Great Point Media has been appointed to handle international sales on director/writer William McGregor’s first feature film The Dark Outside (working title). The picture shot exclusively on location in Snowdonia, Wales, and is currently in post production. Nada Cirjanic, Head of Sales for Great Point will be introducing the film to buyers at this year’s Marché Du Film in Cannes.
The film is centered on a close-knit family, led by BAFTA nominated actress Maxine Peake (Funny Cow, Peterloo, The Falling). The young actresses playing her children are Eleanor Worthington-Cox, the youngest recipient of the best actress Laurence Olivier award for her role of the theatre production of Matilda, and newcomer Jodie Innes. The supporting cast includes Richard Harrington (Hinterland, Poldark), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (The Commuter, Ghost Stories) and Mark Lewis Jones (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Game Of Thrones).
The Dark Outside has been developed by the BFI and Endor Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, with Endor’s Hilary Bevan Jones and Tom Nash as lead producers. The BFI’s Lizzie Francke, Paul Grindey and Charles Moore of Viewfinder Films, Fergus Haycock of Great Point Media and Adam Partridge of Ffilm Cymru Wales act as Executive Producers. The production is co-financed by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery, and Ffilm Cymru Wales.
Synopsis:
Within a gothic landscape of beauty and fear unfolds the tragic tale of a mother and her daughter. A young girl, Gwen, desperately tries to hold her family together in the face of a hostile local community, the rapacious slate mine nearing their land and the growing darkness that has begun to haunt her home life.
Hilary Bevan Jones and Tom Nash, Producers of Endor Productions and The Dark Outside (working title) said: “We are thrilled to be working with the exceptionally talented William McGregor on his debut feature film. William has expertly captured the raw beauty of Snowdonia and harnessed the power of the landscape in telling a haunting and deeply moving family story, beautifully brought to life by a cast headed by Maxine Peake and Eleanor Worthington-Cox. We are pleased to have appointed Great Point Media for international sales, their extensive experience will ensure we attract the very best distribution partners for The Dark Outside (working title).”
Nada Cirjanic, Head of Sales for Great Point said, “We were enthralled by this emotional and intense story and there is no doubt that William McGregor will deliver an absolutely gripping film.”