(cont'd)
Some online reactions up first. Filmmaker Chase Johnston Lynch added to his website:
I also want to say, I was blown away by the full length preview cut of "Diary of a Bad Lad" by Michael Booth and Jon Williams. "I want Donna Murphy in my next movie"!?! FANTASTIC FILM! Gripping! compelling! Blair Witch meets Man Bites Dog! And lastly, Big ups to Bruno Coppola for making an appearance and we will be talking!
Actor Tim Paley wrote on his home page:
Something that Bad Lad actor Tim Paley wrote on his website after seeing Bad Lad shown at Kino:Yesterday saw the first screening of the feature Diary of a Bad Lad at the AMC, Manchester. Wow... This was the first time I'd seen the film in full and it was impressive. Although still not the final cut, it was almost there. It was far funnier than I imagined, it was also more graphic than I thought it would be, but having said that it added to film. Afterwards, there was a buzz that I'd never felt before. There were some crews outside, don't know where from, but they were clambering to get to anyone involved in the film, I didn't see them later after other films had been shown. Everyone involved was over the moon with the response, and can't wait for the next one. Mike and Jon are now lookingto get a screening in London, and let them see what the North can do, again.
Tim Paley ~ Frank, Diary of a Bad Lad
More reactions to the movie soon.
Also...
A message to Raindance Film Festival director/founder Elliot Grove from Diary of a Bad Lad producer Jonathan Williams, sent shortly after the Kino Fest preview showing:
Hi Elliot
Now a long time ago you said you'd be interested in a producer's diary of taking Bad Lad to market - so here goes:
Diary of a Bad Lad is a film about a frustrated filmmaker's attempts to make a documentary about a local businessman who he believes is involved in property rackets, prostitution, pornography and the importation of large quantities of recreational drugs. It took four years to make and cost £3,500 cash. It has been made completely independently of any state film funding.
Here's part one of Jon Williams' - the writer/producer - diary of taking Bad Lad to market:
Diary of a Bad Lad (93mins) had a preview screening at Manchester's Kino Film Festival on Saturday (26 Feb) at 12 noon. We didn't submit it (and the mix is about 95%, although it is 5.1). John Wojowski got hold of a copy a couple of weeks before the festival and he was so amazed by it that he created a slot for it at the last minute. He also couldn't stop himself from showing it to people round at his house saying, the moment they walked in the door, "Hey! sit down, you've got to watch this."
One of those people was Bruno Coppola who insisted on introucing it at the screening saying that it was one of the best films that he'd seen at any festival in a long time (we have this and many other comments on DV so it's not bulsh..), with any amazing script, a directorial style which drives the film along, and acting which is simply excellent.
We started getting a bit worried, I mean we made it on £3,500 cash and about 4 years of love's labout and he was really bigging us up. Would the film survive the hype? Of course it would - dirty great ovation at the end, and we had to get the cast out in front for curtain calls. Two hours later people were still talking about it in the foyer.
Steve Balshaw, the Programme Manager, said "It's got all those references in it to films like Man Bites Dog, but it knocks the spots of all of them. This has really raised the bar."
OK, now I may sound as if I'm getting carried away, but I'm not. The film exists on DV. With a top quality transfer it'd look as good as 28 Days Later. But it'd cost. And, in conventional terms what we have to offer a distributor has no stars. What it does have is that you show it to an audience and what they get is something which is hilarious...and harrowing...and totally unique. It's the film that sells the film, and the film has to create the buzz.
And that means getting the people in London to catch up with it. Kino's director, John Wojowski offers to set up a London preview screening for us, but he says we need to budget for a £1,000 spend on publicity and hospitality. That's almost a third of what the film cost! So Monday afternoon - it would have been morning but we were discussing the film at the festival party till 3am - we take the dv of Bruno's introduction and of people's comments after the screening and we show it to Margot Grimshaw. Margot's the dame of Blackburn. I don't know her age and I'm too much of a gentle to tell you if I did, but she's self made and let us shoot a scene in one of her niteclubs, and smoothed the way with quite a few people. She's also on TV a lot, even if it's mosstly day-time, having been on Richard and Judy with Paul Whitehouse last week. "I've got copies of all these photographs of me and Paul." she says, "And he said he wanted copies but I don't know where to send them."
"Don't worry," says Bad Lad director Michael Booth, "I'll find out who his agent is."
"Right," she says, "I'll pop a note in about the film and I'll also finance this preview. And the BBC at the moment are wanting to do something on me at work, so I'll tell them that this is the story they can follow." Brilliant!
Now we've got to get the Cannes campaign rolling - and the deadline's in less that two weeks!
Best
Jon Williams
writer/producer
Diary of a Bad Lad