Project Detail

Beginner's Luck

Synopsis

Mark Feinman has a dream; he's stranded alone on a desert island, but he doesn't know why. In a flash of inspiration he realises his dream is a premonition and immediately sets up a touring theatre company with his two friends, Hettie and Jason. Their mission: to bring a radical reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Tempest to unsuspecting audiences in Edinburgh, Paris and London.

Mark and his misfit mates are forced to sign up their actors from an assortment of petty criminals, public school boys and burger bar workers. However, the miraculous arrival of the mysterious and beautiful Anya spurs them on to new heights for the world premiere in Soho.

After a sublimely disastrous opening in London, the young hopefuls flee to Edinburgh and Paris in search of their dreams: fame, fortune, sexual adventure and a decent meal. Once on the road they find their idealism rewarded with every possible mishap and breakdown.

Having reached rock bottom, Mark makes a final stab at leadership. He announces a new booking in a glamorous Parisian venue. In the city of love and lights they find that their problems have only just begun. With no money and no roof over their heads, they may as well be marooned on a desert island.

Details

Year
2002
Type of project
Features
Running time
83 mins
Format
Super 16mm
Director
James Callis, Nicholas Cohen
Producer
Harriet Evans-Lombe, Richard Osborne, James Harding
Editor
Alistair Waterson
Screenwriter
James Callis, Nicholas Cohen
Director of Photography
Chris Preston
Sound
Andy Mitchell
Composer
Karl Wallinger, Tristan Norwell
Principal cast
James Callis, Julie Delpy, Steven Berkoff, Christopher Cazenove, Tom Redhill

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Latenight Pictures

Suite 118
Golden House
29 Great Pulteney Street
London W1R 3DD
UK

T 00 44 (0)20 7437 0082

latenightpictures@hotmail.com

Sales Company

Icon Entertainment Int

The Quadrangle
4th Floor
180 Wardour Street
London W1F 8FX
UK

T 00 44 (0)20 7494 8100

www.icon-online.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Gilbert Watikins as Robbie (younger) In my Beginning Is My End

Director: Ben O'Connor

Year: 2026

Robbie exists on the margins of society. He lives alone on a narrow boat in rural England with little means. He has found solace in isolation and a humble life. Unexpectedly he is contacted with the unwanted news of his estranged father’s death. This drags up emotions from the past that quickly become too much to bear… And so, the story begins… A journey back into his past. A journey on a motorcycle to find his mother. He drives, alone, through desolate landscapes, barren and mountainous, into the depths of his mind. A dream world where Robbie is forced to confront his past. Two stories emerge; memories from his childhood recurrently appear, fracturing the present where ex-lovers who have shaped his life confront him in surreal encounters. With time the two stories collide, past and present become one. The road leads in one direction, back to his childhood home and ultimately, his first and now final love; his mother. For where he began, he will now end and know himself for the first time.

Yellow Bucket - Connor (Harry Baxendale) watches TV Yellow Bucket

Director: Simon Brooke

Year: 2025

Boyfriends Connor, Silas, and Connor’s dad Rob arrive home. Connor and Silas show affection. Rob drops his yellow work bucket in the kitchen. Little brother Max sits up for dinner while mum, Jan, plans for his sixth birthday. They watch the evening news announcing a scientific discovery; if a boy sees yellow while hearing a woman sing on his sixth birthday, he will grow up gay. The notion of this quotidian trigger creates a tense silence. Connor, anxious, realises his parents can choose whether Max grows up gay. The next day, Max chooses colours for his party, ignoring yellow. Connor sees the yellow bucket in the kitchen has been replaced with a blue one. That night, Connor wakes Max to ask if anyone told him what colours to pick. Max insists he chose his favourites. Before the party, Jan fears she is losing her voice. Rob takes Connor to the pub and reassures him the yellow bucket broke, and that he and Jan are proud Connor is gay. At the party, Connor withdraws to his room. Jan follows and finds he has hidden every yellow object in the house. Upset, they gently return to the celebration leaving the objects.

girl in a red dress in a white space In-Pulse

Director: Riccardo Tito Pescini

Year: 2025

A Government sanctioned programme of opting to repress the individual’s true feelings is rolled out – the ultimate masking tool that sees two people in a relationship not able to share their true feelings no matter how drastic they are.