News

Bristol Film Office improves its parking and permit services for film crews

Film crews and production companies looking to film and do business in Bristol will now find it much easier thanks to the Film Office’s introduction of two new processes: ‘FilmApp’ and an improved parking dispensation service. The two new processes will be up and running from Monday, June 3, 2013.

‘FilmApp’, an efficient online permit application system, which is widely used in London, will replace the existing paper-based process. ‘FilmApp’ streamlines the process for requesting permission to film, enabling filmmakers to quickly apply for permits whilst out on location via a mobile phone or from a computer.

The Film Office has also been working with the council’s parking services team to develop an improved parking dispensation service for crews. The new parking options will be more accessible, affordable and flexible, to cater for the varied needs of all production types.

Berenice Ray, Bristol’s Film Officer, says: “We’re introducing ‘FilmApp’ to make it quicker and easier for crews to obtain permissions. And by working more closely with parking services, we can ensure film crews get a first-class, seamless service. Last year was our busiest to date with 12 major drama productions choosing to film in the city. By continually improving our services to film crews and production companies, we can make filming in Bristol easier and make sure we are well-placed to support the growing demand.”

0117 Digital Short Challenge 2013 Success

Once again the 0117 Challenge has been a hugely successful project with 20 teams and 62 emerging filmmakers taking part. Filmmakers, animators, visual and sound artists from across the UK were challenged to make digital shorts in just 117 hours, focusing on Bristol Temple Quarterand the theme of "Journeys", and had to feature either the phrase "Cheers, drive" or "Ship shape and Bristol fashion".

Bristol Film Office supplied a large number of diverse locations within the Temple Quarter including Bristol Temple Meads train station, Passenger Shed (Brunel’s old station), Bristol Wood Recycling Project and Bristol Cat and Dogs Home.

The winners, who bagged the £1000 cash prize, are Luka Bajt and Yoon Duck Kim of team ‘Bristol Sprout!’. Luka and Yoon met whilst studying MA Animation at University of West of England in Bristol. Their delightful short documentary ‘Behind the Journey’ reveals the behind-the-scenes work within First Great Western’s Traincare Depot in St Philips Marsh.

Luka says "The 0117 challenge has been an incredibly intense and enjoyable experience. Both of us spent nights shooting on location, the days editing or animating, and not leaving much time for sleep. For a few days we lived and experienced the hard working conditions of the night workers who we had decided to document. It gave us the opportunity to see things from another angle. The people working behind the scenes to make everything possible, and the serene emptiness of Bristol at night”.

Yoon explains “It was the hardest thing to deal with the time we had during the 0117 Challenge and it made us just keep running to the end, even without checking the direction because there was no time to go back. I think that is what "0117 Challenge" is all about."

Luka adds “Both Yoon and I come from different parts of the world, and none of us are born Bristolians. Even after living here for two years, I never really thought of this wonderful city as my home. But having the opportunity of meeting the incredibly friendly and helpful crew at the Bristol train depot, and being welcomed so warmly and kindly by the challenge crew, and other contestants, I really consider myself being part of this great city and its culture. This is, I feel, the biggest strength of the challenge; Creating and sustaining a very unique creative culture in Bristol, for both new and old Bristolians."

Over 150 people attended the awards reception at M Shed on Friday 19 April including The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Bristol Councillor Peter Main, and the challenge jury members: Peter Carlton of Warp Films (and formally Senior Commissioning Executive at Film4), Jon Mowat – Managing Director of Hurricane Media, Simon Cook - Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Capital Programme in the elected Mayor’s Cabinet at Bristol City Council, and Julie Finch - Head of Museums, Galleries and Archives for Bristol.

The 16 completed shorts are available on You Tube: 0117 Digital Shorts 2013. There is also a great selection of photos on flickr: 0117 Challenge images

This high-energy event was delivered in partnership by Bristol Film Office, Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival , and M Shedwith the support of Bristol Temple Quarter commissions. Bristol Film Office thanks all the private locations who supported the challenge by making their properties available for free: Bristol & Exeter House; Bristol Wood Recycling Project; DBS Music Studios; Feeder Commercials; First Great Western; GVA; Homes and Communities Agency; Motion Ramp Park; Paintworks; RSPCA and Bristol Cat and Dogs Homeand The Severn Project.

Bristol gets the thumbs up from London filmmakers

London filmmakers from production company, The Electric Shadow Company, have been singing the praises of Bristol's locations, facilities and cost-effectiveness. The company based and filmed here in April whilst they were shooting their first feature film, The Fold. By all accounts, they thoroughly enjoyed their experience of filming here and found that they were able to make substantial cost-savings whilst still having access to the eye-catching locations and world-class facilities that Bristol has to offer. Click here to read Bristol Business News' article all about it.

http://www.bristol-business.net/youre-a-star-london-filmmakers-praise-bristol-as-top-movie-location/

We look forward to bringing you some behind the scenes footage and interviews about The Fold when it is released next month. For more information about The Fold and the Electric Shadow Company follow the link below:

http://www.electricshadowcompany.com/in-production

Bristol Film Selected for Edinburgh Film Festival

We are very pleased to announce that the Bristol iFeatures film, Flying Blind, is to have its world premiere at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival. Flying Blind was shot at a number of locations across Bristol, including the Downs, The Paragon in Clifton, and Corn Street in the city centre and was funded as part of Creative England's low-budget feature film initiative, iFeatures. Billed as a ‘passionate post 9/11 love story’, the film, which premieres on June 24, is shortlisted for the prestigious Michael Powell Award for the Best New British Feature Film. It's really exciting news for all involved and we look forward to hearing how the film is received at the festival.

Flying Blind filming in Clifton. Picture courtesy of Creative England.

Bristol Encounters 0117 Challenge Winners are announced!

This year's 0117 Film Challenge proved to be another great success. Teams of filmmakers from across the city took to the city's locations to create an imaginative mix of short films, all inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games. To mark the end of the competition a gala event was held on 25th May at M-Shed and a jury of experts including Dave Sproxton, co-founder of Aardman Animations and Col Needham, founder and CEO of IMDB, convened to judge the films and decide on a winner. After a lot of deliberating, the jury decided that Wind by the Bearded Gnomes team should be crowned this year's winning film. All of the submitted films are now available to view on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5F197A9919D02D36&feature=view_all

Production in Bristol gets off to a flying start

April has seen the arrival of some exciting productions to Bristol and indications are that 2012 will be a bumper year for production in the city. The feature film, Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box (E-Motion Pictures), starring Sam Neill and Michael Sheen has begun prep and is basing at The Bottle Yard before filming begins next month. We're really excited to have such a major production working in the city and look forward to seeing how Bristol is transformed into Victorian London for the film.

We're also hosting another feature film, The Fold (The Electric Shadow Company), starring Catherine McCormack (Braveheart, 28 Weeks Later) and Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass). It's the feature debut for the award-winning director John Jencks and tells the story of a priest who befriends a migrant worker. Through the Bristol Filming Partnership, BFO have helped arrange accommodation and facilities for the production. We've also helped to set-up some traineeships for the production. It's another great project to have in Bristol.

This month also sees the arrival of the BBC production, The Best of Men (Whitby Davison Productions), which tells the story of Dr Ludwig Guttman, founder of the Paralympic Games and a second series of the Sky comedy series, Trollied (Roughcut TV), based at The Bottle Yard.

Published 12/4/2012

The Bristol Encounters 0117 Film Challenge is back!

After the success of last year's event, we're teaming up with Encounters Film Festival, Watershed and M-Shed again to deliver another exciting film challenge this Spring. This year's event will coincide with the Olympic Torch Relay arriving in the city and Bristol Sports Week (19th - 25th May) and will celebrate both with the theme of Sport, Games and Play. We're really excited that the challenge has been granted an Inspire Mark by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will form part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Like last year, entrants will be challenged to make a short film in 117 hours, focusing on Bristol's sporting culture. Bristol Film Office will be opening up a number of the city's most inspiring locations for free, unrestricted use during the challenge. A jury of experts will judge all of the films with the winning filmmaker being awarded a £1000 prize. A showcase of the best will be presented at a celebratory gala event at M-Shed on 25th May and all of the films will also become part of the museum's ongoing collection. For more information about the challenge, registration and guidelines visit the Encounters website at http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/0117-film-challenge.html .

Good luck!

Creative England announce new iFeatures scheme

Following the success of Bristol's low-budget feature film scheme, iFeatures, Creative England have just announced the launch of iFeatures 2. This time the initiative is going national and will be available to filmmakers across the country. The project will support the development of 16 projects and the production of 3 feature films at a budget of £350,000 each. They are looking for bright, brilliant and imaginative stories from the UK's new and aspiring talent. As part of the project launch, the iFeatures team will be holding events across the country in March and April. One of these events will be taking place at the Watershed in Bristol on Monday 26th March, 2pm - 6pm. There is limited capacity and tickets are available in advance. For more information visit http://www.ifeatures2.co.uk/ifeatures-events.html .

ENCOUNTERS SHORT FILM AND ANIMATION FESTIVAL (18 – 23 SEPTEMBER)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 2012

Calling all filmmakers and animators from across the world, submissions are now open for the Encounters 18th Short Film and Animation Festival in Bristol UK. Submit your short film or animation by Wednesday 6th June, for a chance to win a prestigious award and an opportunity to showcase your talent on an international stage.

Short films and animations are eligible from all over the world, completed from 1 Jan 2011, under 30 minutes in length from every genre (animation, live action drama, documentary, experimental and music video). There are discounts for multiple submissions (please contact rich.warren@encounters-festival.org.uk for further info.)

Why submit to Encounters?

1) It’s the leading UK gateway to the world’s most prestigious short film and animation awards (Academy Awards®, BAFTAs, Cartoon D’Or and European Film Awards)

2) It’s one of the best-known international competitive showcases of its kind, and is a key meeting point for emerging talent.

3) If your film doesn’t get selected, it can still be seen by delegates during the festival via the Online Digital Viewing Library

The 2012 festival will be held between Tuesday 18 – 23 September 2012 in Bristol, one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the UK.

Submit your film via www.encounters-festival.org.uk and visit the website to find out the awards up for grabs and submission criteria. 2012 submissions are powered by Reelport.

Sign up to the festival newsletter for the latest on Encounters events. Join our online community on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news.

DepicT! – Can you do it in 90 seconds?

Enter for free via www.depict.orgor submit at www.encounters-festival.org.ukto be eligible for all competitions.(Deadline 9th July). A Watershed project part of Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival.

Dirk Gently Returns for a Full Series

Following the success of the 2010 pilot episode, Douglas Adams' holistic detective Dirk Gently is back for a full series this month. Starring Stephen Mangan and Darren Boyd, the three-part series was filmed and based in Bristol and used locations including The Bottle Yard, The Guildhall and St Thomas Street.

TX: Monday 5th March 2012 - 9pm BBC4

Irven Lewis Photographs Bristol Dancers

Some of Bristol's lesser-known locations feature in a new set of photos by Irven Lewis, commissioned to showcase some of Bristol's dancing talent. The Guildhall and the 'See No Evil' project street art (Nelson Street) were both used as locations for this unique project.