UK Film Network

From the blog of director, Phil Hawkins

Here’s the press release for The Butterfly Tattoo. It also explains the story so far (I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about the making of the film… so here it is!)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award –winning independent film Philip Pullman’s
The Butterfly Tattoo gains support for a UK theatrical release.

(UK - 2nd September 2009) In contrast to Philip Pullman’s $180 million adaptation THE GOLDEN COMPASS which hit screens in 2007, a small Dutch production company – Dynamic Entertainment – armed with just €250,000, a British crew and a cast of unknown actors gained the rights to Pullman’s novel THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO (originally ‘The White Mercedes’) and made a film which has stunned audiences at international film festivals.

The film gained the support of Philip Pullman after the 21 year old producers approached him with the idea to make a film which had a strong educational approach to it’s making. Pullman gave away the rights to the book being a strong believer in education through practice. Pullman stated early on that he was “impressed with the enthusiasm and professionalism of the team at Dynamic Entertainment and happy to support their efforts to bring THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO to the screen.”

Shot on location in Oxford over five weeks, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was created mostly by people who were new to the film industry supported by professional heads of departments. The film also features unsigned bands from the Oxford area on its soundtrack.

The film was also funded in a unique way. Offering shares in the film for as little as €50 through the production’s website, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was fully funded in just two days.

The story is essentially a modern day Romeo and Juliet set in contemporary Oxford. When seventeen year old Chris (Duncan Stuart) and lovely lass Jenny (Jessica Blake) first met at an Oxford college ball, the ruffled latter was still in the run from her ex-boyfriend Piers (Dan Morgan) - a tyrannical aristocrat. But Chris’ past hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing either, and as the young couple enters tenuously into an innocent courtship, hidden secrets from Chris’ boss (Aidan Magrath) reveal why their romance may be headed for tragedy.

The film introduces a fresh new cast of upcoming UK talent. The performances of co-stars Jessica Blake (Jenny) and Duncan Stuart (Chris) have wowed audiences and critics alike. The film itself went onto win Best Director and Best Adaptation at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, The Silver Chris for Best Feature at the Columbus Film Festival and Best Film at the Beaufort International Film Festival. The film was also on the official selection for the Film By The Sea Festival (where it premiered to a packed out audience) and Netherlands Film Festival. This year THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

At twenty four years of age, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO is director Phil Hawkins’ second feature film, the first being THE WOMEN OF TROY which gained him a Best Director award at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2006. In 2007, Hawkins was personally selected by Steven Spielberg to appear in the Fox/Dreamworks reality television show for filmmakers ON THE LOT. Spielberg called him “one of the best new and upcoming directors” and Hawkins was the only filmmaker from the UK to appear in the show.

THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO went onto have a small theatrical release in Los Angeles in April 2009 and has since gone on sale on DVD in the US. However, the UK was slow on the uptake in terms of theatrical distribution for the film.

“It amazed me,” says director Phil Hawkins “that there didn’t seem to be any support for us in terms of distribution in the country where the film was made. I personally contacted almost every distributor in the UK and heard every excuse possible but nobody said it was a bad film; it was just the ‘state of the industry’. It was frustrating”. After months of trying, the film gained the support of Showcase Cinemas who offered to release the film in multiple screens.

The film will go on theatrical release in selected Showcase cinemas from September 25^th 2009. The confirmed cities so far are Walsall, Kent, Teeside, Derby, Bristol and Leicester with more to be added. The production company is waiting on support from the UK Film Council to fund 35mm prints of the film to widen the release under their P&A fund. Showcase are also planning a charity gala premiere on September 24^th in Reading in which Philip Pullman may make an appearance and a screen will be dedicated to him.

THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO will also be screened a week before the release at the Cambridge Film Festival on 18^th September – followed by a Q&A with director and actors – and the 21^st.

“It was a head rush of relief!” Hawkins explains about when the release was confirmed, “The whole point of making a film is to get it to audiences and allow the new cast, bands and filmmakers the platform to show what they can do. It was one of the major reasons for making the film in the first place. Showcase Cinemas have been a massive help and I look forward to the release. We just have to get bums on seats now!”

Director Phil Hawkins, co-stars Jessica Blake and Duncan Stuart are available for print, television or radio interviews.

Film stills and screeners for review are available on request.

Official website www.thebutterflytattoo.co.uk / twitter.com/pullmanfilm

From the blog of director Phil Hawkins

WOOO-F*****G-HOO! Sorry, I’ll restrain myself… but after over nine months of sending out screeners to every single distribution company in the UK and no-one biting is a frustrating experience!

I’ll backtrack. As you probably know, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was released in Los Angeles in May 2009. We’ve received a lot of love from the states with numerous awards and film festival screenings coming from across the pond as well as some lovely reviews and a DVD release. On the other hand, the UK was slow on the uptake.

Considering that I’m a British director, the film was shot in the UK with a new and upcoming British cast and some great new bands from, you guessed it, Britain, you’d think that the UK would be one of the first places for the film to be screener. So did we. The reality is very different. It seems, through my first hand experience in trying to get distribution for the film, there isn’t a lot of love for British independent films in the current system. With cinemas filled with American studio films (even some ‘independent’ cinemas are programmed by larger organizations) there isn’t a lot of room to support home grown talent. No wonder people “sell out” or “progress” to Hollywood to make films. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a film that you’ve spent well over a year making and then there isn’t any support to actually let it find an audience. Surely people seeing it and responding to it is the most important thing?

Even more frustratingly, nobody said it was a bad film. Nobody is in the business of protecting people’s feelings in this industry. If it’s bad, they’ll tell you. I received every excuse apart from them thinking the film was rubbish. The main one that stood up overall was it being “the state of the industry”. Not to get on my soap box (actually, a blog is probably the modern day equivalent!) but this really needs to change. If we’re to have a film industry (and I mean films made in this country, funded in the majority by this country) we really need to look at the message distribution is saying to new filmmakers. There are a lot of great independent films out there (okay, and a lot of awful ones) but they’ll never see the light of day because nobody has the time to watch or market Joe Blogg’s Film. It’s not as if these days everything needs to have an expensive 35mm print to screen - if anything it’s getting easier for distributors/exhibitors to show independent film due to digital projectors. With all that said, it’s a little depressing.

I got there with THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO through sheer persistence. After our American sales agent didn’t get any response from UK distributors through the normal channels and, in my eyes, giving up, I took it upon myself to contact everyone personally to try and get the film sold. With no sale from normal distribution companies, I decided to cut out the “middle men” and go straight for the exhibitors.

Then the film’s big break came from SHOWCASE CINEMAS, a large UK cinema chain who watched the film, loved it and want to screen it in as many as their cinemas as they could. Fantastic. SHOWCASE, you’re all brilliant. Why can’t every chain have this enthusiasm? Funnily, when I met the head of the chain for the first time he said - and no pun was intended that made it even funnier - that “showcase likes to give independent film a showcase”. Perfect.

So, we’re booked in seven cities as I write this with the potential to widen the release. What is stopping us are the 35mm prints. SHOWCASE only has six digital screens (we’re adding another one in to make up the seven). We’re currently waiting on an application from the UK Film Council concerning their P&A fund which pays for prints of a film to be made if the demand from the exhibitor is greater that what digital screens can provide. Fingers crossed on that one.

The date for your diary - September 25th, 2009.

More information on the cities and screenings are available on the film’s official website and regular updates are made via the Facebook Fan Page and the film’s official twitter page. (We’re all well connected these days!)

I hope that you’ll come and support the film. It’s been a long road to get to here and finally it feels like THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO is getting the support it deserves.

Now where’s that bubbly I need to dust off… :)