To Space and Beyond Boundaries with David Mackenzie

Over the past few weeks I've gotten some emails from fellow fans asking what is next for Sigma and most notably David. Short answer, Im not 100% certain to be quite candid sorrryyy!, but I do my best to try and keep up with the events and post accurately as possible given there is so much speculation and rumors rife in the film world. So much of the projects we already know about bubbling away on the backburner depend on funding, which can take years of course. Otherwise, the wonderful folks at Sigma also tend to keep a low key on things and usually remain that way, however there have been a few recent rumblings of interest.

A few weeks ago there was this interview on Goodbooksguide.blogspot with author Toby Litt (his myspace is here) who stated his novel "Journey into Space" is to be adapted for film by Sigma Films and David Mackenzie. Please note, I am uncertain about the year this interview took place, and am quite uncertain if this is actually going to happen eh yea, regardless there was the following: "Journey into Space has been optioned by Glasgow-based Sigma Films, to be written and directed by David Mackenzie, the Scottish film director. He’s made some great stuff in the past, including Young Adam and Hallam Foe, so I’m optimistic. He’s very into science fiction. As for George Bush, I was told by some early readers that this was their interpretation of Orphan. This was their way of reading a character whose political platform, if you can call it that, is happiness, is being happy. I’m not sure if I’d see this as Bush’s defining characteristic. He was more blithe than happy, though the two are easily mistaken."

Recently too after a very short lived run of Spread in UK theatres , there had been some rumors again that maybe Stain in the Snow was actually going to be filmed this year in Germany, but for now still keeping that firmly in the rumor/development stage category for now. LAST WORD of course is very much still on the horizon, and there were several mentions of the film being one of the years anticipated (see here from ioncinema, and here from Dark Horizons, here for The Playlist. Fingers crossed that things will go well in Berlin and we can see a premiere either in Edinburgh or Cannes or somewhere with the film likely to open later this year! Go David Go!

Of course the latest buzz heh appeared this week in various UK newspapers over a short list for Creative Scotland's "Visual Sparks" Award. One of the reasons I adore his work so much is due to his willingness to take on the forbidden the unexpected push boundaries of sorts with his non typical stories, and it seems with this recent proposal he would be continuing the trend. I think I have this correct (please tell me if this is wrong!) but this would see David reuniting with one of the composers for Young Adam and an acclaimed visual artist to create a side project that sounds really promising, but details are vague alas. All Media Scotland:

Collaborators: Raymond MacDonald (composer and musician)

Martin Boyce (visual artist)

David MacKenzie (film director)

Towards the cost of three artists (art, music and film) joining together to experiment in new forms and produce a work that will adapt to gallery, concert hall and cinema spaces. Amount requested: £100,000.

Winners will be announced March 1, and will update then.

"OutCast" with James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie World Premiere at SXSW in March

As a follow to the post below, Colm McCarthy's "OutCast" starring the great Kate Dickie and James Nesbitt will have its world premiere at the SXSW festival next month in Texas. While tickets for this screening are not yet available (or word on who might be attending) the film portion of the festival runs March 12-20th in Austin. Great news!Update: The Herald now has a piece online with quotes from the producer Eddie Dick who says they turned down a chance to screen at Tribeca in favor of the vaunted Texas festival. quotage: "

When asked to choose Tribeca or SXSW, Outcast producer Eddie Dick said: “Our sales agent said you must take SXSW because it is developing a reputation as the coolest film festival in the US.

“Tribeca is a great festival but for this kind of film and the attention we are wanting to get for it, the prize here has to be an attempt to get a release in North America. Getting the opening slot in the fantasy section is as good a shot as we’re going to get at that.”

I have been told we won't be seeing an official promo for another week or so yet, but be sure to check out my flickr for the earlier poster and some filming photos from last year. Stay tuned!

Bonus! While we dont know who will be attending and when exactly the film premiere will take place, Scottish great actress Katie Dickie is due to open with her new place "What We Know" at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Previewing Feb 17, and running thru Feb 24th, you can learn more about the play and book tickets here at this link. GO KATE! :)


UPDATE! A great interview with the GREAT KATE DICKIE in the Times, where she discusses the above mentioned play. There are brief mentions of her forthcoming appearances in Rounding Up Donkeys, Pillars of the Earth and Outcast. Quotage:

"The television and film work that has kept her off the stage for the past two years is done in more family-friendly short bursts. She has finished Rounding Up Donkeys, which is a sequel, of sorts, to Red Road. It has the same characters and actors but shakes them all around into a completely different film. Alfred, who was Dickie’s father-in-law in Red Road, is now her father. He is also played by a different actor. No mention, at this point, of nudity and sex.

Back in the mainstream, Dickie pops up in a couple of episodes of The Pillars of the Earth, a mini-series starring Ian McShane and Matthew Macfadyen, a one-off drama, Dive, with Ewen Bremner, and a horror film, Outcast, starring James Nesbitt. Despite all this, Dickie can’t break the habit of worrying where the next job is coming from.

“I never feel safe with it — I’m always thinking all right, there’s going to be a long, quiet period ahead. I can’t help it."Unless the National Theatre of Scotland is taken over by Simon Cowell, that is never going to happen."

Film Festival Update: Dispatches from France, Glasgow, Dublin, and Berlin

Happy February! Well we may have six more weeks (at least) of dread snowy weather ahead booooo!, but at least there are some good things heating up on the film festival scene to distract. Going global, there is the following of interest:

France: Colin Kennedy and Brian Coffey from Sigma are in France as I Love Luci, the newest film from Sigma is making waves at the acclaimed Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. Colin reports that despite the cold, there is some interest in the film which he wrote and directed, and all fingers are crossed for sales. Go Luci Go! If you are not already, be sure to follow Colin on his Twitter here and check out the new Facebook Fanpage for the film, which has a debut of the new poster for the film. :)

Glasgow: The Scottish Premiere of I LOVE LUCI will take place during the Glasgow Film Festival, notably the Short Film Festival section. The crew from Sigma will hopefully make an appearance as the film screens Saturday, February 20th in the "Competition 1" showing. Tickets can be purchased at this link. It is also worth noting that the "Great Scots" strand of the festival will feature an appearance by the great Peter Mullan on February 26th where hopefully he will make remarks about his most recent feature Neds which was based out of Film City Glasgow. You can see new photos from the film here, including one of the excellent Gary Lewis. Director Kevin MacDonald will be the subject of the directors cut series, this event taking place on Sat. Feb 27 where no doubt the subject of the recent Eagle of the Ninth Scottish production will be discussed :) Finally, be sure to head on over to the Apple Store on Buchanan Street February 25 as Scots director Richard Jobson (New Town Killers) will be making an appearance; more info here.

Berlin: more specifically the EFM the busy market for the films will see a few quiet yet hugely important events taking place. If this report is accurate, lucky buyers will be able to see a private promo reel for David Mackenzie's The Last Word. This is nothing new, standard practice to help sell a film, just am hoping things will go really really well for this. Also a film that was made in Edinburgh and several locations as documented here on this blog last year, OUTCAST starring James Nesbitt and the superb Kate Dickie, will be screening several times at the EFM, starting next week on February 11th . A test website is now in place but does not contain much of anything frankly; fingers crossed however that this means we are going to be actually getting a promo and pics finally at some point!

Dublin: Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Jamie Sives will be screening at the Jameson Dublin Film Festival on February 24th. As the film has opened in several countries already, there are now several websites online for the film. The French website for the movie features a few new high res downloads, and the Danish site is not completely working properly however you can listen to a bit of the music.

Independent: After London, Glasgow is Leading UK Film-making Hub

The Independent has a new article online tonight, highlighting the filmmaking being done in Glasgow, Scotland. With mentions of the awesome FILM CITY GLASGOW, founded by Gillian Berrie and home to Sigma Films, the piece notes the many films being done in Scotland and notably Glasgow, including the upcoming Sigma production of David Mackenzie's Last Word and more. Quotage of note:
The city's adaptability is a key ingredient in its remarkable recent success as it emerges as Britain's second film-making hub, after London. Kevin Macdonald's saga of the Roman army north of the border, The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland, was filmed last year in Glasgow, as well as in more rural parts of Scotland. The natural beauty of the country has, of course, long been beneficial to the Scottish film industry, attracting production of blockbusters such as Highlander and Braveheart. But Glasgow has now moved beyond that, offering good quality studio and post-production facilities.

Film City also has four casting agencies under its roof, one devoted to supplying actors of ethnic minority backgrounds. "It's not just the tartan and chocolate box stuff anymore. Glasgow is quite a gritty, urban, cool city now," says Tiernan Kelly, Film City's general manager, highlighting recent international recognition of the city's achievements in music and art. "This all adds to the cachet of Glasgow, that it's a good place to work."

Film City, a £3.5m redevelopment of the old town hall building, includes several film and television production companies, including KEO, the team behind Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage on Channel 4. Also being made in Glasgow is the romantic drama The Last Word, directed by David Mackenzie and starring Ewan McGregor. It is a co-production involving Sigma Films, based in the same building. Meanwhile another Romans in Scotland movie, The Centurion, starring yet another actor from The Wire, Dominic West, was shot largely in the Highlands and is due for release at the end of this year.

There is also discussion of Valhalla Rising which was based at Film City too. While not the same, late last year there was much ado about the hiring of Mr. Butler as spokesperson to help effort awareness of the fantastic Scottish film industry; just hope this piece is one of many many we can see in the coming days and months.
You can learn more about Film City Glasgow at their official site here, and Sigma Films here.

Cone Gatherers Release First Music Video Starring Jamie Sives

The Cone Gatherers have released their first music video featuring lead singer (and Scottish actor) Jamie Sives. The dark, intimate footage set in what looks like Edinburgh, features many shots of Jamie in one of those iconic red phone booths, making a call (+33) that is part of the story told on the Cone gatherers first CD "She Who Shall Remain Nameless." Apparently an official website is in development, but for now you can see the video below, and purchase the music here or via iTunes. Enjoy.

+33

the cone gatherers | MySpace Music Videos

New Photo Update! Jamie Sives in "One Night in Emergency"

CHRISTMAS time is still here, as witnessed by some glorious new photos of actor Jamie Sives in "One Night in Emergency." You can see new screencaps of his small turn as Nick in the one hour production which is still showing for lucky UK residents on BBC Iplayer until January 11 at this link! The official FB page is also here. Gah hes so gorgeous look at his curls I could die, and this close up good lord but he takes my breath away, lol I love you Jamie!sorry but oh man....
Six degrees of SigmaFilms game bonus------------>
SanjeevKohli is also in Colin Kennedy's I Love Luci as you can see in trailer :D
MANY THANKS are in order and go most gratefully to the wonderful Leanne from Kevin McKidd Online for this wonderful treat, and indeed we can see Jamie reunited with his old friend and co-star of One Last Chance here. Many more are available here on my flickr.

Honestly I know others will cringe, but my goodness this past year has been amazing, between the awesome ColinFarrell fans and Ewan McGregor fans and Kevin McKidd online and James Nesbitt fans, and JJ Field Darcylicious and all the other wonderful fans and readers who have emailed, you take my breath away and I'm so grateful for this Leanne and to all who take time out to share the love for whatever or whoever it is. Long live Scottish and Irish film (and ok English, American and hell the whole world lol) Bring on a better 2010!
Cheers and hugs to you all! xxxx

Trailer for Colin Kennedy's "I Love Luci" Now Online

Excellent way to start off the new year: the trailer for Colin Kennedy's new short film "I Love Luci" is now online at this link!(Update: Cheers to Colin for letting us know load times are fixed, ENJOY IT or watch it here on youtube!




Well, dunno about you, but I was thrilled with this trailer (altho I could have done without the toilet shot eww lol) but it was so great to FINALLY see some footage of what we only saw stills of before. I didn't want to know too much because just for once I wanted to not be spoiled way in advance of a film, so I was delighted to see all those places written about before now on film. The cast and dog look great and that was a new one with the smooch, haha! Not sure who made the trailer, most likely Colin who is quite good at these things for sure, but I hope people will like it!

I Love Luci, the newest Sigma Films production will premiere THIS FRIDAY, January 8th in snowy London at the short film festival at 6:15pm, with tickets still available. If you are traveling there, please journey safely yikes!
Colin updated his blog to let us know that he, his producer Brian Coffey and stars Colin Harris and Camila Rutherford will be in attendance, Anyone going and lucky enough to see the film or meet in person any of these fine people please please send in your reports/photos! While I wish so badly to be there for this event, I AM WITH YOU COLIN in spirit, sending all good thoughts to you the entire cast and crew and Sigma
GO LUCI GO!
xxxxxx