THE BRIT 50 International ties


Whether they have overseas backing or links with fi lm-makers outside the UK, these savvy producers all operate with an international slant


AUTONOMOUS Andy Paterson Anand Tucker ARCHER STREET FILMS


Need to know Andy Paterson found- ed Archer Street with director-pro- ducer Anand Tucker in the wake of the duo’s 1998 hit Hilary And Jackie. There was further success in 2003 with Peter Webber’s Girl With A Pearl Earring, co-produced with Delux of Luxembourg, and Kevin Spacey’s 2004 drama Be- yond The Sea, produced alongside German outfi t Quality Interna- tional and Spacey’s Trigger Street Productions. Tucker recently di- rected Universal’s Leap Year, while Archer’s Screen Australia-backed father-and-son story Burning Man, starring Matthew Goode and Kerry Fox, is released next year. Key personnel Andy Paterson, Anand Tucker. Incoming Currently developing a feature adaptation of novelist/ comedian Danny Wallace’s BBC TV series How To Start Your Own Country and the long-gestating The Railway Man, a creative and fi nancial co-production with Aus- tralia. Paterson is also co-writing with his wife, Olivia Hetreed, an adaptation of Graham Greene’s Travels With My Aunt which has received development funding from the UK Film Council. Andy Paterson says “The pro- ducer’s job is to come up with projects the market doesn’t yet know it wants. I think we’ve had a pretty good run at that.” archerstreetfi lms@me.com


■ 42 Screen International December 15, 2010


Need to know Cat Villiers has forged a career in critically acclaimed in- ternational co-productions, de- veloping strong ties with French, Balkan and North African talent. After teaming with Cedomir Kolar on 1994 Venice Golden Lion- winner Before The Rain, Villiers rejoined the ASAP Films team (Kolar, producer Marc Baschet and director Danis Tanovic) on Oscar-winner No Man’s Land and more recently on Cirkus Colum- bia. Villiers’ credits also include John Hillcoat’s UK-Australia west- ern The Proposition and executive roles on Nigel Cole’s Saving Grace, Bernard Rose’s Ivans XTC and Emily Young’s Kiss Of Life. Key personnel Cat Villiers. Incoming Villiers is in produc- tion on Tamer El Said’s Cairo- set In The Last Days Of The City and on Sarajevo-based Faruk Sabanovic’s animated feature Birds Like Us. Autonomous will produce Tala Hadid’s The Nar- row Frame Of Midnight, which is set to shoot in Morocco, France, Turkey and Iraq and is develop- ing Danny Huston’s Tijuana-set- script Day Of The Dead. Cat Villiers says “I’m driven by stories about how other people live and which tell me about the world. I think fi lm, at its best, can help us cross borders, culture and language to understand our own humanity. ”


OPTIMUM RELEASING Bertrand Faivre THE BUREAU Cat Villiers


Need to know With a focus on the international market, The Bu- reau’s output combines projects produced in house, such as the forthcoming Late Bloomers with Isabella Rossellini and Wil- liam Hurt, and co-productions, such as Rachid Bouchareb’s London River. Set up by French- born, London-based Bertrand Faivre and London-born pro- ducing partner Soledad Gatti- Pascual, the company has plans to go more mainstream in 2011 with a horror fi lm in the works as well as Noel Clarke’s Anti Hero, which Faivre will produce for Film4. Key personnel Bertrand Faivre, Soledad Gatti-Pascual, Tristan Goligher, Matthieu de Braconier. Incoming The Bureau is in pre- production on Tom Shkolnik’s debut feature The Comedian, starring Edward Hogg and Jamie Ballard, which will shoot in Lon- don in February. Other upcoming projects include a London-set feature by Brendan Grant, A Mil- lion Miles An Hour. Bertrand Faivre says “We have a number of directors who we be- lieve in and who believe in us, and a good partnership with Film4. And we try to be more in- ternational than many other Brit- ish companies, which means our fi lms travel.” mail@thebureau.co.uk


Need to know Founder and former CEO Will Clarke helped steer UK distributor and StudioCanal-sub- sidiary Optimum towards greater production activity, recruiting former UK Film Council Develop- ment Fund chief Jenny Borgars to head production and in Octo- ber 2009 announcing a two-year co-fi nancing and co-production agreement with Big Talk, which also includes Film4. When Clarke departed earlier this year, Danny Perkins stepped up as CEO. Row- an Joffe’s Brighton Rock is released in February, while Optimum has also assisted in developing The Awakening, Rafta Rafta and At- tack The Block, all due for release through the company in 2011. Going forward, Optimum aims to develop four to six fi lms per year. Key personnel CEO Danny Per- kins, head of production Jenny Borgars, head of development Dan MacRae. Incoming Currently develop- ing Rowan Joffe’s adaptation of Steve Watson’s novel Before I Go To Sleep, and backing Big Talk’s cheerleading comedy Ascension Eagles. Danny Perkins says “We recognised there is a lot of talent here and we thought we could apply a market- led approach to production. As a company, we’ve always support- ed fi lm-makers with a vision.” info@optimumreleasing.com


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Danny Perkins


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