14/05/2009

Veteran UK sales executive Simon Crowe is wearing two hats in Cannes, selling films for his new outfit SC Films International as well as for his previous company, Velvet Octopus.

Topping Crowe’s Cannes line-up is the market premiere of Skellig, a family drama starring Tim Roth and Kelly Macdonald, directed by Annabel Jankel (Super Mario Bros). The film about a young boy who tries to cope with his baby sister’s illness is based on David Almond’s best-selling novel.

Also premiering at the market is Awaydays [+see also:
trailer
film profile], set in post-punk Liverpool in 1979. The winner of the Best Feature prize at the Fringe Awards in Edinburgh last February is directed by Pat Holden (The Long Weekend). Optimum Releasing is releasing it domestically on May 22.

Two attractive titles are being unveiled at private screenings: Chris Fisher’s S Darko, the follow-up to the successful Donnie Darko, will be released in the UK by Lionsgate; and Veronica Decides to Die is a drama by the talented UK filmmaker Emily Young (Kiss of Life), based on Paulo Coelho’s best-selling novel.

SC Films will show footage of the horror film Choose (now shooting) from Oscar winning FX guru Robert Legato, as well as a 10-minute promo of US animation film Garfield’s Pet Force 3D.

Crowe and sales and marketing executive Fumie Suzuki will start discussing three upcoming titles with star names attached. Father of Invention is a comedy by Trent Cooper starring Kevin Spacey, while The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer (Lonesome Jim) stars Liv Tyler.

Lastly, the UK comedy Cosy follows a group of singers commissioned to stage Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte. The project directed by Chris Menaul (Prime Suspect) and produced by Stephen Evans (The Madness of King George) stars Sarah Brightman and Richard E. Grant. Shooting starts in Scotland in June.