“The best things in life are not things” said Art Buchwald, that is of course true with the possible exception of fresh mint tea.

Paul and I consumed buckets of it during pre-production in what seems and probably is a lifetime ago but in real terms is little over three years. We are at 179 Wardour Street, office of our Executive Producer Neil Harris where we somewhat unsuccessfully screened the film repeatedly for UK distributors and Sales Agents last year, and I am crushing some fresh mint leaves and sugar into two tall glasses.

Tonight we are screening the “making of…”. Documentary, imaginatively entitled “Le making of…”

This has been almost as long and arduous a saga as making the actual film. Pete the
documentary maker struggled for three years to make a dent in the 60 hours of raw footage let
alone actually present it in some kind of watchable form so Paul and I were forced to take the
tapes from him and hand the thankless task to Rhys. To be accurate, Paul distracted Pete with
very strong black coffee while I secretly stuffed the tapes into my bag.

Apart from seeing a long rough cut a few months ago I have no idea what to expect, I certainly
don’t expect to see Pete. Once again he surprises us and shows up, ironically Rhys doesn’t.
The small room is full. Caroline the film’s editor, Dougal, Daniel, Kate, Marina, Chloe, Steve
Di Marco, Steve Norris & friends squeeze in, some on the floor. Pete introduces the documentary,
and like all of us, has no idea what is to come. This isn’t the sort of “making of…” you get to see
on TV. No glossed over portrayal of pitch perfect shoots and no hassles. This is a true to life,
blood, scars and many tears exposé of what happened. It is all there, the highs, the lows, the
tensions, the arguments, the financial troubles, the immense pressures that were heaped upon
us and generate by us. Watching back with hindsight I am somewhat amazed we not only came
through the experience but that we actually have a film at all to show for it.

For most of us, Paul, Pete, Steve, Kate, Daniel, Dougal it is an exercise in reminiscence,
like the alumni of some traumatic experience meeting to discuss it as some collective therapy,
which we do as Pete fields a barrage of questions in an impromptu Q&A. I get the impression
that he is generally pleased with the result with a few reservations but would rather that than
have had to edit it himself. What is interesting is the reaction of those who were not there with
us during the shoot, particularly the three weeks in France, and in some cases, not there at all.
They are fascinated by the process that we went though, the bonding exercise it became, and
the fact that despite the difficulties clearly played out in the documentary, we are still in close
contact. For me the confessional moments I put on camera at the end of each shoot day in
France are the most telling. With the knowledge of everything that was happening outside of
the film while in France the stress is evident on my face as the fiction of the film was colliding
so forcefully with the reality of my life.

I’m glad that after all this time the documentary exists, it proves what would otherwise probably be construed as an exaggerated pub tale. With that in mind we repair to the Blue Posts, the pub where the first deals were made and first contracts signed. I can’t stay, I have to go to work and spend the night pressing buttons in a radio station, the very same job I was doing and resenting during pre-production, only this time round I am actually rather enjoying it. One of the many things Stéphanie has taught me over the years is “Always leave it clean”, in other words, when you end something make sure it is amicable so there can be no come back. Tonight has been that, a chance to clean away the troubles of the shoot and repair bridges. I head for work happy in the knowledge that when I leave that job again it too will be amicable.

The world has turned full circle on us tonight and left us one level higher.

JH.

Daniel "The Proff" Nussbaumer
& Sophie "The extra" Simpson

Steve Norris