Galway Film Festival Blog 2007
It was two days worth of good old Irish hospitality as ‘Under the Mud’ actress Lisa Parry and me, writer David Catterall headed to Galway for the 2007 Junior Film Fleadh.
The flight over was an interesting one as neither of us are particularly good with flying, especially on such a small aircraft. It was a good job we both had a lot to catch up on, and prepare for. We were heading straight for a radio interview as soon as we landed.
Galway FM’s Craig Kelly was our host and what followed was a lively and fun interview that would hopefully get a few more bums on seats for the screening the following day.
From there we headed to our guesthouse to settle in and glam up for dinner.After a wonderful evening of wine, food and good company we turned in for the night.The screening took place at the Town Hall Theatre, a really cosy venue that was able to play host to a generously sized audience.
The majority of this audience were teenagers and film makers who were interested in the process of how the film was conceived, so both of us has plenty of interesting questions to answer in the Q&A afterwards. The film went down extremely well with people, and we discovered that we had inspired the local Film companies to want to do something similar.
After sampling the local Guinness and a good old Irish knees up in a spectacular old tavern we set off home the next day content, happy and terrified of the bumpy ride home!
David Catterall - Writer/Actor
Sonoma Valley Film Festival Blog 2007
Dear all,
Just back from California - and a truly memorable trip. After a last-minute drop-out by Natalie (one of the writers who had to attend an interview for Oxford!) Five of us went over - myself, Sol and writers/actors Lenny, Mick and David (Magic, Worm and the barman). It was not only their first trip to the United States, but their first trip abroad - and a life-changing trip it was for all of them.
We stayed with supporters of the festival - officially titled Sonoma Valley Food, Wine and Film Festival (so you can imagine the hospitality we encountered). Our accommodation can only be described as breath-taking (including a hill-top luxury villa with valley-view infinity pool). We had a fleet of new Jags at our beck-and-call 16 hours a day, we mixed with Robin Williams, stars from Lost, The Sopranos and the creative team from Pixar - Toy Story / Cars etc (one of whom watched the UTM DVD twice on the run, she enjoyed it so much!) and all-in-all had a total blast.
Oh yes, and the film went down really well too. One slight gripe was that our screening slots weren't great - 10am first day, 8.30pm last day - clashing with the awards ceremony, which meant we had no chance of the audience award, which was disappointing - but its fair to say we did win the hearts of Sonoma. Lenny and Mick did a couple of impromptu gigs and we socialised 24/7.
After one panel, during which I had told the long saga of how the film came to be made, two people approached me afterwards, one an entertainment Lawyer offering pro-bono work on the music clearances, the other offering investment to help pay the outstanding music clearances (both have been in touch since we got back, I'll keep you all informed).
So, thanks to South Liverpool Housing and Niace for making the trip possible, next up - a screening at BAFTA, Piccadily (date tbc) meanwhile the search for a distributor goes on.
All the best
Roy & The Mudders
Production Notes - 2006
Monday 26th April
First day’s filming and the production office is a hive of activity! Last minute set dressing is transported to location where our talented Production Designer, Noel McAlley, has brought the script to life and created a fully dressed “home” for the Potts’ from an empty property kindly supplied by South Liverpool Housing. Popped out to take a peek at the finished, dressed house at Lunchtime (thought I‘d sample the delights of L & L Catering whilst there - yummy!!). Walking through the kids’ bedrooms was like walking through the pages of the script…fabulous… and a bit emotional too!!!
Thursday 29th April
First hiccup of the shoot as one of our leading actresses (the wonderful Kate Fitzgerald) missed her train from London to Liverpool! Kate is scheduled to appear in a scene on Friday morning so a quick re-write is necessary to sort the problem (easier than re-scheduling!) and Kate is cut from the scene.
Working hard to get the necessary documentation to set (tomorrow’s call sheets, risk assessments and insurance forms) in time to make the train to Manchester, got a meeting with Peter Carlton at Channel 4. Make the train by the skin of my teeth only to find that Peter Carlton has to dash back to London for a meeting. Will need to go to London to follow this up, but meanwhile its back to the production office to ensure everything is in place for Friday’s shoot.
Friday 30th April
Nicky in the office has been working hard to get an artist to airbrush the Potts’ wedding photo onto the side of a Volkswagen camper van, however the wedding scene we need the photo of is scheduled after the scene where we see image on the camper van!! Therefore we need to mock this photo and so before today’s shoot begins, we need to do a wedding photo shoot so we have a photo for our artist to use! (and no, we can’t do the wedding scene first if that’s what you are thinking!) We also need to take photos for essential set dressing and so this too is done after the wedding photoshoot. This photo needs to show Joe and Sally during happier times when Paul and Paula were babies, so we need to find twin babies ASAP! Nicky comes up trumps and Joanne Costello allows us to use her gorgeous twin sons (Harrison and Wade) for the shot. Fab Nicky from Interchill uses some clever photo shop technology and hey presto we have some superb photos!! Now onto the shoot…!
Monday 3rd May
First problem of the day is the fact that we don’t have a dog to play Bollox!! I ring a dog handler who has trained dogs for use in film and TV but the £200 per day she charges is far too extravagant for our meagre budget. We try to think of other trained dogs we could get, Police dogs spring to mind, but we never imagined Bollox would be a German Shepherd, we are looking for a smaller dog with lots of charm (not that German shepherd’s aren’t charming!). Rang the organiser of the West Lancashire dog trials, Guy Richardson, and he put me in touch with the lovely lady who stepped in to save the day – Marion Mooney! Marion’s highly trained pug, Renzo, becomes our Bollox (as it were!) and he hasn’t put a paw wrong! He’s a cheeky charmer and I see a great career ahead of him – he’ll be demanding his own Winnebago before the shoot is through!
Tuesday 4th May
First thing our crew has to cope with is today is the inclement weather. We are shooting an exterior scene today and typically, the weather has turned wet. Nothing we can do about that so we have to work around our schedule and shoot the interior scenes first and wait for a break in the clouds! In the office we are busy trying to recruit 10 x willing helpers to work with the art department to dress a derelict church fit for filming on Sunday! We may well need divine intervention as it’s a big job, but we have every confidence that our super-talented art designer and his new team will get the job done. Interchill send us a few willing pairs of hands and we hit the jackpot with a pair of design students from LIPA, Lucy and Mitch who are excellent.
Nicky is busy ringing local food outlets to try to get food for extras for the next few days. She strikes gold and Costco give us a load of their pizzas and muffins…Mmm!
Friday 7th May
Location problems
Car Showroom
Nightclub
Communion Order of Services
Sunday 9th May
Big Church Scene today and the Art department has waved its magic paint brush once again and transformed the disused church to its former glory - magnificent, well done Noel and team – no divine intervention required after all!
140 extras and a surreal sing-song led by the now-typecast Father Chris Bernard made for a spectacular scene.
Local support has, again, been wonderful, and we have a splendid Horse and Carriage transporting Olivia, Joe and Sally to the church. This was loaned courtesy of Hale Hall Carriages. Mal and Bobby Sutton played a blinder supplying us with a splendid Victorian carriage led by two Norwegian Fjord ponies and I even had a quick ride round the block in the carriage myself (wardrobe banned me from borrowing the wedding dress though!!) Superb white limousine was supplied by Andy Westbrook (a star!) and Grand Cherokee Jeep by Kings Dock Chrysler.
Head back to the office as there is a problem… a lack of extras for the social club scenes on Monday, so office (Julie and Nicola) has a mad afternoon/late evening phone bash - first to all those who have auditioned, then to casting agents whose mobile numbers we know and finally, as desperation kicks in, to bingo halls, social clubs and British legions (hope legions turn up!) where announcements are made to punters! Hastily leaftlet local pubs too. Hope it pays off…
Monday 10th May
It didn’t!! Sunday’s efforts result in a meagre 35 extras...we need 100 plus!!! We ring all the usual suspects (the casting agents we couldn’t get hold of on Sunday) and end up putting ads on the radio and begging live on Juice FM!– Doesn’t anyone want their 15 minutes of fame anymore?! May have to resort to kidnapping members of the public off the streets! Its all looking desperate but a few more extras trickle in (Nicola’s Uncle Sid and Aunty Ev among them!) and in the end, the crew step up to fill some of the gaps, and with clever use of the extras we have, it all works out (sort off).
Next problem is that one of the speaking extras we need pulls out and there is no one of a similar age suitable to step in. We hastily try to get a stand in (Jasmine’s nan is on standby) and in the end Sol volunteers the services of his mother-in-law (the wonderful Maureen Kelly!) Phew!.
Tuesday 11th May
Need to confirm the use of aircraft steps asap as we are using them on Thursday!! Also need the little tow tractor that pulls the steps. So spend all day trying to sort this. Service Air at Liverpool John Lennon Airport have been FANTASTIC. “Small world” clichés occur when the charming chap I’m dealing with turns out to be the father of Barry Sloan one of the leading actors from our last production (I’m A Juvenile Delinquent – Jail Me!
-Sorting out car Shot Gun Grey Cherokee to the rescue
-Karaoke
-Getting the Social Club Sign
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Wednesday 12th May
-Bollox makes a grand exit in the Limo.
Haulage
Grand Cherokee
Thursday 13th May
-Julie and Nicola were on set!
-High jinks with computers and printers
-Mini bus fiasco Scouts to the rescue
-Lenny and Mick on Airport steps!
FRIDAY 14th May
Went out to set to see the big end scene of the film! Dazzling performances despite the cold weather and the drunken high-jinks of umpteen partygoers “is this Hollyoaks?” “Can I be in it?” etc etc. Our trusty haulage “king of the road” Steve Parry was back to unload/reload our aircraft steps and the wonderful Andy Westbrook, supplier of a fleet of luxury cars (and Helicopter!) was there to act as a superb stunt driver, what a star he has been. We really could only trust this driving to the man who managed to painstakingly park a stretch limo in a small studio in Toxteth TV during our last production! Felt surreal watching the final big scene and for many of the cast it was their final night so there were big hugs and kisses all round. Huge thanks to Kathy and her team at St Mark’s for their patience with us, our filming ran over and we didn’t get away until around 3:45am.
Driving sequences are scheduled for tomorrow and we realised, (today!), that the talented comic (Keith Carter) who we have cast to play our psychic cabbie can’t actually drive – doh!! Had planned to use a low loader but our dwindling budget means we have to put a contingency plan into action. We need a tow bar to tow our vehicle along and we ring round auto recovery companies and Dave Walters from DKW Autos Ltd offers us his!
MONDAY 17th May
Aahh! The penultimate night of the shoot (stunt week to be scheduled when further funding has been raised!) and we say farewell to our lovely leading ladies and wish them luck with the exams they are sitting on Wednesday – cheers girls, you have played a blinder! Thanks also to the wonderful Steve Waterhouse for keeping Interchill open til the wee small hours to act as unit base to keep our merry crew warm and comfortable with hot tea on tap! Jackie our hairdresser was at it again offering massages and haircuts to our weary crew, I believe Mr Boulter had a post wrap short back ’n’ sides at 03:15am!! I think that just about completes the whole crew makeover (before and after piccies will be posted!)
Can’t believe that tomorrow is our final night…
TUESDAY 18th May
Final night!! Lots to sort out today as we are shooting our airport scenes at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Having problems getting our Grand Cherokee Jeep and so we think that this scene will have to move to our stunt week (all contributions from wealthy investors gratefully received!). Need to sort catering for our crew out on Location. Nicky has been ringing all the airport based food outlets, in the meantime, Colette Hazlett at Hunts Cross Asda has promised us vouchers and sandwiches so Helen Edwards, our fab runner, is currently doing a trolley dash round Asda and sorting the crew out with a packed lunch!
Need to get a burnt out car for a scene today. I find one from a scrap metal – Rifkins in Kirkdale and good old Dave from DKW autos has agreed to tow it to location and collect it for free (hurrah!). Easyjet have allowed us to film our actors boarding an Easyjet flight but as the flight turnaround is 20mins we have to get our shot in approx.10mins (no pressure Sol!!)
Airport staff have been fabulous, a big thanks to Robin Tudor (Corporate Affairs Manager) and Helen Dolce(Easyjet PR). I’m going to location to be an extra tonight, I’ll be standing in the check-in queue with Peter Wylie - Mrs Mighty Wah fantastic, I’ll keep my shades on so I look a bit more rock “n”Roll!
We arrive on location to find that the scrapped car we have positioned on the flight path is about to be towed away by the police!! We intervene and Officer Tony Jones from Speke Constabulary informs us that they have checked our vehicle’s registration number and apparently it’s a stolen car!! Transport police have been notifed so its too late to delay collection of the vehicle. We quickly ring the scrapyard we got the car from they inform us they have the relevant paperwork and it’s a listed scrap vehicle! Maybe it’s a clerical error… but no matter the police control room have it listed as stolen so away it must go and we’ve got to find a replacement fast! Ring the scrapyard again and they agree to give us a replacement and lovely Dave from DKW Autos agrees to bring it to us (again!) for nowt!! This is all about to happen until Dave comes up with a better idea. His cousin runs a recovery service based in Speke that has a contract with the police and who recover vehicles such as ours. If it’s the same company, Ellison’s, why not get them to bring a replacement car when they are towing ours away and leave that in place of ours – brilliant! Check with our friendly PC Jones and lo and behold its Ellison’s on the way (coincidence or what!). Can’t get hold of them though (Police don’t have a mobile no for Ellison’s) so back to trusty Dave who rings them for us and sorts it all out, and better still, Ellison’s agree to waive their usual charge! Wow, what wonderful, helpful and fab people. Dave’s son comes out to help and after the logistical nightmare of the towtruck getting stuck in the mud, our crew van rescues it and we have our car – phew! Off to the airport now to be an extra! Find out that I have become estranged from my “hubby” – well it was a whirlwind romance and I’m an airhostess instead! Costume fling a scarf around my neck (I was dying for a Jackie “0” pill box hat!) and we do the scene.
Thursday 3rd June
Let There Be Light(s)!!
First night of our stunt week and although its only been two weeks there is a nice crew re-union type atmosphere!
We’re shooting some of the car chase sequences and tonight’s location is the Estuary Business Park. Ed Whitehead has given us permission to film here and the location is perfect as we need a private road to use our stunt car which is a clapped out old ford fiesta (not stolen this time!) that has been kindly supplied by Rifkins Scrapyard in Kirkdale (Cheers again Kevin!!). This is the car we’ll eventually see hurtling into the River Mersey so we need to use an old banger as its going to be wrecked but it also has to be roadworthy as it needs to be driven in the car chase sequences. We also need to mock a junction and we have borrowed a set of traffic lights from Mersey TV, who have been fabulous to us throughout our shoot (we love Colette Greenwood!!). Our first hitch occurs when we realise that the voltage of the traffic lights and the control panel we need to use to activate the lights is incompatible! We need a generator/power source quick and Ed Whitehead comes to the rescue with an electrican friend, Neil Winterburn, who drives over from Widnes at short notice to sort the problem. Typically, much later when Neil has headed off home to bed, the generator packs in!! After much twiddling, petrol topping and head scratching, Gerard Bailey (Adam’s Dad) comes to the rescue and with a polish of the spark plugs we have our lights!! The car chase sequence can begin and our trusty stunt driver Andy Westbrook is on hand to stand in for Adam. Supper is called at around Midnight and runner/problem solver/all-round heroine Gill Williams has produced a fine spread including a birthday cake for our sound recordist Alan Watson. Fed, watered and Back to it and the tow bar we are using to tow Adam in the Cherokee Jeep is not working so we call it a day and drop the final scene to be picked up on tomorrow (Friday; when we’ll need a alterative to a low loader (can’t afford one!) to enable us to film our young actor seemingly at the wheel.
Friday 4th June
Early start to sort to low loader- type vehicle and first port of call is DKW Autos where Big Dave and Little Dave have sorted many a last minute hitch for us! They reckon a towable dolly which will tow the vehicle by its front wheels horizontally will do the job and Sol goes for a quick lesson in how to operate the thing! Need to sort food for tonight as the ever dwindling budget needs help wherever possible and Iceland come up trumps (cheers Kathy!). Production Office kitchen turns into a bap-buttering production line and Gill Williams (add “Head of Catering” to her list of acknowledgements) whips up a fine feast for all! First hitch of the night (these things are sent to try us!) is that the tyres on the towable dolly deflate. No foot pumps around so Gill (add chief mechanic too!) takes the tyres to a petrol station to pump ‘em up. Hook the Cherokee up and there are problems galore. The towing vehicle (Sol’s people carrier) is lighter than the jeep making towing difficult. Crew are asked to sit in the people carrier to add weight (it’s a good job we all ate so many of Gill’s sarnies). However a bigger problem arises when we discover that we can’t tow the vehicle. Young Dave from DKW autos comes out to help (dressed in full biker leathers!) but we discover that the 4 wheel drive automatic can’t be towed, even in neutral, as the wheels lock. We need to drop this scene and move onto another scene involving DJ WORM (Mick) clinging to a set of aircraft step which are being driven by MAGIC(Lenny). Paul Barry again comes to our rescue with his low loader (and no we couldn’t use this earlier for the car stuff if that’s what you are thinking!!) transporting the steps from Liverpool Airport to us. Shoot some great stuff with the lads and steps and our next job is to create a mud bath for our 5 x Widnes Wool’s to muddy themselves up for the next scene! A paddling pool and 2 sacks of top soil are put in place and Roy, Lucy, Peter and I set about filling the pool with every utensil we can find. This involves traipsing to the toilets at the National Bloodbank Toilets and filling our mop bucket, jugs, saucepans, washing up bowls etc etc. A couple of trips in (it’s a big pool!) and good old Roy finds a big plastic bin! Hurray!! That makes it our final trip and we get mixing the mud! Whilst mixing, our stand in make up lady (Suzanne) applies mud make up (supplied by Mersey TV!) to our wools faces and then our five brave lads (Michael Ledwich, Graham Mullen, Graham Hicks, Paddy Bleakly and Steven Hodgeson ) brave the cold mud (that’s showbiz) but they do it with a smile on their faces and treat me(!) to a muddy, bear-hug for asking them how cold it was (it was my good jacket too). Their scene is excellent, really, really funny and applause too for Tom O’Rourke our Unit Driver who plays a passing drunk convincingly and comically! We them shoot Lenny and Mick’s specially composed song “Steps” pop promo stylie, razzing around the Business Park on a set of aircraft steps! Fabulous. We wrap at around 05.00am but hit a further hitch when it starts to rain and we have real trouble getting the aircraft steps and forklift truck back onto the low loader. The forklift keeps sliding off and even witn 5 x burly crew pushing we can’t get the thing on. Gill to the rescue again as she retrieves 2 mats from her car and puts then over the slippy tracks and with a hefty push and a big cheer, we get the forklift on. We leave at around 05:30 and head back to the office with the equipment. Saturday off and then a “Green Screen” studio day at Toxteth Tv on Sunday.
PS some crew and cast (our 5 x widnes wools) decided to pass the time waiting for their scene by, wait for it… skipping!! Gill (now entertainments’manager) whipped out an old tow rope from her boot and no sooner than you could say “I call in my very best friend” a cast and crew skipathon had commenced! (we have photographic evidence!) Top laugh. With best skipping awards being given to Lucy, Tom, Peter (happily recovered from his abcess!) and the Widnes Wools, who have definitely done it before!
Anyone for Double-dutch at the wrap party??
