‘I DON’T BELIEVE ANYONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT AN AUDIENCE WANTS TO SEE, BUT I DO KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SEE’ THE BRIT 50: HOLLYWOOD CONNECTIONS, p34


» NUMBER 9 FILMS Kevin Loader FREE RANGE FILMS


Need to know Kevin Loader is expe- rienced at working with singular talents, including Sam Taylor- Wood (Nowhere Boy), Armando Iannucci (In The Loop), Hanif Kureishi and his Free Range co-founder Roger Michell (The Mother and Venus). Loader set up Free Range Films with Michell in 1996, initially to develop Captain Corelli’s Mandolin for Working Title. Both also work on projects outside Free Range: Loader is producing Andrea Arnold’s Wuth- ering Heights, his third fi lm with Ecosse. Key personnel Kevin Loader, Roger Michell, Lisa Williams. Incoming Hyde Park On Hudson, a 1939-set fi lm about Franklin D Roosevelt, written by Richard Nelson, which Michell will direct, and Iannucci’s Out The Window, a London-set slapstick caper movie in development with BBC Films and the UK Film Council. Also planned for 2011 is a Michell project based on Hanif Kureishi’s original script Weekend, to star Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan. Free Range’s Lisa Williams is


developing a slate including Two And Three, a project written by Jack Thorne to be directed by Tom Harper with Ray Winstone and Rafe Spall attached, and Cherries, about teenage conscription, to be directed by Noel Clarke. Kevin Loader says “We’ve always taken the view to keep the over- head as low as possible, and keep the infrastructure as low as pos- sible. Otherwise you’ll end up having to support that overhead. And unless you’re doing televi- sion alongside features, that’s al- most impossible.” kevinloader@freerangefi lms.eu


Need to know Set up in 2002 by stalwarts Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, Number 9 is going from strength to strength, with Nigel Cole’s Made In Dagen- ham taking almost $6.3m (£4m) in the UK. Next year looks set to be big for the company with James Marsh’s Strangers sched- uled to shoot in January and buzz surrounding David Nicholls’ ad- aptation of Great Expectations. The company has 12 fi lms in development and is also looking at ways to take its fi lm catalogue into TV and theatre. Key personnel Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen. Incoming Conor McPherson’s ad- aptation of Taichi Yamada’s nov- el Strangers will shoot early next year, with Marsh directing the ghost story. The fi lm is backed by


Elizabeth Karlsen


the UK Film Council and Film4. Also in development is a project with long-time collaborator Neil Jordan, an adaptation of the novel Skippy Dies, set in a Dublin school. Stephen Woolley says “Subject mat- ter is very important to us and it’s an organic process.” Elizabeth Karlsen says “We try to keep the bar high and make sure there’s a certain standard, no mat- ter what kind of fi lms they are.” info@number9fi lms.co.uk


David Thompson ORIGIN PICTURES Stephen Woolley


Need to know Former BBC Films head David Thompson founded Origin Pictures in 2008. The out- fi t has a fi rst-look development deal with BBC Fiction for both fi lm and television productions, and partners with Fremantle Media Enterprises for TV distri- bution. Producer and fi nancier Anant Singh is a backer of Origin through Distant Horizon, which fi nanced the company’s The First Grader directed by Justin Chad- wick, and divided territory sales with Goldcrest. Key personnel David Thompson, head of development Ed Rubin. Incoming The Awakening, a Stu- dioCanal and Optimum-backed thriller starring Rebecca Hall is in post, while BBC TV mini- series The Crimson Petal & The White is in post. Ronan Bennett and Duncan Campbell’s buzz script Granny Made Me An Anar- chist, about a Glasgow teenager’s mission to assassinate General Franco, is being developed with Film4 and the UK Film Council, while Phyllida Lloyd is on board to direct Yunus about Bangla- deshi economist Muhammad Yunus. Origin is also developing Daisy Donovan’s Finishing School and an adaptation of William Boyd’s novel Ordinary Thunder- storms while Justin Chadwick is attached to direct a retelling of Jamaica Inn. David Thompson says “Gone are the days of just thinking about the UK market. You need fresh ideas that travel internationally. Our mantra is to deliver strong, intense stories with high emotion and to be able to fi nd gaps in the market.” info@originpictures.co.uk


December 15, 2010 Screen International 31 ■


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