Shooting Begins In Bristol On Eight Minutes Idle

South West Screen has announced that principal photography has begun in Bristol on Eight Minutes Idle, the second film to be made under iFeatures, the agency's micro-budget filmmaking scheme.
An exciting cast of rising British talent is headed by Tom Hughes (Cemetery Junction) and Ophelia Lovibond (Nowhere Boy) and includes Montserrat Lombard, Divian Ladwa, Jack Ashton, Antonia Thomas, Pippa Haywood and Paul Kaye.
Eight Minutes Idle is a warped urban comedy about life in a Bristol call-centre, directed by BBC New Filmmaker finalist and multi award-winning shorts director Mark Simon Hewis. The film is based upon Matt Thorne's award-winning novel, and the script was co-developed by Thorne with the well-respected novelist Nicholas Blincoe, also the co-founder of the New Puritans literary movement. Producing the film is Sarah Cox, whose company ArthurCox delivered the BAFTA-winning 2010 animation Mother of Many.
Tom Hughes will star as Dan Thomas, a man who has always taken the path of least resistance - in his work life, home life and love life. But when Dan finds himself kicked out of the family home, he's faced with no option but to secretly move into the call centre where he works.
Suddenly, everything Dan has previously taken for granted; a well-stocked fridge, clean clothes, his friends, his self-respect, even his beloved cat; are either disappearing or conspiring against him. When he meets his unique and determined office colleague Teri (Ophelia Lovibond), he finds the one person who is possibly worse off than him. As his work/life balance spirals dangerously out of control, Dan is forced to break out of old habits and dare to do something he has never done before - to really care about someone other than himself.
An Arthur Cox/iFeatures production, Eight Minutes Idle is 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 TV rights, and Content Film, a division of Content Media Corporation, is handling worldwide sales.
Chris Moll, iFeatures Executive Producer, said: "It's a tribute to Nicholas and Matt's script and to Sarah and Mark's cinematic vision that the production has assembled such a wonderful ensemble cast of upcoming and established comic talent. The other star, of course, is Bristol itself and this is a film that sets out to capture the very soul of a city we all love."
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…"
Eight Minutes Idle commenced principal photography on March 21 at a dedicated production set built at The Bottle Yard production space, and other locations across Bristol. Shooting will continue for four weeks.
South West Screen's iFeatures scheme, backed by BBC Films, Matador Pictures and Bristol City Council, was launched in October 2009 with the aim of providing a pathway to features for the city's most outstanding creative talent as well as attracting some of the best emerging filmmakers from across the UK and Europe to the city of Bristol.
Three films were greenlit in November 2010 and the first of these, In the Dark Half, completed shooting in late 2010 and is now in post production. Eight Minutes Idle is the second film to go into production and will be followed by the third, Flying Blind, currently in pre-production. All three films are due to premiere in Bristol in 2011.
(KMcA/GK)