The Big Pitch :: Right. So now I’ve put a lid on that lot I can introduce you to the man and woman behind them: I’m Gary, the writer/director of The Brightness. Here are 21 random facts about me which are relevant to the project: I’m a... View page for full story

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The Brightness

It’s December 20th 2012 and according to the ancient Mayans the world is about to end. And in Britain the apocalypse seems nigh: every foreign athlete, dignitary and tourist claimed Asylum after the Olympics; all meat has been banned following cow flu and the leaders of the 12 world religions have gone missing in Scotland. When our hero, eternal optimist David Gomez Goldman, is summoned to a high security Asylum centre little does he know that he will become the world's only hope of survival.

WILL ALL FICTIONAL CHARACTERS PLEASE SHUT UP!!!

Posted 10/11/2008 at 17:03 by Gary | View all posts

Right. So now I’ve put a lid on that lot I can introduce you to the man and woman behind them: I’m Gary, the writer/director of The Brightness. Here are 21 random facts about me which are relevant to the project:

I’m a gay pagan Jew – which means I believe we are all God and She is wonderful; I run healing seminars in Brazil twice a year with the world’s strongest plant hallucinogen, Ayahuasca – my belief that visionary plants might one day save the world is neatly nestled in the heart of the film; I spent the first 17 years of my life in Johannesburg  and did half my BA in Jerusalem and the other half in Sheffield so I’ve always felt most at home with other aliens; My MA dissertation was called ‘The Transformation of The Brown Goddess’ and was about the use of the imagery of shit in poetry – it’s amazing what you can find when you look hard enough;  I own a television production company called Brown Eyed Boy that makes documentaries, sitcoms and sketch shows for Channel 4 and the BBC; I’ve been living in London for the past 17 years and I walk my Weimaramer every day on Hampstead Heath  which is how I keep sane;  I’m an expert outdoor raver  which is another of the great paths to sanity; I co-created Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Bruno’ character with him and shot his first ever TV series, starring Bruno, 10 years ago; I worked at BBC Television Centre in White City for 18 months which is why the building plays such a vital role in the film – the scariest place on Earth to feel trapped in; My favourite movie of all time is ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ which was banned in South Africa and which I watched 83 times between the ages of 10 and 14; The other films which heavily influence the look and feel of ‘The Brightness’ are: ‘Saw 1-3’ and ‘City Of Lost Children’; My favourite director is Werner Herzog – in an ideal world he’d film us filming; My favourite singer is Diamanda Galas – in an ideal world she’d score the whole film; my favourite performer is the blood-letter Franko B – in an ideal world he’d play the cook, Chef, and he’d bleed for real in the film’s climax only he recently said he’d never bleed again; my favourite TV show is “The X Factor”.


‘The Brightness’ started life as a half hour comedy horror pilot for the BBC. Check it out on Youtube (this is only the first part but the rest is on the website):

I made it 18 months ago by casting 10 brilliant stand-up comics, including Andrew Lawrence; Nick Mohammed; Wil Hodgson; Ninia Benjamin and Arnab Chunda and improvising with all of them for 3 days then shooting for a further 3 days on HD. We squatted the set of Bad Girls on their down week and covered it in manure, straw and blood. There was a lot of very funny dog rape and an X- Factor final with the prisoners and the BBC weren’t entirely sure what to make of it. For me it always felt like a sketch for a movie and that is how I find myself here.

I wrote the script for the film but my intention again is to cast it entirely with amazing writer performer comics who will then make the characters and scenes their own during a 3 week improvisation with me. We will announce on this blog the talent who come on board as the next few weeks unfold. I am extremely excited. And especially to introduce you to the film’s producer, Celine, who will blog you all soon.

And as a special treat, here's the original trailer for THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. They don't make them like that anymore.

Love,

Gary

Comments

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Posted 14/11/2008 at 19:49 by Celine Haddad

Thanks for your message Mick. You'll be glad to know a certain "Norris Jobson" , ex Mayor of London and PM in 2012, features heavily in our film. Best Celine

Posted 13/11/2008 at 11:48 by Mick Pilsworth

Thank God someone has had the foresight to write something based on the Olympics!  It will be a huge wank-fest for the ruling class so the prospect of a genre pic that undermines it is to be applauded!

 

Good luck Gary and Celine, I like your style!

Posted 13/11/2008 at 11:48 by Mick Pilsworth

Thank God someone has had the foresight to write something based on the Olympics!  It will be a huge wank-fest for the ruling class so the prospect of genre pic that undermines it is to be applauded!

 

Good luck Gary and Celine, I look your style!

Posted 12/11/2008 at 14:02 by Richard Admiraal

first of all it is 'surrender monkeys' not surrendering monkeys' . apart from that i am intrigued to view how these plants will save the world. i presume inherant in that is that mankind is also saved but it would often seem easier to save the world by extinguishing mankind and let the rest of the beings live in balanced harmony. or would like in Animal farm the pigs or other such cretures rise to fill the void left by greedt grasping humans. Does not the copncept of powning more than you can ever use and still want more fill you with disgust.

'But what about my children, and my children's children ...usw, usw? As we know it takes 4 generations to build a fortune and simultaneously to breed ballless, backboneless, idiots who will squander it.

 

Why not distribute it along the way so there's a chance it will do some good? 

 

Posted 12/11/2008 at 14:01 by Richard Admiraal

first of all it is 'surrender monkeys' not surrendering monkeys' . apart from that i am intrigued to view how these plants will save the world. i presume inherant in that is that mankind is also saved but it would often seem easier to save the world by extinguishing mankind and let the rest of the beings live in balanced harmony. or would like in Animal farm the pigs or other such cretures rise to fill the void left by greedt grasping humans. Does not the copncept of powning more than you can ever use and still want more fill you with disgust.

'But what about my children, and my children's children ...usw, usw? As we know it takes 4 generations to build a fortune and simultaneously to breed ballless, backboneless, idiots who will squander it.

 

Why not distribute it along the way so there's a chance it will do some good? 

 

Blackout Til Jihad do us Part Different Shades of Graham The Brightness

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