For the UK, Icon Film Distribution has taken on the film. “Icon have shown an unrivalled level of passion and enthusiasm for this film from day one. They absolutely understand how to make audiences fall in love with it and we are very excited to be working with them to make the film a huge success in the UK,” said Stephen Kelliher, Head Of Sales & Marketing at Bankside Films.
Also, Wild Bunch struck a multi-territory deal for rights in France, Benelux, Spain and Germany.
Other deals were done with: Australia/New Zealand (Hopscotch), CIS and Baltics (Volga), Hong Kong (Golden Scene), Israel (Shani), Poland (Vivarto), South Korea (Pan), Thailand (Sahamonkolfilm), Turkey (Umut Sanat) and airlines (Jaguar).
Backed by BBC Films, Creative Scotland and Bankside Films, You Instead was produced by Gillian Berrie, Mackenzie’s partner in Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films. “The reaction to You Instead has been incredible,” Kelliher added. “From the first screening, buyers fell in love with what is a highly original piece of filmmaking. David’s film offers audiences an unexpected love story in the very real setting of a live music festival. It is a feel good film which had everyone leaving the theatre on a high.”
Icon UK MD (Distribution) Ian Dawson added: ”You Instead authentically captures the music festival experience like no other film has before it, whilst the central performances make it something truly special. This is a love story for a whole new generation. We are delighted to be working with the Sigma team to bring this film to audiences in the UK.”
Fortunately, they all waited the necessary forty minutes and, in the words of producer Gillian Berrie, 'the response was fantastic. You Instead rocked Berlin.' Makes us all even prouder that the Glasgow Film Festival has been chosen to host the home town world premiere of You Instead on February 25th. The film will then have its North American premiere in March at the incredibly cool SXSW Festival in Texas.
The Guardian is also reporting on the upcoming screening of You Instead at the Glasgow Film Festival, noting over the weekend the following (see clipping as well)
Perhaps Edinburgh should start looking over its shoulder at "the fastest-growing film event in the UK". But Scotland's big enough for the both of them, for now. This one's almost too big for itself, as evidenced by the mini-festivals wi
thin it: a promising music and film festival, a shorts festival, horror strand FrightFest. And that's before you get to the international selection, the Meryl Streep and Ginger Rogers retrospectives, etc. Best of all is the healthy amount of British, and especially Scottish talent around. David "Young Adam" Mackenzie returns with rockers' romance You Instead, Natalie Press leads Hebridean family thriller Island, Ken Loach introduces Route Irish, and his son Jim makes his directing debut with Oranges And Sunshine.
Be sure to check out the official You Instead Facebook page for exclusive and fun contests, first looks from the film (including a new photo of stars Luke Treadaway and Matt Baynton), and dont forget their official Twitter for more! For as the preview on the Glasgow Film Festival reads on You Instead ..."Shot in a swirl of energy during the five days of last Summer's T In The Park it is like a funny, frisky, endearing collision between the Before Sunset/Before Sunrise indie spirit of Richard Linklater and the fizzing energy of those Beatles films that Richard Lester made in the Swinging Sixties. Miss it at your peril.
Awesome!
For more on the making of the film, be sure to check out this earlier interview from the Scotsman, where director David Mackenzie discusses his groundbreaking 5 day shoot on this motion picture at the T in the Park Festival:
It has a dynamic young British cast headed by Luke Treadaway and Natalia Tena (Tonks from the Harry Potter movies), and could be Mackenzie's happiest film to date. It is certainly his fastest. Sigma producer Gillian Berrie pulled out all the stops to get clearance to film at T in the Park for the crowd scenes.
Then Mackenzie decided that "wasn't challenging enough" and suggested they try to shoot the whole movie there.
The film team based themselves in a compound between the Main Stage and the NME Stage, contending with the ever-present throb of bass and the armies of wellies marching from one stage to another. It was exhausting but exhilarating. Mackenzie's voice fills with excitement when he talks about it.
"It's a great method. There's something about throwing everyone into that environment that unifies everyone. Somehow forcing oneself into a live environment and shooting very quickly is a liberation. You don't have control of the environment but as long as you're able to think on your feet and everyone is cool and able to roll with the punches, you can get incredible stuff."
The poetic cinematography of Mackenzie's earlier films hasn't disappeared in the frenzy: he describes a shot filmed at dawn where hundreds of seagulls swirl in the sky. "It was really visually poetic and magical. To begin with, I think we all thought the whole thing was going to be impossible, but it got better and better. The opportunities just kept on opening up, and we were more fighting fit to take advantage of them."
However, there were also moments when it rained, or when the entire film crew got boxed in by the arrival of Jay-Z's entourage, or the 1,500-strong crowd they had arranged as extras headed off en masse to catch a burlesque show. "You've got nearly 100,000 people out having a good time, not interested in having us getting in their way. That was kind of interesting."
The trade-off was that they were able to capture the atmosphere, energy and spontaneity of a live music festival.
"What's nice is the lightness of the material mixing with the grittiness of the way we shot it. It is able to avoid being too fluffy, which makes me a lot more comfortable about it. What I hope you get from the movie is the sense that you're there. Watching it is making me want to go and hang out at music festivals. I hope we get free tickets next year. We might get to see some bands!"
"I guess I wanted to tell a love story, but conventional stories are often being told," said Mackenzie, 44. "There's something very interesting in the way this story happens, the way the couple comes together and how they deal with it. It felt very out of the ordinary, very interesting. It's a love story for extreme times."
Mackenzie has had a film at Sundance once before, "Spread," starring Ashton Kutcher, in 2009. Work commitments kept Mackenzie from attending, so this will be his first Sundance trip.
"I am very much looking forward to it," he said. "I am intrigued to see how people react to the film. This will be the first time it is seen by more than 10 people, who are friends of the film. Obviously, I am a little bit nervous."
But the director has high hopes for Sundance, including drawing interest from film distributors."It's one of the high-profile films," Mackenzie said. "It's a good festival to release a film into the world. There are quite a lot of people there. It's a profile event, and I'm excited to have been asked. It's a great launching pad for the movie."
Mackenzie said he hopes Sundance audiences have an emotional reaction to his emotional film.
"I hope they hug their neighbors," he said.
m David Mackenzie's forthcoming "Perfect Sense," including one new one of Ewan McGregor (shirtless!) & Eva Green, as well as a gorgeous high res photo of a similar one we saw earlier this year.
Production is nearing an end on Sigma Film's newest effort CITADEL and luckily today we have some new photos to show you.
additional and very dramatic shots of Aneurin Barnard from the film, from scenes that take place in the mysterious tunnel and facing those demon child hunters that threaten the main character. Top notch work; this film just looks to be fantastic, can't wait!
ing has also posted a pic of what seems to be the camera crew. Prop man Paul Lambie also has tweeted quite a bit during the production (including some great twitter photos you gotta check out yourself here), and noted they are currently over in Dublin for a few days on the film as well.
Hometown pride time for the folks behind "Donkeys," the latest movie from Sigma Films and the second installment in the Advance Party series as there is word it will be opening next month in theatres, right where it began: Glasgow, Scotland. Set to open the first week of October (Oct 8th) at the Glasgow Film Theatre, fans will be able to watch this film right where it was made. More information this and future screenings (and yes there are big plans afoot oho! stay tuned! :) Directed by Morag McKinnon, Donkeys stars James Cosmo (in a widely praised performance), Brian Pettifer, Kate Dickie, Martin Compston and more as they reprise their roles of sort as seen in the award- winning Red Road. For those of you on Facebook (and you don't need an account to see the page, but do need an account to comment or 'like' it etc) be sure to check out the Sigma page right here.
