Thought it was about time to say HELLO!
We’ve been very bad not keeping this completely up to date, but I can assure you, we have been working very hard over the past few months.
This is just a quick post to say that on Tuesday, I’ll be posting a blog explaining exactly what we’re doing, what we’ve been up to and how we’re going to make sure 2011 is the year in which Clovis Dardentor jumps out of ‘development’ and finally gets a move on!
Speak soon!
During “JAM” we learnt SOOO much about practical film-making. We were thrown in at the deep-end, producing and directing for the first time on a film starring the likes of Stephen Fry, Frank Skinner and Phillip Schofield. Now we are discovering (at the same rate) how it all works on the business side.
So, here’s the news: Clovis Dardentor has looked at himself in the mirror and has had an epiphany. He is not a cheap movie after all. We always knew that we wanted to make something big. We took Jules Verne’s story and adapted it into what we thought would be a film with international appeal. Something that people would SEE! But what we did was turn a commercially viable story into something much more niche and domestic. This has been brought to our attention over the past few months by some of the biggest people in the industry. We’ve been very lucky to have their guidance and continued support. Everyone from ‘Blackadder’ creator John Lloyd to Summit Entertainment’s President have given us feedback. We spent a long time adsorbing this feedback and diagnosing the problems with Clovis’ screenwriter, Lizzie Hopley.
We concluded that we needed to go back to the book; the story that is already so international, commercial, fun, exciting and all the rest of it. By doing this we realised that we hadn’t changed Clovis Dardentor for the better the first time round. So a few weeks ago, Lizzie compiled a new treatment, one that was much more in tune with the book and still maintained the magic of Jules Verne. We’ve spent a week or two discussing the new treatment and comparing it to the current screenplay and have decided that we should go in the new direction; the direction which would lead us back to Jules.
… And so, that is what’s happening. Clovis Dardentor is being re-written. Once it is done it’ll be a lot more appealing for studios and production companies and we’ll be in a much MUCH better position to get it made. Whether that is under the umbrella of another production company/studio or with us still in the driving seat, we really don’t know!
Whatever happens, it is sure to be fun and we can’t wait… Will keep you informed!
Just a really quick blog post to say ‘Hi’ and to tell you that this week is going to be an exciting one! Prepare for a blog post explaining very soon. You may have noticed that the homepage has just changed, and now the Jude Law support video is online!
I’ve been up over 24hrs after taking an overnight flight back from NYC and not sleeping on it! Tch. I will update you all when I can (will be in the next few days) regarding our exciting news. But now I must go to bed because otherwise I wil..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
We found the Starbucks Dreamcake/bar after going into nearly every Starbucks in Manhattan. Yum yum yum. In this picture, Ben is blissfully unaware that he left his wallet in the shop. Of course the Marshmallow Dreamcake is far more important, but don’t worry, he got it back in the end with BOTH dollars inside!
Note the change of style – Ben bought a Trilby so now he looks very – um – what era is it? I’ve got a cap/thingy. Probably less fashionable but it keeps me dry. It is mainly because we both need haircuts and look silly without hats. Maybe we look silly with the hats as well?….hmmmm.
Annyyywaaayy. Enough of this aimless talk. I forgot to thank JUDE and STEPHEN publicly for their support. They have made this trip and this press possible, so we’re so so so so so so grateful. Three other people, without whom we would not be here are Phillip Schofield, Joanna Lumley and Lynda Bellingham who have financially sponsored the trip. But this is just the beginning. The AP article is just the start of the press campaign so we’re really looking forward to seeing what Monday brings.
Tomorrow, though, it’s more tourist stuff…
