First Cast Readings

As of Tues 23rd Yaw and Nick are conducting a series of readings for a number of actors and actresses that have been 'pre-approached' regarding the supporting character roles in the film Hotel Caledonia.

We are keen to do the readings to help come to an informed decision about who to offer certain roles to, and what level of experience we feel is needed to carry off performances in a project of this magnitude. Helping us out on the day will be Darren Moore, our UK Casting Director, and Mark Sayles, the co-writer of Hotel Caledonia.

The first role up for grabs is 'Mags Pertwee'.

Magenta ‘Mags’ Pertwee is a 25 – 30 yr old woman, the second eldest sibling of the three children born to William and Janet. Stunningly attractive in a uniquely bizarre and quirky way, she is tall and svelte; the Highland’s very own version of ‘Daisy Duke’, with the long legs and pert figure to match. With her long, dark hair, and prominent though soft lips, she is everything a femme fatale should be.

Magenta remains a vision of contradictions – elegant though trashy, sociable though introverted, a product of her peculiarly inbred environment. She exudes confidence and vitality, though she is clearly sick and reticent in her deadly dealings with outsiders. Yet, behind the false smile and the fluttering eyelashes she harbours the same manifestation of violence that is shared with every one of her family members. Devoid of the physical strength of her two brothers, Magenta is much more reliant upon seduction as the means to entice unwary travellers into her clutches, and subsequently into the freezer.

Magenta uses her feminine wares as a black widow spider would use its markings to entice a mate. Through her flirtatious nature, and the enticement capabilities of her wonderfully supple body she draws men, and women, to her bedroom, and then dispatches them with earnest and speed. She does this in such a way, as she actually seems to derive sexual satisfaction in the ecstasy of the kill.

Magenta is much more up to the minute in terms of fashion than her brothers, and even her parents, and attempts to ensure she is well turned out whenever possible. But unfortunately, these efforts fall far short of the appearance of those females who fall victim to her. It is almost as though she is trying to emulate the fashion standards of her victims; even her make-up seems less precisely or freshly applied.

Magenta exists for the benefit of her family, and it is their inbred past that clearly lends itself to the role she can expect to fulfil in the future development and enlarging of the Pertwee clan. Having said that, she remains, in the context of this story, comparatively ’normal’; in comparison to other members of what can only be described as the most truly peculiar and inhospitable family ever found in Scotland, this is some compliment.

This has been a very difficult role for Yaw and Nick to agree on, not in terms of our different visions of what Mags should be, but in terms of who we should open the role to. The difficulty we have faced is that there is a modest amount of nudity that will be required by the role, and we needed an actress who was both experienced, and comfortable with being nude on set. That the role requires a lot of physical acting to bring Mags limited dialogue to life also meant it was unlikely the role would be accepted by anyone with even the most limited of screen profiles. We hence decided to offer out the role to talented actresses on the cusp of major television or film success as the vehicle that we hope will propel them upwards. The search has begun.................................

Casting progress

As the result of tremendous negotiation by our UK Casting Director, Darren Moore, and the continued efforts of our US based Casting Director, Zora Dehorter, the production continues to forge ahead in their efforts to recruit star talent. With good fortune Yaw and Nick should be over in LA next month to further talks with a view to getting agreement of two A-listers to star in our production opposite those already committed to our cast:

Kris Marshall - the UK's best rising talents known as 'Nick' from the hit show 'My Family'.
Jemima Roper - the talented young actress plays Thelma in Sky TV's supernatural 'Hex' .
George Calil - great rising talent from British TV starred in Speilberg's 'Band of Brothers'.

We are also in extended talks with the following with regards to their involvement:

Richard Ayoade - best known for his portrayal of 'Maurice' in the C4 comedy 'IT Crowd'.
Alice Krige - fantastic south African actress who portayed the 'Borg Queen' in 'Star Trek'.
James Cosmo - British Film stalwart in box office successes like Troy, and Braveheart.

Finance Development

Well things have taken a turn for the better this week as we push forward into the last few weeks of negotiation before signatures are obtained, and the production funds start to seep into the account. With significant interest from several production entities, facilities houses, sales agencies, and distribution companies, the project seems only weeks away from finally receiving greenlight. Yaw and I have been working exceptionally hard to ensure all the bases are covered as we move into pre-production 'proper' as we have termed it. As of next week our Executive Producer, Keith, should be getting together with us over coffee for some exciting news from any one of our four main supporters - Film Max, Metrodome, Ingenious, or The works. Fingers crossed we can get on the phone to all our heads of department to give them the exciting news.

This blog is for all those people who may be interested in following the progress of three, highly motivated, yet financially poor film-makers as they embark on an epic journey to independently finance, film, market, and distribute their horror/comedy feature film "Hotel Caledonia". We need your support, so go tell your friends all about us, and help to make this small movie a British horror/comedy cult classic. We wish you well!

Director: Nicholas David Lean
Producer: Yaw Basoah
Screenwriters: Nicholas David Lean & Mark Sayles