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Crew

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Directed by
GARY LOVE

BIOG:
An established TV director whose most recent credits include Waking the Dead and Murder Investigation Team. He is also an actor whose film acting credits include Stephen Woolley’s Stoned, The Russian Dolls directed by Cedric Klapisch and The Krays. He is best known for his part as ‘Tony’ in series 5 of Soldier Soldier.

Written by
DOMINIC LEYTON

BIOG:
Sugarhouse is based on Dominic’s debut stage play Collision which opened to critical acclaim with The Daily Telegraph gushing: “The ambition is genuinely astonishing. It is not to be missed.”

Director of Photography
DAN BRONKS

Editor
PETER DAVIES

Production Designer
CAROLINE STORY

Costume Designer
GUY SPERANZA

Make Up Designer
MARY ANNE WAITE

Casting Director
CARRIE HILTON

Producers

OLIVER MILBURN

BIOG:
Wolf Committee was founded in 2005 by actor Oliver Milburn (The Descent, The Forsythe Saga, Green Wing) and Assistant Director Ben Dixon (Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory). Sugarhouse is the first of several projects currently in development.

MICHAEL RILEY

BIOG:
Michael’s production filmography over the last decade includes the feature films Respect, Loop, Boston Kickout, Hard Men, Lava, Out of Depth, The Man Who Would Be Queen and recently Outlanders and Vampire Diary. He has also produced the award winning epic family saga serial In A Land Of Plenty for the BBC.

ARVIND ETHAN DAVID

BIOG:
Arvind Ethan David is co-founder, producer and CEO at slingshot where he leads both business and creative strategy. He has just completed production on slingshot’s second film FRENCH FILM.

Immediately prior to slingshot, Arvind served as Commercial Advisor to Headline Pictures, the production company set up by Mark Shivas, Stewart Mackinnon and Kevin Hood. From 2003 to 2004, Arvind was Managing Director of Ruby Films, working with Oscar-nominated producer Alison Owen; during his tenure at Ruby, the company produced or co-produced three feature films, SYLVIA, PROOF and Dominic Savage’s LOVE & HATE, and went on to win a UKFC “super-slate” award.

Arvind holds an MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and an MBA from London Business School, grew up between Kuala Lumpur and London, speaks Malay (badly) and Spanish (even more badly) and likes to blog. (http://www.slingshot-studios.com/blog)

MATTHEW JUSTICE

BIOG:
Launched by Matthew Justice in May 2004, Lunar’s first project was as co-producer of Cedric Klapisch’s The Russian Dolls (Audrey Tautou). Its other credits include multiple Palm D’Or nominee Raoul Ruiz’s Klimt (John Malkovich, Saffron Burrows), Stephen Bradley’s Boy Eats Girl, and most recently David Mackenzie’s Hallam Foe. Prior to Lunar, Matthew was Stephen Norrington’s producing partner for seven years, producing the Wesley Snipes action movie Blade which has gone on to gross over $200m.

BEN DIXON

BIOG:
Wolf Committee was founded in 2005 by actor Oliver Milburn (The Descent, Loaded, Green Wing) and Assistant Director Ben Dixon (Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory). Sugarhouse is the first of several projects currently in development.

RACHEL CONNORS

BIOG:
Rachel is co-founder and producer at Slingshot where she leads development and project selection. Prior to joining, Rachel was working at the independent film production company, Scorpio Films, in London, as a development producer to Stephen Evans, (whose 14 feature films have received 11 Academy Award nominations and 2 wins). Scorpio’s first film, Dear Frankie screened in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival 2004 and was acquired by Miramax. Before she joined Scorpio, Rachel was an assistant agent to Michael Foster at Artists Rights Group (ARG), a leading boutique talent and literary agency.

Production Manager
STEPHANIE CHARMAIL

Production Coordinator
TAMSIN CURNO

First AD
ADAM COOP

Second AD
LISA RADIN
HEIDI GOWER

Third AD
OLIVER JEFFERIES

Script Advisor
KERENSA BURTON

Locations Manager
PAUL MANWARING

Art Director
STUART MACKAY

Camera Grip
MARK MORELY
ALEX HUDSON
DENNIS DILLON

Sound Recordist
GARTH MARSHALL

Boom Operator
ANDREW ROWE

Stunt Coordinator
GARY POWELL

Music Supervisor
JASON LAMONT

Stills Photographer
Toby Merritt

Cast

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

STEVEN MACKINTOSH – Tom
ASHLEY WALTERS – Ashley
ANDY SERKIS – Hoodwink
TOLGA SAFER – Sef
TEDDY NYGH – Gary
ADAM DEACON – Ray
TRACEY WHITWELL – Tania
ADE – Paul
DANIELLE THOMPSON – Michela
STEFANO GRESSIEUX – Café Owner
STEVEN ROBERTSON – Chris
SHARON D. CLARKE – Crystal

Tom
STEVEN MACKINTOSH

Steven made his film debut in Stephen Frears’s seminal Prick Up Your Ears (1987). Since then he has had an impressive array of roles in films and TV dramas, including Winston in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Andreas Tanis in Underworld (2004) & its sequel Evolution (2006) and Dr. Hopkins in The Jacket (2005). Steven has also worked with directors such as Peter Greenaway, Roger Michell and Len Wiseman.

D
ASHLEY WALTERS

Ashley shot to fame as rapper ‘Asher D’, part of UK Garage group So Solid Crew. After the group split up, he went on to focus on acting, starring in several TV dramas (The Bill, Storm Damage, Holby City), docudramas (notably the 1999 reconstruction of The Murder of Stephen Lawrence) and short films before landing the lead role in Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy (2004). The gritty tale about gun culture in London was a critical smash hit and Ashley was awarded the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the 2004 British Independent Film Awards.

He has gone on to star in Goal! (2005) and Jim Sheridan’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), based on the life of rapper 50 cent. He also starred in the $60m action film Stormbreaker (2006).

Ashley has also appeared in lead roles for Life N Lyrics (2006), Waz (2006) and recently featured in BBC1’s critically acclaimed drama series, Hustle.

Hoodwink
ANDY SERKIS

Andy began his prolific acting career in the British theatre; he has appeared on almost every established stage including the Royal Court and Donmar Warehouse with roles as diverse as King Lear, Othello and Faust. Since then he is perhaps most renowned for his role as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (2003) trilogy. Working closely with the digital special effects technicians, Serkis performed in a motion-capture suit, often shooting one scene up to three hundred times.

Andy has worked extensively across the UK and US with directors as diverse as Michael Winterbottom and Mike Leigh, Gary Winick and Gillies MacKinnon. For Jackson’s 2005 version of King Kong, he provided the movements for the ape, as well as playing Lumpy the Cook. Recent films include Stormbreaker (2006) and Rendition (2006)

Sef – One of three local youths, a good guy in with the wrong crowd
TOLGA SAFER

Tolga Safer began working as a professional actor after studying at the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School and Mountview Theatre School. After a brief stint in the theatre, which included Kelkhal in the critically acclaimed stage production of Bintou at the Arcola Theatre, he moved into TV drama and commercials. His big break came in 2003 when director Mike Newell created a part for him as Professor Karkaroff’s aide in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (2005). Tolga’s most recent roles include Taylan Ergen in the National Theatre’s production of ‘Invisible Mountains’ by Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Gary – One of three local youths, a factory worker
TEDDY NYGH

Teddy Nygh was raised in London into a family of actors. He has gone on to act in a number of film, theatre and TV projects including feature film Shooters starring Adrian Dunbar and directed by Colin Tegie, a 20 minute thriller Mr Video directed by renowned Canadian director, producer, writer Alex Masterten. Teddy studied the Meisener Technique at The Actors Pulse in Sydney Australia from where he graduated after 4 years. Since returning to London in January 06 he has worked non stop devising and directing plays at the Tricycle and Hampstead Theatres and working hard to reach young people on the streets and estates of Hackney, Harringway and Brent, and acting in various film and theatre productions. Teddy is also a rapper, under the name Supa Ted, and has won rap battles in Sydney and London. He has also written, directed, produced, shot and edited a rapumentary, Clash A Da Tights 1’s.

Ray – One of three local youths, jailbait
ADAM DEACON

Adam Deacon manages a prolific career that crosses theatre, TV and feature films. He appeared in a variety of British drama series including The Bill, Spooks and Channel 4’s acclaimed Sugar Rush. He has also starred in Ali G Indahouse (2002) and most recently in Michael J Basset’s Wilderness (2006). He is best known for his role as Jay, one of the three leads, in Menhaj Huda’s hard hitting teen drama Kidulthood (2006).

Tania – Hoodwink’s heavily pregnant girlfriend
TRACEY WHITWELL

Tracy Whitwell has appeared in numerous television productions including Love in the 21st Century, The Bill, Men Behaving Badly and Casualty. She has been a long-standing member of the Rose Bruford Theatre, starring in productions such as Accrington Pals, Richard III and Lady Windermere’s Fan.

Paul – Wheeler-dealer friend of Hoodwink’s
ADE

Ade’s first acting break came when he was handpicked by Guy Ritchie to star as Tyrone, the getaway driver in Snatch (2000). Since then he has been working across TV and features; most recently appearing as Infante in the latest Bond instalment Casino Royale (2006).

Michela – Young girl looking out for herself on the estate
DANIELLE THOMPSON

Danielle Thompson has appeared in both print and TV commercials – Sugarhouse is her first feature film.

Café Owner
STEFANO GRESSIEUX

Stefano Gressieux has appeared in several feature films as well as British TV dramas such as Poirot, The Darling Buds of May and Blackadder.

Chris – Local smackhead
STEVEN ROBERTSON

Steven Robertson is a Scottish theatre and film actor; he has appeared on stage at the Manchester Royal Exchange and RSC Academy and has starred in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Working Title’s Inside I’m Dancing (2004).

Crystal – Powerful crack dealer
SHARON D. CLARKE

Sharon D Clarke has worked in theatre, television, film & radio. She received an Olivier Award nomination won for her role as Killer Queen in We Will Rock You at The Dominion, and has also appeared in Chicago at the Adelphi and Lion King at the Lyceum. Her most popular TV role has been as Lola Griffin in the BBC’s Holby City; she has also appeared in Waking The Dead, Soldier Soldier and The Singing Detective to name a few. Her film credits include Imogen Kimmel’s Secret Society (2000) and Michael Winner’s Dinner Date. She has achieved worldwide chart success as Nomad whose hits include (I Wanna Give You) … Devotion, Just a Groove and Your Love is Lifting Me.

Background

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Writer Dominic Leyton first got the idea for his play Collison in 2001. “I knew the idea had legs as it wasn’t just a passing thought. It hit me as a physical sensation”. The script was written in ten days and five years later, in a warehouse in Bow, the play became the feature film: Sugarhouse due for release on August 24.

Producer Oliver Milburn and Dominic first met at school in 1986. In creative writing courses, Oliver remembers that Dom’s stories were always “…miles better than anything any of the rest of us wrote; they were always arresting, whilst often only relating the mundane and the ordinary.” In 2002, Oliver was involved in the early drafts of Collision, which in 2003 debuted in London at The Old Red Lion, winning critical acclaim, “Genuinely astonishing, not to be missed” (The Daily Telegraph).

The first development meeting was held at a pub in Kings Cross, followed by a further 3 years grappling with the transition from theatre to film, trying to find the balance between the wordiness of a theatre script and the requirements of film script. In early 2005 Oliver and Ben Dixon, an assistant director (Casino Royale, Da Vinci Code) started production company, Wolf Committee, which optioned Collision. Established producer Matthew Justice (Lunar Films) was brought on board. In early 2005 Matthew introduced Wolf Committee to director Gary Love and Arvind Ethan David, CEO and founder of slingshot, a newly launched all-digital film production and distribution company.

Slingshot’s mission is to offer filmmakers a freedom unheard of in conventional British filmmaking. By employing an innovative profit share model to secure top tier creative, technical and co-production talent, slingshot was able to slice through the culture of complicated financing deals that can add years to development.

Announcing the decision to back Sugarhouse, Arvind Ethan David, commented: “The energy and pace of this project make it a perfect fit with slingshot’s own ethos. In less than six months we went from our first meeting with the writer to the first day of principal photography – this is not something that happens very often in the British film industry. For Sugarhouse to have managed it – and with a cast and crew as excellent and exciting as this – categorically proves that what matters is the strength of your belief, the integrity of your approach and the quality of the material; not the size of your budget. The talent and commitment of our collaborators on this project affirms our faith in the slingshot model, and fills us all with fire to make a really great film”.

One of the first things slingshot did to drive the project towards green light was to include it in a week long residential development lab, in conjunction with The Performing Arts Labs (PAL). That week brought together the producers, writer and director of Sugarhouse with expert script consultant Roger Smith (Land and Freedom (1995), My Name is Joe (1998) and Royal Court Artistic Director Ian Rickson.

Sugarhouse is the first feature for actor & television director Gary Love, who says he wanted to make the film on his first reading of the script “It has all the things I love in a film; pace, emotion, fun, pain and then ultimate enlightenment. I’m intrigued by the world the characters inhabit and the odd couple relationship that develops. I was interested in their plight and felt urged to tell a story that I don’t think has been told in a London film for some time.

Director Gary Love commented; “Dominic draws the characters from a mix of his own experiences & people that he knows…crackhead D, uneducated but very bright; TOM, well educated, articulate, but driven by fury, and HOODWINK, terrifying and manipulative.”

As an actor himself, Oliver found it fascinating to be on the other side of the room during auditions. “Seeing the guys come in and nail their parts was incredibly exciting…we knew then that we had a real opportunity to create a truly original, powerful piece of cinema.”

Synopsis

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Tom (Steven Mackintosh) is a middle-class city boy whose life has reached breaking point. D (Ashley Walters) is a young crack-head: smart, witty, desperate. Tom is completely out of his depth when he finds himself in D’s abandoned warehouse attempting to do a “deal” with the energetic, volatile drug addict. The two enter into an irrational, deadly game of cat and mouse. The tense drama escalates when psychotic local crime-lord Hoodwink (Andy Serkis) wakes up to find his snub nose gun missing.

Featuring three outstanding performances, this urban thriller is director Gary Love’s feature debut, based on screenwriter Dominic Leyton’s critically-acclaimed stage play Collision.