And now for the news:

The blog

Comments seem to be working using the TypeKey thing, so I'm sticking with it for the meantime. Similar on the facelift, it stays for now, font and all. Many thanks for the feedback, it was noted and considered so I hope that some of the people will be pleased some of the time with this decision.

Hallam Foe

Our film continues it's journey round the world. Last week Hallam Foe was screened at the Taipei Film Festival in Taiwan where David went as ambassador. He then made his way round the globe to the Bahamas, where he is now, with the film. Glamorous locations indeed but a pretty punishing schedule in terms of the old body-clock jet-lag being as it is.

The film has been brilliantly received at both festivals and when I have some news about the competitive side of these festivals I'll add it to this post.

For reasons unknown to me the DVD of Hallam Foe will not be released in time for Christmas but will be out in the UK on the 4th February next year. So a couple of months to wait for those of you eager to get your hands on it. The extras, as far as I know, are the podcasts we made for the film and also a commentary from David on the movie and deleted scenes. All good stuff.

Rounding Up Donkeys

RUD is still in the casting phase. It looks like they are closer to deciding who the main cast are going to be so I should be able to give you more info towards the end of the week and hopefully a message from producer Anna Duffield.

I Love Luci

Things are progressing at a lightning pace with my short. It wasn't shortlisted for the scheme I entered the script into but other avenues seem to be opening up. I am now looking at potential cast with the fantastic Kahleen Crawford and have the wonderful Brian Coffey on board as producer.

I am currently writing the next draft and hope to have it in a position to apply for funding before Xmas.

When I feel ready I think I am going to put the script on line. I'm still not sure about doing this but I think I may well do it once there is funding in place. The other thing I am thinking of doing is putting footage of the rushes on this site so that people can edit their own versions of my film. This obviously has a load of issues surrounding it so far as funding is concerned but I will tackle those as and when they arise. There will be contractual implications with this sort if thing so I'll need to approach it carefully.

Happy Xmas to all who read this site and all the best for 2008. Your support is much appreciated.

Quite unbelievably the TypeKey process of leaving a comment on the blog actually works! This is a source of great delight for me as it spells the end of bloody irritating spam and the several hours it takes to work through all that junk.

Of course there is a downside to this technological breakthrough in that the less tech savvy amongst you reading this blog are probably thinking that there is now an impenetrable convoluted commenting system that alienates you from the commenting process. I am guessing, of course, but I know how I feel when I come up against some seemingly pointless system.

If you feel like commenting but feel daunted by the system then here is a step-by-step guide to navigating this new addition to the blog:

1. Get a TypeKey account. It's very simple, just click here.

2. Once you've done that as long as you are signed in to TypeKey you should be able to leave a comment and it will be posted automatically and immediately.

Now you can't say that isn't simple.

Here comes the update, not exactly hot off the press, more like news that's been festering for a week...

Hallam Foe

Follow the link below to some photos of the team at the BAFTA's and BIFA's. Both sets of awards have been limited in their fruits, we picked up the controversial Best Actress at the BAFTA's (a one horse race):

"there was little surprise when Sophia Myles was named best actress for her performance in Hallam Foe - as she was the only nomination in the category." The Scotsman

and shared Best Short with Warp Films for Dog Altogether which we co-produced and was directed by Paddy Considine.

Rounding Up Donkeys

Rounding Up Donkeys is currently in the casting phase, so there isn't a great deal I can say about it at the moment.

I Love Luci

It has been a positive week for my short film having garnered more support from those that have read the script. I have appointed a producer too this week so things should start to move a little faster.

I am currently working on another draft of the script and starting to hone the casting ideas. Incidentally, I am looking for an actress in their mid-thirties who is missing their front four teeth, so if anyone knows anyone or has some useful make-up tips on how to create these effects then I'd dearly love to hear from them.

See y'all next Monday.

Visit Flckr to see more snaps of the gang on the dancefloor

It's Werner Herzog eating a shoe. Brilliant.

Personally, I'm going for a curry now, but I'll be thinking about why Werner decided to eat shoe while I have my dinner.

Enjoy.

This week is the annual British Independent Film Awards and Hallam Foe is up for a few gongs.

Fingers crossed...

And today I thought that actually, I probably should post. It takes up a good bit of time, but surely even once a week is better than nothing and that would at least keep the whole thing ticking over.

So I have made myself a promise, I'll post once a week, regularly, Monday mornings, and see what comes of it.

New topics?

This site is primarily dedicated to Hallam Foe and it shall remain that way. But to be honest, the main info about David Mackenzie's latest movie is about how we are doing on the festival circuit and the stories are of limited interest. I mean, who wants to read about people going to festivals, meeting other filmmakers and introducing the film that took you there? OK, well it might be interesting once or twice but it quickly becomes a collection of snaps of the same people in different hotels around the world and that wears thin PDQ. It's all retrospective info that you can find elsewhere on this site so I feel it's largely ground we have covered already and stuff has to be fresh for me to remain excited and that's only way I can write stuff that people might want to read.

Stockholm

Does this picture really need any explanation?

I will however keep you abreast of some of that info and the odd photo here and there, perhaps some details about the wins and losses that we encounter and a tally of the airmiles or something, but I'd also like to broaden the blog a bit and start writing about the other things that are happening at Sigma Films.

The projects that I will concentrate on are the upcoming debut feature from Morag Mackinnon, Rounding Up Donkeys, all things well and good this will shoot in February and is the next in the Advance Party trilogy (the first was Red Road). This is a fantastic script written by the wonderful Colin Maclaren and is very different from Red Road despite sharing a few of the same characters. Watch this space...

The other thing I thought I'd write about is my first proper short, I Love Luci. I say 'my first proper short' because it is written by me, I have a hand in production and I am going to direct it. It's a kind of meeting of worlds somewhere between There's Something About Mary and Adam and Paul or the Farrelly Bros. meet Lenny Abrahamson. I suppose I'd define it as a romantic comedy that got burnt in the oven and doesn't taste quite as sweet as it should.

Current state of play is, I'm looking for funding. I'm also entered into a competition, but, my experience of competitions is that other people win them (even though this only the second comp I've entered in the film-making world). I figure there must be a lot of people who feel like this about competitions so I'm happy to share my sentiments. This will probably become a story about what you do with your script once you've lost the competition you wrote it for.

See you next Monday.

This no better exemplified than by something that happened to me today.

It is a very odd feeling creating all this stuff - photos, videos, witterings etc - and pumping them out into the world for anyone who is interested. This is not a commissioned piece of work with a preordained audience but an experiment to discover if this medium (blogging) has a place in the world so far as our medium of film is concerned and that brings with it certain anxieties.

However, I'm pleased to say that I think this experiment has been vindicated on a number of levels. I always suspected that it would do good things for the film; for example, there has been a sustained buzz about the movie for a long time, longer than I think we anticipated and I think that can be in no small part due to the constant stream of new information about our progress and exploits over the past 18 months. But there are other points of impact that I really never anticipated.

Principally, I have been most surprised by the depth of feeling that has been engendered in some of the followers of the blog and what it has meant to them to be part of the journey of Hallam Foe. A few regular readers have sent me wonderful heart felt messages explaining that this has been a genuinely meaningful experience. I could never have predicted that would be a product of our work here. One hopes that will always be a part of the film itself but I don't think that people would expect that of other aspects of the filmmaking process. This is, after all, a very serious and very cynical, even if very passionate, business.

Today I received a present from a keen follower of our blog and movie, someone who hasn't seen the film yet but that has been keeping a keen eye on our progress. With the present was a card saying 'thank you' for what we have been doing.

In return I'd just like to say a big thank you to him (you know who you are) and that I'm delighted that people have been able to derive so much from what we've been doing. It is those amongst you that take the time and energy to engage that really make this side of things worthwhile and make me realise that I am not writing in vacuum and that people can see that our writing a blog is not a cynical exercise in movie promotion but a real effort to share as much as possible about our beautiful nightmare.

Thank you all for your support, enjoy your film.

All best,

The Family Foe

Well I was wondering when the Oscar buzz would start, and who better to kick it off than veteran master Nic Roeg?

Unfortunately Hallam Foe won't actually be eligible for an Oscar because movies have to be released in the States before November to qualify. So no Oscar noms for us - this year!

Who knows what might happen in 2008...

I saw your movie 'Hallam Foe' last Sunday and I have to tell you my wife and I both loved it. Congratulations. It is wonderfully directed, beautifully shot and superbly acted. Every performance had truth in it. Flawless. Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles should be practicing some Oscar thank-you speeches right now. I'm sorry to go on about it so much but it's rare and exciting to see something so fresh and original.

Thank you.

Yours,

Nic Roeg

Wow!! This man is a master. Some of his films rank among THE BEST FILMS EVER MADE! (see below)

And he wrote that to me! Thank you Nic.

Take a look at him on IMDb and Wikipedia.

Here's a little excerpt from James King's podcast (standing in for Mark Kermode) on Radio 2:

You will probably all be well aware of the amount stuff available online supporting the release of Hallam Foe but I thought I'd let you know of a few things out there.

There are a collection of four podcasts I made available on iTunes along with a load of clips from the movie and some fun stuff with Jamie Bell too,

Subscribe here:
http://www.wired.uk.com/bvimovies_hallam.xml

and there's a great piece on the Film Four site with Jamie Bell, David Mackenzie and Sophia Myles:

http://www.filmfour.co.uk/

(I don't seem to be able to get a specific URL for the Film Four video but it's called the Story of Hallam Foe and is very easy to find.)

On BBC2 (possibly only in Scotland) later this week there should be a program all about making a Scottish movie and Hallam Foe features very strongly in it. I'll get more transmission details as and when they become available.

So head on down to the cinema and watch our movie and tell your friends.

Here's some shots of the gang in Dublin promoting the film:

So to those of you that have seen it already (like it or not!) it is your duty to live up to your privilege and tell the world they must go and see this movie, preferably this weekend!

This is a rare moment for me. I didn’t do anything on the film that permits to have any real sense of ownership, but, strange as the world is, I have a great sense of inherited responsibility for the welfare of our baby. I have worked very hard on this project for a number of years (on and off in various capacities) and it has become very dear to my heart.

So I and the rest of the team commend Hallam Foe to you, our audience, and we are very proud to so. It has been a labour of love, our beautiful nightmare and we have finally arrived at the point of hand over. I thought this would be a far more momentous occasion in my mind but the realities of these moments are never as you predict. Instead each of those close to the grind of this production from start to finish has their heart in their mouth, bated breath and all the other clichés that point to a profound sense of anticipation as to our opening weekend fate.

I should say however, that like our offspring, the dear Hallam Foe, our endearing, feral wee monster, we tackle the world head on and will take our lot as it comes, we have worked hard and will get what we deserve for the fruits of our labour.

Have a wonderful weekend and if you fancy it, why not take a trip to the cinema (there’s a great new film out!).

Lots of love and a fond farewell from all the Family Foe.

ck x

Tomorrow is Hallam Foe day.

There is not a lot more we can do here to send the film out into the big wide world. It's over to you.

I think I can speak for all of us here when I say we have a mix of feelings - we're very excited to see how the film fairs at the box office and very nervous too. We've had a great response by and large from those that have seen the film so far - from bloggers to critics the film has been very well received - but that is no guarantee that all will go well with audiences.

The Times today published it's review, 4 stars, so hopefully that will encourage more people into the cinema this weekend.

...there’s a sense of magic that reflects the filter of Hallam’s innocence, eccentricity and otherness... Wendy Ide, The Times

When we were in Edinburgh there was a very real sense of coming full circle (particularly because we shot there) and that sentiment is very much with me now. The film now has a life of it's own, one that is pretty much uncontrollable. With that comes the realisation that the thing we have nurtured for the last however long cannot be guided any more. That lack of control over something that has been completely shaped at every turn to date is an odd thing to face.

Jamie Bell and David Mackenzie

Welcome to the beautiful nightmare Hallam Foe x