LIGHTHOUSE - THE HISTORY

The following is an article written by LIGHTHOUSE producer Mark Leake for REELSCENE, the official newsletter of Raindance.

Four years ago I was reading an article in ReelScene much like this one wondering if I would ever get a feature film off the ground. In two weeks, I'll be at Cannes with the Director, Simon Hunter, and my fellow Producer, Tim Dennison, to screen LIGHTHOUSE to distributors from around the world. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride during the last four years with all the ups and downs you'd expect, and it's a great feeling to know as we approach the end of the ride it looks like the film is going to be a success.

Those of you who take Raindance courses and attend its various functions should take a lot of heart from our story since I'm sure yours will prove very similar. Simon, Tim and I have long been acquainted with Elliot and Raindance. They've supported us from almost the very beginning. In fact, it was through Raindance that Simon and I hooked up with Tim. If you take anything away from Raindance, it should be the belief that it is possible to make your film. With some smarts, the right attitude and a little luck, it is probable that you will make your film. It may take you four years (I hope it takes you less than it did me), it may take you £25,000 to develop the project (I hope it costs you less than it did me), but you will make it. It's amazing what a bit of self-confidence can achieve.

One of the benefits of having taken so long to get our project off the ground is that we've attempted nearly everything to secure financing. We've made a few mistakes and learned a lot of lessons some of which I hope I can pass on to you. By the way, four years is not really a long time. I hear different statistics, but the one that crops up most often is that it takes on average five years to get a film made from concept to finished product (even longer in Hollywood). That doesn't include all the projects that never go into production.

Five years is the average for films financed the industry route (advances from a sales agent, pre-sales to distributors, bank financing, etc.) But you don't have to wait five years. If you can get £30,000 to £150,000 together from your mom, some friends, a winning lottery ticket then by all means go out there and make a movie (or at least get it in the can). Two friends of mine did just that: Jake West, director of Razor Blade Smile (about £20K), and Steve Smith, producer of Miss Monday (£20K-£30k). Both were able to attract additional financing after getting their films shot to do some re-shoots and fund post-production. Both were success stories: Razor Blade Smile had a theatrical release in the UK and Miss Monday was officially selected at Sundance two years ago and sold to an international distributor.

But I digress. Since my story will probably be a template for your own, perhaps I should tell it like it happened. In another article I'll try to synthesize my experience with LIGHTHOUSE and distill the key lessons.

I got into producing via acting and investment banking. I did my university and graduate studies in the US, joined an invesment bank first in New York and then San Francisco. Although the world of high finance held its attractions (principally dosh), I decided to exercise my creative side a little. I quit banking and went to drama school in London. About a year after graduating I landed the lead in Club Death, a graudation short directed by Jake West and produced by Simon Hunter.

After the premiere of Club Death at Raindance Film Festival, Simon and I were chatting over a beer. He mentioned he wanted to direct a feature. I said I wanted to produce and act in one. I had for some time been thinking about creating my own acting opportunities. He asked me over for dinner to show me his own graduation film, Tea & Bullets.

At dinner, Sara, my girlfriend at the time and now my fiancee, and I were treated to handmade pasta rolled out of some Italian gizmo. We settled down to watch the film. Simon closed the blinds, lowered the lights and cranked up the volume. Tea & Bullets was a bit rough in places. Some scenes did not work at all. But most did, demonstrating Simon's flair for action and suspense. Most notably, it was ambitious, employing optical shots, model photography, special effects and a great soundtrack. All of which I have come to learn are trademarks of Simon's directing. It certainly wasn't people sitting around a table chatting. Tea & Bullets showed a lot of promise. Surrounded by a proper crew and with a decent budget, I believed Simon could really deliver the goods. We agreed then and there to become partners.

With that commenced the "Dark Ages", about eight months effectively wasted while Simon (first with a writer friend then on his own) worked on an innocent man-on-the-run script that went nowhere fast. We eventually jettisoned the script in favour of LIGHTHOUSE, a concept Simon had come up with a few years previously then developed with a friend. Simon had produced a first draft of the script which initially featured an alien creature. For budget reasons, he had decided that it wouldn't work for our first feature. No point in doing a low-budget creature film in which the creature (a man in a rubber suit because that's all you'll be able to afford) is so naff his victims die laughing.

The most productive thing we did during those eight months was to take the Dov S-S Simmens course at Raindance. We didn't have any money to pay, so we asked Elliot if we could work for him in exchange for free tickets. For two to three weeks he had us photocopying, collating, stapling and envelope stuffing in the basement at 81 Berwick. Dov's course was a revelation and I encourage anyone who hasn't to take it. Not so much for the content, which is extremely helpful in its own right, but for the whole "can do" approach Dov instills in his audience. He is a motivator and a galvaniser. Many of the young filmmakers who have produced or directed low-budget films in the UK have taken the seminar. Do yourself a favour and take the course -- he makes you believe you can succeed. And he's right.

At this point Simon and I were trying to figure out ways to finance our film. We figured we needed to raise about £175,000 to make our film. I put together a list of wealthy people I knew -- friends of my parents, ex-banking colleagues, people I went to school with. Drawing on my banking background, I wrote a draft investment prospectus. We had some art work professionally done and printed which was to accompany the prospectus. In the prospectus I said that we would secure a sales agent for international sales and would in part finance the film through a sale to a UK distributor. Looking back I realize how naive I was. Little did I know then how difficult it is to put such things in place. But we still didn't have a script that I felt was good enough to go out. I figured we'd have one shot at approaching most people. In order not to blow it, I wanted to be sure the script was ready.

But one day all that changed. Simon got a call from the personal assistant of a wealthy young businessman who was interested in cinema and wanted to learn more about filmmaking. She asked if Simon would come speak to him for £20 an hour. Simon being always broke jumped at the chance -- this was the best money he had made in a long, long time.

Over the next six to eight months the relationship developed into a good friendship. The young businessman proved to be keen student, and would often fly Simon off to various parts of the world to watch and talk about films. By this point we were well on the way to developing the LIGHTHOUSE script. Our businessman had expressed his interest in investing in films, though not necessarily LIGHTHOUSE. After they had gotten to know each other better, Simon felt it would not jeopardize the friendship to ask him directly whether he would back his first feature. At first, he was reluctant, but finally agreed. We had found our angel investor.

We asked for £175K. We prepared a budget with the help of Tim Dennison whom we had brought on as the Line Producer. Our investor took it away and showed it to a few consultants. They didn't think we could do it for the money. He asked us to think again and come back with something more realistic. We submitted a revised budget of £300K with heads of department on £150 per week and no deferrals. His lawyers got involved. "What about delivery?" they asked. "Who is going to pay for the delivery requirements?" "The distributor," we answered. "What if you don't get a distribution deal?" they asked. "How will our client recoup his investment? Won't he have to distribute it himself?" "Well, we guess so," we said. "How much will it cost?" they asked. We didn't know so we went away and came back with a figure of £50K (and that's after cracking deals). "Fine", they said, "the budget is now £350K. We'll tell our client and let you know if he wants to proceed given the dramatic escalation in the budget." (lesson: watch out for those lawyers).

Some time passed. We were getting nervous. Work was proceeding during pre-production and the bills were mounting. We had exhausted a small advance we had been given for the early weeks of pre-production. Finally, the lawyers got back to us. Good news. To his credit, our investor had agreed to the budget increase, a testament to his friendship with Simon and belief in his talent.

Pre-production continued apace while the investment agreement was being drawn up by the lawyers. Our storyboard artist, Liam Gavin, was busy storyboarding all the suspense and action sequences of the film. The production designer, Simon Bowles, had designed all the main sets, the first ones of which were under construction in Bristol. Numerous location recces were undertaken and our lighthouse location chosen. Casting sessions were held. Roles were offered. Key crew were falling into place.

Then I got the draft investment agreement. I read it overnight. When I got into the office I told Tim and Simon it was over. They looked at me as if I had lost it. Did you read it, I asked them. Yes. Then you should have noticed this little section on tax. I reminded them that our angel was an offshore investor. They hadn't realized the consequences for the investor of the way his lawyers had drawn up the contract. Sure enough, it proved a deal breaker. I am not at liberty to go into details. Suffice it to say that the relationship was irreparably damaged (so, as it turned out, was our friendship, which was a great pity as Simon and I both thought he was a very good guy). He pulled the plug on the film six weeks before shooting. It felt like the world had collapsed. After two years we were six weeks away from start of principal photography and everything had just gone down the drain. It was August 1996.

For three weeks we tried desperately to find the money from somewhere, anywhere else, to keep to our starting shoot date. We had already paid a deposit on the studio space, as well as incurred over £10K in pre-production costs. We tried sales agents, media lawyers, financial institutions, and UK, US and European distributors. Basically, anybody we could think of. Nothing. Two weeks before we were supposed to start shooting we threw in the towel. Depression set in.

When the investor agreed to increase his investment from £175K to £350K, Simon and Tim played a little trick on me. I was out of the office and when I walked in I saw a bunch of long, forlorn faces. They told me the investor had refused to go along and had pulled out of the project. Then they started to laugh. With a cry of "Ah ha, gotcha!", the champagne corks were popped (well, actually sparkling wine as we've always been low budget). Now, the investor really had pulled out. The lesson: don't tempt fate.

In an attempt to stick to our shoot dates, we sent the script to anyone we could think of who might give us money, both here and in the US. We didn't hear back from everyone but from those we did we received mixed reviews. Comments about the screenplay ranged from "Brilliant. Best thriller/horror script we've seen in a decade!" to "Derivative. Weak characters and dialogue."

You'll find the same thing with your own projects. For every person out there there's a different opinion -- whether it be of your script or your finished film. In general, people really liked "Lighthouse". The script is very well structured with some excellent Hitchcockian set pieces and a great action end sequence. Remember -- not everyone has to love your script, just enough people to get your film made.

We got our first bite of real interest from a small sales agent/production company based outside London. In our initial meeting they said they would be able to provide 25% of the financing in exchange for world-wide sales rights, with the advance to come out in first position from any sales. They would also take equity or profits participation, the amount to be negotiated later. Pretty standard stuff although I thought an advance of 25% of the budget was rather low. With all sales rights gone as well as first position recoupment, what could we offer the other investors putting up the remaining 75%? Nevertheless, it was a start. They also wanted some changes to the script and Simon visited them the following week to discuss them.

That was effectively the last we heard from them. At some point they stopped returning our phone calls. I never found out why. Even when we told them British Screen were potentially interested for up to a third of the budget we got no reply. Strange. When our private investor pulled out, we sent production packages (including scripts, storyboards, conceptual art, etc.) to everyone and his brother in a desperate (and futile) attempt to replace our funding six weeks before the film was to commence principal photography. One night, while discussing the moribund state of the film, my then girlfriend (now fiancee) asked "What about British Screen?" I said there's no way, they'd never be interested in something like "Lighthouse". They're into costume dramas and gritty social realism films. They'd never go for a serial killer stalking his victims in a lighthouse, however artistically it would be shot. Basically, we had nothing to lose.

Nothing but our last script and £1.70 in stamps. As I honestly recall, we were down to our final script with no appetite to fork out the money to copy any more. I told director Simon Hunter and co-producer Tim Dennison I was sending the package to British Screen. They both tried to dissuade me. Simon even said it was a waste of postage.

We didn't hear anything until two months later when a letter from Sara Harper at British Screen, said something like: Thank you for sending in your screenplay which I enjoyed very much. The script would benefit from further development and I would be interested in meeting with you to discuss British Screen's possible involvement in the project."

Wow, an unexpected result. A bit noncommittal, but a definite result. Here was a principal player in the British film industry interested in our little project. A meeting was arranged with British Screen. which was postponed at least twice. Sara was apologetic and explained that she was trying to get Simon Perry to attend the meeting but that it was difficult to find the time in his hectic schedule.

Now, I'm embarrassed to admit that at the time I didn't know who Simon Perry was. When I told my fellow producer Tim he was impressed. "Well, Simon Perry, that's big time...we may be on to something here."

The day for the meeting arrived. Simon, Tim and I sat down in British Screen's conference room with Sara Harper and Simon Perry. For about ten or fifteen minutes we chatted about our backgrounds, the project's history, the film industry. Then, quite suddenly, Mr Perry turned to us and said, "We like the project. We're in. We can provide up to 30% of your budget to a maximum of £500,000." It was as simple as that. It turns out that British Screen had been looking for a good thriller/horror project to back and the timing of our submission was perfect.

Since that meeting, in late October 1996, British Screen (and more importantly, Simon Perry, Sara Harper, and all the individuals who've worked directly or indirectly on the film) have been 100% behind "Lighthouse". They have been incredible, really, to maintain not only their financial commitment over two and a half years, but to have offered encouragement, advice and moral support while we struggled to find the rest of the money.

For a short while it looked like we had commitments for 55% of the budget. But then our first sales agent drifted away. We sent the script to a number of others with little success. Then, Tim mentioned an up-and-coming sales agent he had heard about called Winchester Films. We sent the script to them and they responded quite quickly. We met with Winchester in November and they boarded the project immediately. The offer on the table was that they would provide an advance against sales for about a third of the budget in exchange for world sales rights and a slice of equity/profits. For providing the financing they would be credited as Executive Producers. It was a better deal with a better sales agent than our previous one and we were happy to accept.

At this point we thought we had it made. We had commitments for two-thirds of the budget with backing from an ambitious sales agent and the seal of approval of British Screen. Well, that was November 1996. We didn't start official pre-production on the film until April 1998. Back then we never would have believed it would take so long to get the remaining money and our green light.

The first port of call for the rest of the financing was the Isle of Man. Winchester Films included "Lighthouse" in a package of films to take advantage of financing available under the Isle of Man's tax break scheme. Simon, Tim and I weren't too confident about "Lighthouse" qualifying for the scheme, as one of the conditions is that the Isle of Man as a location feature prominently in the script. "Lighthouse" is a film set at night, largely inside a lighthouse. There are a number of scenes of people clambering around rocks and along a beach. The Isle of Man certainly has rocky beaches but we doubted this would satisfy the requirement. Anyway, Winchester submitted the application in December and we hoped for the best.

During the process of finding a sales agent, the budget had steadily risen. When our angel investor pulled out, the budget was £350K (including delivery items). It then rose to £600K and soon afterwards £850K, at the suggestion of our first sales agent. At this level, and with the involvement of British Screen, the film would require a completion bond. Given that completion guarantors are averse to risk (and low-budget films are particularly risky, especially effects-laden ones like "Lighthouse"), we had to revise the budget upwards to put more money into crew rates and special effects. The budget rose to £1 million then finally settled in at just under £1.3 million, the actual budget with which we went into filming.

As part of our application to the Isle of Man we needed supporting documentation confirming funding already in place. We requested such a confirmation letter from British Screen. Since British Screen had given its commitment to the project, the budget had nearly doubled. So had British Screen's funding commitment, as we were asking them to provide a percentage of the budget.

Before providing such a letter and formally committing themselves to the higher funding level, British Screen wanted additional proof of Simon's ability to handle such a complex film as "Lighthouse". Although disappointed by the delay this would cause, I could appreciate the reason for the request. Simon had not directed anything since his graduation film "Tea & Bullets", a 30-minute short which, although impressive in its ambitions, was uneven in places. The shortcomings of "Tea & Bullets" I put down to lack of funds and an inexperienced crew. However, if I were putting several hundred thousand pounds behind Simon, I would probably want to see more of his work first. In a meeting with Simon Perry, I suggested Simon, Tim and I shoot a short film in the style and mood of "Lighthouse". Mr Perry agreed to provide some funds (to be matched by us to the extent possible).

In one week in late January, Simon and I, together with Liam Gavin, our conceptual/storyboard artist wrote six short film scripts. We submitted four to British Screen indicating our preference for "Wired", a suspense thriller involving a terrorist and a military intelligence officer. Within a week or two, "Wired" was given the green light. We spent the next month putting together our production team, crew, shot list, cast, etc. Jim Solan, who was set to be the DP on "Lighthouse" when it fell through the first time around, agreed to light and shoot the short. Jim Pilkington (director of "Pocket") joined as First AD and assisted with production management. Cast and crew fell into place nicely, and the shoot and post-production went well.

Producing "Wired" -- a 12-minute, 35mm short -- on a budget of £8,500 required us asking a lot of favours. "Wired" introduced us to a lot of facilities and equipment houses such as Bucks Labs, Fuji Film, Panavision, Michael Samuelson/VFG Lighting and dB Post Production. We approached them saying that if they helped us on "Wired" we would go back to them with "Lighthouse". As much as possible we've done just that. "Wired" itself has had it share of success. It was quickly picked up by Channel 4 and has been shown on terrestrial and pay TV. It has been invited to a number of film festivals around the world.

It was our intention to finish the film in time for Cannes in early May. We just made it.

All the Winchester team made it to the screening but unfortunately Simon Perry was too busy. In fact, looking back on it, I don't know why we even bothered trying to screen "Wired" at Cannes. Everyone is so busy down there we should have waited until their return to London. I guess it was the glamour of saying, oh, I'm screening at Cannes. Also, Winchester was pre-selling "Lighthouse" at the market and we hoped the short would make them even more excited about the project. As it turned out the screening was big success. The Winchester team (as well as one of their key investors) were quite impressed and probably somewhat relieved as well.

It wasn't until well after Cannes that we were able to screen "Wired" for Simon Perry. We rented the Bafta cinema one afternoon for a private screening. By private I mean myself, Tim and Mr Perry in a cinema that seats about 100. I sat next to Mr Perry. The film ended. He didn't say anything. A true professional, he waited until the credits finished rolling and the house lights went up. He turned to me and simply said, "That was excellent. Let's go make "Lighthouse"."

Although at the time it seemed as if it were yet another delay, "Wired" turned out to be a major benefit for us. "Wired" bolstered British Screen's and Winchester's confidence in Simon's ability as a director and Tim's and my abilities as producers. It also gave Simon additional experience with 35mm filming which he had only done once before. Most importantly, "Wired" provided us with a slick, professional calling card with which we could approach investors for the final third of our financing.

Towards the end of filming Simon started getting a number of bruises all over his body. We were sleeping at the location, and he put the bruises down to the hard floor. A day or two after the shoot he found his gums were bleeding. This was very strange and probably not due to a sudden and severe case of gum disease. He went to the emergency room not expecting anything too serious. I got a phone call late that night and rushed to the hospital. Although they weren't sure the doctors suspected he had contracted leukemia or some similar disease. It turned out to be aplastic anaemia, a serious and potentially fatal blood disease that really is a one in a million -- about 60 people a year contract it in the UK. The cause can be almost anything. Often, it is exposure to a solvent or petrochemical, or an adverse reaction to medication. They never discovered what caused it in Simon's case. The illness is similar to leukemia -- it destroys the platelets which make the blood congeal. Without his platelet infusions, Simon would have literally bled internally to death. At one point, we calculated (given the imperfect information we received from the doctors and any information we could get off the internet) that he had a 40% chance of surviving until the end of the year.

Nonetheless, we still had a film to edit. The doctors would not allow him out of the hospital for fear he would bump into something and bleed uncontrollably. They wanted to start him on his medication course as soon as possible. If that didn't work, then he would have to have a bone marrow transplant. Simon insisted on finishing "Wired". His doctors asked him, what's more important: your career or your life? He said, if I don't finish cutting this film I won't have a career. They gave him a week. During that time, Tim and I shuttled him back and forth between the hospital and the cutting room. Tim would hold him by the arm to make sure he didn't fall and I would push people out of the way so they didn't bump into him. At one point, a doctor asked him what "cutting a film" entailed. Simon said, oh, you just slice the film at the right place with a razor blade. The doctor almost fainted at the thought of Simon bleeding to death from a razor blade cut.

To cut it short -- we got the film cut without cutting Simon. Simon undertook an experimental drug course over the Summer which largely reversed the damage done to his platelets. He was lucky and is once again fit. His prospects are excellent, thank God. And his career is off and running. At that point, we figured if we could handle that we could handle just about anything.

Back to June 1997. We still had only two-thirds of our financing. That summer, we did the rounds once again of the possible financing sources, including UK and US distributors and various financing institutions in London, Los Angeles and New York. We entered talks with another private investor who liked the script and "Wired" but he eventually declined choosing to pursue his own projects. Nothing came of our efforts.

During that summer, Simon, with help from British Screen and Winchester Films, continued to work on the script. With Liam he storyboarded every action sequence on the film (by the time we began filming the storyboards would total about 2000). Tim and I worked with Simon to break down the effects sequences to figure out they could best (i.e., most cost-effectively) be achieved. We also negotiated deals for all the major expenses that would be incurred -- stock, lab costs, equipment hires, studio rental, sound post-production, etc. Nine months before actual pre-production actually commenced we had done most of it.

The obvious solution for the remainder of the money was clearly to apply to the Arts Council for Lottery funding. I suppose we could have submitted an application as early as June 1997. However, I wanted our application to be as thorough and impressive as possible. We finally submitted our application to the Arts Council in mid-August. The actual application was about 12 pages long. The supporting documents -- detailed budget, shooting schedules, storyboards, conceptual art, shot list, SFX shot breakdowns, facilities and equipment quotes -- filled five thick ring binders.

Between August and December (when we would hear from the Arts Council -- it takes about four months to process an application) we didn't have very much to do. Simon tinkered with the script and the logistics of the special effects. Basically, we were in wait mode. We figured either the Lottery comes through and we make the film or we give up. Frankly, we were sick and tired of trying to put the film together. You put your life on hold (at least your career) while trying to get your first film off the ground and it is costly, not only in terms of actual cash spent but also in terms of relationships and friendships. It can be very stressful. I know one guy who spent four years on a project. It was all teed up nicely with major cast and studio support when it fell through. He lost the rights to the project, his investor's development money and his wife (he got divorced). He also had a mental breakdown.

To relieve the boredom and to keep everyone's interest in the project, Simon shot a minute and a half teaser trailer in November. We spent about £770 on it (of which £120 was for insurance and £150 for a scratched filter). It looks like it cost thousands. The teaser gave everyone a lift. We submitted a copy to the Arts Council as part of our application.

In early December we got some bad news from British Screen. As we hadn't yet secured the remainder of our financing and as the year end was approaching, most of the funding available from the British Screen fund had been allocated to other projects. British Screen would still finance "Lighthouse" but the funding would now have to come from their European co-production fund. The problem, of course, was that required finding a European co-producer who, in order to satisfy the co-production fund requirements, could bring money to the table. Not an easy task, especially for a film like "Lighthouse" which hardly fits the profile of your average co-production movie. More headaches. The best analogy for financing a film I've heard is the one about plate spinning. The producer needs to get all the plates up and spinning at once for the project to go. It seemed as if one of the plates, a big one, was not just wobbling but had fallen and smashed on the ground.

But there was nothing to do but try to find a co-producer. British Screen and Winchester helped us out. We spent most of December and January wasting our time with a French producer who assured us he could get make a deal with a major French broadcaster or cable company. Of course, however well-intentioned, he was wasting our and his own time. We then entered talks with an established Irish producer who was much more realistic. He said it would be difficult to get any Irish money but he was willing to try.

In early December, we received word from the Arts Council that "Lighthouse" had made it to the next step in the application process -- the assessment. We were assigned an assessor who met with us to delve into the nitty gritty of the project. Mentally prepared for a grilling, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the assessor wasn't out to find fault with "Lighthouse" and grounds for its rejection. Rather, he was very fair, open-mined and supportive of the project. He asked us to provide further details on certain points and to rework some of the budget items. We submitted a revised application a week later. He then told us that his assessment would be considered by the Arts Council board and we should hear the decision in a month or two.

In early February we heard from our Lottery Officer Mark Dunford that our application was successful and that we had been awarded approximately £417K. Joyous celebrations all around. Of course, the perfect time for a trick. Tim was out of the office when the news came in. I made a copy of the Arts Council letterhead and wrote a letter saying that although we were impressed with the application we we sorry but we had decided to pass on funding the project. I then sent it from Elliot's fax machine to ours to obscure the fact that the headed paper was a fake. Everyone in the Raindance office was instructed to act sombre. Tim walked in and we showed him the letter. Tim is a man of few words and, sure enough, all he said was, "Well, that's it, then."

I told Tim that we had an emergency meeting with Winchester to discuss our next step. Of course, they already knew of our Lottery award. We got to Winchester and Gary Smith, Winchester's chief executive, looked very disappointed and muttered a few consoling words. (Gary would have made a fine actor -- perhaps that's why he's such a great salesman). At this point, Tim, who was suspicious at first, finally believed we had been rejected. Then, Gary broke out the champagne. I had got my own back on Tim.

At this point, 90% of our budget was in place. However, we still did not have a European co-producer (or his 10%). The Irish producer reported back that he was not confident of raising any money anytime soon. I decided to approach British Screen and see if there was any way we could access their main fund rather than the European Co-Production. Much as they wanted to they couldn't -- it was a question of their finances and cashflow. What if we reduced the amount we needed from the fund, I asked. The difference could be made up in part from the large Lottery award and in part by increasing the commitment from Winchester. British Screen agreed and we had secured our financing.

Or had we? Winchester had committed to us over a year and a half before that it would provide an advance against pre-sales. Indeed, with nothing more than the script, Winchester had already secured pre-sales in Germany, Italy, Iceland and South Africa. We now needed about £470K. Winchester now had to find the money. But trying to finance against pre-sales and sales agent estimates is no easy task no matter who your sales agent is. Especially on a low budget with a first-time director and essentially first-time producers. Particularly with a no-name cast (at least in terms of film financing). As an up-and-coming sales agent with a growing reputation in the industry (particularly after their success with "Shooting Fish") Winchester had a number of avenues to explore. Eventually, Winchester entered into negotiations with a Los Angeles bank.

Now that it looked like we were close to securing our full budget we set a date for official (i.e., cashflowed) pre-production to begin in early April 1998. We figured that by setting a firm date we could concentrate everyone's mind on the tasks of finalising our funding and negotiating contracts. We were worried about our shooting schedule. At that time we planned to do an extensive location shoot, at least two weeks' worth. Since the location shooting would be difficult (rocky beach at night) we wanted to do it at the end of the shoot when our crew had had a chance to gel as a unit. If our start date was delayed significantly we would be shooting our location scenes in the fall/winter with all the attendant problems of bad weather and cold nights. Otherwise, we would have to begin principal photography with the difficult location shoot during the summer when there wouldn't be enough nighttime hours. We could delay our early April pre-production start date by at most three weeks otherwise we would probably have to delay filming until the following year.

The negotiations between Winchester, the American bank and the other financiers dragged on very slowly. This was one of the more stressful and fatalistic periods during the "Lighthouse" saga. We could see the April start date approaching quickly with little apparent progress in the negotiations. Conference calls would be held in which financing terms would be agreed. A week later, a fax of the revised agreement would show up with the agreed changes, as well as several others that had never been discussed. It went back and forth for weeks. Our April pre-production start date came and went. Tim, Simon and I were getting very stressed out.

Then, we got a call from Gary Smith at Winchester. He had found a private investor to replace the American bank. With a minimum of fuss and within a week or two, a financing arrangement acceptable to all parties was negotiated. The financiers agreed to providing limited funds while contracts were drawn up, and pre-production officially commenced on 27th April of last year.