Lookin' For Lucky: A Completist's Guide (last updated 29/10/09)

Joanna

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LOOKIN' FOR LUCKY: A COMPLETIST'S GUIDE




STATUS: Completed

RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

CERTIFICATE: 15

GENRE: Drama

SETTING: Bolton (Greater Manchester, Lancashire)

TAGLINE: If Luck was a lady, she'd be a bitch tonight.

SYNOPSES:

+ [short/current] Any Estate. Carve a slice right through it and this is what you’ll see. Pain, laughter, tears. Life.

On the Paradise Heights estate, the actions of one have consequences for the many. King of the Heights, Moses, will stop at nothing to get the money he needs, even if it means stealing from the weak. In the next 2 hours, the desperate residents will find their lives defined by the boundaries of luck and fate, as other tales from the estate of sex, greed and revenge collide on one summer's evening.

+ [short/original] Any Estate. Carve a slice right through it and this is what you’ll see. Pain, laughter, tears. Life.

Small time hustler Moses plans to exploit his brain-damaged brother and remain King o’ the Heights. But with the summer sun going down, the stakes get raised as other tales from the Estate involving sex, greed and revenge coincide and threaten to bring down Moses’ empire for good.

+ [half page] Moses and Chalkie are brothers trapped in two very different worlds.

Chalkie never grew up, a childhood accident stopped the clocks for him when he was six, he’s got an artist’s touch and eye bordering on genius, but not much else. Mike the window cleaner is his friend, and has taken him in after one too many beatings from Moses. Mike looks after him and he may have just found a future and a way out of The Heights for young Chalkie, he’s just praying Moses doesn’t find out before tomorrow when the deal is signed. Tonight, Chalkie is out, just doin’ his thing, adding his colours to the bricks and the slabs of Paradise Heights, where everybody is nice apart from his brother.

To most around here, Moses is King of The Heights, his girls know that and so do the punters. The streets are his bloodline. An eye for opportunity and a cold ruthless streak got him to the top around here. But some deals go bad and even Moses answers to someone. If he doesn’t come up with what he owes soon, the King will fall. Trouble is the punters aren’t bitin’ and the girls are nervous ‘cos a serial rapist is doin’ the rounds. Moses instincts have never let him down though and he knows Mike is up to something. Maybe Chalkie is the answer to his problem. What he doesn’t know is the word is already out to take him down…tonight.

It’s when you think it can’t get any worse that luck usually has a part to play, and as the sun goes down over Paradise Heights, worlds start to collide…


PRODUCTION COMPANY: Albino Injun Productions

WRITER: Joe O'Byrne

DIRECTOR: Chris Leonard

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Joe O'Byrne

PRODUCERS: Joe O'Byrne, Chris Leonard and Jonathan Harris

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jonathan Harris

FILM EDITOR: Dave Dubois

SOUND: Tracy Scott

PRODUCTION MANAGERS: Joe O'Byrne and Chris Leonard

PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Clyve Bonelle, Chris Leonard and Joe O'Byrne

WARDROBE: Donna Henry

MAKE-UP EFFECTS: Joe O'Byrne

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Ryan Alex Farmery

ADDITIONAL MUSIC: Sharkfin Plectrum

CASTING DIRECTOR: Joe O'Byrne

PRESS KIT PRODUCER: Jonathan Harris

STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER: Chris Leonard


CAST:

+ Clyve Bonelle (Moses)

+ Greg Kelly (Chalkie)

+ Joe O'Byrne (Mike)

+ Donna Henry (Sheree)

+ James Foster (Roy)

+ Adil Mohammed Javed (Ali)

+ Zoe Iqbal (Zoe)

+ Chris Finch (Daz Brindle)

+ Tim Paley (John)

+ Naithan Ariane (Billy Howcroft)

+ John Garfield-Roberts (Kieran)

+ Ian Curley (Wally)

+ Emma Joyce (Donna)

+ Andrew Collier (Nick)

+ Catherine Kaye (Mary)

+ Gemma Woods (Lisa)

+ Bill McCoid (Jeff Lomax)

+ Dan Atkinson (Ray)

+ Zack Jackson (Jack)

+ Josh Moran (The Boss)

+ Lisa Whiteside (Sharon)

+ Jo Kirkham (Roxy)

+ Emma Hartley Miller (Francine)

+ Billy Hodge (Mad Frank)

+ Jack Verity (Ronnie Marsden)

+ Julia Nelson (Barbara)

+ Winston Carrington (Kev)

+ Lee Antley (Baz)

+ Eddie Dean Stanton (Punter in pub)

+ John Robbie (Punter in car)

+ Ste Myott (Jeff, Roy's teammate)

+ Eddie Hamer (Nosey Neighbour)

+ Jenny Hudson (Sunbather)

+ Lucky the dog (Giz)


PUBLICITY POSTERS (designed by Simon Scoffin):

[click each thumbnail to see full-size image]


Main promo poster

(alternate version HERE)


Teaser poster

(alternate versions HERE and HERE)


Moses poster




FILM STILLS:

[These are all of the officially-labelled film stills that can be directly linked to (the below links taken from the 'Lookin For Lucky Gallery' on Jonathan Harris's MySpace profile). More images can be found on both the film's official site and its MySpace profile, along with the MySpace profiles of Joe O'Byrne and Paradise Heights. Links to all of these can be found in the 'Lucky Links' at the bottom of this guide.]

+ Moses: Moses 1 Moses 2 Moses 3 Moses 4 Moses 5 Moses 6

+ Mike: Mike 1 Mike 2 Mike 3 Mike 4

+ Daz: Daz 1 Daz 2

+ Billy

+ Lisa: Lisa 1 Lisa 2 Lisa 3 Lisa 4 Lisa 5

+ Daz and Lisa: Daz and Lisa 1 Daz and Lisa 2 Daz and Lisa 3

+ Kieran and Lisa

+ Roy: Roy 1 Roy 2

+ Jack

+ Baz and Kev

+ Lookin For Lucky

+ The Twin Towers (Chalkie's artwork)


BEHIND-THE-SCENES PHOTOS:

[These are all of the officially-labelled behind-the-scenes photos that can be directly linked to (the below links taken from the 'Lookin For Lucky Gallery' on Jonathan Harris's MySpace profile). More images can be found on both the film's official site and its MySpace profile, along with the MySpace profiles of Joe O'Byrne and Paradise Heights. Links to all of these can be found in the 'Lucky Links' at the bottom of this guide.]

+ Chris Leonard and Jonathan Harris

+ Opening 'sunbather' (Jenny Hudson) shot set-up

+ Interior shot set-up

+ Exterior shot set-up

+ Exterior shot set-up 2


'MAKING OF' MINI DOCUMENTARIES:

+ Shooting From The Hip

+ Art For Hearts Sake


MISCELLANEOUS VIDEOS:

+
1540985473260.gif

(includes Lucky talk and footage, starting from 2 minutes 50 seconds in)


ONLINE/NEWSPAPER ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:

[A mixture of online articles/interviews and scanned paper copies, depending on availability. Pieces representative of identical/near identical ones on other websites are marked with an *]

+ Interview with Joe O'Byrne (Online 'Mancunion Edition' of Student Direct, September 2009)

+ Joe O Byrne's Lookin For Lucky (SalfordOnline, June 2009)

+ Landmark Salford film to play in Manchester (SalfordOnline, May 2009)

+ Joe O Byrne film plays Manchester’s Greenroom (SalfordOnline, April 2009)

+ Screen success beckons for University student (University of Bolton site, 9 March 2009)

+ Stage and screen success for student (University of Bolton site, 5 March 2009)

+ The end of Chapter 5 in the Salford Story (SalfordOnline, November 2008)

+ Local trio at Salford Film Festival* (Bury Times site, 14 November 2008)

+ Film makers strike it lucky in Paradise* (Salford Advertiser site, 13 November 2008)

+ Free tix for Salford playwright's film (Whatsonstage.com Manchester, 30 October 2008)

+ Joe hits a Lucky streak (The Bolton News site, 25 March 2008) [Published first as Versatile Joe takes to the stage, 19 March 2008.]

+ From Skagen Court...to Cannes (Bolton Evening News site, 17 April 2007) [A partial scan of the print version can be found HERE.]

+ First scenes of film aired (Bolton Evening News site, 24 February 2005) [A partial scan of the print version can be found HERE.]

+ Actors give extra help: Filming raises cash for Michael (Bolton Evening News, November 2004)


REVIEWS: SalfordOnline (review taken from Joe O'Byrne's MySpace blog)

RADIO SPOTS:

+ Joe O'Byrne, Chris Leonard and Jonathan Harris interviewed on the Nichola Dixon show, BBC Radio Lancashire, 7 May 2007.

+ Joe O'Byrne interviewed on Mike Ferry's 'The Weekend Shambles' show, 96.2 The Revolution, 28 April 2007.


SCREENINGS:

+ ACE Centre (28 October 2009, 7pm, NW Cinema, Nelson)

+ Kinofilm present: Lookin' For Lucky (10 June 2009, 7.30pm start for 8pm screening, greenroom, Manchester) [includes a q&a session]

+ Pennine Film Festival (20 March 2009, 10am-1pm, Coppice Theatre, Accross College, Accrington) [includes a q&a session with Joe O'Byrne on both the film and the independent film business]

+ Salford Film Festival (19 November 2008, 9pm, Vue Cinema, Salford Quays)


TRIVIA:

+ The film was shot in both the estate where Joe grew up (Oldhams Estate) and the area where he lives now (Halliwell).

+ During the course of the film, there are four 'Hitchcock' appearances from Chris Leonard as four different characters.

+ In his role as director, Chris Leonard acted out every part in the film.

+ During his audition for the film, Greg Kelly wore a hat he felt Chalkie would wear...a hat which Joe O'Byrne then stole and used for his part as Mike the window cleaner!

+ The toughest part to cast in the film was that of Chalkie. Before Greg Kelly was cast in the role, he was one of five actors who had ended up being recalled...and recalled for the part.

+ Having searched all over Bolton for a dog to play the 'Lucky' of the film's title, Joe eventually found the right one - a dog called Giz - living less than 500 yards away from him.

+ The house we see as Wally's in the exterior shots is actually the house Joe O'Byrne lived in from the ages of 2 to 10.

+ The Weaver's Arms (known locally as The Mop) is the oldest pub in Bolton, dating back as it does some 400 years.

+ The main legend of how The Mop got its nickname harks back some 300 years to a time when the stream that currently runs by the pub was actually a river that flooded both its banks and the pub on a regular basis. During one particularly cold winter, when the 'mopping out' had been done after the river inevitably flooded the pub once again, the mop was left outside...consequently becoming frozen to the pub wall! And by the time, two months later, the mop was finally removed from the wall, the locals had already started calling the pub 'The Frozen Mop'. This eventually got shortened to its current name of 'The Mop'.

+ The landlord of The Mop, Bill, is the longest-serving landlord in Bolton.

+ Jimmy Foster is the 'face behind the mask' of Cartoon Head, the psychotic mouse head wearing hitman from Ideal.

+ Josh Moran (Roy's football team manager, 'The Boss[noparse]')[/noparse] is the drummer for a Manchester-based band called Sharkfin Plectrum. However, he is also an established actor, having had roles in such shows as Cutting It, Dalziel and Pascoe, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Playing the Field, Linda Green, Heartbeat and Casualty. He is perhaps best known, though, for his portrayal of a French tramp in the first series of Shameless.

+ In addition to Ryan Alex Farmery scoring the film and providing its closing track, two tracks (as of now) are being used from Sharkfin Plectrum.


LUCKY LINKS:

+ Official site

+ MySpace profile

+ IMDb page


+ Online CVs:

- Joe O'Byrne's Icon Actors Management CV (pdf file)

- Greg Kelly's Spotlight and Casting Call Pro CVs

- Donna Henry's Urban Talent CV

- James Foster's Icon Actors Management CV (pdf file)

- Adil Mohammed Javid's Lime CV

- Zoe Iqbal's Spotlight and Casting Call Pro CVs

- Chris Finch's Spotlight and Casting Call Pro CVs

- Tim Paley's Spotlight, Urban Talent, Casting Call Pro and UKscreen CVs

- John Garfield Roberts' Casting Call Pro CV

- Ian Curley's Icon Actors Management CV (pdf file)

- Lisa Whiteside's Spotlight and Pure Actors CVs

- Josh Moran's Amber Personal Management Ltd CV (pdf file)

- Jo Kirkham's Casting Call Pro CV

- Emma Hartley Miller's Pure Actors Agency and Management Ltd (pdf file) and Casting Call Pro CVs

- Jack Verity's Casting Call Pro CV


+ Official cast/crew sites:

- Tim Paley

- John Garfield-Roberts

- Ryan Alex Farmery


+ Cast/crew MySpace profiles:

- Joe O'Byrne

- Paradise Heights (run by Joe O'Byrne)

- Clyve Bonelle

- Donna Henry

- Chris Finch

- Tim Paley

- Actors Resource Service (run by Tim Paley)

- Naithan Ariane

- John Garfield-Roberts

- Ryan Alex Farmery

- Sharkfin Plectrum
 
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Joanna

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Just added in a few Lucky newspaper articles from over the last few years. Also added a link to the new Paradise Heights MySpace page, made some 'tweaks'/changes here and there....
 
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Joanna

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Thought I'd just have a quick look in to the Paradise Heights MySpace page before bed...and then saw that Joe had put me and the guide up in the 'general' section, telling everyone to check it out! :) :eek: That was a bit of a surprise! Definitely going to bed with a grin on my face now!

Thanks so much again, Joe. You're a gem. :) :)
 

Joanna

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I've now updated the guide with another synopsis (the one newly up on the official Lookin' For Lucky site), a revised run time, certificate info, and screening info for Lucky's Salford Film Festival preview screening.
 
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Joanna

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Just to say that I've given the Lucky guide a bit of an update....Along with a few 'tweaks', I've added greenroom screening info (including as a headlined item under the title), various article links, a link to John Garfield-Roberts' revamped official site...and the thumbnail poster pics that had previously 'disappeared'!
 
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