Directed by Shane Meadows
Written by: Shane Meadows
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Production Problems in Film 4
Production Problems
Film 4s biggest problem was competing for cinema space with multinational film companies.
In 2001, the company suffered a major box office flop, after Charlotte Gray lost them a massive £5.7 million. In the same year Film 4 put out 14 films, yet only accounted for 0.7% of the UK box office market, they were struggling.
A complete relaunch took place in 2006. Around a quarter of all films shown were british and they were broken up by advertisements for the first time. The company left pay TV and went onto Freeview.
History of Film 4/ Channel 4
History
Channel 4 become the fourth terrestrial channel in 1982. It was known for making and showing a range of “cutting edge” materials that has not been seen before by audiences on any other channel ( the BBC, BBC2, ITV).
Having british films made for the channel proved very successful and again the films generally appealed to very different
audiences. This is proved due to the companies 25 years in running.
Having a synergy between Film 4 and channel 4 was hugely successful, the companies didn’t have to depend on films alone, they had money from advertising on the channel coming in as well.
The synergy came in handy for Film 4, in knowing that they were guaranteed and TV premiere, which meant that they could take more risks in the content of their films than that of the mainstream films.
Cost wise Channel 4 typically had about £500-£600, this was a lot less than the more mainstream films of the time which usually had up to £4 million.
Important people
David Rose the commissioning editor for fiction on channel 4 since the inception. From 1992, David Aukin took over.
Tessa Ross runs the department of drama on channel 4.
Film 4 Slumdog Millionaire
A recent major success from Film 4.
The company also joined up with Celador Productions, the company behind Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which of course plays a crucial part of the narrative of the film.
Producer:Christian Colson - Produced at least 7 major productions with 2 more in development.
Director : Danny Boyle - Directed another Film 4 production, a very succesful 'Trainspotting', this could perhaps be the reasons he was chosen to direct again.
Writers : Simon Beaufoy - Written up to 14 productions, from TV to Screenplay. Screen wrote Slumdog Millionaire based on original novel Q and A but Vikas Swarup
Vikas Swarup - Hasn't written any other major or minor production. Wrote the original book Q and A.
Composer : A.R Rahman - Composed over 100 productions. Soundtracked up to 47 productions
Casting: There were no major A listers,therefore we can assume the budget was perhaps quite low.
The casting process took Boyle and Colson all over the US, Canada, the UK and India in search of the right actors that could deliver a convincing performance in English and also fit across the three ages of the story – 7, 13, and 18.
It also brought them to an Indian casting director, Loveleen Tandan.
Budget: Around $15 million.
Locations: Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
ND Studios, Karjat, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
One of the main problems faced by the team was finding locations and being granted access. It was a logistical challenge for the location scouts and support from the team’s Indian connections was vital
Develepment from Book to Film: The idea for Slumdog Millionaire began when head of film and drama at channel 4 Tessa Ross received a call from Film4's book scout Kate Sinclair. Sinclair said that she had read a gripping story and even thought it was yet to be published Ross immediatly optioned it.
Ross then set up meeting with directors, writers and prodcuers, and spoke to Simon Beaufoy whom she was very keen to work with, and he came on board straight away. Ross suggested that, although the book was difficult to convert into a screenplay, she felt Beaufoy had the skill and experience to do it. Beaufoy believed that most Western cinemagoers had not previously experienced the side of India that Swarup’s book explores. The setting and the transformation from rags to riches is very much the hook of the story.
The most difficult thing in converting the book to screen play was the fact that the book was slit into about 12 short stories, it had no real narrative.
When the script was in good enough shape to take to a director, the team’s number one choice was Danny Boyle. “We sat down and asked ourselves who would be the best person in the world to direct this material and just thought ‘Danny Boyle!,” Colson recalls. “We sent it to him, he read it and said ‘Count me in’,” says Colson. “It was that easy.”
Another problem that the crew faced was trying to get control in such a out of control place as Mumbai. Eventually they just had to go with it and luckily it payed off.
The company also joined up with Celador Productions, the company behind Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which of course plays a crucial part of the narrative of the film.
Producer:Christian Colson - Produced at least 7 major productions with 2 more in development.
Director : Danny Boyle - Directed another Film 4 production, a very succesful 'Trainspotting', this could perhaps be the reasons he was chosen to direct again.
Writers : Simon Beaufoy - Written up to 14 productions, from TV to Screenplay. Screen wrote Slumdog Millionaire based on original novel Q and A but Vikas Swarup
Vikas Swarup - Hasn't written any other major or minor production. Wrote the original book Q and A.
Composer : A.R Rahman - Composed over 100 productions. Soundtracked up to 47 productions
Casting: There were no major A listers,therefore we can assume the budget was perhaps quite low.
The casting process took Boyle and Colson all over the US, Canada, the UK and India in search of the right actors that could deliver a convincing performance in English and also fit across the three ages of the story – 7, 13, and 18.
It also brought them to an Indian casting director, Loveleen Tandan.
Budget: Around $15 million.
Locations: Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
ND Studios, Karjat, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
One of the main problems faced by the team was finding locations and being granted access. It was a logistical challenge for the location scouts and support from the team’s Indian connections was vital
Develepment from Book to Film: The idea for Slumdog Millionaire began when head of film and drama at channel 4 Tessa Ross received a call from Film4's book scout Kate Sinclair. Sinclair said that she had read a gripping story and even thought it was yet to be published Ross immediatly optioned it.
Ross then set up meeting with directors, writers and prodcuers, and spoke to Simon Beaufoy whom she was very keen to work with, and he came on board straight away. Ross suggested that, although the book was difficult to convert into a screenplay, she felt Beaufoy had the skill and experience to do it. Beaufoy believed that most Western cinemagoers had not previously experienced the side of India that Swarup’s book explores. The setting and the transformation from rags to riches is very much the hook of the story.
The most difficult thing in converting the book to screen play was the fact that the book was slit into about 12 short stories, it had no real narrative.
When the script was in good enough shape to take to a director, the team’s number one choice was Danny Boyle. “We sat down and asked ourselves who would be the best person in the world to direct this material and just thought ‘Danny Boyle!,” Colson recalls. “We sent it to him, he read it and said ‘Count me in’,” says Colson. “It was that easy.”
Another problem that the crew faced was trying to get control in such a out of control place as Mumbai. Eventually they just had to go with it and luckily it payed off.
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