'Safe House'

Spring 2015

TV series (4 episodes)

Wr. Michael Crompton

Dir. Marc Evans

Role: Robert (ex-policeman).

News

2015 Jan 7 ITV Drama trail:

Nov 3 ITV Border set report:

Eccleston quotes. On open water swimming

So I've really experienced it: it's exhilarating. It's not a great thing to think about, you know, but once I'm in there doing it and I do do it in a wet suit and in one sequence I've got a wet suit on and I'm fully clothed because the character panics. It's really exhilarating and a great thing to say for when I'm an old man I can say that I did it.

Trying the Coniston Chill Swim and the Great North Swim

I'd love to do all that. I've really enjoyed the swimming but I'm a big runner. I've not been able to run much here because of the work but I have done a couple of 10 milers and I'm aware of your great fell runner Joss Naylor. I've got the latest book on Joss - the beautiful hardback - very interested in that. I've done some beautiful runs while I've been here, I ran from Water Yeat from Coniston and back.

Local experience

Also the locals... you know? Cockneys and Londoners are very friendly but London itself is very impersonal and it's been very refreshing to have the warmth of the Lakelanders again. We've been made to feel very welcome. I think we've, you know, we've brought a very positive feel to Coniston. We've been made particularly welcome here.

Video 1 - extra Christopher Eccleston interview

Video 2 - full report, CE featured

Video 3 - extract with Andrew Benson

Oct 6 Official casting announcement from ITV:

Cast announced for atmospheric thriller Safe House to be produced by Eleventh Hour Films

Acclaimed British actor Christopher Eccleston (The Leftovers, Thor: The Dark World) will be joined by Marsha Thomason (White Collar) and Paterson Joseph (The Leftovers, Law & Order: UK) in a new four-part drama series Safe House from Eleventh Hour Films. Safe House is a tense thriller set in the beautiful wilderness of the Lake District.

The cast will also include Jason Merrells (Emmerdale, Waterloo Road), Nicola Stephenson (All At Sea, Holby City), and Peter Ferdinando (Doctor Who, A Field in England) and is set to commence filming today; Monday 6th October.

The 4-part drama tells the story of a married couple: Robert (Christopher Eccleston) a former detective and Katy (Marsha Thomason) a teacher who are asked by close friend and police officer Mark (Paterson Joseph), to turn their remote Guest House into a Safe House.

Their first 'guests' at the Safe House, are a family in fear of their lives after they are violently attacked by someone who claims to know them. For Robert protecting the family resurrects fears and anxieties bound up in a terrifying night eighteen months ago – where he was protecting a star witness who was about to testify against her gangland husband. Unexpectedly, he was shot, and she was killed. As a consequence of running the Safe House, Robert re-questions this incident and uncovers a web of lies.

Inspired by a real couple, Safe House is a distinctive character-driven drama created and written by Michael Crompton (Kidnap & Ransom, Carrie's War), and directed by award-winning Marc Evans (Hinterland, Collision) and produced by Andrew Benson (Strikeback, Mad Dogs). It is being developed by Eleventh Hour Films' Paula Cuddy, who is also an Executive Producer, alongside Jill Green.

Safe House is potentially a returnable series for ITV and Eleventh Hour Films and was commissioned by ITV's Director of Drama, Steve November and Controller of Drama, Victoria Fea.

"We're delighted to commission Safe House from Jill Green and Eleventh
Hour Films. It's a compelling four-part drama from Michael Crompton with great characters and genuine twists which keep you guessing right to the end."

Jill Green (Foyle's War, Collision, The American) said: "This brilliant idea for a psychological thriller has attracted a strong cast – and will keep viewers gripped."

Oct 2 Michael Crompton tweets about Christopher Eccleston's involvement in the project.

May 1 Original commisioning announcement from ITV:

ITV commissions atmospheric thriller Safe House from Eleventh Hour Films
ITV has commissioned a new four-part drama series Safe House from Eleventh Hour Films. Safe House is an atmospheric thriller set in the beautiful wilderness of the Lake District.
The drama tells the story of a married couple who turn their remote Guest House into a Safe House. Inspired by a true story, Safe House is a compelling character-driven drama created and written by Michael Crompton (Kidnap & Ransom, Carrie's War).
ITV's Director of Drama Steve November and Controller of Drama Victoria Fea have commissioned Safe House.
"We're delighted to commission Safe House from Jill Green and Eleventh Hour Films. It's a compelling four-part drama from Michael Crompton with great characters and genuine twists which keep you guessing right to the end."
Safe House is EHF's first production to be originated and developed by the indie.
Jill Green (Foyle's War, The American), Managing Director and Executive Producer at Eleventh Hour Films said: "Safe House is a quality drama with intelligently crafted characters delivering a complex and engaging story that will keep the viewer gripped."
Safe House has been developed by EHF's Head of Development Paula Cuddy (Strike Back, Wallander) and will be directed by award-winning director Marc Evans (Hinterland, Collision). The drama is a 4 x 60' commission and will begin filming this autumn.

Mar 18 Series green-lit (Michael Crompton's tweet). It's been two years of development.

'Legend'

2015

Film

Dir. & wr. Brian Helgeland

Role: Leonard Read (Inspector).

Film's twitter --- Facebook --- IMDb

News:

Jul 8 Lower res on-set pictures here, here and here.

Jun 12 Shooting starts. First official image of Tom Hardy released. Christopher Eccleston and other casting announced - Deadline / The Hollywood Reporter. 

The film is based on a book called 'The Profession of Violence' by John Pearson (who also penned 'The Gamblers' which was the basis for ITV's 'Lucan'). The previous attempt to put the Krays on the big screen, from 1990, was helmed by Peter Medak - it landed him the 'Let Him Have It' job. 'Legend' also features Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Tara Fitzgerald ('A Doll's House'), Chazz Palminteri, Taron Egerton.

May 18 Worldwide sales at Cannes - Deadline.

Apr 30 Cross Creek/Universal to distribute in North America - Variety.

2014 Feb 24 Working Title comes aboard as producers, Tom Hardy is in talks - Screen Daily.

The script takes in associates, rivals - such as notorious gangster Jack "the Hat" McVitie, who was murdered by Reginald in 1967 - politician Lord Boothby, and the brothers' nemesis in the police force, DS Leonard "Nipper" Read, who made it his life's ambition to put the Krays behind bars.

2013 Oct 12 "Helgeland talked about the project at a Writer's Guild of America West reception Oct. 10", having handed the script in two weeks ago; report in LA Wave.

'Fortitude'

29 Jan 2015
TV series (12 episodes)
Wr. Simon Donald
Dir. Sam Miller
Role: Charlie Stoddart (scientist).

Character profile at Pivot

TX:
January 29, double ep
9pm UK - Sky Atlantic
10pm e/p US - Pivot

Jan 15 - preview, eps. 1 & 2 + Q&A (Sofie Gråbøl, Simon Donald, Sam Miller) // BFI - info, tickets
Jan 8, 2015 - BAFTA Masterclass: Cinematography with John Conroy // BFI - info, tickets

Site at Sky Atlantic --- Pivot --- twitter --- youtube --- production diary --- cast & crew on twitter --- IMDb

Video:

Photo shoot BTS (Jan 19)
TV trailer 1 (Jan 16) / TV trailer 2 (Jan 16)
'You promised me, Charlie' clip (CE)(Jan 12)
'Take my gun' clip (Jan 12) / BTS #5: From Script to Screen (Jan 12)
BTS #4: Meet the Cast (Jan 9) / BTS #3: About the Show (Dec 19)

Teaser #2 (Oct 24) / BTS teaser #2: Filming in Iceland (Oct 24)

Reviews:

Previews
2015 Jan 20 The List - Henry Northmore - Fortitude 3/5
Dec 31 Vulture - 11 Shows to Look Forward to in January
Dec 9 John Plunkett, The Guardian - 'Twin Peaks in the arctic – unsettling and claustrophobic'
Neil Midgley, Forbes - Sofie Gråbøl Leads A Chilling, Gripping Winter's Tale

News:

Jan 20 Christopher Eccleston interview.

Dublin premiere:
RTE video interview (CE & Treadaway)

London premiere:
Video interviews
Sky: 'Survival' - Q&A highlights
London Live (direct) - AP all cast
Photos - twitter posts one - two

Jan 14 TX info - Sky to launch original drama Fortitude simultaneously across Europe.

2015 Jan 9 Details from Pivot's presentation for the TCA press tour: Variety, BroadcastingCable, TVEquals.

Nov 10 Simon Donald, showrunner of upcoming Sky Atlantic and Pivot crime drama 'Fortitude', and fellow executive producer Patrick Spence, tell C21 about the making of the show.

Oct 25 TVDags: Sweden's SVT confirms TX as one week after the UK premiere in January. Having seen a roughly cut episode 1 they think it's promising and definitely one of the big UK drama events of 2015.

Oct 24 New teaser trailer, bts snippet.
 
Sep 24 Teaser trailer, behind the scenes teaser released. First images at DigitalSpy.

Sep 11 Pre-sales (Sky Vision press release; also on Mipcom):

Sky Vision, the international distribution arm of BSkyB, has pre-sold the Sky Atlantic drama series 'Fortitude' to leading broadcasters, including; Canal + in France, TV2 Denmark, SVT in Sweden, YLE in Finland, Canada's Super Channel, NRK Norway, RUV Iceland, DBS Israel and OTE in Greece. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and PBS Distribution have picked up home entertainment rights.

Jul 4 It's a wrap.

Jun 10 Pre-sales going well, industry launch at Mipcom in October (Broadcast), UK TX late this year or possibly early in the new year at the same time as the American.

Apr 15 Pivot boards as the new coproducer. US TX is set for 2015. Sky Vision article, Pivot's blog.

• Icelandic TV news item (on location in Iceland, 0:48 & 18:40).

• Press release:

Get ready for Sky Atlantic's most ambitious drama commission to date.

A place like nowhere else, Fortitude is surrounded by the savage beauty of the Arctic landscape and is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here - until now.

In such a close-knit community a murder touches everyone and the unsettling horror of this crime threatens the future of the town itself.

Sheriff Dan Anderssen is the local Head of Police and leads a world-class search and rescue team but now finds himself investigating the brutal and shocking murder of a British research scientist. He is forced to work alongside DCI Milton Caldwell, a British detective who's just flown in to Fortitude. As the search for the killer proceeds and the list of suspects grows, each cop finds compelling reasons to mistrust the other.

And as the endless summer nights give way once more to the Arctic darkness, this apparently idyllic community struggles to make sense of the murderous terror that's been let loose in its heart.

This ambitious 13-part [tba - ATBN] drama is written by Simon Donald (Low Winter Sun) and executive produced by Anne Mensah and Cameron Roach for Sky, Patrick Spence and Simon Donald for Fifty Fathoms and Tiger Aspect.

"The shackles are off," said Simon Donald. "Since Patrick and I pitched this project to Sky we've had nothing but full-throated, whole-hearted encouragement. Normally by now the brakes have been applied."

"I have long dreamed of an opportunity like this," added Patrick Spence, executive producer for Fifty Fathoms. "To make a show that is as ambitious as it is unique, and to do so with such unstinting and fearless backing. Simon and I are very lucky men indeed."

Fortitude will be shot on location later this year and will be coming soon to Sky Atlantic HD.

Jan 24 2014 Christopher Eccleston cast in new Sky Atlantic drama. 

Also key to the story are Charlie Stoddart (Eccleston), an English scientist who heads up the Arctic Biology department at the Fortitude Arctic Research Centre [...]

Filming starts in Iceland, with indoors scenes to be shot in London, expected finish in June.

• The series was originally announced as a Sky-Starz coproduction on the 8th of April, 2013. Starz dropped out in December, quoting scheduling disagreement, and Sky proceeded solo (f.ex. Deadline article).


Articles:

Jan 13 The Wall Street Journal - 'Fortitude' Unlocks Arctic Secrets
2015 Jan 9 RÚV - Austfjörðum púslað saman í einn bæ [preview in Iceland; IcelandReview]
Sep 2 WorldScreen - Q&A with Fortitude's Patrick Spence [on production]
Aug 21 WorldScreen - Q&A with Sky Vision's Jane Millichip [on marketing]

'The Darkness'

2012

Film
Dir. Simon Foster
Wr. Simon Foster & Ron Aberdeen
Role: Greg Stonehaven.

Pages at Stealth Media Group --- Covent Garden Films --- Facebook

News:

• 2012 Jan 26 A casting call offered some new details:
To be filmed February/March, 2012 [ETA: postponed] in New Orleans, LA & Vancouver, Canada.
Cast Scout Taylor-Compton, Christopher Eccleston, Shawn Roberts, Michael Biehn, Brenda Blethyn.
Executive producers AVT Shankardass, Kevin Phelan, Michael Cowan, Pam Wallace.
Producers Demetris Kyriacou, Colin Bates.
Story When the world is plunged into permanent darkness, a family from the UK [on] vacations in America is pushed to its limits to survive.

• Oct Project is expected to restart with new producers.

• Aug 27 According to Stealth Media Group's site, shooting to start February 13, 2012. ETA: Sep 15 Now changed to just 'pre-production'.

• Jul 20 CE might not be in the project (going by the absence of this title among his new projects as listed at the Masterclass)?

• Jul 18 Shoot postponed, details to follow.

• The sci-fi/horror film will start shooting July 18, 2011 in Louisiana, USA. Expected to be released first second third quarter of 2012.

• Jun 15 Ron Aberdeen posted some details about the project on his site:

My first feature movie goes into production on July 18th in Louisiana.

"The Darkness"

The journey of a father to get to his kids when sunlight & people inexplicably disappear.

Written with the film's director, Simon Foster.
With Christopher Eccleston playing the father, Scout Taylor-Compton his daughter and Michael Biehn, Shawn Roberts and Francis Fisher in supporting roles, I couldn't ask for a better cast.

Cinema and DVD deals were agreed at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and release is scheduled for Spring 2012.

Once the movie has been released I will post the original spec script and the final shooting script so a comparison between the two can be made. Personally I think the changes that have been made to suit budget, location and what came about in development, will be of interest to many.

Tagline: There's Only One Rule: Don't answer the phone

It has been a long journey going from concept to production and there is still another nine months before its release date.

Simon Foster, the director and co-writer approached me after he read my material on InkTip in October 2005. He sent me a two-page outline of his concept and asked if I would be interested in writing the screenplay.

As I had only started writing at the beginning of that year I jumped at the offer, agreed a deal, signed a contract and started work in December. By February 2006 I sent him the first draft. We had a development meeting in March and between us polished the first draft into a screenplay we were both happy with.

Simon, who is also producing the movie, worked out the budget, prepared the business plan and his pitch to financiers and visited Cannes that year with some good results.

Initially, everything seemed to be good for a shoot in 2009, but then suddenly with the collapse in the financial markets we were back to day one, overnight.

Simon went looking again but this time with a lower budget of $1.5mil as opposed to $4.5mil and I worked on editing the script to reflect the changes in budget.

Through contacts and friends Simon had established in the industry as a musician, gradually he raised fresh interest in the premise and at the start of this year things came together again for a rescheduled shoot, initially for March this year, but again delays crept in here we are in June nearly six years since I received the first email from him.

Getting Pamela Wallace, (Oscar winning writer of Witness) on board as an executive producer and Lindsay Chag as the casting director was a big step forward in getting a quality cast together within the budget.

If there are lessons to be gleamed from this, it is don't stop believing in yourself and don't give up.

• Stealth Media Group:

Synopsis: When the world is plunged into darkness, Greg Stonehaven has to somehow get to his children 200 miles away. All forms of communication have stopped working -- no cell phones, no Internet, no television. To make matters worse, the electrical grid struggles with unprecedented demand and soon completely fails. The populace become confused and frightened as their sources of artificial light gradually dim and die out. People then begin going missing wherever darkness falls, and survivors realize they must do whatever they can to stay in the light.

Tagline: Theres only one rule: Stay in the light.

Starring: Christopher Eccleston (G.I. Joe, 28 Days Later, The Others), Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween 1, 2 & 3, The Runaways), Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: Afterlife, Edge of Darkness, Jumper), Michael Biehn (Grindhouse, The Rock, The Terminator)

• Ron Aberdeen on Scottish Screenwriters site:

'The Darkness' is coming.
A feature movie showing the torment of a father and his kids when they are separated just as sunlight and people disappear for no apparent reason.

Written with the film’s director, Simon Foster.
With Christopher Eccleston playing the father, Scout Taylor-Compton his daughter and Michael Biehn, Shawn Roberts and Francis Fisher in supporting roles.
Filming starts on July 18th in Louisiana.

Also according to Aberdeen's site,

Production of The Darkness begins in 2011 with a production budget of $5mil and already has cinema and DVD distribution contract for the US, Canada and Europe.

• Early reports on shocktillyoudrop.com, dreadcentral.com, bloody-disgusting.com.


Notes:
Simon Foster had tweeted on 19th October 2010, "Whacked. It's 2.15am and I've finally finished the full americanisation of my script for The Darkness.", and Ron Aberdeen confirmed that the film started as set in the UK.
Simon Foster is a composer who also writes, produces and directs. Covent Garden Films is a commercially orientated team affair. And Louisiana has a movie incentive programme.

'This Beautiful Fantastic'

Film
Dir. Terry Loane Joel Hopkins
Wr. Simon Aboud
Role: -

IMDb

News (most recent first):

• Nov 4 The film has a new director and is completely recast (deadline.com, empireonline.com).
  


• The film has apparently folded due to financial problems.
  


• March - Carey Mulligan seems to be no longer attached to the project.


• Jan 22 - Oliver Jeffers talks about his book 'The Heart and the Bottle', which is to feature in a film, namely, 'This Beautiful Fantastic' (Where The Best Books Are! blog, citing Philomel's press release).
  
  


• Nov 16 - Quote from director Terry Loane at IFTN.
  


• The Playlist has read the script draft from a year ago, and offers some speculations, as well as guesses re cast based on it. /Film ponders the differences and assumes the script has changed since, hence their own guesses re the roles and actors.
  


• Oct 28 - Christopher Eccleston has been cast in 'This Beautiful Fantastic' Screendaily.com:

  London-based sales outfit Bankside Films has announced its acquisition of This Beautiful Fantastic ahead of next week’s American Film Market.
  
  A modern fairy tale in the vein of Amelie and Finding Neverland, the cast includes rising star Carey Mulligan alongside Tom Wilkinson, Christopher Eccleston, Mackenzie Crook and Joanna Lumley. Further cast will be announced in due course.
  
  Principal photography is due to begin in March 2010 shooting on location in Edinburgh, Scotland and in studio facilities in Cologne, Germany.
  
  This Beautiful Fantastic recently appeared on The Brit List [see f.ex. at /Film - ATBN], an annual compilation of the best unproduced screenplays in the UK which is generally regarded as an indicator of future critical favourites. Bankside will be offering the project to distributors for the first time in Santa Monica next week.
  
  Terry Loane will direct from a screenplay written by Simon Aboud. Kami Naghdi of London-based Constance Media will produce with Matt Treadwell as co-producer and Compton Ross and Phil Hunt of Bankside Films as executive producers.
  
  The film will focus on frustrated children’s author Bella Brown, who only leaves her obsessively ordered flat for work at the library. Chronically shy, she has no friends, no family and no life until she falls in with Billy, a hopelessly messy inventor who whirls through the library’s carefully balanced world like a shambolic tornado.
  
  Bankside will handle international sales for foreign territories, and has a co-representation agreement with The Gersh Agency/Untitled Entertainment on the domestic rights.

Notes: Apparently this has been in the works at least since February this year - Dora Kappou had tweeted "Anyone knows something about Carey Mulligan and Chris Eccleston in This Beautiful Fantastic? http://pro.imdb.com/title/t... 11:47 AM Feb 19th from web"

'Feet In The Clouds'

No further news since the following article.

Variety brings an update on the Sinclair project with Christopher Eccleston (18 Aug 2009):

Sinclair's production company, Feet Films, has also signed up Loader to be exec producer on feature film "Feet in the Clouds." She is co-producing with Nicola Shindler from Manchester-based Red Productions in association with Boomerang Plus.

Sinclair wrote the screenplay based on the book of the same name by journalist Richard Askwith. She will direct and Christopher Eccleston is to play the role of Askwith.

The project has received pilot funding from the UKFC's New Cinema Fund. The Film Agency for Wales has also provided funding for screenplay development and production. Meanwhile, Limelight Productions is in talks to provide some equity for the $1 million budget film.

Preliminary report had appeared in February 2009, screendaily.com:

Sinclair in Berlin with Feet In The Clouds

11 February, 2009 | By Audrey Ward

London based film-maker Kate Sinclair is in Berlin shopping Feet In The Clouds a screenplay, which she wrote, based on the award winning novel of the same name by journalist Richard Askwith.

She also plans to direct the project with Christopher Eccleston lined up to play the role of Askwith.

Sinclair previously worked as a theatre director and as Film4's book scout. She discovered Vikas Swarup's (at the time unpublished) novel Q & A, on which Slumdog Millionaire was based and brought it to the UK company.

Feet In The Clouds follows Askwith as he takes part in the Bob Graham Round, a race that involves running 72 miles up and down mountains within 24 hours. The project is being pitched as Man On Wire meets Touching The Void.

The $2.2 million budget project which received funding from The Film Agency for Wales is hoping to start shooting in the summer. It will be a co-production between Feet Films Limited, Red Production Company and Boomerang Plus.

Note the halving of the budget since winter. Financing discussions could have been one of the reasons for the postponement. If the project stays afloat, one could probably expect filming next summer, a year later, both because of the planning and technical reasons.
A picture of Richard Askwith here.

- - -

Alex's comments on the book:

The first impression would be that it doesn't immediately scream 'film'. The exploits of the runners are certainly fascinating, and as such could make incredible stories themselves. It doesn't answer the question though whether Chris Eccleston, playing Askwith, is needed as an actor with athletic leanings or an acting actor.

The book has a triple structure: It's linked with monthly reports from one sporting year, enhanced with historical/organisational/technical chapters plus features about some of the most prominent figures in fell-running, and, finally, Askwith's personal accounts of his own experiences (especially the multiple attempts to complete Bob Graham round, doing 42 summits in 24 hours).

The author mentions that one of the factors why the sport is relatively obscure, is that it can hardly be properly televised. Later, after discussing the history of fell-running as a parallel of British society's development the last hundred years throughout the book, he points out that while anyone would find it interesting and beneficial to get acquainted with this type of extreme sports, learn about the legendary runners, the only truly worthwhile way to study it would be from inside - participating in the races.

This evokes, in my opinion, a comparison to 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner', mental drama of which was incredible on paper, but lost most of its power when transferred to film - good pictures and a voice-over can't quite cover the inner progression.

The book doesn't suggest any answers, what way Mrs. Sinclair could have chosen, but there are definitely very interesting aspects, no matter if the focus will be more general - on man and nature, specific - on the sport, personal - from the author's p.o.v. (although he is just one of many passionate also-rans), or on something completely else. I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that Eccleston could actually run one of the races for real, either.