June, 2007

We apologise for the break in diary service

Location India | Mood Deeply traumatised by events in Nigeria | Date 10 January 2007
Hello anyone who might be reading this. Sorry I haven't had a moment to get the diary entries from August to December up here.

Five years ago today

Location Edit room in the office, 11.45pm | Mood Frazzled satisfaction | Date 26 June 2007
It's exactly five years to the day - possibly to the hour - that we thought of the idea for the film, so strikes me as a delightfully auspicious moment to go public about our little project.

500 million people on the case?

Location 1.10am, hire car on the M1, Lizzie driving | Mood Despair | Date 11 June 2007
The last ever day filming Crude didn't start too well for poor Lizzie as the hire car she picked up yesterday developed a flat tyre and she spent half the night organising tow trucks. Then had to get up at 5.30am to pick me and new soundman Ben up to drive to Bedford for the result of Piers's three-year battle to get planning permission for his latest windfarm.

A coherent script emerges

Location Kitchen table at the office | Mood Perky | Date 6 June 2007
After three very long days and nights bashing together all the ideas into a coherent script, we stocked up on pastries and got everyone into the same room for a read-through. Mark was very convincing as the geeky teenage know-it-all but Emily wasn't so keen on her slightly wimpy teenage girl (maybe should swop those roles over. can't have the girl being feeble).

Spices then gold now oil next water

Location In a tent in a field in Hay | Mood Christmas morning before the parents wake up | Date 27 May 2007
Rain, Cameras, Action.... Photograph: Charlotte Rushton  

No option but to keep going

Location D the E's house, babysitting his very cute twins who are supposed to be in bed | Mood Amused | Date 25 May 2007
Just finished two weeks script writing with David and Emily . Nearly killed me. Brain imploded. Far too many great ideas and no system for marshalling them.

Never making another film

Location Sofa | Mood Lonely, but for the right reasons | Date 15 May 2007
McLibel is on at a festival in Tel Aviv soon, so I did an interview for some Israeli radio station or something today. Made my best effort to be interesting in case The Boy happens to hear it.

Very much from the Spanner mould

Location Lord Stanley pub, near the office | Mood Slightly more hopeful | Date 11 May 2007
Suddenly remembered Emily James as I was washing up for the first time in three weeks this morning. She's an indie filmmaker very much from the Spanner mould. Her film "The Luckiest Nut In the World " famously used animated singing peanuts to discuss trade liberalisation.

"Scriptwriting for Beginners"

Location Park in Red Lion Square | Mood Inspired | Date 28 April 2007
Am totally stuck on the animation script, so decided to try to do something - anything - positive and cleaned up three years of cat shit from my roof. Then started clearing the overgrown ivy with the thought of planting some veg up there. But as soon as the ivy went I could see a bloody great big crack in the wall.

D major, E major, F minor

Location The Purcell Room, don't you know | Mood 6 year old before piano exam | Date 25 April 2007
Not been going too well with the animation. There seems to be a fundamental mismatch between the Spanner Films approach - "don't know how long it is, don't know how much cash we have, don't know what style we like, what do you all reckon?" - and the professionals at Passion who work with such things as scripts, storyboards, deadlines and budgets.