Palme
d"Or Nominee, Cannes 1999
The film starred Jack Davenport & Honor Fraser as the two leads in an urban myth, a duel of mistaken ownership over a bag of cookies in a London train station cafe.
The film was entirely crewed by associates we had met over the years working as Assistant Directors, who generously gave up their time and worked for free. Aided throughout by two outstanding Exec Producers (Andy Leahy & Johnny Frankel), we discovered that the simple rule of short film making is You Can Only Ask. We managed to lock down a budget of which the only outgoings were phone calls, car parking and the hire of Docklands Train Station.
“We were in utter shock by the amazing response we got. It was essentially the crew that had taught us everything about the business, and now here they were putting the trust and energy behind us, let alone working for free.”
“The reason we chose this as our first project was that it was a simple everyday urban myth, operating pretty much in real time. As all action takes place within the walls of one apparent location, the station, economy of both budgeting and shooting was easier to organise.
We had both become quite tired of short films that tried to encompass vast amounts of time, and long, interminable story lines. What we were trying to achieve was a taut drama within four walls, meaning we could isolate the action, and directly manipulate the audience’s versions of events.
“We also felt it would be a challenge to create a world that uses no dialogue : not only does it put massive emphasis on visual story-telling, but it also freed us up to work closely with the composers Des Montagu and Simon Bourcier to create a purpose-written score, mixed alongside a soundbed of special effects using the sounds and machinations of the station, almost treating the station as a character in its own right.”
Filming took place at the end of 1998 in Canary Wharf for a day, plus a further afternoon in a Fulham for the cafe sequence.
The film has since been seen in over 20 festivals worldwide, including Cannes, Hong Kong, Paris, Athens, London, Cork, Rome, Sao Paolo, Miami, Buenos Aires, Brussels, and Kerela . International sales have been completed to Canal Plus, Canal International, Multicanal International, Channel 4, six international airlines, as well as a worldwide live webcast from the London Film Festival website in September 1999. The film has also been shown twice at the Odeon Leicester Square, and was short listed for a BAFTA nomination, 2000.
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Cast & Crew
WRITTEN
PRODUCED AND DIRECTED TOBY LESLIE &
HUGO CURRIE
BASED
ON A POEM BY SYLVIA POTTS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ANDY LEAHY &
JOHNNIE FRANKEL
LIGHTING
CAMERAMAN CAMERON BARNETT
MUSIC
AND DES
MONTAGU
SOUND DESIGN SIMON BOURCIER
LINE
PRODUCER MATTHEW CARVER
LOCATION
MANAGER MELSIE BOURNE
CAST
MAN
JACK
DAVENPORT
WOMAN
HONOR
FRASER
EVANGELIST
NICK
MARCQ
WALKMAN WEARER OLIVER
MILBURN
BEATBOX IVAN ANCHANT
BREAKDANCER
TIM
HAMILTON
THE
HOOD FRANK WILSON
FRUSTRATED WOMAN ANNE FERGUSON
CAFE
MANAGER REBECCA @ MIROS
P.C.
DYNELL BILL LESLIE
STREET
ARTIST MELISSA
HASTINGS
NEWSAGENT VENDOR WINGMAN DICKIE
CUSTOMER
TOM
MULLION
CREW
1ST
AD DAVE MOORE
2ND
AD JAMIE MYLAM
RUNNERS
ED SEARLE
LAYLA ANDREWS
BEN
DIXON
STEADICAM OPERATOR ROGER TOOLEY
FOCUS
PULLERS MICHAEL KENNEDY
NICK WHEELER
ANDREW
“WIGGY” WIGGINS
CLAPPER
LOADERS STEVE HONEGHAN
LUCY SEYMOUR GABBY
NORLAND
GRIP
BRUCE
SELKIRK
SOUND
RECORDISTS QUILLAN LARRAT
JOHN HOSE
ART
DIRECTOR MELISSA HASTING
ART
DEPARTMENT ASST. SARAH GRAHAME
STREET
ART KATRINA BOVILL
STILLS
PHOTOGRAPHER LUCY POPE
CONTINUITY
LAURA
GWYNNE
WARDROBE
ELIZA
HUNTER
WARDROBE
ASST. URSULA HOGH
HONOUR
FRASER’S WARDROBE PIERCE
FIONDA
JACK DAVENPORT’S WARDROBE PAUL SMITH
HAIR & MAKE-UP LEDA SHAWYER
MAKE
UP ASSISTANT LORNA MULLION
GAFFER
ENNIO DI
SANTOLO
ELECTRICIAN
RAFFS
POST
PRODUCTION
EDITOR MARTIN SWANN
NEGATIVE
DEVELOPERS SOHO
IMAGES
POST PRODUCTION MOVING PICTURE
COMPANY
&
35MM BLOW UP DIGITAL
FILM
TELECINE OPERATORS MARK & MAX @ MPC
POST
PRODUCTION PRODUCER WILL COHEN @ MPC
ON
LINE MARCUS MOFFATT
GODFATHER
OF SOUND HOWIE NICOL
STORYBOARDS
DIGBY
LIDSTONE
INSURANCE
WHITE
& WILSON
SOUND EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED BY F.A.B.
CAMERA
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED BY GP FILMS
LENSES
SUPPLIED BY ARRIMEDIA
FILTERS SUPPLIED BY SOUTH LONDON FILM
FILTER COMPANY
GRIP
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED BY PANAVISION
(SHEPPERTON)
FILMED
ON LOCATION AT CANARY WHARF
DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY
MIRO’S CAFE
SPECIAL
THANKS
ANDREW & VANESSA LESLIE, METROPOLIS, GEOFF AND HOWIE @
FAB,VINCE @ GP FILMS, PETE @ ARRI MEDIA, BARNABY @ AFM,
MONTAGU-BOURCIER, MARK BENSON @ MPC, MICHAEL ELSON @
DIGITAL FILM, SOHO IMAGES, MIROS CAFE, OTTO BATHURST, GAV
LUCAS, PAUL WEILAND FILM CO, RABBIT VOCAL MANAGEMENT, BOBBY
GRAHAM AT DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY,JULIAN & LU CURRIE,
STACY @ PAUL SMITH, SIMON MONHEMIOUS,
ALL THE
EXTRAS WHO MADE A BARE STATION LOOK FULL, TOMMY RAINEY,
RICK WOOLLARD, NATIONAL POETRY LIBRARY.