18/11/2016 - Film is first project to be co-developed by national agencies Creative England and Creative Scotland

Feature debutant Matt Palmer has commenced principal photography at Scotland’s Beecraigs National Park on Calibre [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]. The film follows two friends on a weekend trip to a remote Scottish village that descends into a nightmare as they attempt to cover up a horrific hunting accident. The men wrestle with paranoia and escalating fear as their friendship disintegrates and the locals close in on the truth, turning a weekend hunting trip into a desperate struggle for survival.

Jack Lowden, nominated for Best Actor at the 2016 BAFTA Scotland Awards for Tommy’s Honour stars alongside Martin McCann who won the IFTA Best Actor Award in 2011 for Swansong: Story of Occi Byrne and scored further IFTA Actor nominations for Jump [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2013 and The Survivalist [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] in 2016. The cast also features Tony Curran (Race [+see also:
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film profile]) and Iain Pirie (Sunset Song [+see also:
film review
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interview: Terence Davies
film profile]).

The UK’s Wellington Films and Tip-Top Productions are producing Calibre, with the participation of the UK’s Pont Neuf Productions and Head Gear Films. Beta Cinema is handling international sales. The film is funded by Creative Scotland and Creative England – the first project to be co-developed by the two national agencies.

Producers Alastair Clark and Anna Griffin said, “This has been seven and a half years in the making and we’ve had some incredible support to get us to this point.  Having made two short films with Matt we’re now just so thrilled that Calibre is finally happening and with such a stellar cast and brilliantly talented crew.”

Natalie Usher, Director of Screen at Creative Scotland, said, “We are proud to support this thriller set in the Scottish wilderness and are particularly pleased because Calibre is the debut feature from Scottish writer/director, Matt Palmer.  This is an exciting time for Wellington Films following the success of Hope Dickson Leach’s The Levelling [+see also:
film review
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film profile] and we are delighted that they are continuing to work with Scottish talent.”

Paul Ashton, Senior Executive for Development and Production at Creative England, said, “This has been a fruitful collaboration for Creative England and Creative Scotland. Wellington’s profile as a talent-driven English regional production company grows by the day, and this has been a great way to support Matt as a writer-director who divides his working life between England and Scotland – by allowing him to do just that throughout development and production, and not fall between the cracks sometimes created by the borders between funding regions. This project is a real celebration of film talent in the UK.”

Palmer’s short films Daylight Hole, BAFTA Scotland nominated Island, and The Gas Man have played various international festivals including Slamdance, Worldwide Shorts, Edinburgh, FrightFest and São Paulo. Matt also curates cult and horror film festivals including All Night Horror Madness and Psychotronic Cinema.