Shaina"
After being rejected as a Tartan Short, DEAR FRANKIE not only made it to the big screen as a feature, but won a ten-minute ovation at Cannes. Eddie Harrison asks writer Andrea Gibb what went right?
‘ hcw. l haycn‘t l'clt that good sincc .-\rchic (icmmill scorcd against Holland in I‘)7t\’l‘ intiscd a post-shag
RL‘ttton in 'I'I'tll'IIy/mllinlu. 'l‘hc lt‘cl-good lttc‘tot‘
didn‘t last l‘or long. Scotland hcadcd homc l'rom thc World ('tip l‘inals in Argcntina as a nation humblcd on an intcrnatiotml scalc.
l‘or a country ol liy'c tnillion. wc‘y'c produccd our sharc ol inl'lucntial tilinmakcrs. from .»\|c,\andcr Mackcndt‘ick to Bill liorsy'th. but sincc 'li'ui'ns/ntiling. succcss abroad has bccn as irrcgttlat' as thc btis scry'icc to Brigadoon. Sct in
sunny (irccnock. l‘ccl—good moyic Dcur
I-imikit' stoppcd thc rot by proy'ing itscll' an intcrnational hit in thc rathcr dil'l'crcnt coastal sctting of thc 2004 ('anncs liilm l‘cstiy'al. So what‘s so good about it'.’
It’s a Hollywood aphorism that thc kcy moy'ic ingrcdicnts arc ‘thc script. thc script. and thc script‘. Somconc who l’ccls thc samc is l)vur Hunk/("s writcr. Andrca (iibb. Wc‘rc haying ltmch in (ilasgow rcstaurant thc Corinthian.
22mg usr'w t...
which (iibb tiscd as thc sctting tor thc l‘irst mccting bctwccn singlc mothcr l.i//ic (limily .‘ylortimcrt and thc ttnnamcd Strangcr ((icrry Butlcri who agrccs to posc as thc abscnt tathcr ol' hcr nine-y'car-old son l"i';iitkic (Jack Mclilhonc). Dvur l-‘mnki'c's script is firmly bascd on (iibb‘s own formatch cxpcricnccs. ‘My dad was an tincmploycd clcctrical cnginccr in (irccnock. so his only option was to work in dcy'cloping countics likc Pakistan or Nigcriaf says (iibb. ‘Bccatisc hc had to go away to work. my dad bccamc this fantasy ligttrc to mc. somconc you adorcd bccattsc hc
wasn‘t thcrc. l wantcd to cxplot‘c that notion ol‘
ycarning l‘or somconc. whilc thc pcrson that y'ou'rc with cycry‘ day is ncglcctcd.‘
(iibb also found a uniycrsal appcal in writing about Wcst ol Scotland malcncss. ‘I)t'ur
Hunk/v is about a woman who has cut hcrsclt'
oil from all notions ol‘ masculinity. but through thc Strangcr. comcs to undcrstand thcrc's a positiyc. constructiyc sidc to it.‘ shc says. ‘I was inl‘lucnccd by thc mythic qttalitics of a lilm likc Shane. or cycn (‘lint Iiastwood as Thc Man With No Namc. somconc who says may littlc. but has a significant
cl‘l‘cct on thc pcoplc around about him.‘
Mcanwhilc. Scottish lilm has an abscnt parcnt ol‘ its own. Sincc its inception. thc national funding
body Scottish Scrccn has struggch to sharc out thc moncy in its bttdgct to thc satislaction ot local tilmmakcrs. ’I‘hc £57.0llll—a-ycar position of (’hict lixcctttiy c ol' Scottish Scrccn has bccn y‘acant sincc .-\ugnst fittth and thc post was only l'illcd just bcl'orc ('hristmas. Scottish Scrccn's 'l‘artan Shorts schcmc rcjcctcd [Mir Hun/tic. but (iibb was approachcd by ('arolinc Wood ol' Scorpio l‘ilms to dcyclop l‘ltl/llxlt' as a l'catttrc. 'l'hc irony is that this Scottish lilm was dcy'clopcd through a l.ondon—bascd company. a proccss which took liyc ycars.
'(‘arolinc‘s thc rcal .\lc(‘oy as a prodticcr. and Shona t.'\ticrbach) rcally thinks in picturcs. shc‘s incrcdibly Visual and rcspcctltil ol' thc writing: togcthcr thcy rcally ptishcd mc.‘ cxplains (iibb. ‘(ictting notcs l'rom cyct‘y body can bc a good thing. somctimcs. a disastcr. But it you‘rc working with thc right pcoplc it's a dt'caml‘
l.cnny (looks. from thc l'unding body (ilasgow l-‘ilm ()l'licc. agrccs. ‘:\ndrca's writing is untisual in its cmotional rcsonancc. and its ability to cngagc an atidicnccf hc says. ‘lh'ur Fruit/(iv is an unapologctically‘ romantic lilm. and Shona .-\ticrbach's dircction ot'l'crs its a
dil'l'crcnt takc on Scottish lil‘c bccattsc it iny'itcs Us to scc it through l'rcsh cycs.‘ ()ncc funding from Scottish Scrccn and l’athc was in placc. (iillian Bcrric‘s Sigma l-‘ilms was approachcd as a