– ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION!
I never thought I would be an associate producer on a BAFTA and Academy Award nominated film! But I think I am most impressed at briefly being in the behind the scenes video, small things eh?
I was chatting with my friend the writer/director Mark Gill (Seen below with producer Baldwin Li) about his stateside Oscar experiences with “The Voorman Problem” and I love the fact that he is still a humble northerner, self deprecating and quite pragmatic and down to earth about everything he has achieved.
Mark & Baldwin at the Manchester Screening
It takes time and hard work to get where you want to be and it was in December 2008 when Mark first sent me the script. There was plenty of development and re-writes after that but the project really started to gain traction when Baldwin sent the script to Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic addressed to “Spacey”…
He read it and liked it but his busy schedule didn’t permit him time to play the main character. However he suggested that Tom Hollander could play Voorman. That was amazing but then Tom suggested that Martin Freeman might make a great psychiatrist to play opposite him. The rest is as they say history with a BAFTA nomination and an Academy Award nomination for best live action short.
If you have not yet seen the film you can here on iTunes.
Activideo was able to help in a number of ways to get the film on screen. We provided shooting insurance, production assistance, editing facilities and even some props. Since then Mark has worked tirelessly to promote the film. Writing and shooting the film are just a small part of what it takes to get a film to go “all the way”.
Activideo have been a video production company since 1989! Incorporated in 2003 we mainly specialise in corporate video but we also work with other production companies such as Honlodge Productions to make short films like “The Voorman Problem” and Mark Davenport with “Photoshopping”.
No we don’t just work with directors called Mark!
Activideo have a diverse client base from Brother who make labelling/printing and scanning devices to After Adoption who use video in the adoption process.
Recently we added Southern Water to our client base making a recruitment video for them.
We find our Black Magic Cinema Camera 2.5k RAW and 4K camera gives us a great cinematic look for our clients when suitable for the project.
4K cinematic look
We are always on the look out for new clients who need quality at a great price point. We offer a service that is personal but at the same time more professional and credible than a one-man band. I think the phrase is boutique production house!
It was a pleasure to help get the “Voorman” project off the ground in conjunction with the many other contributors.
We will continue to offer our clients a more cost effective service than a fully-fledged agency and making short films to hone our skills in story telling. I suppose the next target would be to win an Academy Award…
Brian Barnes -Associate Producer on an Oscar nominated film (no really)