Turf Package. Published: 15 March 2005

Transcription

1 Turf Package Published: 15 March 2005 Producer: Alexis Bicât Turf Productions Limited 126 Bolingbroke Grove, Battersea, London SW11 1DA, UK. f: +44 (0) US Cell: +1 (323) e: w:

2 Contents Intro... 3 Turf... 3 Cast... 4 PADDY - Colm Meaney ANNA Maria Grazia Cucinotta Synopsis... 6 Crew... 7 Writer & Director - Shay Leonard... 7 Producer - Alexis Bicât... 8 Co-Producer - Michael Garland Line Producer Howard Gibbins Director of Photography - Tim Maurice-Jones First Assistant Director Peter Agnew

3 Intro Turf Turf is an unaffected parochial comedy caper, a Fargo meets Whisky Galore. In Turf the conflict premises are universal, the story is well worn, the humour is strong and the characterization deep, charming and utterly contemporary. Turf rests easily in terms of cast, content, parochial setting, genre, style, soundtrack and director with the following movies: Waking Ned Devine dir. Kirk Jones Saving Grace dir. Nigel Cole Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels dir. Guy Ritchie Dori Begley of Sony Pictures Classics said verbally that Turf had break out potential. Sony Pictures Classics are tracking the movie. Alexandra Rossi of Fine Line said in writing that she would consider acquiring the film on the basis of the package as it currently stands and rushes. She also said the film has break out potential. Fine Line are tracking the movie. Buena Vista International Ireland, ICB Entertainment Finance, American World Pictures and the Irish Film Board are already poised to put their full weight behind the project. The short film prequel to Turf entitled To Catch a Crow featuring the same two lead characters (PADDY and JOE) and the same setting won the Audience Award at the British Short Film Festival and was distributed nationwide in front of The Shipping News to great critical acclaim. The director Shay Leonard s nationwide TV interview with respected film critic Richard Jobson really drives home the appeal of his charming Irish comedy. 3

4 Cast PADDY - Colm Meaney Colm Meaney stars in his next two films, New France and Layer Cake with: Jason Isaacs (Peter Pan, Harry Potter) Gerard Depardieu (Green Card, Cyrano De Bergerac) Michael Gambon (Sleepy Hollow, Gosford Park) The Boys from County Clare (2003) Intermission (2003) - Detective Jerry Lynch How Harry Became a Tree (2001) - Harry Four Days (1999) - Fury This Is My Father (1998/I) - Seamus Con Air (1997) - DEA Agent Duncan Malloy The Van (1996) - Larry The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) - Morgan the Goat 4

5 ANNA Maria Grazia Cucinotta In her next movie Rent-a-Husband Maria Grazia Cucinotta stars with: Chevy Chase (Saturday Night Live, Caddyshack) Vaniglia e cioccolato - Penelope 2004 Stregati dalla luna - Miria 2001 Picking Up the Pieces - Desi 2000 The World Is Not Enough Balloon Assassin 1999 Ballad of the Nightingale - Alina 1998 La Seconda moglie - Anna 1998 A Brooklyn State of Mind - Gabriela 1997 Il Postino Beatrice Russo

6 Synopsis TURF is a story about the dark brown stuff that helps many people get through their lives, hash. Cliffoney, County Sligo, North West of Ireland. PADDY and JOE are two bachelor brothers, mid-forties, rugged but somewhat attractive farmers, part-time undertakers, and not very fond of the taxman. Faced with a 135,332 tax bill, they decide to go fishing to relieve the stress, or more precisely, to watch the beautiful ANNA - bored wife of retired rock-star JIM JARRE swimming in the Atlantic. As PADDY ogles ANNA from their boat JOE has a bite on his line, but it ain't no fish. The brothers hoist a large package from the sea, and decide to take it home to check it out. Back at the farm they unwrap the parcel to discover a load of freshly cut turf. Or so it seems, until they eventually figure out that they've discovered somebody s stash of hash. Do they tell FERGUS, the local cop, or do they try to sell it, and wipe away their tax debt? PADDY, being the more adventurous of the two decides to sell, and ANNA is called on to help find a buyer. ANNA sets up a deal with a London Contact. Meanwhile, the 'rightful owners' - the Dublin Mafia, in the form of EAMO and DAMO, are searching for the stash. The Irish Customs Officers are also searching, with the help of FERGUS. The Contact from London arrives, but EAMO and DAMO intercept the deal, killing the Contact, and knocking PADDY and JOE out, before mistakenly making off with a bag of turf, instead of the drugs. Having realized their mistake, EAMO and DAMO return in search of their hash as the Customs operation steps up and more London dealers arrive in search of their missing Contact. In the meantime, PADDY is getting a little too fond of the weed, arguing with JOE over their love for ANNA, and the undertaking business is booming as the older villagers keep dying off. The Brothers are faced with a dilemma; admit to the authorities that they found the drugs, or try to outwit the dealers and some how make enough money to pay off the taxman. All rights reserved

7 Crew Writer & Director - Shay Leonard Shay Leonard is an Irish filmmaker who has been making low/nobudget short films and videos in London for over ten years. Shay studied film at the University of North London, the City University of New York and the University of Toulouse in France. In 1996 his graduation film The Present Occupier: Final Demand was premiered at the Portobello Film & Video Festival in London. Since graduating Shay has been working on short and feature films in London, including the highly successful Sexy Beast by Jonathan Glaser, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Richie, Calendar Girls by Nigel Cole, and the forthcoming Shaun of the Dead by Edgar Wright. He has also worked on many television productions such as the BBC's Byron, Dunkirk, Harry Enfield, and How Do You Want Me? Shay's film work has been mainly in the Art Department, yet he has also assistant directed, and worked as a camera operator. Shay s most recent short film To Catch A Crow was shot on Super 16mm and subsequently blown up to 35mm for theatrical distribution throughout Ireland by Buena Vista International (shown with The Shipping News). To Catch A Crow won the Audience Award at the BBC British Short Film Festival, was short listed for the Turner Classic Movies Prize and came second in the BAFTA Kodak Short Film Showcase Cannes. The film has also been shown on both Sky Movies and BBC3 in the UK, on RTE in Ireland, and on cable in the USA and Japan. Turf is based in Sligo in the north west of Ireland, an area that Shay is very familiar with, having shot To Catch A Crow there, and being a regular visitor since childhood. 7

8 Producer - Alexis Bicât Alexis Bicât was one of the major forces behind the London Screenings Film Market. He continued to innovate in this field putting Buyers and Sellers before all else for nearly six years. The culmination of his one client, one market mandate was the creation of the on line business tool londonscreenings.com. Having this understanding and knowing how international theatrical release rights markets work has come in handy when distributing short film works Noise Control and To Catch a Crow. Both films received Nationwide theatrical releases courtesy of Welsh Screen and Buena Vista International respectively. By training a filmmaker Alexis graduated from the University of North London (UNL) in Kentish Town and the City University of New York (CUNY) in Harlem in Bicât was instrumental in the running of the occupation of The Kentish Town College site in 1994, which made Nationwide Television News. Bicât s Parent International in conjunction with Remote Films Ltd. is currently developing five feature length scripts all intended for theatrical release. Co-Producer - Michael Garland Spin the Bottle (2003) Producer The Mapmaker (2001) - Executive Producer Accelerator (1999) - Producer This Is the Sea (1998) - Producer The Last Bus Home (1997) - Executive Producer Line Producer Howard Gibbins King Arthur (2004) - Unit Production Manager The Medallion (2003) - Production Manager The Abduction Club (2002) - Line Producer Not Afraid, Not Afraid (2001) - Associate Producer 8

9 Mad About Mambo (2000) - Unit Production Manager St. Ives (1999) - Production Manager Director of Photography - Tim Maurice-Jones Envy (2004) - DOP Human Nature (2001) - DOP Snatch: Pigs and Diamonds (2000) - DOP Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) - DOP If You Loved Me...? (1997 short) - DOP A Feast at Midnight (1994) - DOP A Short Film About Chilling (1990 short) DOP First Assistant Director Peter Agnew Ella Enchanted (2004) - First Assistant Director Spin the Bottle (2003) - First Assistant Director The Actors (2003) - First Assistant Director Not Afraid, Not Afraid (2001) - First Assistant Director The Mapmaker (2001) - First Assistant Director Saltwater (2000) - First Assistant Director The Most Fertile Man In Ireland (1999) - First Assistant Director The Last September (1999) - First Assistant Director Sweety Barrett (1998) - First Assistant Director Jumpers (1997) First Assistant Director 9