Carnaby International Sales and Distribution
UK & International Film Sales and Distribution
Little White Lies: “Peter Foott strikes comedy gold with this Irish coming-of-age story, as innovative as it is charming.”
The Guardian: “a perfectly pitched comic-drama”
Independent: “The Young Offenders is a hoot… Writer-director Peter Foott fills the film with slapstick and with plenty of scabrous, witty dialogue.”
Bonding because everyone else thinks they’re eejits, 15 year-olds Alex Murphy and Chris Walley dream of living in a mansion with topless girls and an English butler. In reality, Walley steals bikes to ease the pain of being abused by drunken father Michael Sands, while Murphy trades insults with widowed mother Hilary Rose, who runs a market fish stall and considers Walley a bad influence on her impressionable son. She’s right to be concerned, as who else would think of cycling 100 miles to Three Castle Head on the off chance of finding a bale of coke washed up from a captured trawler?
Once Murphy and Walley have an idea in their heads, however, there’s no shifting it and Foott follows their misadventures with a wittily non-judgemental empathy, as encounters with sticky lollies and confused chickens preface more menacing confrontations with a jobsworthy cop, a clubfooted drug dealer and a neighbourhood thug. The dialogue is as sharp as Paddy Jordan’s views of the Munster countryside, while the young leads are well worth a re-teaming. But what most impresses is the way Foott nimbly exploits every seemingly insignificant detail in slotting together the hilariously convoluted plot.
Seen next in Interlude in Prague, rising star Morfydd Clark was recently profiled in The Guardian:
In her professional debut, Morfydd Clark was upstaged by a lamb. She’d nabbed the title part in Blodeuwedd – “it’s the Welsh Juliet” – staged on a Snowdonian hillside in 2013. But as if elaborate Welsh-language poetry and swarms of midges weren’t challenging enough, one evening “this lamb came on – it was in July when they’re really not little and cute anymore – and baaa-ed loudly through the love scene.”
Lamb aside, Clark has had little problem holding her own on stage, and these days her fellow performers include Glenda Jackson, Dominic West and Rhys Ifans. She’s played the actual Juliet opposite Freddie Fox’s Romeo, won praise from critics in Gary Owen’s Violence and Son at the Royal Court, and starred in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Donmar. She rounded off 2016 by playing Cordelia opposite Glenda Jackson’s King Lear at the Old Vic.
“I knew her as a politician and found her fascinating; she wiped the floor with anyone, because she can perform,” says Clark, who was thrilled to play her daughter, especially getting a “cuddle” each night while playing dead.
Do we need to see more gender-blind casting? “With Shakespeare, there’s no reason not to,” Clark insists, before adding that it’s no substitute for writing towering parts for women. “I want men to be asking to play great female parts!”
Still, she’s had no problem winning juicy roles, and they keep her coming back to the theatre. Clark has given notable screen performances in The Falling and opposite Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship, but while she loves films, “as a girl, often the characters you’re auditioning for in the theatre are more significant”. She was raised in Cardiff, and dropped out of school at 16, having struggled with dyslexia and ADHD. “I had zero confidence, I didn’t do well, I was in trouble a lot.”
Her mother, who works in child development, told her: “You’re not sitting here, wasting your life”, and so Clark applied to the National Youth Theatre of Wales, the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and Welsh National Youth Opera. She got in to all three. “It was totally life-changing. Not just being on stage, but spending time with adults who didn’t just tell me off.”
After attending the National Youth Theatre of Wales, she studied at Drama Centre London – a wrench to leave her beloved Cardiff, but now very much home. In 2017, she will be seen in Interlude in Prague, a film about Mozart, and is currently auditioning for plays. She says: “I’ve done two Shakespeare tragedies, so I’d desperately like to do comedy. It would be nice not to die.”
Ireland’s latest international hit movie keeps on racking up the honours in both the US and the UK.
The smash-hit Irish comedy The Young Offenders picked up three awards at the LA Comedy Festival over the weekend. The film, which has been widely acclaimed, won prizes in the Best Feature Direction, Best Feature Screenplay and Best Feature Film categories at the American festival ,which is the largest comedy festival in the US featuring film, live comedy acts and a screenplay competition.
Lead actors Alex Murphy and Chris Walley were also presented with the ‘Ros Hubbard Award for Acting’ at the Irish Film Festival in London. The film also picked up the Súil Eile award at the festival last week.
Written and directed by Peter Foott The Young Offenders is the highest grossing Irish-made film of 2016 and is the fastest Irish film to break the €1million mark at the Irish Box Office this year.
The film continues to be distributed in territories around the world with Carnaby International, a UK film company specialising in worldwide sales, announcing this month that it has signed deals for the film in Germany (Studio Hamburg) and Former Yugoslavia (Discovery).
The comedy is set to screen at the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia this weekend and will also screen at the Irish Film Festival London, this coming Saturday.
Inspired by Ireland’s biggest cocaine seizure of €440 million, off the coast of Cork in 2007, The Young Offenders follows two Cork inner-city teenagers, Conor and Jock, as they embark on a 160km road trip on stolen bikes in the hopes of finding an unrecovered bale of cocaine. It’s the debut feature from Foott and introduces new acting talent Chris Walley and Alex Murphy in the lead roles, with comedians Hilary Rose and PJ Gallagher also starring.
The Young Offenders continues to screen in Irish cinemas.
Carnaby’s first market with Irish comedy The Young Offenders saw deals for Germany (Studio Hamburg) and Former Yugoslavia (Discovery).
Coming-of-age drama Kids in Love, starring Cara Delevingne and Will Poulter, was acquired for China (Shanghai Shining Media) and Latin American Pay TV (CDC Network).
Action adventure title Mercury Plains, starring Scott Eastwood, closed a deal with Program Store for France.
Simon West’s forthcoming action comedy Salty, starring Antonio Banderas, sold to Tanweer for Greece.
Tanweer also bought parts 2 and 3 of the Rise of the Footsoldier crime franchise.
The Iggy Pop starring thriller Blood Orange sold to Sky for the UK.
Danny Dyer thriller Assassin sold to Trans World Associates for Japan.
Carnaby joint CEO Sean O’Kelly said, “This AFM seemed quiet in the Loews in terms of people milling around but, importantly, all of our buyers where there which enabled much more focused and productive sales meetings. It was a fruitful time for Carnaby on its completed titles and with three of our major titles nearing completion in the next few months we expect a very busy Berlinale.”
Lorianne Hall of Carnaby talks to IFTN about the attraction of the hit Irish comedy and lovable pair Conor and Jock, portrayed by Chris Walley and Alex Murphy.
The UK-based company has acquired all international rights, excluding English-speaking countries, which have previously gone to XYZ. Other recent titles include Amanda Sharp’s comedy drama ‘Sticky Notes’ and Chris Foggin’s ‘Kids in Love.’
Lorianne Hall, Senior Manager, Sales and Acquisitions:
“Being a fan of Irish film, and Irish humour in particular, I was automatically drawn to the film. I was familiar with Peter’s show Republic of Telly and knew that the film would be funny but when I saw it, it wasn’t just funny, it was brilliant. I knew it was going to be a hit.
But what really impressed me and what I think makes it universal is the heart in the film and how subtly that was achieved. For example I think the ending of the film is just excellent and so moving but hilarious at the same time. Everyone knows a Conor or a Jock and has a soft spot for the lovable loser. No matter where you are or what language you speak their “holiday” adventure was sure to strike a cord with everyone.
Peter has such a light and honest touch with his story telling which allows people to really relate to this story and the characters. You laugh but also love the characters and their flaws. He tells human stories that are funny as, with warmth and kindness and I am sure he is going to have an amazing career ahead. It’s for all of those reason I wanted to be involved with this film and bring Peter’s talent and these two jokers to the rest of the world.”
Hall has over two decades of experience in the film and television industry, having previously worked with Warner Brothers, Shooting Stars Distribution and Scanbox Entertainment, to name a few.
She has previously been responsible for acquiring the ‘Taken’ franchise starring Liam Neeson, ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ (Derek Cianfrance) and more recently ‘The Little Prince’ directed by Mark Osborne. In Ireland she has also consulted for Screen Training Ireland and the Irish Film Board.
Carnaby to launch sales on comedy which has grossed more than €1m in Ireland.
Carnaby Sales and Distribution has acquired international sales rights to Irish comedy The Young Offenders.
The film has proven a box office hit in its local market, taking €1m for Wildcard Distribution. Vertigo recently snapped the film up for UK, US and Australia/NZ.
Inspired by the true story of Ireland’s biggest cocaine seizure in 2007, The Young Offenders is a comedy road movie about two inner-city teenagers who look to cash in when a drug-trafficking boat capsizes off the coast of West Cork spilling 61 bales of cocaine.
Hilary Rose (The Republic of Telly), P.J Gallagher (Trojan Donkey) and Dominic Machale (Ronanism) star alongside rising stars Alex Murphy and Chris Walley.
Directed, written and produced by Peter Foott, executive producers include Cormac Fox and Rory Gilmartin.
The deal was brokered by Carnaby International’s Head of Acquisitions, Lorianne Hall, together with Peter Foott of Vico Films.
Principal photography has started on the third instalment in the lucrative UK crime franchise; Carnaby to sell at AFM.
Principal photography has started on UK crime-thriller Rise of the Footsoldier: The Beginning, the prequel to the home entertainment hit Rise of the Footsoldier.
The five week shoot will take place in London and Marbella. This will be the third instalment in the franchise.
Returning cast members incldude Craig Fairbass (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare) who stars as Pat Tate as well as Terry Stone (Doghouse) as Tony Tucker.
The third instalment will also feature Happy Monday frontman Shaun Ryder as a prison inmate, Union J’s JJ Hamblett as a young Pat Tate and EastEnders actors Larry Lamb and Jamie Foreman.
The film is based on the real-life story of the Rettendon Triple Murders, known as the ‘Range Rover murders’. Rise of the Footsoldier: The Beginning tells the story of Tate’s rise to notoriety in Essex gangland. Set in Marbella in 1988, the story focuses on Essex gangster Pat Tate attempting to smuggle a batch of ecstasy tablets into the UK. When he is double crossed by his suppliers, he is hunted down and imprisoned by police. Behind bars, he makes new alliances and a mastermind plot to take control of the Essex drugs war.
Directed by Zackary Alder (The Rise of the Krays) with screenplay by Julian Gilbey, Rise of the Footsoldier: The Beginning is produced by Carnaby International’s Andrew, Mike and Terry Loveday as well as Tiernan Hanby (Snow in Paradise).
Rise of the Footsoldier Part II, released by Signature in 2015, sold more than 50,000 units in one week, while the first instalment in the series has sold more than one million units in the UK to date.
Carnaby International will be pre-selling the film and screening first footage at the American Film Market in November.
Signature Entertainment are on board to distribute the title in the UK.
Director Zackary Alder commented: “I am thrilled to be partnering again with Carnaby films who are passionately reinventing the wheel for the British gangster film genre.”
“Game of Thrones” alum Rose Leslie has joined the cast of CBS All Access’ “The Good Wife” spinoff series.
The new series will pick up one year after the events of the final broadcast episode of “The Good Wife.” In the series, an enormous financial scam has destroyed the reputation of a young lawyer, Maia (Leslie), while simultaneously wiping out her mentor Diane Lockhart’s (Baranski) savings. Forced out of Lockhart & Lee, they join Lucca Quinn (Crush Jumbo) at one of Chicago’s pre-eminent law firms.
“Good Wife” creators Robert and Michelle King will write and executive produce the spinoff. In addition, Ridley Ridley Scott, David Zucker, Liz Glotzer, Brooke Kennedy and Alison Cross also serve as executive producers.
The show will premiere on CBS, in February, before moving over to CBS All Access exclusively, a move the media company is also making with its upcoming “Star Trek: Discovery” series.
Having played Mrs Dai Bread Two in a school production of Under Milk Wood, she went on to study at the National Youth Theatre of Wales and Drama Centre London.
After graduation, Clark appeared in the BBC’s A Poet In New York, about Dylan Thomas’s fatal visit to the city, Channel 4’s four-part drama series New Worlds and, on film, in Carol Morley’s The Falling.
She then enjoyed a strong run of theatre performances, including in Olivier-nominated Violence And Son by Welsh playwright Gary Owen and as Cecile in Les Liaisons Dangereuses alongside Dominic West and Janet McTeer.
In an ideal world, the Welsh actress, based in London, would continue to work in both film and theatre. “You have to be a lot more patient with film,” she says. “You do it and then you have to wait for ages to see it yourself, and then you have to wait again for an audience to see it. With theatre, you get immediate affirmation every evening, or the opposite.”
When it comes to film, Clark likes to work with writer-directors “because you collaborate in a different way”.
As well as working with Morley on The Falling, Clark was seen earlier this year in Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendshipas Frederica, the daughter of Kate Beckinsale’s Lady Susan Vernon.
Having fulfilled a “dream” by playing Juliet opposite Freddie Fox’s Romeo last year, next up for Clark is Deborah Warner’s King Lear at London’s Old Vic theatre, where she will play Cordelia opposite Glenda Jackson’s patriarch.
Clark jokes: “As soon as I’m cast in something, it’s there in my mind constantly, so King Lear is with me everywhere at the moment.”