film talent

By Catherine Jones on Jun 19, 07 08:28 AM

Northwest Vision has announced the shortlist for its new Digital Departures micro-budget film-making initiative.
Not the snappiest explanation of what essentially is giving people the chance to make a movie on a shoestring budget.
Well, £250,000 a film isn't to be sniffed at of course, but it's not going to make you Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (although that's probably a good thing - Johnny Depp is....Jack Scally).

Anyway, the competition has been fierce with more than 150 entries for the scheme which have now been whittled down to just 12.
So while you may not get a George Clooney-helmed blockbuster, you may just get Starstruck, Arabian Nightz, or even the shamelessly titled Whores With Guns.
I say shamelessly, because writer John Bishop (yes, the comedian) admitted he'd picked the title in a kind-of Snakes on a Plane way to get noticed.
It's certainly worked and now John, director Jim Marquand and producer Phil Evers are battling it out to make it to the final three lucky projects.
They are up against some starry names - Distant Voices Still Lives director Terence Davies for example who is making a documentary about his Liverpool childhood.
Then there's the Grow Your Own team of Frank Cottrell Boyce/Carl Hunter back with a film about Scrabble called Triple Word Score.
EastEnders scriptwriter Jeff Young and musician Pete Wylie have written a screenplay about Don Quixote and rock 'n' roll, while Letter to Brezhnev director Chris Bernard is involved in a supernatural horror tale Section 48 with Frozen writer Juliet McKoen.
But there is a lot of other talent in there as well, and I don't envy the judges at all.
Here are the other shortlisted entries:
*Starstruck - about two teenage girls obsessed with a young premiership footballer who end up kidnapping him
*Arabian Nightz - The Khana family restaurant is on the brink of bankruptcy and everyone is keeping secrets. How on earth is an ex-racehorse going to save them?
*The Maimed - An unflinching, at times lyrical, psychological drama about interlocking destinies, obsession and ultimately tragic revenge set in the underworld of contemporary Liverpool
*Looking for Iris - six-year-old Iris and her revolutionary dad are inseparable. But then he goes missing. When his body is found 20 years later, Iris sets out to uncover the truth and find his killer. But will they kill her first?
*Left Handed - Eddie and Vera, two pensioners, are staring at a bad retirement plan. The solution to this problem? Theft. On a grand scale. (I really like the idea of this one)
*The Northern Cowboy - A young Lancashire lad dreams of stardom in Nashville, but first he has to beat his rivals closer to home, in a country and western competition which showcases so much more than singing.
*Salvage - With her street quarantined by a military unit attempting to destroy a savage renegade, a single mother battles to bring her estranged daughter to safety.

Phew.............