Thursday 21 September 2017

Apostle and Requiem



Here is some more info on the film called "Apostle" which will be screened by Netflix next year.  It stars Michael Sheen and Dan Stevens -- and most of the shooting was done in the early summer in the Port Talbot area.

http://gov.wales/newsroom/businessandeconomy/2017/170512-dan-stevens-and-michael-sheen-staring-round-breaking-wales-usa-film-project/?lang=en

Released info:  Netflix has acquired the global distribution rights to period revenge thriller Apostle, written and directed Gareth Evans, with Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, Bill Millner, and Kristine Froseth joining the cast along with previously announced Dan Stevens, who was attached to the project early on. Filming is schdeuled to begin in April, with XYZ Films, Severn Screen and Evans’ One More One Production producing.

"We know Dan Stevens's character’s sister is kidnapped and ransomed by a cult, and as you might expect from a protagonist in a Gareth Evans movie, the cult will soon learn that they messed with the wrong guy’s family. Based on this new casting info, I’d wager Boynton is going to be playing the sister, and I can easily imagine Sheen chewing some scenery as a charismatic cult leader."

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 Lydia Wilson, the star of "Requiem"
The other big production this year is "Requiem" -- a six-part series shot in the Newport (Gwent) area and in Dolgellau in the summer.  Interestingly, BBC Wales has nothing to do with this one -- the commission has come from BBC1 instead.  So it is guaranteed a network showing on the BBC.

BBC/Netflix show Requiem now filming on location in Wales

 25 March 2017.
Requiem, a new series commissioned by the BBC and co-produced by New Pictures and Netflix, has begun filming in the Welsh city of Newport. Funding has been provided by The Welsh Government, ensuring that the project stays and hires locally.
The Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget (MIB) has an annual reserve of GBP30 million, and will provide funding for productions that incur at least 50% of their principal photography within Wales.
The MIB can be stacked with the UK high-end TV tax relief, which offers a 25% rebate to programmes with an expenditure of at least GBP1 million per broadcast hour. A film variant of the rebate is also available to productions that spend a minimum of 10% of their budget locally.
Detailing the decision to finance the project, Welsh Government Economy Secretary Ken Skates explains: “our growing success in the TV and film production industry is helping to promote Wales globally and highlight the talent and skills base that we have here. Attracting productions of this calibre to Wales is a sector priority and brings direct and indirect benefits to the economy, to local communities and to the film and TV sector.”
The six-part series will unravel the life of a young cellist named Matilda, who in the wake of her mother’s suicide, embarks on a journey to Wales to discover the truth about her past.
The show’s Writer and Creator, Kris Mrksa adds: “Requiem is the show I've always wanted to make. To be making it with the team at New Pictures, and for the BBC and Netflix, networks that I so greatly admire, really is a dream come true.”
Lydia Wilson will star as Matilda, alongside Joel Fry, James Frecheville and Clare Rushbrook, with Mahalia Belo directing the series.
Wales recently hosted filming of the American television series, Will. Detailing the early years of William Shakespeare, the project was shot at Dragon Studios.

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A SUPERNATURAL thriller filmed in Meirionnydd this month will be released to a global audience.
Between 17 and 21 June, the town will be awash with TV crews and acclaimed actors as a new BBC/Netflix drama is filmed in Dolgellau.
Requiem, a taut psychological thriller with subtle supernatural undertones, is set across Wales and features Star Trek Beyond actress Lydia Wilson, playing Matilda, as her life is turned upside down following her mother’s inexplicable suicide.
In the wake of the tragedy Matilda begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself, embarking on a quest that leads her to a Welsh village – “a place haunted by its own past, where the secrets she uncovers threaten to unravel her very identity”.
Requiem is commissioned by BBC One and co-produced by New Pictures – famous for The Missing and Indian Summers – as well as Netflix.
Online streaming service Netflix will debut the series globally outside of the UK.
Midge Ferguson, location manager for New Pictures, said: “With the kind help and support of Gwynedd County Council, Dolgellau Town Council, the Dolgellau Partnership, local businesses and North Wales Police, I have spent the last few months gradually putting arrangements in place to enable us to come and film in the beautiful town of Dolgellau this month.
“The filming is for a new six-part drama commissioned by the BBC called Requiem which is a dark, psychological supernatural thriller.
“The majority of our filming is taking place in south Wales, but Dolgellau’s character and setting offers us a look that we could never achieve anywhere else and will work wonderfully for the story.

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