Friday 3 October 2008
Producer wanted
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Pimms with Howard
‘Pimms With Howard’
contact: corrieburton@gmail.com
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Personal Drama
Status: 2nd Draft (90pp)
Swap one charade for another and you’re only fooling yourself…
Log-line:
After his histrionic mother disappears sixteen-year-old Roger retreats into the role of his deluded neighbour’s dead husband, but when her daughter plans to take her away Roger is forced to face his own delusions in order to put roles where they belong-on stage.
Pitch:
How far can you go before you realise you are living a lie? A talented actor, sixteen year-old Roger finds himself in a full-time impersonation of his senile elderly neighbour’s dead war-hero husband after his histrionic mother leaves home unexpectedly. As Roger’s resolve to support his neighbour’s delusion increases so does her daughter’s resolve to take her away, but as the charade becomes unstoppable Roger is forced to realise that a high-maintenance mother and an estranged T.V actor father has made his talent for imitation a compulsion. In order to find a role that doesn’t make life a drama, Roger must stop pretending to his neighbour, his mother and himself. ‘Harold and Maude’ fuses with ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ in suburban Middlesbrough to produce an unconventional coming of age a drama.
‘Pimms With Howard’ was developed and written as the core project of Goldsmiths’ MA Scriptwriting programme. It is currently in its second draft and has been read and commended by Stewart Till, Chairman of the UK Film Council for its tone and characterisation. It is awaiting final assessment from the MA Scriptwriting Programme after which it will be redrafted once again. The project requires a keen producer and/or director in order to be taken to the next level. If you are interested in receiving a full treatment or a sample of the script please feel free to contact me using the email address provided.
Dead Inside
Working Title: ‘Dead Inside’
contact: corrieburton@gmail.com
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Psychological Horror
Status: Treatment
It’s amazing what some will do to feed the hungry…
Log-line: A sexually frustrated grad student traps a zombie in the dorm room of the girl he secretly lusts after, yet when she subsequently moves into his room he must choose between keeping her near and destroying the evil he knows lies within.
Pitch:
Duncan has spent the previous weeks obsessively observing the mysterious nocturnal comings and goings of the bewitching girl in the opposite dorm. One night, unexpectedly, she knocks on his door to escape the grotesque, zombie-like creature following her. Together they trap the ailing creature in her room. With Beth in his room and the dying creature locked away, Duncan allows his monstrous desire for Beth to deafen his caution. When Beth seems to return his affections Duncan is ecstatic, yet she soon becomes distant. Duncan becomes the subject of malicious gossip as rumours of Beth’s infidelity sweep the corridors and students start to go missing. When the creatures in Beth’s room grow in number and strength Duncan must summon the courage to be a man, not a monster, before it is too late. Shallow Grave merges with Ginger Snaps in an intense psychological horror dealing with desire, obsession and the burden of being human.
Originally conceived as a student feature and partially developed on the MA Scriptwriting course ‘Dead Inside’ is ideally suited to micro-budget production, necessitating only a small cast and a handful of locations. Compelling concept? No? All thoughts and observations welcome at this stage. Contact me on email address provided.
Mark Melvin Documentary
Renowned artist, Mark Melvin, will be showing his most recent work at The Sassoon Gallery from 4th to 16th February accompanied by a series of lectures.
Laura of Sassoon and Ben of BarStory are comissioning a short documentary for the exhibition and has asked whether any SELF Collective members would like to collaborate and create the documentary.
As with the 48 Hour Film Project, this opportunity is unfunded and will work on the basis of members pooling their equipment and time.
I've already agreed to work on it, but need more people to make this as successful and professional as Mark deserves.
Anyone who's interested in working on this exciting project, is encouraged to email me or give me a ring on 07932186569. More information will follow as and when.
Homeless Mocumentary Student Film Idea - Adam Thorn
Contact: Adam Thorn adamlaudus@hotmail.com
A student film group, attempting to make a film about the homeless in London, happen upon a homeless man who is as difficult as he is interesting and funny.
The group’s director, a young lady in her very early twenties, finds the homeless man enthralling and despite not at first being entirely sure where she wants to take the documentary follows him. The homeless man, subconsciously flattered by the attention and overtly enjoying having something to occupy his time (and a young woman as company- although there is no sexual companionship sought by either) allows the crew to shadow him over days at a time over a period of months. The shoot is fraught and fractured however as the man’s nomadic life and substance dependency cause him to be unpredictable and occasionally, impossibly obstinate.
At first however, after a tough introduction and bartering session over the terms of the documentary and both parties involvement in it, and while the bond is developing between the inexperienced director and the man we see an alternate take on how the homeless could live. The man seems to play up for the camera and has numerous amusing ways of passing his time and getting by in the capital. He also talks frankly about his life now, but is shifty and evasive when asked about his past.
However problems creep in as our homeless character begins to succumb to his addictions, which previously seemed under control. Relatively.
The documentary is not as fluid as it could be and it’s subject is either absent in body or mind later on in the film. Clearly attached and fond of the man she now considers a friend, the director struggles with her emotions and the documentary almost becomes the crutch of her effort to save the homeless man from his demons, or at least get under the skin of them and subsequently him.
Unfortunately the man’s casual attitude to his mortality prevails and after a one to one in hospital after an overdose, where the director tells him honestly why she can’t understand his determination to destroy himself the two never meet again, but listed as his next of kin (which comes as a surprise) the Director is contacted when he dies, and films his unceremonious funeral drawing through voiceover what she can from the experience.
The Style
The idea is based on various real life homeless stories I have either heard (from a friend who was a drug councillor for the homeless), seen in documentaries or read. As a child I was obsessed with the homeless as it terrified me. I want to make something which gives the homeless a very different personality to the norm but which doesn’t say “this is what the homeless are like” just “this is a homeless person who is like this”, even though he is fictional.
The ending is inspired by a clip I saw of a 70’s documentary called “Gail is dead” about a young girl who was a runaway heroin addict, who was followed by a film crew and interviewer- a middle aged man who I think was quite famous at the time for his documentaries. The clip was the hospital scene I describe as the ending in this story, where the man told the girl he couldn’t see what her demons were, and that not only was she a nice person she was intelligent and attractive, but seemed hell bent on dying. She did die, and the film cut from this conversation to a shot of a crematorium (or graveyard) with the voiceover “Gail Parsons died on January 21st 1795”. I found this immensely powerful even for a 2 minute clip.
I would aim to film this as if it was real, similar to the Blair Witch or recent Australian comedy Kenny, with the comedy feeling very natural and real allowing for the more intense emotional parts to feel as real as any laughs. The setting of London allows for some nice shots of the city, huge amount of extras and a very real setting, which would need very little trickery to enhance the “reality” of the project.
The piece could be written at less than feature length or longer and could allow for some substantial improvisation depending on the actors.
As it is the work is a basic idea but I feel could become something good with a proper writer and the themes/ journeys in it more clearly outlined.
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Global Village Project Idea
FILM PROJECT PROPOSAL - GLOBAL VILLAGE.
A family is shocked by the suicide of their son, Tom. The surviving members
have flashbacks which each give a clue as to why it might have happened.
This culminates in a flashback from the boy's own perspective.
A short film (5 - 10 minutes) which explores themes of family, class, war, the
mass media and sexuality, and how they all connect. "
Currently being workshoped via SELFCollective Writers Circle contact Corrie to get involved corrie@selfcollective.org