11th of November

Good news this morning. Following our TV broadcast of our film (CONCERTO – A BEETHOVEN JOURNEY) the CD box set of Leif Ove Andsnes’ Beethoven Journey has gone to number one in the UK charts.  That’s wonderful – above all because it means more and more people are hearing  the wonderful performances by Leif Ove and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.   The film went out on BBC4 a few days ago and received quite a  respectable audience figure.   We had limited marketing support so we were pleased to see just how many of you managed to find the film and watch it.  We were particularly delighted with the number of very positive comments that we received. As the marketplace gets more and more congested, marketing becomes even more vital.  If folk don’t know your film is on – or aren’t drawn to see it through articles or ads – you don’t stand a chance.  The question is with limited funds where do you focus your attention? Do we focus on arts journalists or social media, flyers or quarter-page ads in magazines?   It’s not uncommon for films to spend as much on the marketing as the production itself.  Can you imagine how much the latest Bond film Spectre spent?  Anyway, we do what we can.  Next up we have the cinema release to plan for in Norway, USA, Canada, Poland, Australia and New Zealand….and then more after that.  They are limited releases to independent cinemas, largely.  I actually think it’s one of the best films I’ve directed so I want people to see it! Or perhaps more importantly, hear it!   I had a whistle-stop to the USA last week and did a couple of screenings – people were absolutely knocked out by Leif Ove’s performance and character.

Of course, as ever, our main focus as a company is EXHIBITION ON SCREEN.  We had a super Season 3 launch at the National Gallery on Monday morning.  Xavier Bray the curator took our 80 guests (largely press) around the exhibition and then we showed some clips of the season ahead. Many kind words were spoken about the films and the ambition in general but words are one thing, actions another.  

GOYA – VISIONS OF FLESH AND BLOOD is the first film to be released (180 cinemas in the UK) so let’s hope that gets us off to a good start. My colleague David Bickerstaff directed it and I think he’s every bit an artist too.   It’s a super exhibition – and once again a credit to a curator (and his support at the National Gallery) to manage to get so many loans.  It’s easy to take that for granted but every painting that comes from abroad is a story of persistence.  Some have never been to the UK before and maybe won’t again.  That alone is good reason to visit the show (or see the film).  I think the film works well because we take the story well outside the gallery walls – especially to extensive and sometimes privileged filming in Spain. It’s a fascinating story & biography.

As is the film I personally have just finished about Renoir.  I won’t begin to tell you the fuss we’ve had deciding on whether the film should be RENOIR – REVERED AND REVILED or RENOIR – REVILED AND REVERED.  We’re going with the former and which ever way you cut it what it reflects is that this is an artist that provokes extreme reactions both for and against.  There has been a campaign with the childish title of #RenoirSucksAtPainting .  Childish but effective. The international coverage of this handful of people in Boston has been remarkable.  Our response is simple: it’s not for us to tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t like but, before making up your mind about Renoir, watch the film.  That’s all we film-makers try to aspire to: to give you the information to come to informed decisions.

Well, that’s all for today.  I hate to boast but tomorrow I’m off to Beijing!

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14th August 2015

Midway through August….not that you’d know it looking outside of my window in Brighton as the rain pours down in buckets….  The centre of the city is dotted with small floods…Ah, summer time in England.    It is nice, however, to have a pause in the schedule and finally get back to giving everyone an update. It really has been toooooo long.  My, how we have been busy.  Yesterday we finished CONCERTO – A BEETHOVEN JOURNEY.  On and off in production for four years it is a 92’ film about one of the world’s great pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and his dedication over those past few years to playing essentially just Beethoven, above all the 5 piano concertos.  As soon as I heard the suggestion that this ‘journey’ was going to happen I asked him for permission to film from start to finish.  Little did I know just how successful the touring would be and how extraordinary the reviews of the music would be. He and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra became the absolute must-have tickets….  Thus to be on-stage and behind-stage with them has been a privilege and a thrill.  The film though is a re-evaluation of Beethoven and I think we offer a fresh and revealing new biography of arguably the greatest composer that has ever lived.  As ever, making the film is one thing, distributing another.  Our first release is the UK cinemas on September 7^th…yes, that’s 3 weeks!  Now, far be it from me to blow my own trumpet (well, maybe sometimes..) but here’s a review we just had from the highly esteemed Gramophone Magazine:

One of the highlights of the BBC Proms so far has been Leif Ove Andsnes’s Beethoven piano concerto cycle with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and if you’re suffering withdrawal symptoms from music-making of such freshness and imagination, there’s a treat in store on the horizon. Phil Grabsky’s film ‘Concerto: A Beethoven Journey’ looks at the five piano concertos in collaboration with Andsnes and the Mahler CO’s three-year series of concerts and recordings (for Sony Classical), 'The Beethoven Journey'.Andsnes proves a wonderful guide to these five extraordinary works, speaking with humility, wisdom and insight about what they mean to him and the challenges they present to the performer. He is disarmingly frank about his relationship with the works when in his twenties and how he came to terms with them. He explains what made him determined to perform them over the course of a few years, and record them. Footage from the concerts in Prague, which Sony Classical used for its CD releases, forms the backbone of the film. We also see Andsnes and Gustavo Dudamel talking about the works prior to performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  For lovers of Beethoven’s music, admirers of Leif Ove Andsnes – and his fan base has probably grown exponentially in the past few weeks – or simply lovers of high-class music documentaries, ‘Concerto’ demands to be seen. It is a wonderfully uplifting and rewarding experience.  ‘I knew this exclusive journey with Leif Ove would allow me access to great performance,’ said Grabsky, ‘but I had no idea it would be this great. These became the best reviewed concerts of the past few years and I was on stage to record them. Even more importantly the music and Leif Ove's intelligent and accessible insight creates a staggeringly interesting new biography of arguably the greatest composer of all time.’ The film will be screened throughout the UK on September 7 – for details of participating cinemas visit Seventh Art’s website.

Not bad!  The release internationally will happen between now and next Spring.  We also had two wonderful preview screenings in Norway, high up in the Arctic Circle in a city called Bodø.  Leif Ove was there with the MCO playing the full 5 concertos and we screened the film twice to a sell-out crowd in between concerts.  It was wonderful to be in Norway with Norwegians for the premiere of a film about Norway’s number one artist.   More than that, it was a great excuse to travel up from Bergen and right up the western edge of this staggeringly beautiful country. I can’t recommend it enough.

To be honest, I needed the break.  The EXHIBITION ON SCREEN mega-project is all-consuming and it was pretty exhausting right up to the US screening on 14^th July (Bastille Day) of our last film in the Season – The Impressionists and the Man who Made Them.   We are really pleased with the 5 films this season – and in some countries they are still screening them (New Zealand, Korea, Brazil to name but three).  I’d always want (and need) a bigger audience worldwide but it’s growing and 40 countries is pretty impressive.  It looks like Van Gogh (with in excess of 100,000 seats sold) will be our best but Impressionists and Rembrandt may run it a close second.  Matisse deserved to do better but being first in the season (after a bit too long of a break from the end of Season 1) didn’t help. Girl with a Pearl Earring was some people’s favourite film but maybe was hindered a little by confusion from the Scarlett Johansson film of the same name.   

Season three is underway….and there are some exciting films coming this Autumn/Fall and into 2016.  I’ve been directing a film about Renoir that we are calling ‘Renoir – the Unknown Artist’. It’s based on the extraordinary collection of Renoirs at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.  We are about two-thirds of the way through and my understanding and appreciation of Renoir has really increased.  The artwork will look super on the big screen but there’s a fascinating story that we unveil as we go.  My colleague David Bickerstaff is working on two films – Goya (based on the forthcoming exhibition at the National Gallery) and Painting the Modern Garden - Monet to Matisse (based on next year’s exhibition at the Royal Academy).   Both films are looking stunning.  Plus, plus. Plus..plenty more in the pipeline for next year and beyond. 

From time to time I even get the chance to go to galleries for fun!  I was in New York a few days ago and wandered (the very busy – who says no-one is interested in art!!) Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Simply staggering – especially if you let yourself get lost and end up in galleries you’ve never seen before.  I certainly left with lots of film ideas – I’d love for example to make a film about Islamic Art and also American (pre-20^th century) art.   I’ll never run out of subjects, that’s for sure.

One final thing: do keep an eye on our Facebook site for EXHIBITION ON SCREEN – we post a lot of art stories. They are really interesting.   And do feel free to leave comments : we respond to them all.

February 24th in LA

Dateline Los Angeles….very flash..  I guess I came about as close as I'll ever get to the Oscars 2 nights ago...I was there to show my In Search of Chopin film on the invite of Poland's no 2 in the USA. He had a party in his house last night as they had 4 or 5 possible Polish winners...In the end they did get the big one - best foreign language film with Ida. As you can imagine they were delighted.  Personally I'm bored to death with awards shows - although, remarkably, the two big winners Birdman and Grand Budapest Hotel were great films...I'm just so glad American Sniper was snubbed. Yuk.

It's very sunny here (though I've been stuck indoors doing emails and research all day) but tonight we have our LA premiere of Chopin – better than any Oscar ceremony!  

I’m shocked when I look at the date and realize we are almost in March.  What a crazy few months it has been –  starting the release of Chopin, filming CONCERTO as well as producing five EXHIBITION ON SCREEN films. These are now done and slowly being released here, there and everywhere.  The brand is building – slower than one would like – but it’s a steady incline at least.   Audience reactions are great – as evidenced but some sell-out shows I attended on the West Coast last week – but the economics are tricky while folk continue to see cinema as cheap entertainment. No-one really questions (well, I do!) paying £80 or $120 for a rock concert or theatrical piece but cinema we expect to be about a tenth of that. I’m not saying that’s wrong but it makes life pretty hard.  Mind you, we are finally starting to get some interest from sponsors which is good news.  It really is essential we keep making films like these: my family and I made a terrible mistake recently and went to see a film called Kingsman. We thought it was a kids’ spy thriller.  Boy, were we wrong!  It is a sick, vile, humourless exploration into how violent we can make a film and still only get a 15 certificate. If you enjoy seeing folk cut in half or a church full of parishioners being slaughtered, then this is for you. But then somehow I doubt you’d be reading my blog if it were…..  And guess what, this awful film has taken over $100m already and climbing.  What a world….

[Next day]   

Back in my oh-so-different world, I had a lovely screening of IN SEARCH OF CHOPIN in (a freezing) New York this evening. The Carnegie invited their privileged members to a screening – plus a preview clip of CONCERTO – A BEETHOVEN JOURNEY. It went really well – and both looked great on the big screen.  CONCERTO looked really super – the first time I’d seen any of it projected.  Very exciting.  Right, need to pack as I have an early flight tomorrow to Philadelphia (a great town) and then home….

28 May 2013 - 6 editors

I realised this morning that I have 6 editors all hard at work on various projects! That's unusual for us...and very exciting.  There's Tom working on the Munch film - which goes to cinemas June 27th (and varying dates). There's Angus working also on Munch and the trailer for the Vermeer film (October 10th and varying dates). There's David working on two super trailers for Exhibition and Concerto. There's my long-term colleague Phil beavering away on In Search of Chopin. There's Clive stitching together some Leif Ove Andsnes piano concerti. Finally there's Dave post-producing EXHIBITION: GREAT ART ON SCREEN - the Munch film & the Munch pre-film (the quiz that precedes the main film).   I could easily spend all day running from edit suite to edit suite.  To me, edits are where films are made. I know it's been said many times but it's true. A great director can't save a poor editor but it sure can work the other way around - and often does.  All the above-names editors are experts in their field and I love to improve my own skills by taking on board their ideas and craft.  For example, I always tell people that without Phil Reynolds editing my In Search of films I don't know what I'd have...His visual imagination and technical expertise combined make a great mix in the effort to keep the films entertaining and revealing.  I'm sure most folk understand the need for great choice of shots and clever cutting of them together - but editing is far, far more than that.  On a theoretical level, one has to understand (consciously or not) the science of semiotics - what images actually mean alone and in concert with others.  But on a more instinctive level, the choice of music, the grade, the audio FX, the space between words, the decision when to be wide or when to be close, etc, etc, etc....  I can bring Phil all the concert footage in the world and all the leaves and clouds (!) but sometimes it feels as if I have brought him a lot of random words and a story structure and then asked him to write a best-selling novel with it.  I absolutely love this process though. With the In Search ofs I know for sure that there is a really strong film there, it just needs to be teased out slowly.  And of course one feels the pressure of knowing that, really, no-one has made a film about these composers in quite this depth and with quite this need to get it right for the premiere screening and those screenings in 10, 20, 30 years time... I have that feeling right now with Chopin. What a wonderful composer - I just have to get it right (or as right as we can) to be fair to him and his legacy.  Films in both cinemas and TV these days are seen as disposal, throw-away, insubstantial...I have exactly the opposite view which frankly makes me a bit of an old dinosaur...but a relatively content one!