Projects in genres: Comedy

Synopsis

An upbeat, oddball, after-hours comedy about the ups and downs of sex and shelf-stacking in the 21st century.

Four friends, Sean, Vincent, Jody and Lenny find themselves at something of a dead-end. Trapped in a twilight world of permanent night shift work they hang out together in the local all night café, where their only escape from the drudgery is observing Vincent's unwavering success in pulling women. There seems little prospect of change. But then events conspire otherwise .

Synopsis

Eamonn Manley (Kris Marshall) hasn't much going for him. He's 24, he works in a Dating Agency (Amoré - 'Your Love is Our Affair') and he lives with his Ma. At night he hides in his room, dreaming of superhero adventures, romance and a girl he's too scared to approach.

Yet his life takes on a new direction when, after a miraculous encounter with Mary Mallory (Tara Lynn O' Neill), the local good time girl, Eamonn discovers he has the highest sperm count in Ireland. With male fertility rates plummeting around the world Eamonn finds himself in demand. Seduced by the possibility of doing good and a taste of the high life, Eamonn is persuaded by his friend Millicent (Bronagh Gallagher) to start providing a unique service to the good ladies of Belfast.

With his new-found confidence, he finally finds the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams. Rosie (Kathy Kiera Clarke) works at the local funeral home and has proved impervious to the approaches of more bullish guys. Entirely unaware of his new profession she finds herself drawn to the innocent, awkward Eamonn. And so begins Eamonn's bizarre double life: Lothario to half the city by day and shy lover to Rosie by night. His life is weirder and more wonderful than he could ever have imagined.

Meanwhile the 'most fertile man in Ireland' has come to the attention of the local Protestant hardmen, led by Mad Dog Billy Wilson (James Nesbitt), formerly 'the most-feared and psychotic' paramilitary in Belfast who now finds himself in a world that no longer requires or endorses his services. Aware that the rising birth rate in the Catholic community means the Protestants will no longer be in the majority, he is determined to get Eamonn to even the score.

Synopsis

The Navigators follows the fortunes of a group of rail track workers based at a South Yorkshire depot as the privatisation of British Rail takes effect. When Harpic (so called because he's clean around the bend), the depot boss, gives Paul, Mick and the rest of the gang their new working brief, the company's 'mission statement', 'performance-related pay' and no paid holidays seems like a joke. But before long the choice is very clear to the gang; take their chances with redundancy cash and life as casual agency workers, or work for the company under the new rules...

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An unusual love story about a man who falls in love with a cat after the murder of the woman he adored. But is the cat all it seems?

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An urban tale of a one-night stand that goes horribly, hilariously wrong. Belinda, a politician with a taste for danger, meets Jenna, an adventurous free spirit.

Synopsis

Adam's camp; Steve's camp. Dinner sets things straight, naturally.

Synopsis

A wickedly funny, comic take on the lives of a group of North London gangsters - and their passion for family, friends . . . and Karaoke.


Jonny dreams of leaving his dead-end job as a courier. Through his best friend Jude, nephew of the notorious crime lord Ray Kreed, he wins his way into the toughest gang in North London. Hungry for some real gangster action, Jonny sparks a deadly feud between Ray's gang and another firm in South London.


When a full-scale war erupts between the two sides, culminating in a murder at Ray's wedding, Ray and his opposite number in South London both decide that Jonny must be stopped at all costs.

Synopsis

A sexy, glamorous, romantic comedy, in the style of classic 1930's Hollywood, with world famous songs by Cole Porter and Irving Berlin.


In 1939 the King of Navarre and his three best friends swear an oath to give up women for three years whilst devoting themselves to the study of philosophy. One of the terms of their pledge specifically prohibits women from their presence, but the arrival of the Princess of France and her three beautiful attendants on a diplomatic visit, throws the plan into disarray.


In secret the King and each of his friends pursue the girls and the entire court become intoxicated by love.


The mood is broken by the news of the death of the Princess's father and the girls return to France. France has fallen to the Nazis.


Before they leave, the heartbroken men must prove that their love is not just an infatuation and remain faithful to them. And as proof of their devotion the loving couples are happily reunited at the end of the war.

Synopsis

When Mr and Mrs Peach's neighbours emigrate to Australia, they leave the grieving Peaches anxiously twitching the net curtains of their suburban home wondering who will arrive next door. The new neighbours, Mr and Mrs Chapman, prove to be far from the ideal couple the Peaches had dreamed of. They are loud, rude and aggressive.


Mr Peach takes an instant dislike to the 'flash' Chapmans aggravated by the fact that, as a desperately bad salesman, he is getting deeper and deeper into debt. Mr Peach is struggling to hold onto his job, his house and his mind and as the bills mount up and the creditors move in he begins to slip further and further into his own interior world, obsessing about the new neighbours and increasingly perceiving them as the enemy. It is not long before he is spying on their every move, making complaints against them, even damaging their property. The Chapmans, outraged at his 'interfering, busy-body' behaviour, begin to retaliate, until both sets of neighbours are caught up in an intensifying feud. Their problems escalate out of all proportion and when Mr Chapman dares to stamp on Mr Peach's prize winning pansies a fight breaks out in the garden and Chapman beats up Peach. Mr Peach finally deems his neighbours responsible for all his problems and in one final conflict, decides to make them pay.


Nasty Neighbours is a thrilling black comedy. It puts England under the spotlight and exposes cracks in the veneer of cul-de-sac life. Funny, sad and fiercely original it is the debut feature film of Debbie Isitt.

Synopsis

Nick Grosso's award-winning play Peaches, produced by the Royal Court in association with the National Theatre Studio in 1994, launched the career of one of Britain's most promising new playwrights. Grosso now dons the director's hat with this adaptation of the play for the big screen, an ordeal that took some six years to realise.

Exploring the identity crisis afflicting so many young 1990s men, the story revolves around sex-obsessed Frank and his student friends. From a Leeds college bar to the pubs of North London, their emotional adventures are charted in the seemingly nonchalant and comically-hip language of confused and hapless twentysomethings.

Frank's summer as a carefree slacker looks rosy until his best friend starts a job scheme. Then, when his other mate moves in with a girl and a college sweetheart tells him a big secret, Frank's world starts to spin out of control.

The film was inspired by Grosso's own personal philosophy when, as a student, life "wasn't about work, but about getting up in the morning -- about chicks and babes. Work was just a distraction".

Besides Grosso's status as a voice of his generation, the film's saleability rests on its two stars, Matthew Rhys and Kelly Reilly. The former is an up-and-comer whose credits include the soon-to-be-released Sorted and Titus, the latter was recently seen in Ben Elton's Maybe Baby, and both have starred alongside Kathleen Turner in the West End stage version of The Graduate.

Shot with backing from a mix of private equity finance and the Irish Film Board, the film will be offered to agents and distributors in the autumn.

Synopsis

Following Brassed Off and Little Voice, Purely Belter is director Mark Herman's third film to be rooted firmly in the North of England - in this case Newcastle. And like his two critically-lauded hits, it uses a comic energy to tackle serious, gritty reality. "That is his talent as a director - taking ordinary people and successfully combining the comedy and tragedy that make up their lives," says producer Elizabeth Karlsen, who also worked with Herman on Little Voice.

The film, based on Gateshead teacher Jonathan Tulloch's debut novel The Season Ticket, follows two Geordie lads whose wild ambition is to get season tickets for their football team, Newcastle United. Gerry (Chris Beattie) and Sewell (Greg McLane) are broke but they are also resourceful, devising schemes and scams in their attempts to raise the £1,000 they need. However, real life - Gerry's violent dad, Sewell's pregnant girlfriend - keeps getting in the way.

"Football does form the backbone of the story, but it is less a film about football than a film about the boys' dream," says Herman. "It captures the spirit of being a working-class teenager on Tyneside," adds Kevin Whately, who plays the boys' teacher.

DoP Andy Collins helped catch the energy of the story - and of the two young unknowns playing the leads - by using a lot of natural light and shooting with a hand-held camera on a dolly.

Purely Belter, the first film from Mumbo Jumbo, was selected to screen in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes this year.

Synopsis

Pete's (Rhys Ifans) business is going bust, his sperm count is dodgy, and his relationship with Sarah (Sadie Frost) is on the rocks. He's infatuated with his secretary Charlie (Dani Behr), despite her being hitched to his bike-messenger Trevor (Andrew Howard) and he's spending too much time in Harry's (Nick Moran) coke den. In short, Pete's in trouble.


Then his charming Irish accountant and boyhood pal Deeny (Joseph Fiennes) fixes up a meeting with the mysterious Russian Mr Kant (Steven Berkoff) and his 'assistant' (actually his daughter) Masha (Tara Fitzgerald). Masha and Pete get it together and Mr Kant comes over with the emergency loan. Pete is saved.


But then comes the payback: Pete is summoned off the M25 by Masha, and ordered to Russia. There, he is taken in hand by Dr Jones (Keith Allen), Mr Kant's guru, made love to again by Masha - and then appears to be killed by Mr Kant's terrifying bodyguard (Olegario Fedoro) as a warning to other Western 'partners'. Meanwhile it's clear that Deeny set the whole thing up and is plotting to take over Pete's firm - indeed his whole life.


However, Pete's not dead. Returning to London, he finds Sarah's pregnant and he's got to kill Deeny. The only people Pete can turn to are Charlie and Trevor. Masha is pregnant too and Mr Kant won't intervene.


Pete's got a great plan, and Masha agrees to help with the greatest - and most bizarrely convincing alibi ever, but just as its all coming together Pete learns that Deeny has Sarah and Charlie at his mercy. Now Masha and Mr Kant must help and race to his aid, but Pete has to face Deeny alone, head-to-head, and right up to the final frames.