Hewis clocks Eight Minutes Idle

by Naman Ramachandran

11/04/2011 - Mark Simon Hewis has commenced principal photography at Bristol locations on his debut feature Eight Minutes Idle.

The film is an urban comedy set in a Bristol call centre and is based on Matt Thorne’s eponymous novel. Thorne developed the script along with novelist Nicholas Blincoe.

Tom Hughes (Cemetery Junction [trailer]) and Ophelia Lovibond (No Strings Attached) lead the cast that also includes Montserrat Lombard (St Trinian’s 2) and Divian Ladwa (Saxon [trailer]) with Pippa Haywood (Tamara Drewe [trailer]) and Paul Kaye (The Infidel [trailer]) in cameos.

The film is an Arthur Cox/iFeatures production with Sarah Cox producing, and a South West Screen, UK Film Council and BBC Films presentation in association with Matador Pictures and the Bristol City Council. The BBC has acquired UK free television rights, and Content Film is handling worldwide sales.

Eight Minutes Idle is the second feature under South West Screen’s iFeatures micro-budget initiative. The first, Alastair Siddons’ In The Dark Half is now in post while the third, Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s Flying Blind, is in pre-production.

Steve Jenkins, Head of Films for the BBC, said, “A vital element of the iFeatures scheme is developing new talent, for which the funny and inventive script for Eight Minutes Idle is a perfect vehicle. Who knew that life in a Bristol call centre could be this strange.”