12/12/2002

Nik Powell’s production outfit Scala Production has been actively involved in UK/Australian co-productions since last year and will continue to travel ‘down under’ in 2003.
The Night They Called It a Day starring Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith and Portia del Rossi has just finished shooting in Australia. The film based on the true story of Frank Sinatra’s uproarious Australian tour in 1974, is directed by Paul Goldman (Australian Rules). The film is co-produced by Emile Sherman’s Ocean Pictures from Australia and is being handled internationally by Winchester Film.
Another Australian project is currently in development at Scala: The Queen & I, a romantic comedy written by Australian actor Gerry Connolly and Michael Patterson who will also direct the film. It tells the story of the Queen of England who is hit by a boomerang during her visit in Australia. A small town comedian will be asked by the Australian government to impersonate the monarch but he falls for the policewoman guarding the Queen. The project is co-produced by Street Films in Australia.
Last year, Nik Powell co-produced with Helen Leake’s Duo Art in Australia the period drama Black & White starring Robert Carlyle, Kerry Fox and Charles Dance. The film which premiered at the last Toronto Film Festival is sold internationally by Svensk Filmindustri.