march 2010 news 

Please be advised that whilst Screen East had intended to announce the results of the recent interviews for the commercial supply of professional services in relation to the new Low Carbon Fund, unfortunately due to timing issues, we are unable to make an announcement until close of business Monday 29 April, at the earliest.

The East of England is taking part in the Village Screen at Glastonbury in 2010.

Do you know any young people who would like to see their film screened at Glastonbury?

The Village Screen project, part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, is looking for a mix of inspiring, funny, original and challenging films from young film makers, aged 12 to 24, to show on our big screens (252m) at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2010.

Deadline for entries is Tuesday 4 May.

Please download the 'Calling all young filmmakers' document below for further information and an application form.

BBC Live Site and Screen East who are supporting this project in the East of England.

Family comedy Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang which filmed on location in Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire, is released nationwide on Friday 26th March

In Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she’s needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter of the hilarious and heart warming fable that has enchanted children around the world. In the latest instalment, Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) appears at the door of a harried young mother, Mrs Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. It is down to Nanny McPhee to use her magic to teach the Green children and their two spoiled city cousin’s five new lessons.

The film is the sequel to 2005’s hugely popular Nanny McPhee. Filming took place on location at a private cottage in Hertford and the spectacular Gothic mansion, Knebworth House. Screen East Locations assisted the production by sourcing locations and as a result, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang filmed on location on roads in Bedford and North Hertfordshire. Watch out for the scenes that take place on the journey to and from London with Nanny McPhee and the children on the motorbike passing a windmill and on the way back home when suddenly the bike goes into warp drive!

Location Manager, Adam Richards, said: “A big thank you to Screen East, who made our filming in Hertfordshire go without a hitch. The decision to film some extra driving sequences for Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, was very last minute and so when the locations where chosen, near to Baldock, Screen East and Hertfordshire County Council, pulled out all the stops to get us the relevant permissions in time to make sure that our filming experience was a positive one.”

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and the locations mentioned above will feature on Scene on Screen - www.sceneonscreen.co.uk - an interactive movie map promoting accessible locations that have appeared in popular film and television programmes in the East of England.

From the early silent and first ‘talkies’ produced by Directors such as Hitchcock to well know war time classics such as 633 Squadron and the Battle of Britain, leading attractions in the region have appeared on both big and small screens around the globe. Blockbusters such as George Lucas’ Indiana Jones trilogy and the first four Star Wars movies have all been filmed here. As a result leading locations have played host to some of the world’s best known screen characters including James Bond, Batman, Bridget Jones, Blackadder, Dr Who, Harry Potter, Del Boy and even Dracula!

Head of Locations & Inward Investment for Screen East, the regional screen agency, Kerry Ixer, said: “Popular film and television programmes provide an unparalleled opportunity to showcase filming locations around the globe. Production companies pay the location owners a fee to use the location after which they can experience free, and potentially worldwide, advertising for their location if they are accessible to the public. The Scene on Screen website aims to show visitors where filming occurred enabling them to follow in the footsteps of popular screen characters.”

If you would like to see your property appearing on the big or small screen, please contact Screen East for a free entry onto the Location Library by calling 01923 495051 or emailing locations@screeneast.co.uk. They’d also like to hear from companies that could supply services such as those offered by dry cleaners, florists, wood suppliers and cleaning companies as well as crew who reside in the region.

British drama The Scouting Book for Boys, supported by the Screen East Content Investment Fund, filmed on location in the East of England, and is released on Friday 19th March

The Scouting Book for Boys, the coming-of-age love story with a sting in its tail, stars the excellent young talents of Thomas Turgoose (This is England, Eden Lake) and Holly Grainger (Waterloo Road, Demons). Having grown up together on a caravan park on the Norfolk coast where their respective parents work, young teenagers David (Turgoose) and Emil (Grainger) have become close friends, deeply reliant on each other for distractions and mischief. Things soon take a dark turn when David learns that Emily is being forced to move away and he helps her hide out in a remote cave on the beach.

The Scouting Book for Boys was supported through the Screen East Content Investment Fund which is an award of funding from the European Regional Development Fund Objective 2 Programme administrated by GO East, Government Office for the East of England, and was successfully launched at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with internationally celebrated director Michael Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton.

Finding a working caravan park that the film could be set on was crucial to the production and Screen East Locations hosted recces extensively in Norfolk and Suffolk for producer Ivana MacKinnon to find the right park. Jack Thorne had written the script after his own experience of growing up having caravan park holidays. Dramas about life on caravan parks can be somewhat grubby and unpleasant but the filmmakers wanted it to be both magical AND brilliant. Eventually, the film settled on Broadland Sands Holiday Park in Suffolk which received a 4 Star Rose Award in 2007. In order to make the most of their location, the cast and crew lived on the caravan park for the duration of the shoot. Producer Ivana MacKinnon said, “We gave our actors the option – stay in a hotel or on the caravan park, in a van, with us. They lived with us, ate with us, played the arcade dance machine with us”.

The stunning Norfolk landscape was also key in bringing a sense of beauty and isolation to the story. Holkham Bay and Hunstanton Beach were used for many of the wide beach shots. “There’s something quite wild about it, and yet it’s very flat,” explains MacKinnon. “You get these tiny figures in these huge landscapes.” Road scenes were also filmed on location in Kings Lynn and North Norfolk.

Building the cave location was a challenge for the production. It was impossible for the location scouts to find cave environments large enough and effective enough to serve the purpose, but at the same time be accessible and practical enough to accommodate a full crew. Therefore, cave scenes were shot in a warehouse on a local industrial estate in Great Yarmouth, where interconnecting caves were constructed.

The Scouting Book for Boys, Broadland Sands Holiday Park and the other locations mentioned above will feature on Scene on Screen - www.sceneonscreen.co.uk - an interactive movie map promoting accessible locations that have appeared in popular film and television programmes in the East of England.

From the early silent and first ‘talkies’ produced by Directors such as Hitchcock to well know war time classics such as 633 Squadron and the Battle of Britain, leading attractions in the region have appeared on both big and small screens around the globe. Blockbusters such as George Lucas’ Indiana Jones trilogy and the first four Star Wars movies have all been filmed here. As a result leading locations have played host to some of the world’s best known screen characters including James Bond, Batman, Bridget Jones, Blackadder, Dr Who, Harry Potter, Del Boy and even Dracula!

Head of Locations & Inward Investment for Screen East, the regional screen agency, Kerry Ixer, said: “Popular film and television programmes provide an unparalleled opportunity to showcase filming locations around the globe. Production companies pay the location owners a fee to use the location after which they can experience free, and potentially worldwide, advertising for their location if they are accessible to the public. The Scene on Screen website aims to show visitors where filming occurred enabling them to follow in the footsteps of popular screen characters.”

If you would like to see your property appearing on the big or small screen, please contact Screen East for a free entry onto the Location Library by calling 01923 495051, or emailing locations@screeneast.co.uk. They’d also like to hear from companies that could supply services such as those offered by dry cleaners, florists, wood suppliers and cleaning companies as well as crew who reside in the region.

Screen East assisted the production of The Young Victoria, a winner at the 82nd Academy Awards held last night in Hollywood.

The Young Victoria follows the story of Queen Victoria’s determination and eventual rise to power. Screen East supported location filming at Balls Park in Hertfordshire, where the Queen’s bedroom and dining room scenes were created. This location was also the backdrop for the scene following King William’s death. The Houses of Parliament were recreated using the interiors of Haileybury College, also in Hertfordshire.

The Young Victoria was nominated for three awards including ‘Art Direction’, ‘Make up’ and was awarded the Oscar for ‘Costume Design’. Designer for The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell, previous Oscar winner, Costume Design, for Shakespeare in Love (1998), said last night: “The biggest challenge on The Young Victoria was to make the characters look regal and wealthy without the budget a Queen would normally have!”

The ‘Costume Design’ award nominees also included Bright Star (Janet Patterson) and Nine (Colleen Atwood), both were filmed in the Screen East region.

The award ceremony recognised a total of five films that filmed on location in the East of England, Nine received four nominations, Sherlock Holmes received two nominations, and Bright Star and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince both had a nomination each. It was The Young Victoria though, nominated for three awards, that took home the iconic golden statuette.

The East of England continues to attract high profile productions because of its diverse locations, varied landscape and skilled workforce. As a result, the film and television industry brings enormous economic and cultural benefits to the region.

Awards season coincides with the recent launch of Scene on Screen - www.sceneonscreen.co.uk - an interactive movie map promoting accessible locations that have appeared in popular film and television programmes. From the early silent and first ‘talkies’ produced by Directors such as Hitchcock to well know war time classics such as 633 Squadron and the Battle of Britain, leading attractions in the East of England have appeared on both big and small screens around the globe. Blockbusters such as George Lucas’ Indiana Jones trilogy and the first four Star Wars movies have all been filmed here. As a result leading locations have played host to some of the world’s best known screen characters including James Bond, Batman, Bridget Jones, Blackadder, Dr Who, Harry Potter, Del Boy and even Dracula!

Head of Locations & Inward Investment for Screen East, Kerry Ixer, said: “Popular film and television programmes provide an unparalleled opportunity to showcase filming locations around the globe. Production companies pay the location owners a fee to use the location after which they can experience free, and potentially worldwide, advertising for their location if they are accessible to the public. The Scene on Screen website aims to show visitors where filming occurred enabling them to follow in the footsteps of popular screen characters.”

If you would like to see your property appearing on the big or small screen, please contact Screen East for a free entry onto the Location Library by calling 01923 495051, emailing locations@screeneast.co.uk. They’d also like to hear from companies that could supply services such as those offered by dry cleaners, florists, wood suppliers and cleaning companies as well as crew who reside in the region.

Entrepreneurs from across the country once again have a chance to make their business dreams come true by appearing on Dragons’ Den. If you’re genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, we’d like to hear from you.

Last series saw some of the most diverse range of inventions and business ideas receive offers of investment from the multi-millionaire investors. All the Dragons were won over by entrepreneur Sharon Wright and the simplicity of her cable wiring device; Rupert Sweet-Escott went into business with James Caan who was impressed with his unique range of aviation designs and prototypes; and Carol Savage chose to accept Deborah Meaden's offer of a cash injection into her tasty new food networking website. In fact, when the Den finally closed for business an incredible 15 entrepreneurs had managed to convince the fearsome financiers, they were worthy of their cash.

2009 saw Londoner Jason Roberts ask for a £150,000 investment in his innovative range of mobile phone and laptop protection products. After some tense negotiations, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis joined forces to secure a stake in the company. Post investment, Jason says that he gets up to 5,000 visits to his website every day, and the current range is available in eight nationwide chains. Agreements are in place with the major phone and computer manufacturers, and he’s now planning to launch a range of own-branded cases, across the globe.

Previous success stories in the Den include Brixton based Levi Roots who secured an investment of £50,000 for his secret recipe, Reggae Reggae Sauce. Just 4 weeks after his appearance on the programme his Dragon investors helped him launch his sauce in a major supermarket all over the country. Now Levi has increased his product range to 8 sauces, produced a Caribbean cook book, and won Best New Product at the World Food Awards 2009, even going on to present his own successful BBC Television series - 'Caribbean Food Made Easy’. Having also successfully licensed his sauce to one of the world’s largest frozen food manufacturers and to an international fast food chain, Levi says that thanks to the Dragons he has a business empire that is now valued in the millions.

Of course, not everyone secures investment in the Den, but that doesn't stop the most tenacious of entrepreneurs from achieving success. After a gruelling time in front of the Dragons in 2008, inventor Natalie Ellis failed to convince them to back her Road Refresher. But one year on, her product became the fastest selling dog bowl on Amazon USA. Natalie says her company now has a million pound turnover and that her range is currently stocked in 32 countries. Likewise Shaun Pulfrey wanted the Dragons to invest £80,000 in his rework of the hairbrush – the Tangle Teezer. Unsuccessful in his bid he claims he is now stocked nationwide in high street stores and top hair salons, with sales approaching 400,000 units.

The rules are simple: entrepreneurs ask for a cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get at least the amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing. The Dragons are prepared to listen to a pitch for any kind of business but they must be convinced that it will make money.

As demonstrated by the investments in the last seven series, ideas, businesses and products that meet some or all of the following criteria stand a good chance of securing the Dragons’ interest:

• A Unique Selling Point: a product that serves a need like nothing else.
• Scalability: something that can be up scaled to make real money.
• Route to Market: the clear way the product can be sold and marketed.
• Mutually Beneficial Arrangement: just what will the Dragons get out of it?
• Exit Strategy: a plan of how the entrepreneur/Dragon will exit and make money.

The BBC is currently searching for Britain’s best entrepreneurs and will be auditioning throughout the coming months. We want to hear from anyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes to enter the Dragons’ Den.

If you would like an application form please send an e-mail to dragonsden@bbc.co.uk or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden