Hotel Caledonia (The Movie): Bloodied but kickin'

Thursday, 19 July 2007

Bloodied but kickin'

Who'd be a producer? It's enough to leave you tearing out your hair! First one thing, then another - and just when you think you're sorted, some other little niggle jumps up to annoy you even further. What a life!

But we're making progress, albeit at a pace that would leave a snail laughing atus as we trail in its wake. I'll be needing to write my own eulogy at this rate. But joking apart (though in honesty I'm not laughing) though things have taken a turndown in progress terms, the waiting for responses dragging heels slightly, things are still on course. The one scourge that is most apparant in this business is that no matter how quickly you want things to happen, or may think things will happen, add at least 12 months onto any assumptions. Whether that be money tie-ins, cast responses, crew attachments, project readiness. It doesn't seem to matter. So much so that another project I am involved in, a short film, is scheduling for next summer before complete readiness to shoot - at the groundwork is already done. It's irksome.

However that said, we have got a great little cast developing and as soon as we can finally get Billy Boyd to commit (bless his agent) we can begin to make further progress with the lock down of the minor roles - especially for all you actors and actresses who desperately want to get in on the Hot Cal act.

Here's a quick summary of who, in principle, is attached (though always subject to contract). Those marked with an * are being approached / talked to currently.

Norman Tickle - Kris Marshall
Arty Harris - Billy Boyd *
Elsa McNamara - Kelly Brook
Casey Wright - Jemima Rooper
Searle Carson - George Calil
Amy Lowe - Joanna Taylor
William Pertwee - James Cosmo
Janet Pertwee - Honor Blackman *
Mags Pertwee - Gillian MacGregor *
Robin Pertwee - Tommy Flanagan *
Gordo Pertwee - tbc
Sheena MacD - tbc
Linda Tickle - tbc
Clifford Tickle - tbc

We have some options in mind for Sheena MacDonald but remain undecided as to the benefit to brought to the production by each. Amongst those are Pam Ferris (Darlin' Buds) and Claudia Christian (Babylon 5). For me, at least, Claudia remains a firm favourite, with her solid profile stateside, great acting ability, and the attraction factor for Trekkie fans everywhere she remains a front runner - and she loves the project as well! Perfect!

Outwith of that, the roles we are expecting to fill include:

Airline Staff
Car Driver
Trucker
Policemen / women
Paramedics
Fire Crew
Airport Passengers
Miscellaneous Backpackers
Newstand Vendor
Recovery Divers
Diveboat Pilot
Hippies & Stoners
Biker

That's it for now. Keep an eye on developments as we put info up on all our sites. Thanks for your continued interest in Hotel Caledonia (The Movie).

Nick

Film Synopsis

Hotel Caledonia focuses on the inoffensive, and downtrodden characters of Norman Tickle, and his ‘street-wise’, female-obsessed friend, Arty Harris. Together they take to the road ‘Jack Kerouac’ style and are soon be-friended by a tightly knit group of backpackers, heading north to Scotland for the thrills, and spills, of adventure. Beginning in the Midlands, the story follows Norman and Arty to the lowlands of Glasgow before finally reaching New Braemar, in the desolate, and sometimes-uninviting, landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The movie humorously traces the interwoven relationships that develop between all the travellers as their quest for fresh air, and the isolation of the wild outdoors, finally leads them to a working guesthouse known as ‘HOTEL CALEDONIA’. Here, at their final destination, the black, comedic thread of the movie transcends into the macabre, with scares-a-plenty, and where the ‘surrealness of the bizarre’ takes on a face of abject horror. Far removed from the groups’, and the audience’s expectations, HOTEL CALEDONIA is in a state of dilapidation. To describe it as a hotel, let alone a guesthouse, is somewhat of an over-exaggeration of its potential. HOTEL CALEDONIA reveals its ‘true’identity in the meeting of the travellers and the weirdly frightening, dysfunctional, horrific and unhealthily eating Pertwee family; owners, occupiers, and caterers extraordinaire. From the adventurers’ first encounter with the ‘sinister’ garage owner, Sheena McDonald, to the appearance of ‘old man’ William with his wooden leg, the inhospitality of the environment, and the people who inhabit it, slowly proves itself in the shadows, nooks, crannies, and things that go THUMP in the night. The discovery of strange, and macabre activities, far removed from those of a humane society, and the sudden disappearance of one of their group, leads the adventurers into greater and greater conflict with the Pertwees. Finally, learning the truth about their ‘employer’s’ vile deeds, perversions and culinary habits, the travellers decide to make good their escape. From that moment on, the thrill-seekers embark on a roller-coaster ride to hell and back, as their worst fears are realised and they are left, literally fighting for their lives. But who survives, and how, is where the story unfolds in the most unexpected of ways, as Norman, with his ‘meek and mild’ nature, allows his personality to reveal that of ‘rescuer’ and ‘hero’. The movie reaches its clever, and untelegraphed climax, with a ‘twist ending’ that will leave the misdirected audience to ponder upon the question of “so what happens next?” HOTEL CALEDONIA is comparable in its widespread appeal to any number of recent ‘box-office’ successful films, from within the Horror genre, but it is within the Comedy-Horror genre that it serves to, and succeeds in, setting itself apart.