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THE MAKING OF THE MAN WHO LOST HIS HEAD
Eve Gutierrez, Producer and Jill Green, Executive Producer, explain the challenges they faced in bringing Mark Wallington’s story to the screen:
“One of the biggest challenges producing The Man Who Lost His Head was bringing together cast and crew from opposite sides of the world. In this case of course we at least spoke the same language but you just can’t tell until you get out on the ground what fundamental differences there might be in the approach to film-making.
“One of the very first examples of a difference in approach was a request from our production partner South Pacific Pictures to fly out as soon as possible to choose locations and meet potential crew and cast. This request came in more than four months prior to shooting which would be extremely early by UK standards. What we later discovered was that in a country where the industry is so tiny it is incredibly important to make commitments as soon as possible in order to have the pick of the talent available.
“And South Pacific were right! Only weeks after our arrival Disney descended upon Auckland to make both a TV movie plus the sequel to the Narnia feature film. They had huge amounts of money in comparison to our UK budget but luckily we had already secured all our heads of department and were able to negotiate shooting around each other when based at Bethells Beach, one of the most dramatic and film friendly beach communities within the Auckland area.
“Casting was however a different story. If the television and film market in New Zealand is relatively small then the pool of talented Maori actors is microscopic. On the one hand we were very fortunate to able to secure talent such as Nicola Kawana and Calvin Tuteao, who are both well loved New Zealand faces, and on the other a bit of lateral thinking was required. For example Bernard Hotere who plays Tahi the school bus driver was chosen first and foremost because he was actually a larger man who was prepared to lie in a coffin – certainly not the usual set of requirements! Maori culture is full of superstition and having to lie in a coffin was potentially rather contentious. Plus we had the added challenge of needing to find someone who could drive the bus too.
“Bernard is also the uncle of the actress playing Bunty, Waimihi Hotere. What you quickly learn in New Zealand is that everyone is related to everyone else. Living in a country that has such a recent history they know every detail of their own ancestry and therefore a story such as this one, which connects a historical artefact to a specific community – or township as they would say in New Zealand - feels very much routed in reality.
“I was slightly nervous as to how the Maori actors and crew would interpret the script and the fact that a story set in their community was being produced by a British company. But my initial fear couldn’t have been more unfounded. In fact we were genuinely overwhelmed by the positive reaction that the film received from cast and crew plus most importantly of course from members of the public who were all keen to hear what Martin Clunes was up to in Auckland.”
Greenlit (under the name Greenlit Productions) was set up by Executive Producer Jill Green in 1998. Green met John Barnett, Chief Executive of South Pacific Pictures when Green was Managing Director of Red Rooster and both companies were part owned by the Chrysalis Group. For 10 years they have been talking about trying to do a production together and regularly exchanged ideas at the international television markets such as MIP. When The Man Who Lost His Head went into development, Green knew exactly who to call.
“With the complexities of doing a co-production you cannot value enough working with someone you know and have huge respect for.”
Greenlit launched into production in 1998 with the psychological thriller, Trust directed by David Drury for ITV1. Green subsequently produced The Swap, a holiday house-swapping thriller also for ITV1 followed by Menace, an urban thriller for Five.
In 2001 Greenlit was commissioned to make the first episode of Foyle's War, the major returnable series of primetime detective films for ITV1. This original series is written and created by Anthony Horowitz and stars Michael Kitchen, alongside guest names such as Charles Dance, Nicholas Farrell, Edward Fox, Robert Hardy, Bill Paterson and Corin Redgrave. Foyle’s War was presented with the Lew Grade Audience Award at the BAFTA Television Awards 2003 and was shortlisted for the Drama Series award at the BAFTA Television Awards in 2004. A sixth and final series is currently in production.
Also in production for ITV1 Comedy is the bold and brash six-part comedy drama Honest. Honest stars Amanda Redman as the matriarch of a criminal family who decides it’s time to change the habits of a lifetime when her husband is incarcerated for four years. But she soon finds out that staying on the straight and narrow isn’t easy when the world that you live in is crooked.
Greenlit is also working on a slate of feature films including A Very Private Gentleman with New York based Focus Features, The Swap an adaptation of the mini-series of the same name for Capitol Films and Canadian based Infinity Media and under the name Greenwish Limited Miss Garnet’s Angel for BBC Films.
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