Sunday 17th November 2013

Middle of November already? Really? Gee. As always, my excuse for not having blogged in a short while is my crazy schedule. It really has been crammed – and no sense of it letting up. IN SEARCH OF CHOPIN is coming to a conclusion – and looking good. We did a guide read through of narrative and Chopin’s letter’s with Juliet Stevenson and David Dawson. This is always a very exciting moment in the production process when finally I can strip my voice out and lay in a top professional’s. All of a sudden both elements come to life….The final read is on the 27th November so all hands are on deck to ensure that Mr Chopin’s life has been accurately summarised into 1 hour and 50 minutes….with no factual errors! Luckily I have four superb historical advisors who will spot any mistake…. It’s been a harder journey than I had expected – finances of course but also in terms of creativity: I feel I’m having to leave so much out – whole periods seem to have to be contained in a short example of music, a letter or two, an interview or two and a bit of narrative. But imagine if I had to make a film about your life and try to keep it in a film of under 100 or 110 minutes. So much would invariably be left out…. That’s the trick. What to keep in and how to present it in a film that folk will enjoy. I don’t want to tempt fate but I think we’ve done a good job with Fryderyk: and the performances of Leif Ove Andsnes, Lars Vogt, Ronald Brautigam, Daniel Barenboim and others are wonderful. Should be releasing to cinemas in Australia and New Zealand in May – watch this space.

Talking of Leif Ove Andsnes, tomorrow I am off to Brussels to film the next stage of my film about the 5 Beethoven piano concertos – all of which will be played in the film by this master of the piano. We’re set up to do a 5-camera shoot (on stage) including a full dress rehearsal (so I’ll have ten camera angles in the end). I’m nervous but also confident it’s going to be great. Leif Ove and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra are a formidable combination. To remind you, this is for a May 2015 release….

Meanwhile, our brand EXHIBITION ON SCREEN also keeps us busy. The film from the Vermeer exhibition at the National Gallery was very well received with screenings ongoing. Art…and art lovers, sign up to the ExhibitionOnScreen newsletter, Twitter or Facebook site to keep in touch.

This Event Cinema is such a great new genre though – the RSC Richard II was in cinemas last week and by all accounts sold out. I saw it live at Stratford two weeks ago and it is a great show. David Tennant is super. I’d have loved to see the cinema relay but was busy on Wednesday at a Brighton Film Festival event – where Benedict Cumberbatch very kindly gave me an autograph for my daughter (an aspiring actress) and hoped ‘we work together one day’. Benedict, you’ve a fan for life now (me!). Another actor I think is wonderful is Henry Goodman – I went to see his Arturo Ui show at the Duchess Theatre in London last weekend. He is a ‘tour de force’ in it. I have mixed feeling sometimes about the heightened realism or exaggeration of Brecht but I thoroughly enjoyed this show – and especially Henry. If you love acting, go see this – quick.

To end, one sad note: Antony Caro died on the 23rd October. I really liked Antony and tried hard to make a film about him – even financing some filming of an installation he was doing in France – but simply couldn’t get a broadcaster on board. And now he’s gone. A great artist. One small postscript, just for fun: if you’re looking for a musical recommendation today, how about Mozart’s K207 – violin no1 in B flat major. And, if you fancy looking at one painting today, try the Double Portrait of Constantin Huygens and Suzanna van Baerle by Jacob van Campen. At the Mauritshuis, the Hague, Netherlands. You’ll think Suzanna is sitting right next to you……

Wednesday 15th August - Olympics and Chopin (amongst other things)

Gatwick Airport. En route with Easy Jet to Toulouse. Preparing myself for the scrum at boarding…

My mind is a jumble of projects which I am sure isn’t terribly healthy, although it’s certainly stimulating in its way. Nor have I recovered from the wonderful Olympics. I was one of many who were a bit cynical and a bit worried that we’d put on something a bit average, How wrong I was – from the superb opening ceremony, they have been a joy. I was asked in the office today what were my highlights and I was stumped…Mo, Jessica, the cycling team, Becky (we still love you!), the rowers, Tom Daly, the equestrian team, oh and lots more. I also loved an Afghan getting a bronze, the Saudi women, the Turkish and Algerian gold medal athletes, Phelps, and of course Andy Murray. See? Where do you stop? Of course that’s from a pretty British perspective – in France the TV seemed to be showing a completely different Games – all judo and handball. Anyway, what a show – well done to all concerned. I’m glad to see it was a film director (Danny Boyle) who pulled off the best Opening Ceremony ever too.

Meanwhile, my own film-making has been much more modest: yesterday though I had the absolute pleasure of filming Leif Ove Andsnes playing Chopin and Beethoven at the Snape Proms in Snape, Suffolk. As always, it was a bit of a chore to set it up, get the gear, get to the location, overcome the logistical problems that often do (and yesterday did) pop up – but once I’m filming and he’s playing, it’s all so worth it. I’m finding this project very interesting as, unlike Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart, Chopin is, of course, largely single piano works. Quite how that will finally look on film is a bit of a concern. I try to film each piece in a way that is sympathetic to the story at the moment but there really are only so many ways to film a piano and pianist (without getting very show-biz). I also know that my audience are not afraid to just watch and listen too. I don’t need to panic after twenty seconds – people sat enraptured last night for two hours so I’m sure they’d be happy to watch a pretty static shot and edit of Leif Ove playing for a few minutes on screen. We’ll see. What is clear so far is that the first twenty years of his life in Warsaw are essential and need a lot of research and focus. That was true of the other three composers too: so much can be learnt from looking at their formative years. I’m off to France today, partly to go to Nohant and then Paris and look at some of the locations he lived in but really the most important location in his story is, by far, Warsaw. Sadly, the broadcaster that had seemed very likely to commission the film pulled out last week – as they have had budget cuts. So I’m half way through the film and haven’t raised a penny – not very impressive. But in September we’re going to try everything: broadcasters, arts funders and private donations (through crowd-sourcing). Fingers crossed…

Another piano project that is nearing conclusion is my pet project ‘PIANO NOTES: THE UTTERLY PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE PIANO WITH RONALD BRAUTIGAM’. Not only has that got to be the longest title in history but, if I say so myself, it’s really good. The first 13 shows are done and just need grading and mixing. It’s wonderful to see him play chosen works by the greatest of composers and then talk about them. It will be such a useful tool for young pianists for years to come but also, I’m sure (and I hope) will be much valued by aficionados of classical music no matter their age. Ronald was great when I interviewed him – having to articulate about one composer after another until we had covered all thirteen episodes of series 1 (of 2).

It reminded me of the much-missed David Chandler, once Head of Military History at Sandhurst. I will never forget interviewing him in depth about six great commanders. He talked at such length and with such insight about Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Nelson, Grant and Zhukov. It didn’t matter what I asked him – he had the answer. A lovely, lovely man who was one of the great Napoleonic experts (and Marlborough too). I also remember taking the interview to show my Channel 4 commissioning editor. He too was thoroughly impressed and then told me to shoot it again as I’d shot from the side that showed off David’s missing tooth. Tail between legs, I scurried back to Sandhurst, and shot it all again (from the other side). It’s over 15 years since I made The Great Commanders and I look back on that period with enormous fondness. I had a great commissioning editor (who, yes, made me shoot stuff again sometimes!) at a once-great channel (C4) with a decent budget that allowed me to really focus on six wonderful stories – and write a book too. I travelled the world filming actual locations, taking experts with me. It was the first military history project Channel 4 did and, to their surprise, was a great success. The book sold 50,000 copies and, as so often, the receipts seemed to end up elsewhere. Getting back to my point though: so often it is these experts that we film-makers absolutely rely on. I always make a point of paying them, even when I can’t afford to pay musicians or orchestras.

It does all seem a long time ago: can you guess what the audience share is this week for the main channels? In digital homes it’s as follows: BBC1 35%, ITV 9%, BBC2 6%, C4 4%, C5 3%, More 4 0.9%, BBC4 (less than 0.67%), SkyArts (even less). Maybe those figures are skewed by the Olympics…but still, I remember when BBC 2, C4 and C5 were vying for 10%... Those days are long gone. The dominance of terrestrial is certainly over. I try not to follow the crowd as it’s way, way too busy (it’s like boarding an Easy Jet flight – all elbows and crushed toes) but we are developing an arts app, have put my books on Kindle and Audible and Amazon TV…and do talk as often to non-broadcasters as to broadcasters). I don’t know how so many decent films still get made (as far as docs are concerned, BBC4 is the best) but there’s a lot of ducking and diving involved nowadays. The danger is you spend so much time fund-raising that you actually don’t spend enough film-making…

Tuesday 24th July - France

There simply are not enough hours in the day. Who decided to only have 24?! (Actually wasn't it the ancient Egyptians who divided the day into 12 hours day and 12 hours night on the basis of how long a soldier can stand watch? Hmm, I wonder). 


Anyway, I, for one, simply can't get everything done in a day - especially when the Spanish are playing the beautiful game in the Euros, Bradley Wiggens is becoming an absolute hero and poor old Alan Scott crumbles on the last four holes of the Open. To make matters worse, my wife gave me the DVD set of Homeland - which is not-put-downable.... (trailer for series 1 below) 

Somewhere, outside of the wee hours of the night, I've been reading about the Papacy in the 15th century, the life of Chopin and the history of the piano.... And, just for fun, the terrible, awful history of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War Two. Some, not all, of the above is for work and that remains the same as ever. Choose subjects you are interested in and then just crack on.


The world of broadcasting becomes harder and harder. Deals are broken, invoices unpaid. One European broadcaster has yet to pay us for THE BOY MIR two years after delivery. It's not a lot of money but it's the principle - or lack of - that irks me. But what to do? It's a game of three-dimensional chess and from time to time you have to sacrifice a pawn to stay in the game. But it's a tough world now - it's not about public service any more, it's about commerce. Look at SKY: one moment on top of the world, the next BT come along and almost steal the rights to premier league football. BT apparently had a purse of £2billion to bid for those games. They didn't get what they wanted but they got some and the price per game has, I believe, risen from a staggering £4m/game to over £6m/game. Yep, you read that right! £6 million quid. Per game.  Of football.   Now, as a Man City fan, I know and love football and know all about the impact of money but £6m/game is way off the scale.  Along comes little ol' me talking public service and culture and asking for £50,000 a show or whatever and you can see why I have battles....  As I said, three-dimensional chess.


On the other hand, when and if we can bring more EXHIBITION shows to the cinema, or IN SEARCH OF CHOPIN or PIANO NOTES - THE UTTERLY PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE PIANO WITH RONALD BRAUTIGAM we'll have done something really worthwhile. It's not in the same league as winning the Tour or a Major in golf but, to us, crossing the finish line is always a victory.