t develop the script enough. It just wasn’t ready for them to shoot.
In the afternoon we worked through the storyboards, and also invited cinematographer Vernon Layton to the stage for a chat. As usual, Vernon was tremendously entertaining and insightful, and getting access to a DP of his experience and creative ability is worth its weight in gold. What shone through for me with Vernon was the passion to create something that really touches people’s hearts. His love of the art is infectious and it felt like a breath of fresh air. Today I have received an enormous amount of emails from people who also felt inspired by Vern’s passion and energy. It’s great that people at the top of their game are prepared to share their knowledge so openly. Thank you Vern!
responsible for so much that is terrific about this film, and to hear him talk was wonderful. I think the editorial journey we went on was as revealing as the script development for the group. 
Today is the day….No more procrastinating. It’s all ready, or as ready as it could be…
One day to go…
The last few days have been a whirlwind of preparations for both the seminar and premiere of Gone Fishing on Saturday. Believe it or not, with only two days to go, the film is not yet complete! Right now, it is being de-spotted by Tom, at Midnight Transfer. We shot on Gone Fishing on film, and film is a mechanical process where occasional flecks of dirt can find their way onto the image. The process of de-spotting paints out these minor blemishes. It’s not a terribly hard process most of the time (outside of major negative damage), BUT it’s really painstaking… So a moment to consider Tom as he does this essential but often un-thanked task to deliver to us all, an image that is superb. So thank you Tom, we all appreciate your excellence and hard work!
I have just mailed out to the Seminar and Premiere guests for Gone Fishing… We still have some places left so if you want to come, 
The last couple of days have been spent organising the premiere. The tickets have arrived from the printers, and they look great! Steph Wrate, who also worked in the production team on ‘Gone Fishing’, has been calling everyone to make sure they are coming. I have been working primarily on the Masterclass that will be taking place during the day. Running an event like this is almost as much work as making a film, there are so many little things to iron out, and it’s so much harder when you have no money to do it. 
I have just sent off the premiere invites to the printers, and hope to get them back before Xmas. We have all sorts of stuff planned for the evening, and I just hope we have the time and energy to get it all done! It’s staggering how much is involved. 
Today I am working on the premiere (set for Jan 12th 2008). I just made a call to BAFTA to check everything is OK – and they have, believe it or not, double booked the theatre! It’s a good job my spidey senses were tingling on this, and I rang to double, sorry no, triple check it was all OK. So now we may be moving the venue! We hope we can get this resolved, and frankly, I believe we will. So fingers crossed that it all stays put at BAFTA. 
Great great news! Producer Ivan Clements has managed to get BAFTA for our World Premiere for Gone Fishing, and also for the one day seminar about how we made the film. So that means if you have the £100 film makers package, you can come to the one day seminar at BAFTA, then come to the premiere in the evening! We also got an Ad in the BAFTA magazine, and here is the text below. If you know anyone who would like to attend this one day seminar and then come to the world premiere, please let them know as seating is limited…All other people who chose to contribute will be welcome at the premiere.
