Tim Bevan

Tim Bevan-
Born 1958 in Queenstown, New Zealand. 
Bevan served his screen apprenticeship at the National Film Unit and returned to England to go into business setting up a music video production company 'Aldabra'.
In the 1980's he co-founded Working Title Films with Sarah Radclyffe in London.^[1] 
Bevan's produced or executive produced over 40 films including Moonlight and Valentino, Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Elizabeth, Bridget Jones's Diary,Atonement, and Frost/Nixon.
Tim in the co-producer of the West End production 'Billy Elliot'.

The Soloist

       The Soloist

• Directed by Joe Wright, other films directed by Wright;   
  - Pride and Predudice (2005)                                                                                                             - Atonement (2007)                                                                                                                            - Hanna (2011)                                                                                                                                                                                                      - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soloist

• Despite being a Working Title filme they managed to get well-known actors to work in the film;                                                                                        
  - Jamie Foxx (Nathaniel Anthony Ayer.)
  - Robert Downey Jr. (Steve Lopez)

• 'Wright's major mistake is the flashback to Nathaniel's background. Mundane, TV movie simplistic and, ironically, very middle-class patronising, it causes the film's trajectory to go limp.' - Rotten Tomatoes.                                                                                       http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soloist/

• Russ Krasnoff used real homeless people as extras in order to give the film authenticity and give some a chance to learn new skills.

• Despite the budget $60 million, the film only got around $31million back, a surprise considering the actors and budget in the film.

• '"The Soloist" was originally intended as 2008 Oscar bait, likely solely as a result of Wright's early cinematic successes with "Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement." While "The Soloist" is certainly not a cinematic dud, it falls dramatically short of Wright's earlier films and, given its challenging subject matter, is unlikely to be more than a modest success at the box-office unless Foxx and Downey, Jr's fans decide to show up in droves.' - The Independent Critic. http://www.theindependentcritic.com/soloist

The Soloist - Summary notes

Production of The Soloist;

Dream Works pictures and Universal Pictures present in Association with StudioCanal anf Participant Media A Krassnoff/Fpster Entertainment Production in Association with Working Title FIlms "The Soloist" starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr. Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander ans LisaGay Hamilton. The film is directed by Joe Wright from a screenplay by Susannah Grant based on the book by Steve Lopez. Producers; Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff.
Distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Lopez on Nathaniel; ' an irresistable true-life character.'

To take Foxx through a musical boot camp, the team recruited Ben Hong a LA Philharmonic cellist, who had the advantage of being a real-life friend of Ayers, and  was also familiar with his musical style (Hong later recorded tracks for Foxx to play on screen, as an homage to Ayers). Hong knew they would both have to work hard to get Foxx to a cellist of Ayers’ exceptional talent and skill.

Wright saw an exciting oppertunity to bring Hollywood and British realism together.
The final days of shooting took place in Cleveland, Ohio, where Ayers andhis two real-life sisters grew up.

Exucutive Producer Patricia Whitcher - 'We were very lucky tohave Joe’s creative team because they’re an incredibly talented and dedicatedgroup of people. From day one, it was always about doing right by Nathaniel andSteve’s story and giving the film a very subtle and authentic texture.'

Wright used an organic process and almost documentary approach when working with the homesless extras. In order to keep these diverse extras comfortable and relaxed in the new environment, Wright tried to maintain a very human atmosphere by keeping set down to a minimal.

“The Soloist” was allowed the honour to be the first motion picture to be filmed inside the auditorium of Los Angeles’ newest iconic building - the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, which plays a big part in the film. Foster said; “Deborah Borda, the LA Philharmonic’s CEO, Esa-Pekka Salonen
and the entire staff of the LA Philharmonic welcomed Nathaniel back to music, and they generously allowed us to recreate that great moment.”

Continuing with authenticity, “The Soloist” also became the first film production ever to shoot inside the editorial offices of the Los Angeles Times building, filming in the third floor’s Metro section, the original working space for Steve Lopez and colleagues. “People had shot in the building before but never in a working newsroom,” says producer Foster. “The then-publisher of the paper, David Hiller, just opened the doors and said, ‘Come in. This story is as much a part of us as anybody.’”

The Soloist

Questions;

1. Who produced 'The Soloist'?
2. What did Steve Lopez question about the film from the start?
3. When did the producers meet Nathanial?
4. Where were the real life locations of the film?
5. What was Susannah Grant's aim when screen writing?
6. Why was Joe Wright apprehensive about making the film?
7. What does Robert Downey Jr say about the role of Nathanial?
8. Why did Joe Wright want authentic locations and authentic people in his film?
9. How long did the set designers have on location to build the set?
10. What process did the actors go through to ensure that the acting was authentic?
11. What comments are made about the ending by Susannah Grant and Russ Krasnoff?

Answers;

1. Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster.
2. He question where the film would go. 'How can you make a movie if you didn't have an ending?'.
3. Late 2005, after lunch with Gary and Russ.

4. The Lamp on St Julien, Skidrowe. The Disney Concert Hall and the tunnel.

5. Her aim was to get across the message that everyone, even homless people, are somebodies mother,   father, brother, sister. 'Everyone has a heart-breaking story.' she says, she wants to give people a wake up call, and humanise the homeless. Make it real.

6. America was alien to him. Using real people was nerve-racking because it's about somthing he knows nothing about. Needed to getit right as Steve and Nathaniel were watching the film be made and filmed.

7. A difficult character, alot of techinical elements not only learning to play the cello, but portraying the whole of his disability. He say's 'We've all seen crazy done wrong.' showing how much pressure Jamie is under. There are huge amountsof emotion. Robert said the character (Nathaniel) won him over then he receivs the new cello and wants to give somthing back.

8. Theres a moral obligation, if they're using there homes to film in he needs to give then jobs, give somthing back by letting them learn new skills. The real people show the reality, authenticity and let the actors see how it's done.

9. 4 weeks.

10. There were difficult timings and cues in order for the scenes to look authentic. They had 3 weeks of workshop, actors were put into real situations, they gain trust from the other people and see what it's really like. Jamie had to learn the cello and Nathaniels vocal patterns.

11. The ending is honest. He says he couldn't have a happy endingthat says Schizophrenia has a cure or is easy because that's not true for all the sufferers of the illness or people who deal with the ilnees everday. It's not a fairytale ending. 'It gives me hope' - Russ Krasnoff.