BAR STEWARDS (key facts)
STATUS: Filming
RUNNING TIME (subject to change): 90 minutes
GENRE: Romantic comedy/drama
SETTING: Blackburn (Lancashire)
SYNOPSIS: Layton's life falls apart when the girl of his dreams leaves him. He then discovers that he has a mysterious stalker, who claims to be professor Stephen Hawking. Helped (and hindered) by his best friend, Layton must rediscover his lost love and find out who the stalker is before he loses his sanity. A film about lost love, friendship and dogging.
WRITER: Michael Booth (with additional material from Paul Birtwistle)
DIRECTOR: Michael Booth
PRODUCERS: Michael Booth, Tim Paley and Ian 'wiggy' Wiggins
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Paul Coppack
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Paul Gordon
CAST:
+ Chris Finch (Layton Peebles)
+
Paul Birtwistle (Jamie Cuntilever aka Cunty)
+
Louise Brand (Anne Marie)
+
Bernard Wrigley (Lordy)
+
Neil Bell (Justin)
+
Jackie Knowles (Karen)
+
Ashleigh Morley (Rachel Carte)
+
Roxanne Gregory (Donna)
+
Tim Paley (Rachel's dad)
+
Alice Barry (Mrs Festivus)
+
Georgina Hunter (Carla Purelove)
+
Dee Sanders (Rachel's mum)
+
Billy Hodge (Big Ben)
+
Abigail Gilbraith (Loochie Lou)
+
Alison Booth (Goth Girl)
+
Matthew Butler (Leon)
+
Paul Coppack (Boy Pisser)
+
John Howarth (Pablo)
+
Adrian Swindlehurst (Shopkeeper)
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Pleased Sheep Productions
DISTRIBUTORS: Wysiwyg Film Distribution
PUBLICITY STILLS:
+
Layton Peebles
+
Rachel Carte
+
Donna
FILM STILLS:
+
Layton Peebles:
-
What the...?!?!
-
At the Bar
-
Here's stairing at you, kid!
-
The Clark Kent of Blackburn?
-
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Finchy of them all?!
-
He's behind you...?
-
The Man in Black
-
The Pondering Peebles
-
Moody Blues (test grading image)
-
The Peebles of Grrrr
-
Suspicious Mind
-
Hee hee...Layton's hair...hee hee!!
-
Toilet-training
-
The phonecall of DOOOOMMMM!
-
Layton Lines
-
Smile like you mean it
-
Thinking of you
+
Jamie Cuntilever (aka Cunty)
-
Don't Look Back In Anger
-
Lipstick, Powder and Paint
-
Knuckle Up
-
E-I-E-I-O
+
Jamie and Layton:
-
Sgt. Peebles Lonely Hearts Club Band
-
Pretty as a pitcher
-
Half a pint of Demon Ladylady do ya, boys?
-
Layton and Cunty's Pretty Rubbish Adventure
-
Layton and Cunty's Pretty Rubbish Adventure Gets Even More Rubbish
-
Layton and Cunty's Pretty Rubbish Adventure Goes Landfill
+
Layton and Karen:
-
That went well, then...
-
The framed photograph
+
Donna:
-
Donna Hood
-
Booby prize? (test grading image)
+
Donna and Layton:
-
Laying in wait
-
Michael's film booth
-
The look of...?
+
Rachel Carte:
-
Psycho
-
Wild Rose
+
Layton and Rachel:
-
Enema of the State
-
Layton watches as Rachel walks away from him...
-
The Aldelphi Players
-
Top and Tale
+
Rachel's parents:
-
Whistle while you work
-
Chins up
-
Bad Wolf
-
The Lord's Prayer
+
Mrs Festivus
+
The Boy Pissers:
-
The Dom Jollies
-
Look and Learn
+
The 100 million dollar man
+
T...issues
BEHIND-THE-SCENES STILLS:
+
Mr Birtwistle and Mr Finch...the out-takes....
-
High Noon
-
Are you 'aving a laff?
-
One giggly schoolboy...two giggly schoolboys...
+
Boyzone (Paul Birtwistle,
Paul Sparkes [production assistant/boom operator], Paul Coppack, Paul Gordon and a just-in-shot
Dave Turner [focus puller])
+
Eye Eye (Paul Gordon, Dave Turner, Ashleigh Morley and Michael Booth)
+
Lip reading (Dave Turner, Michael Booth and Paul Gordon)
+
Men Behaving Badly? (Paul Birtwistle and Paul Coppack)
+
Stand By Me (Alison Booth, Ashleigh Morley, Paul Sparkes and Alice Barry)
+
I Dream of Jeany (Chris Finch and Paul Birtwistle, with Paul Coppack and Alice Barry shown partially in shot)
+
Cheek to Cheek (Ashleigh Morley, Michael Booth, Paul Coppack, Chris Finch and Paul Birtwistle)
+
Better out than in (Chris Finch, Alice Barry and Paul Birtwistle)
+
An insane pub test shoot (8 December 2006)....
-
Sitting pretty
-
Mind's eye
-
Get into the groove
-
Techno Techno Techno Techno
BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOOTAGE:
+
The Chris Finch 'toilet interview'
+
A quick Q & A with Finchy!
+
End of a day's shoot with C.F.
+
Interview with Roxie (featuring 'Little Chris'!)
+
Interview with Ashleigh Morley
+
The Boy Pisser aka Paul 'be afraid, be very afraid' Coppack
+
Behind-the-scenes look at cast photo shoot (warnings: contains a scene of a 'boxing' nature!)
+
In bed with Birty
+
Bar Stewards out-takes reel
+
Interview with Alice Barry
+
Insane pub test shoot (8 December 2006)
ARTWORK (sketches by camp david):
+
Layton and Rachel
+
Jamie
+
Donna
DESKTOP WALLPAPERS (designed by Paul Coppack):
+
Peebles, Scissors, Stone
+
Pretty Wo...man
TRIVIA:
+
Bar Stewards is, in fact, a prequel to a piece of work that has been in development for the past 10 years. This companion piece features many of the same characters as
Bar Stewards but is far greater and darker in tone than its predecessor - revolving as it does around a very dangerous love triangle.
In 1996, when Michael Booth was just 19, his early script for this currently untitled project attracted interest from both Paul Whitehouse (The Fast Show) and Ewan Bremner (perhaps best known for the role of Spud in
Trainspotting). Film4 even seriously considered being involved, but it was sadly against their remit at the time and so got rejected.
+ At this early stage in proceedings, a distribution deal is already on the table for the film and a festival has even requested a booking to screen it. Congratulations,
Bar Stewards' guys and gals!
+ The multi-talented (actor/writer/director...) Joe O'Byrne is to make a cameo appearance in the film.
Joe is soon to be seen as Tommy Morghen in another Pleased Sheep Productions' feature,
Diary of a Bad Lad (though in a much larger role), and he has also written, co-directed and starred in another film,
Lookin' For Lucky, which is nearing completion. Television-wise, Joe has appeared in many well-known shows:
Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Phoenix Nights, Cutting It, Clocking Off, Heartbeat, etc......
+ A few 'famous British names' have been approached to play cameo roles. I wonder who those could be!
+ On Chris Finch's (Layton Peebles) first day of shooting, he had to share a bed on 3 separate occasions with 3 different women. Nice work if you can get it!
+ Chris Finch and Jackie Knowles (Karen) once played in a sporting charity event together, meeting up again for the first time since then at the auditions for
Bar Stewards.
+ This summer, Louise Brand (Anne Marie) won £30,000 on
Deal or No Deal. Well done, Louise!
+ Bernard Wrigley, whose character, Lordy, has a 'special relationship' with his livestock, has appeared in numerous film and TV productions. His many TV roles include appearances in
Phoenix Nights, Dinner Ladies, Last of the Summer Wine, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Shameless and
Coogan's Run, and he has also starred in such films as
Rita, Sue and Bob Too, A Private Function, and
The Parole Officer.
+ Neil Bell (Justin) has appeared in such TV shows as
Shameless, Ideal, State of Play, The Second Coming and
The League of Gentlemen, with film roles including parts in
Dead Man's Shoes and
24 Hour Party People.
+ The characters Loochie Lou, Anne Marie, Donna and Big Ben all originate from a Michael Booth short called
Drop Outs (2000). Abigail Gilbraith, Louise Brand and Roxanne Gregory still play their respective characters here, though Big Ben, once the part of Kevin Marklew, is now played by Billy Hodge.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES: I'm bad... but it's only an act (Billy Hodge article, The Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 11 August 2006)
ONLINE ARTICLES: I'm bad... but it's only an act (the online version of the above Lancashire Evening Telegraph article - which can be found in an abridged version on
netribution)
OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
+
Bar Stewards' IMDb page
+
Wysiwyg Cannes 2006 video diary (day 2) [From about 50 seconds in, Wysiwyg's Jonathan Rhodes talks briefly to Michael Booth and Paul Gordon about
Bar Stewards.]
+ Chris Finch's
Spotlight,
LIME and
Casting Call Pro CVs
+ Matthew Butler's
Spotlight,
CastNet UK and
Casting Call Pro CVs
+
Dee Sander's CastNet UK CV
+
Tim Paley's official site
+
Bernard Wrigley's official site
+
wiggy's MySpace profile
+
Paul Coppack's MySpace profile
xx Joanna xx