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South West Screen's iFeatures, delivered in partnership with BBC Films and Bristol City Council, is a micro-studio initiative for the development and production of high quality low-budget films.
Headed up by BAFTA‐winning producer Christopher Moll, the driving force behind Liverpool’s 2008 Digital Departures micro-budget scheme which produced Terence Davis’s Of Time and The City and Lindy Heymann’s Kicks, iFeatures launched in October 2009, attracting more than 550 applications from writer/director/producer teams across the UK.
12 teams were selected for initial development by an experienced industry panel of producers, directors, distributors and acquisition executives including Julian Temple, Sarah Gavron and Rebecca O’Brien. Following an intensive period of script development, early casting and locations work, and distribution and marketing advice, these were narrowed down to six which moved into full development, with further support and training as well as mentoring from the likes of Simon Beaufoy, Jesse Armstrong, Justin Chadwick and Paul Andrew Williams.
The final three films were greenlit for production in Bristol in late 2010 / early 2011 on budgets of £300,000, and each have a theatrical release later this year. They are:
In The Dark Half
A chilling ghost story set in Bristol’s southern suburbs and the countryside just beyond, In The Dark Half is an emotional story about love, grief and redemption, which follows the haunting of a teenage girl. Its production team includes the former writer-in-residence at Bristol Old Vic, Lucy Catherine, who has also written for Being Human, and director Alastair Siddons, whose debut feature-length break-dancing documentary Turn it Loose premiered at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival, attracting strong commercial and critical acclaim. The highly experienced Margaret Matheson (Skins and Sleep Furiously) produces for Bard Entertainments. In The Dark Half is co-financed by Film Agency For Wales, and co-produced and co-financed by Matador Pictures.
Eight Minutes Idle
A twisted romantic comedy set against the nocturnal coming and goings at a Bristol call centre, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name by Matt Thorne. For the script he has teamed up with Nicholas Blincoe, another well-respected novelist and co-founder with Thorne of the New Puritans literary movement. The film will be directed by Mark Simon Hewis, a BBC New Filmmaker finalist and multi award-winning shorts director and Sarah Cox, whose company ArthurCox delivered the BAFTA-winning animation Mother of Many earlier this year, will produce. Eight Minutes Idle is co-financed by the UK Film Council, and co-produced and co-financed by Matador Pictures.
Flying Blind
Flying Blind is headed up by an all-female team which includes Kasia Klimkiewicz, a young Polish director whose short, Hanoi Warsaw has just been nominated for Best Short at this year’s European Film Awards, and writer, Caroline Harrington, whose credits include the recent dramatisation of Beyond Black by 2009 Man Booker Award winner Hilary Mantel. A thrilling mix of state secrets, race, politics and loyalty with a passionate physical love story at its heart, Flying Blind will be produced by Alison Sterling for Ignition Films, whose most recent short film Turning premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival and came to Encounters in November. Flying Blind is co-produced and co-financed by Matador Pictures.
The BBC has acquired the UK Free TV rights to all three films, and ContentFilm International has taken on worldwide sales for the slate.
iFeatures aims to encourage collaboration between local talent and the nation’s brightest filmmakers, as well as discovering the stories that capture the essence of the city of Bristol and its people.
To find out more or get involved, visit www.ifeatures.co.uk
iFeatures INNOVATE - call for applications
In January 2011, iFeatures INNOVATE opened its call for tenders for digital, marketing and advertising professionals based in the South West of England, looking for experts to collaborate with the various iFeatures filmmaking teams throughout the production process in creating and implementing initial audience engagement strategies for each of the films. Awards of £15,000 per film are available to support a range of innovative ideas which make the very best use of online, mobile and interactive tools and services to identify and connect with potential audiences.
Deadline for applications is 1 February 2011. For more information and to download the guidelines and application forms, click here.
You can network with over 5,000 members of the creative media industries through our cluster groups
We can help your business attend major industry events from Barcelona to Singapore
Previous recipients of our Lottery funding have won Baftas and sold their films to major US broadcasters
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South West Screen | St Bartholomews Court
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(t) 0117 952 9977 (f) 0117 952 9988
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