NLFF 2008 - perfect meeting ground for projects!
Posted on Wed, 11 Mar 2009
During NLFF 08, 25 directors and producers were invited to introduce or take questions on their work throughout the 7 day festival. Director of selected short Intercom (Short Film Award, Special Mention), Mark Gutteridge met up with Bright Sparks Award Winner at NLFF 07, Jack Tarling after a screening. This meeting ignited a collaboration between the pair to turn Mark’s short into their first feature.
Mark updates us with his experience of NLFF:
I have to admit to a slight case of 'festival lag' when I crawled onto the train from Kings Cross having just a few hours previously been on a return plane from two days promoting my short opening the Tirana International Film Festival for the British Council. However, I was still excited and it became all the more real when, on the last stretch of line, catching sight of the great power stations plus Durham Cathedral and finally the outstretched 'Angel Of The North' track past my window. I'd never been to Newcastle before. What was it all going to be like? Would the festival come good for us?
After Jill Hargreaves introduced me to festival director Brian Gordon and fellow filmmaker Eva Weber in the preserved deco interior of the Tyneside Cinema cafe bar, it was straight inside for the competition screenings with introductions by Brian, Eva and myself. Afterwards I was aware of how many people were hanging back to talk to each other and generally network. There was no chucking out time here though, tonight and every night the festival hosted some of the best informal gathering of clans I've experienced anywhere. It wasn't here but the next evening, after the UKFC screenings, that producer Jack Tarling introduced himself to me. I also met the writer of 'Crusaders' and NLFF regular Richard T Kelly at the after party and we're looking forward to working together shortly on the script, the three of us being in almost constant communication since then. Looking back, I can see that Northern Lights has been a turning point for the project. No-one seems to 'wait around' for introductions, that's the key there - It may be the wide ranging programming but its also the friendly informal atmosphere that encourages this openness. John Boorman once encouraged me to "just make them". Regarding NLFF I would say, "just go". You never know your luck.
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