Oscar- and BAFTA-winning film producer David Parfitt hopes to reunite with French producer Philippe Carcassonne after their fruitful collaboration on Florian Zeller’s Oscar-nominated drama. the father.
Parfitt revealed his plans during a keynote address at the Qumra Incubator at the Doha Film Institute on Sunday.
further delay
” he [Carcassonne] Developing something really interesting based on an Israeli novel called painwho commissioned it to be a French script but decided they wanted to do it in England in English,” Parfitt explained after the talk.
Zeroya Shalev’s 2019 novel is about a woman who revisits the dual trauma of being caught in a terrorist attack and being abandoned by her lover when he returns to her life a decade later.
Carcassonne’s partner is actress and director Anne Fontaine, whose credits include Coco before Chanelto direct the film, in what will be his first English-language production.
Philip said, “Let’s see if we can take this further.” He said, “It’s a start, we don’t have an English script yet. »
Parfitt revealed that his company, Trademark Films, is also in development for a future adaptation of village eye Hamlet, Prince of Wales.
“It’s far-fetched, but it’s far-fetched village In the near future in England. “I will not say that it is miserable because it still looks vulgar. The truth is that democracy has collapsed and the monarchy has regained control of our country.” village about it. ”
“There’s nothing to announce at this time. No casting, no financing. We’re just developing the script.” If we start moving toward casting, we’ll probably try to announce at the end of the summer if we’re going in the right direction. »
The producer revealed that there was a director in the frame, but jokingly said, “He’s someone with theatrical connections.”
Recently completed films on Parfitt’s list include British director George Jacques black dogwho is an executive producer.
The story follows two young Londoners from different backgrounds who go on a road trip across the north of England, and discover they have more in common than they first thought.
Jimmy Flatter (Avatar: Watt’s wayr) co-star and also have a writing credit, along with other lead actors including Keenan Moon Francis and Nicholas Pinnock.
George Jack and Jimmy Flatters wrote this together, as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, initially for themselves, though George was absolutely right not to star in it, and they shot it on a shoestring budget. They just finished it and I think it’s good. »
The film’s completion coincides with the recent announcement of Parfitt’s appointment as Chairman of the UK North East Film Commission.
“It’s pure coincidence. I got into it a long time ago. I was there as an executive producer, the Godfather character. I think they did a very good job.”
Sunday master classes cast a wide net over Parfitt’s career. He spoke of his first collaboration with Kenneth Branagh to found the Renaissance Theater Company, and then work on feature films. Henry V, Friends of Peter And Too much hype for nothing together.
The conversation also touched on the highlights of the Oscar-winning sequel. Shakespeare in love And the fatherWhich won Academy Awards for Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zeller and Christopher Hampton in 2021.
When asked about the policy of cooperating with big names in the film industry, Parfitt said that the most difficult part was the development and pre-production phase before shooting, and continued to express his frustration with the attitude of US agents in this part of the process. .
“What I’ve done a lot in the last few years is hide behind a casting director. I was quite defensive about the casting process. At first, we’d take our cast from the existing theatrical group and round it out with friends. It was a family arrangement.”
“I now have a regular [casting agent]. I will talk to her and she will guide me to see if this is the right time to go to a particular person. You will contact the agents first, for the agent to read before we have the talent to read. If you get agent support, great. I’m talking about agents in London. I am very angry with the Americans …
I try to avoid American customers which I think are the worst. I think they are the least creative people on the planet. I’m trying to manage [people] In London and with Europeans who want to make movies for the right reasons. »
Parfitt elaborated on this comment in a conversation after his masterclass, explaining that it stemmed from his difficulties communicating with American agents to discuss potential talent commitments for the productions he directs.
When asked what he wanted from major US clients, he replied, “I really want them to encourage independent filmmaking by reading our scripts and taking our calls.”
“I’d call any big agent in the UK and say, ‘I’d like you to read it yourself. ‘ If the agent likes it, put it on your client. I’m not going to bid because there’s no funding and no money, I’m going to use your client to raise money.”
While British agents are involved in the process, Parfitt said, it was often impossible to get past a third assistant at a major Los Angeles talent agency without a “financial offer” attached.
“Customers in America will say, ‘What is the offer?’” “They want a financial offer before we put it up. I think they could do more to support really independent films in the UK by offering their customers things without a financial offer. »
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