UNITED KINGDOM: FILMING BEGINS IN ENGLAND OF MULTI MILLION DOLLAR THRILLER "KINSMEN" SET IN THE NORTH EAST

Record ID: 388857

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: FILMING BEGINS IN ENGLAND OF MULTI MILLION DOLLAR THRILLER "KINSMEN" SET IN THE NORTH EAST
  • Date: 12th January 2000
  • Summary: LEASVDEN STUDIOS, LEASVDEN, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS ACTION SEQUENCE OF "KINSMEN" BEING FILMED SOUNDBITE (English) PRODUCER/WRITER SEAN ROBINSON SAYING: "Kinsmen is about two guys who are in the wrong place at the wrong time in 1982. They saw something they shouldn't have but they don't know what they're seeing and it comes back to haunt them in 1999, as
  • Embargoed: 27th January 2000 12:00
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  • Location: LEAVESDEN, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA74SC5292ZS4KUL8D73CEJBGTN
  • Story Text: With the hunt for the leading man now over, the British makers of movie 'Kinsmen' are set to begin filming.And they're hoping this mulit-million dollar thriller will score at the box-office this year.
    It's a British film, with a big budget and big plans.
    'Kinsmen' is a multi-million dollar action/adventure feature film set to be filmed and released in year 2000.
    Six months ahead of the start date and Reuters have been given an exclusive preview of some of the movie's explosive action scenes.
    The film will bring together a number of high profile stars from both sides of the Atlantic.Relative unknown Sean Robinson is the film's director, writer and producer, he has assembled a cast combining well known British actors with relative unknowns.
    Robinson tells the story of behind the film."Kinsmen is about two guys who are in the wrong place at the wrong time in 1982," Robinson says.
    "They saw something they shouldn't have but they don't know what they're seeing and it comes back to haunt them in 1999, as they're now military police and the government realize they've seen this thing and they want to kill them to keep a secret.So to kill them is not as easy as it sounds, they have to bring them back to Sunderland, put them on a secret covert operation and then try and kill them.But, to stay alive, Ash and Reed have to go out in public with what they've seen, but they don't know what they've seen, so they've got to stay alive long enough to work out what it is they've seen."
    Robinson has been working to get Kinsmen into production for more than five years, he says as a relatively unknown director , trying to find funding for the project was an almost impossible task.
    Sean Robinson says "Its incredibly difficult, its like trying to find a light switch in a house, in a street in darkness when you're blind, so you've got to find the house, then the room then you have to find where the switch is, but they keep throwing you down blind alleys as well, one door opens and another three shut, its incredibly difficult, movies which are happening in England at the moment there's not that many big movies if you like, there's not many openings for new directors, the old boys network is still at large I'm afraid and its got a lot to answer for, very difficult indeed."
    Kinsmen is set during the aftermath of the Falklands War.It tells the story of two young soldiers David Ash and Terry Reed who stumble across a secret and horrific government experiment.
    To cast the lead Robinson threw the doors open for an open audition in Sunderland in North East England in his search for a local accent and local authenticity.
    He was deluged with a stream of Sunderland-born actors - and non-actors! Johnathan Spencer has been chosen to take the lead role of David Ash, Sunderland born and bred, he says he is looking forward to the opportunity of filming an action film in his home town.
    Spencer says "Sean knows exactly what he wants obviously he's had the script for that long and he's got a clear idea of what he wants and I guess I just hit the nail on the head at the right time."
    Spencer will be joined by seasoned British actors such as Liz Banks and Neil Armstrong.
    Banks enjoyed the rather unique audition process.
    Liz Banks says "Well that was very weird actually because you are standing there and people are obviously very nervous and they all see the part in different ways and some of them are actors and some of them are not actors and my job is just to deliver the lines to them and not take them in any particular direction, so it was very interesting."
    Neil Armstrong is confident Kinsmen will hold its own up against some of Hollywood's epic action movies.
    "It will be interesting because the characters are quite comedic and to find these two northern guys in these crazy situations, where they're not exactly gung-ho characters they're more down to earth, witty characters which hopefully in among the big set piece action scenes should work in very nicely."
    The makers of Kinsmen are promising a fast paced action movie, which will deliver its fair share of dynamic effects.
    The special effects team will be lead by John Evans, who has masterminded action sequences for such movies as Batman and Titanic.
    Evans regards Batman as being the best movie he has worked on to date.He is so dedicated to the project, he is offering some of his services for free.
    John Evans says "Batman I think, Batman One, we built the car, the batmobiles one and two at Pinewood studios, it was the only time the boys didn't come in late, so I didn't have to give any bollockings out...its super picture Jack Nicholson was marvelous he kept coming up to our workshop to work out the gags , no it was marvelous, but with Stanley Kubrick in Full Metal Jacket we were going to do that for a three month shoot I finished up fourteen months on it, but its a lovely business I wouldn't want to go into anything else, I've gone all over the world, had a wonderful time, been marvelous."
    Kinsmen will be shot and released within the space of a year and while it is promising to help Britain stake a claim in the action/adventure film genre, it is now a case of waiting to see if can deliver what it has promised.
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