Partner Article

North East crimes commited to film

A film company has secured a $6million deal to shoot a movie in the North East based on one of the region’s most notorious gangland murders.

The deal between Tanner Films Ltd, based in Sunniside, Sunderland, and Los Angeles-based MonteCristo International was announced at the Cannes Film Festival.

Angus MacFadyen, one of the stars of Braveheart, will play the lead role and the film will be directed by London-based Myles Thomas.

Tanner Films has also secured a top director of photography, a well-known British art department head and a Hollywood-based costume designer.

The movie, titled King of the North, has already attracted sales potential in the UK, Canada, Italy and Germany.

The story will focus on the murder of Angus Sibbet, found dead in a Mark 10 Jaguar in South Hetton in 1967, and the years leading up to the killing. The murder was the inspiration for the classic film Get Carter.

The film, which has been supported in script development by Northern Film and Media, is scheduled to shoot in the North East in September and is expected to create 100 crew jobs in the region.

Myles Thomas said: “This is a great story and if it had happened anywhere other than the North East it would have been made many years ago.”

The film’s producer, Patrick Lavelle, from Hendon, said: “I’m delighted that after all the hard work put in over 18 months or so we have finally secured a deal with a reputable American co-producer and sales agent. I’m particularly pleased for the North East private investors who have put their faith and their money into this project. They believed in it from day one.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .