‘THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE IS AKIN TO A MOVING TARGET, AND DEFINING SUCH A RATIO IS A VAINGLORIOUS EFFORT’ MARKETPLACE: DOMESTIC VS INTERNATIONAL, p23


Kris Thykier PEAPIE FILMS


Need to know Kris Thykier was vice-chairman at the UK’s Freud Communications before moving into production as a partner in Matthew Vaughn’s MARV Films in 2007, where he produced Harry Brown and The Debt. He struck out on his own last year with Peapie Films. With an instinct for mar- ketable fare, Thykier is focusing on elevated genre material and developing relationships with tal-


ent on smaller titles before work- ing with them on bigger projects. Outside of Peapie, Thykier is pro- ducing Madonna’s W.E. and is ex- ecutive producing Ill Manors, the directorial debut of Ben Drew (aka rapper Plan B), made under Film London’s Microwave scheme. Key personnel Kris Thykier, Pip Williams. Incoming Projects in development include Devotchka, a Russia-set thriller with Harry Brown director Daniel Barber, which is at script stage; Trash, based on a book by Andy Mulligan; sexy suspense fi lm Karenfan, written by Geoff Bussetil; sex comedy Wingman; and psychological thriller The Sculptress And The Thief. Thykier says “I don’t see commer- cial as a pejorative term. I grew up on Nikita and Leon. There’s room for intelligent genre fare.” pip@peapie.co.uk


Gail Egan


POTBOILER PRODUCTIONS


Need to know Gail Egan is a quali- fi ed barrister who worked in cor- porate fi nance before setting up Potboiler in 2000 with the late Simon Channing Williams; they worked on fi lms including Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky and Vera Drake as well as The Constant Gardener and Brothers Of The Head. Egan joined forces in early 2009 with Andrea Calderwood’s Slate Films to work jointly on fu- ture projects. Also, Egan contin- ues to serve as executive producer on Leigh’s fi lms, including this year’s acclaimed Another Year. Potboiler is co-producing two John Le Carré adaptations with a new production outfi t which will launch in 2011.


Key personnel Gail Egan Incoming Potboiler’s Le Carré projects include The Mission Song, adapted by Neal Purvis and Rob Wade and to be directed by Su- sanna White; A Most Wanted Man to be adapted by Andrew Bovell and directed by Anton Corbijn; and Our Kind Of Traitor, adapted by Hossein Amini. In develop- ment are A Little Chaos, about a female gardener building one of the fountains at Versailles, writ- ten by Alison Deegan and to be di- rected by Alan Rickman (possibly shooting in 2011), Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestseller Half Of A Yel- low Sun, Dan Mazer’s comedy Stiff, an adaptation of Sarah Wa- ters’ The Little Stranger with Lu- cinda Coxon writing, and Richard Laxton’s Effi e about a Victorian- era scandal. Potboiler is also now fi nancing natural history 3D fi lm Distant Thunder, about elephants. Gail Egan says “We’re looking for great stories which have interna- tional appeal. We’re not pigeon- holed by budget or genre, and we can tell big international stories working with international talent as well.” info@potboiler.co.uk


PRODUCER ROLLCALL Other busy producers in the UK


work tirelessly to get their projects made, often in partnership with other producers and companies


Mark Herbert WARP FILMS


Need to know Sheffi eld-based Warp Films has come a long way since producer Mark Herbert set up the company in his gar- den shed in 1999 with funding from NESTA. Richard Ayoade’s Submarine was one of the hits of Toronto, while 2011 will see the release of Paddy Considine’s hot- ly anticipated debut feature Tyr- annosaur — the fi lm premieres at the Sundance Film Festival — as well as a possible second TV series of Shane Meadows’ This Is England, this time set in the 1990s. Warp boasts a fi rst-look deal with Optimum Releasing and Film4 and the company is now making waves on the inter- national scene, having just fi n- ished editing its fi rst Australian feature, Snowtown. Key personnel Mark Herbert, Rob- in Gutch, Peter Carlton. Incoming Next up are Ringan Ledwidge’s ‘warped rom-com’ Magnetism, As It Occurs In The Human Form, which is currently being cast, and Corinna Faith’s horror fi lm This Little Piggy. TV projects in development include a supernatural drama series for Channel 4, an animation series for the BBC, as well as feature projects such as Olly Blackburn’s modifi ed car racing fi lm Modify Or Die and Tom Shankland’s war fi lm Destroyer. Mark Herbert says “After the suc- cess of Submarine, we are prov- ing that we can handle bigger budgets. We are going to keep the integrity and the Warp feel but we are going to try and make fi lms that work for the market, which are authored and fresh and original.” production@warpfi lms.com 


s


Julie Baines Dan Films (Triangle) Davina Belling (I Am David) Timothy Burrill (The Ghost Writer) Gina Carter Sprout Pictures (Bright Young Things) Jonathan Cavendish Caveman Films (All Good Children) Company Pictures (Mischief Night) Arvind Ethan David Slingshot (The Infi del) Christopher Granier-Deferre Poisson Rouge Pictures (The Hide) Gayle Griffi ths Wild Horses Film Company (Archipelago) Caroline Hewitt (Bright Star) Norma Heyman (Mrs Henderson Presents) Richard Holmes Big Rich Films (Resistance) Keith Griffi ths and Simon Field Illuminations Films (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) Jon Finn (Hunky Dory) Robert Jones Jonescompany Productions (Centurion) Bill Kenwright (Chéri) Martin Pope and Michael Rose Magic Light Pictures (Chico & Rita) Stewart Mackinnon Headline Pictures (Quartet) Ileen Maisel Amber Entertainment (Paris Connections) Lynda Myles (The Commitments) Pippa Harris Neal Street Productions (Starter For 10) Kate Ogborn (The Unloved) Arabella Page Croft (Legacy) Uberto Pasolini Redwave Films (Bel Ami) Marion Pilowsky (My Last Five Girlfriends) Cowboy Films (The Last King Of Scotland) Paul Raphael Starfi eld Productions (Under The Bombs) David Furnish and Elton John Rocket Pictures (Gnomeo & Juliet) Tracey Scoffi eld Rainmark Films (The Special Relationship) Tracey Seaward (War Horse) Miriam Segal (Good) Gillian Berrie Sigma Films (Citadel) Adrian Sturges Picture Farm (The Disappearance Of Alice Creed) Julia Taylor-Stanley (The Tempest) Gareth Wiley Phoenix Wiley (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)


ADVERT December 15, 2010 Screen International 45 ■


»


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17