02/12/2005

"The six months from the end of November could potentially see our most active period since filming began back in 1995…". "Against a backdrop of general decline in the European film industry, Isle of Man Film (IOMF) is bucking the trend by focusing very heavily on the US market. The outlook for the Isle of Man film industry is better than ever". This comment was made by Alex Downie, the Isle of Man’s Minister for the Department of Trade and Industry as IOMF just announced that one of the UK’s biggest independent films of 2006, Miss Potter with Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter, the world famous author of children’s literature, will start shooting on the island on 17 March 2006.

The $25m (€21.5m) film from the Australian director of Babe Chris Noonan will be produced by the US David Kirschner and Phoenix Pictures with UK-based Grosvenor Park co-financing and Summit Entertainment handling world sales. As was the case with the previous big budget film Stormbreaker which filmed on the island last summer, IOMF has acquired rights to all North American revenues arising from Miss Potter and in return 50% of the film will be shot locally.
But before the producers of Miss Potter start spending their expected £2.8m (€4.1m) locally, the Hungarian born producer Andras Hamori (Fateless [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) of Canada-based H20 Motion Pictures will move in with Big Nothing which starts filming on 4th December until the 22nd. The film co-produced with Pathé Pictures and Ingenious Films will be directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Dead End) and stars David Schwimmer (from the series Friends), Simon Pegg (Shaun Of The Dead), Natascha McElhone and Mimi Rogers. Pathé will handle international sales.

Three other major films co-produced and co-financed by IOMF are on UK screens or ready to be released: The Libertine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (since November 18), Keeping Mum [+see also:
trailer
film profile] with Rowan Atkinson released today, and Lassie with Peter O’Toole set to open on 16 December.