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25.05.10
If you like packaging this is groovey! Beyond the Pole is on sale now through Amazon.co.uk and launches in UK shops on July 5th with some really great dvd extras. Lovely Gorgeous and click to buy!!
07.05.10
As we’re in LA we did what any self respecting tourist does and hung out on a film lot until a famous actor gave in and let us have our picture taken with him on set (TIP: as they get tired & hungry they weaken). Then obviously we had a few meetings, quick bit of surgery for awards night (when in Rome etc), (where as part of BRITWEEK screenings we picked up LA UNITED Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature doncha know!) then went for burger where I changed back to normal attire because just too much explaining involved on the school run and picked up our Phoenix Film Fest Award for Best Film which was very nice although I was a bit worried at how I’d get it past airport security. Back to back awards either side of the Atlantic can’t be bad and people muttering that we’re on course for some heavy duty recognition at the end of the year…we’ll see! As it is was a great screening with rowdy Q+A and looking forward to screenings in UK with Newcastle, Leicester, Maidenhead, West Sussex, Cumbria etcetc lining up.
Did I mention the small matter of UK election and rotten weather since Tories got most votes? Maybe God’s a Liberal after all! By the way if you’re seeing us in Newcastle Tyneside’s cinema I understand we’re screening at same time as David Baddiel’s The Infidel and Chris Morris’s Four Lions. Super discerning the Geordies! We’ve heard interesting things so see them all and tell us what you think. Laters! PS “Apparently” our little film is now being seen by LA’s finest in a number of private screenings. Watch this space!
24.04.10
Well what d’ya know! Best Comedy at London Independent Film Festival! Lovely sunny day and some quality time with cast and crew. Few little stills for you and some quick early coverage and another which seems to be getting the word out! Roll on LA and all our groovey meetings. Press Release below for your delectation. Feel free to pass it on with any photos from the website or facebook page.
PRESS RELEASE
Beyond the Pole, the comedy feature film from Actress/Producer Helen Baxendale (Friends, Cold Feet), today picked up Best Comedy at the London Independent Film Festival. Directed and produced by Helen’s partner, David L Williams, and currently in UK cinemas, Beyond the Pole has now won 8 awards in European and American Festivals, at least one in every competitive festival entered.
“It’s so rare for British comedies to win over fans and critics but Beyond the Pole seems to be doing just that. Critics have compared it to a cross between The Office and Touching the Void, which is very flattering, but in all honesty I don’t think there’s been a film like it. It’s funny, moving, very dark in places and the performances from the actors are career bests. I think the industry is gradually waking up to the fact that they’ve got a genuinely independent feature here that is funny and to be cherished and I really hope the actors get the credit they deserve when Bafta season comes round!”
Beyond the Pole stars Stephen Mangan (Green Wing, Confetti); Rhys Thomas (Bellamy’s People, Fast Show); Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) and Helen Baxendale (Friends, Cold Feet) who also exec produces and is the story of two hapless do gooders who set out on the world’s first Carbon Neutral, Vegetarian, Organic expedition to the North Pole. “Basically these guys shouldn’t be anywhere near the arctic. They’ve never done anything like it before, their equipment is rubbish, they’re not even getting on and they’re in the most dangerous environment in the world. When they meet the cocky Gay Norwegians it turns very dark indeed!” adds Helen. “Go and see it. It’s funny.”
Beyond the Pole was shot on floating sea ice off the coast of Greenland, is in UK cinemas, and has a preview screening in LA on May 1st, 7PM, at:
LA UNITED FILM FESTIVAL
Los Feliz Cinema
1822 Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Helen Baxendale is currently filming Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous in Berlin.
For any further info/materials please email: info@shootingpictures.co.uk
23.4.10
So much has been happening!!
We’ve now picked up over half a dozen awards at our festivals including Best Film in San Diego and & Phoenix. Phoenix and Washington we did the virtual SKYPE Q+A thing which is really great and in Phoenix we actually went one step further with Traci Papineau and Paul Osborne actually carrying us to the bar on Traci’s laptop so we could schmooze (albeit in 2D) with the best of them. Ok so drinking was a little tricky but it made for a cheap round and can’t get much greener than that!
We’ve just hammered out what we hope is a great UK DVD deal which should really enable us to get the film out to far more people than we ever could have via cinema. V exciting and more info to follow on Facebook so keep your eyes peeled on there. We’ve got cast/crew attended screenings coming up in Cannock, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leicester etc and of course L.A. where we have some very interesting meetings indeed as Beyond the Pole seems to have tickled some very powerful funny bones Stateside. Watch this space and if you can get to any of those screenings get yourself a ticket fast because as great as the DVD is there is nothing q. like watching the trials and tribulations of Mark and Brian’s journey unfold on the big screen!
Helen Baxendale & Stephen Mangan did a great interview together on ITV – gorgeous and funny both (as were Philip Schofield and Holly too) and Stephen and Rhys then followed this up with a really great interview on 18.04.10 on Absolute Radio with Frank Skinner. This is not uploading onto Facebook site for some reason but it is 100% funny – so if you can we thoroughly recommend downloading it from the site and please if there’s any commissioners out there – give this double act a series QUICK!
Latest outtake for your pleasure of the really rather gorgeous Alexander Skarsgard and a lesson in how to keep your extremities warm at -20. Is this a taste of things to come for the DVD extras????
Finally congrats to Rhys and his family. They have just had their second daughter and as Polly their firstborn is in Beyond the Pole we are now working on a sequel!
6.4.10
Hmm sorry our blog/diary skills seem to be slipping. Blame it on a cinema run that most resembles touring a band including all the red bull, ginsters, mars bars and ummm… coffee that entails. Highlights so far include being Dundee DCA’s biggest seller; David and Rhys being generously entertained by the team at Belfast’s QFT; visiting Wells, (the diddiest city in the UK!) and the really rather wonderful and high tech Derby Quad with a projection room that would be the envy of NASA. A few quick snippets of press along the way: Manchester Evening News review and City Life’s interview with director ; Scotland’s biggest newspaper, the Daily Record ; Ireland’s Belfast Telegraph; and in about an hour Helen Baxendale and Stephen Mangan will be interviewed on ITV’s This Morning. You may be able to watch live (and not live!) anywhere in the world. Let us know on facebook!
For US fans we are now playing this month in Phoenix, Nashville, Wisconsin, Palm Beach and L.A. If you are near, tell the world and come and say hello. This is what happened when we played at San Fran’s Roxie Cinema where the director got to feel just a little bit what it must be like to be a rock star (or should we say the USA’s favourite bloodsucker!) and we can’t wait to get back out there.
If you’re in the UK, we’re in Ambleside Zeffirelli’s tonight (Helen Baxendale and Director attending Q+A) in the lovely Lake District (just 5 hours, 3 Red Bulls and half a dozen Ginsters away!); Nottingham Broadway on Friday for another Q+A and Inverness Eden Court via the wonders of modern technology (ummm Skype!) in a week or so and another appearance in London at London Independent Film Fest.
One last thing. We are just starting to let slip a few of the out takes from Beyond the Pole. As it was improvised we have AMAZING footage and though this may seem a little tame, those fans of True Blood will see a VERY different side to Mr Alexander Skarsgard in the dvd extras. Let’s just say we are holding ourselves back….ALOT! Watch out for more on Facebook.
Right, got to go. Off to press record on the telly!
19.03.10
Flippin’ Nora – I can’t remember the last time I spoke for fun! I’m not saying I don’t enjoy talking about Beyond the Pole but Gordon Bennet! Remember those action men where you could pull a string out of their chest and it would say something urgent like “I’m packing hardware. Take me to your HQ!” That’s me. EVERYTHING is Beyond the Pole. So this week I’ve talked to the couriers and persuaded them to do a block deal to shift our prints all over the country. I’ve spoken to the BBC, the Guardian, the Times, the Manchester Evening News, writers for our next project, Michael Moore (yes, HIM!); Festivals; Radio stations in Sheffield, Dundee, Manchester and more; persuaded actors to do one more push; begged my sister to make her chicken pie ONE more time because it’s better than her chilli; outpaced my dog because there’s no bloody time to sniff our way round the world, and twittered, twattered and twonked until my brain is frankly…not what it was and I didn’t start from a particularly high base!
But we’re doing it. Today our national tour kicks off in Sheffield, Dundee, and Manchester. If you live in those places feel free to give your local radio station a nudge and ask them to announce it.
Here we go and don’t forget to tell us on Facebook what you thought of the movie!
14.03.10
Ok. Truthfully? Alice showed her dark side and duffed us up! We fought a good fight but Alice in Wonderland was dirty and had bigger mates and for the first time we didn’t sell out our West End run. OK, so we aimed high, but Tim Burton’s pretty bully trounced everything in the West End and we didn’t escape although we were the cinema’s 3rd best seller after Hurt Locker and An Education. So we made the podium and beat 7 other US films like Motherhood, It’s Complicated, UP etc etcetc
Bloodied we may be but we march on. Word is undoubtedly spreading because our National run has now extended to over 30 UK Cities (and starts THIS FRIDAY in Manchester, Sheffield and Dundee!)and Stateside, thanks to fan support, we have just been invited to San Diego, Phoenix, Nashville, Wisconsin, Palm Beach and LA! Get your tickets quick because if San Fran and Fort Lauderdale run are anything to go by they will be GREAT fun and will sell out superfast!
Just before I go I HAVE to tell you we had the most amazing Q+A with Washington DC Fest – SKYPE truly is a beautiful thing. From the other side of the world, at 3am my time, I got to chat with the audience from my study (sorry – UK HQ!), and they beamed my face up on their cinema screen like some crazy Max Headroom/Big Brother cross hybrid son of the devil! I am pushing all the other fests to do it too because it was funny, and weird and great and very, very green in a business which remains a bit of an ecological disaster however you look at it.
That’s me done for another diary update! Not too bad for someone who’s last diary was worked on in 1978!
2.03.10
Wow! Moan on and ye shall receive! Apollo Piccadilly has just booked us from THIS Friday 5th March for 3 screenings a day for a week! Just seen the screen and it is beauutiful – Beyond the Pole shall go to London’s West End!! Tickets on sale now (all 5000 of them!) and we have worked out that if you are fans of Green Wing, True Blood, Cold Feet, the Fast Show, Friends, Bellamy’s People, Sport Relief (you heard it here first), then you are one of 350 million people – 6 x the population of the UK – and you are naturally pre-disposed to be a fan of Beyond the Pole too! As a consequence we have high hopes of selling out! Will we see you there? We better! We’ve done our research, we know where you live. Get there. And bring your mates!! Book Ahead and guarantee a rocking weekend!
David, Helen, Neil, Stephen, Rhys, Rosie, Mark, Alexander, Lars and all the BTP team xxxx
1.03.10
Our Scottish Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival was fantastic. Sold out house, very funny Q&A and incredible feedback. The Glasgow Film Theatre and the Edinburgh Film House immediately booked us for a week each to go with our Dundee, & Inverness runs. Good old Scotland – and it didn’t rain once! Attending were Rhys Thomas (actor), Rob Miller (editor), Amanda Miller (photographer & Rob’s missus!), Neil Warhurst (writer) and dir/prod David L Williams. Very funny couple of days and one of highlights was definitely spending a sunny afternoon just strolling around Glasgow talking about when we were last there (Neil studied there and I was on stage with Exec Prod Helen Baxendale over 20 years ago!) As Helen couldn’t make it I pretended Neil was my lover and we have a number of very affecting photos taken by passers by with Neil and I in various states of amour!
I should also mention that our London run has come to a premature (and slightly weird but very British!) end. After selling out our 2 week run at the ICA we now have no London home for the film?! Come on Picture House, Cineworld, Empire, Vue and all you indies!! Book Beyond the Pole quick before our regional cinemas put you to shame! What is going on with the British Film industry? We are selling out in London and can’t find a cinema? Bonkers!!!
19.02.10
Every screening at ICA selling out and watched the cinema turning people away the other night. Aggh – the pain!! Despite our screen average (from a TINY cinema) putting us in UK top ten (just behind Alvin & the Chipmunks!) we are soon going to be in bizarre situation of having a gap coming up in London run as despite being the ICA ’s “sell out sensation” (BOX OFFICE) and them wanting us to keep running they programme their cinemas up 6-8 weeks ahead and can’t get us back in until May! If anyone knows any cinema owners who want to make money and can get us in – please get in touch because there is a momentum here and we have a ton of press enquiries that we are having to say no to! david@shootingpictures.co.uk
Rhys Thomas, Helen Baxendale, Rob (editor), Pete (sound), Neil (writer) and I watched from the projection room the other night and were amazed just how well it plays in the cinema. It really is wonderful with an audience – it just takes flight. If ONLY the reviewers could see it in a cinema! Our reviews have been great but WHAT would they have been like if they could have seen this? Most of them we just had to send a screener out to and it’s just not the same (particularly as you just never know how they get watched). You just can’t beat a cinema where you are completely focused on the story as it unravels in front of you. So lovely to hear people laughing their heads off! I told everyone about the screenings in San Fran where people actually talked to the screen. ”Brrr looks COLD!” or “here comes Alex – oh he looks soooo gooood in red!”. Honestly god love Americans. So enthusiastic and without cynicism. But here in this little room, in the dark, with friends who have worked so long and hard on our little film …it ’s moments like this I will always remember and it all feels worth it. A little bit magic.
After one screening we meet Stephen Mangan’s sister – absolutely gorgeous and funny and loves (LOVES!) the film. Great. It’s an absolute delight to meet her and (poor Stephen) I know I can twist his arm now for more press!!
It’s 3am and can’t sleep. Up to Glasgow tomorrow morning for the Scottish premiere on Sunday and still have to pack as didn’t stop working until 11pm. I have no idea if we’re sold out yet (or I should say if we’ve sold any at all!) as couldn’t get through on phone lines but we’ve just had a couple of amazing reviews from Future Movies and Eye For Film to go with the others that I hope will play a big part in helping us get people in. When you’ve no advertising budget these reviews are incredibly important and so far we’ve been very lucky. It does make me laugh when every film now calls itself an indie and the British Independent Film Awards go to films backed by BBC and the UK Film Council. These are studios! Everything is so corporate now: I’m sure in the end it can’t be good for our film industry. When members of your team are temping to get by and I am personally trying to meet every member of the audience to impress upon them how important it is they sign up to fanpage, review the film on imdb and generally tell ALL their friends how much they liked the movie to fill the gap of a marketing budget. I mean we shot on floating sea ice, ate gruel and shat in buckets! I’ll show them indie!!!
Bloody hell I’m rambling. Now where’s my smalls….
12.02.10
Opened last night, everything a mad rush, and barely in control but we sold out and looks like rest of run just might too. Little glimpse of what happened once everyone safely in cinema: http://bit.ly/bZZpJe
7.02.10
Umm never been good at diaries and things have been a bit bonkers crazy here so apologies for gap. San Fran Indie Fest was hilarious with Alexander Skarsgard fans turning out in force and Beyond the Pole apparently being the buzziest film of the festival (whatever that means). They are now asking for additional dates because of demand so if you want to see it in San Fran there’s a chance you still can: http://bit.ly/8dO9WG. Helen Baxendale, our exec producer, had an amazing double page spread in the Sunday Times which you can see on the Reviews Page of the website (the real thing is even more impressive with really wonderful stills from the movie – get it if you can) and as it is pretty late and I am wading through emails still (god knows what people think when they see the time sent on these things!) I thought I might just pop a couple of links here to give you a feel for the craziness of Jeff’s festival. Film being introduced: http://bit.ly/aW0jmF ; A few words after the film : http://bit.ly/bLrufD . Some pics of fans (who were very vocal which photos don’t q. capture) http://bit.ly/bFvl3c hope you like! Roll on Friday at ICA when Beyond the Pole opens in London!! If you haven’t got tickets yet I’d be quick because this cinema may well be the smallest in the world!! http://bit.ly/8dO9WG Hope to see you soon and wish Helen luck tomorrow (today now!) as she does the interview thing on BBC Breakfast, followed by Front Row with Mark Lawson and finishing off with Angela and Friends! Who’d be a gorgeous actress/producer eh? Nighty night. DLW
21.01.10
Spent the week lying. I am trying hard to give the impression that there is a team of dynamic, young media types working for me from an airy, open plan office in Soho. As long as I’m emailing it works. I can email really fast and with multiple identities. Unfortunately, things break down as soon as I get on the phone. The dog barks, my wife shouts up to say hello and goodbye and would I like a cup of tea and I have given up shouting back to say she must knock first and then enquire if I’m busy. The kids sense my surrender and now barge into my study (which is actually the size of a coffin) whenever they like demanding to go on Mathletics. I gesticulate with wild chopping motions mouthing to my youngest to get O-U-T of my office. He gives me the dead eye and shouts to mum complaining that Dad is “the worst dad in the world”. We stare eachother out in an uneasy standoff. I think my caller has rumbled me. DLW
14.01.10
This week spent running round sorting out press screening, encouraging reviewers to brave the snow, checking out cinemas for March run, fighting off a fearsome cold, and working out how on earth we can look after San Fran screening, Glasgow prem and London run all at the same time! Got some nice footage of krispy kreme donuts being hand delivered courtesy of myself to cinema and as soon as I work out how to do it I will get it uploaded. Thanks to all Beyond the Pole facebook fans who have been amazingly supportive. You know who you are! Please let everyone know this blog is up and running. I will try and update regularly. All best, DLW
