Take three!
by Nilma Dole
So what do you get when you whip
together a hip Hollywood producer with two brilliant British talents by
way of a prime producer and a dynamic director thrown in a Sri Lankan
pot of fire? An electric concoction of luminescent lights, candid camera
and raw racy action with a whole bunch of idiosyncrasies along the way!
 Meeting Mary Pat Bentel, Shirani Sabaratnam and Giles Greenwood is
like you’ve opened a whole Pandora’s Box of the unimaginable.
The flickering flick would be the best thing that happened to Sri
Lanka since sliced bread and no kidding, it could even possibly raise a
few interested eyebrows of the Oscar judging panel. Still sceptical?
Going to Giles, the director of the film christened ‘Kayman’s Gate’, who
has been to Sri Lanka often enough to appreciate our country’s
potential. Of course, as a die-hard surfer he has drank in enough of Sri
Lankan sea water to know that we do have the potential to make it big
and in the form of pretty good movie locations.
“We’ve seen many locations and we have had to rework the script to
suit the country which was a rather formidable task,” said Giles, who
has designed the trendy merchandise for artistes such as Coldplay and
Dido. You think that’s heavy stuff? b That’s not all, Giles has been
directing music videos, commercial and short films for seven years and
doesn’t look a day older than 35.
What would ring a bell in any movie maniac head are his two recent
short films, ‘Cinco De Mayo’ and ‘Chronic’ that were not only both
accepted as an Official Submissions to the Academy Awards Narrative
Short Film Category, but also ‘Cinco De Mayo’ won the Gold Award at the
Houston International Film Festival in 2008.
With an advertising clientele including Aston Martin, Expedia, EMI,
The Times and even the Mayor of London, Giles definitely has something
more than just warming the director’s chair. Shirani Sabaratnam is a
versatile television producer with a nose to sniff out a good story for
any network. Working with a multitude of network and international
broadcasters, she has brainstormed quality programs for BBC, PBS
America, UKTV and an assortment of major independent production
companies. A bubbly character and a well versed woman with over a decade
of experience in filmmaking, she has crossed film ‘finish’ lines with
such Olympian spirit that it never fails to be carried in her optimistic
aura.
At present, Shirani is working as an Executive Producer for BBC
Worldwide and has given new cooking meaning to the show ‘Market Kitchen’
which has even been hosted by Tom Parker Bowles (Camilla’s son).
We were also informed that Shirani was one of the first women in Sri
Lanka to have a three wheeler licence that she has yet to put into use
on the streets of Colombo so clearly, Shirani has the background to get
down and dirty in producing a film! “We are in talks with Colin Farrell,
Tom Hardy and James Franco to play the lead male role and either Melissa
George, Diane Kruger or Shannon Sossamon as the lead female while Willa
Holland, Lyndsy Fonseca, Hayley Atwell might be names to play the
supporting female role,” said Shirani moving her green painted
fingernails in dexterous gestures with her interesting media personality
husband Stuart Cosgrove supporting her from the sidelines.
So fingers crossed, we hope that these stars can make it to Sri
Lanka! At present, one of the sensational names in Hollywood to visit
Sri Lanka for the first time is the gorgeous Mary Pat Bentel who is an
independent producer based in Los Angeles. She’s currently promoting
‘Bold Native’, an action adventure. Juggling her film oranges like a
trapeze artist, she’s also in post production on ‘The Lie’ a comedy
based on the T. Coraghessan Boyle short story and is working on
‘Spectacular Regret’ with 50 Cent himself, ‘Just Add Water’ with Danny
DeVito and Ja Rule and has worked on a documentary starring Sheryl Crow
in ‘Rockstar’.
Mary doesn’t stop at that, she does produce short films for the
directing kind she truly believes in, tilting towards good will and
sometimes towards satire. Plus, she has also directed music videos,
commercials and web series for massive studio names such as Paramount,
Disney and Fox. Beware Sri Lankan boys, you might do a double take -
Mary does have a pretty face to go with her pretty talent. Together
these renowned gurus have locked horns to give birth (literally) to
Mystery Mile films, an enigmatic combination of their creative juices to
take the flick ‘Kayman’s Gate’ to an international platform.
 With a budget of US$2 million and armed with a script enough to hold
you on the edge of your seats, ‘Kayman’s Gate’ tracks the trail of Eli
Tanner who is on a quest to find his sister Megan against the backdrop
of Sri Lanka’s magnificent beauty and friendly people but it’s not going
to be easy! However, it’s more than just the film location of Sri Lanka
that intrigues these hotshot movie makers but the fact that they want to
give back to the country. “We want to put as much money into the
country’s economy and are also keen on getting an apprenticeship where
people can train with us to know the finer art of film making,” said
Shirani. Though, wannabes aren’t what they want - just the real hard
deal.
“The film industry is not for those looking for glamour, it is a
competitive field where rejection happens so often that you can’t keep
track of it,” said Shirani. With a fiery soundtrack and mega music
decorating the film, Giles said, “We want to foster mutual exchange of
ideas, talent and knowledge between international experts with Sri
Lankans to give rise to a good project.”
They advise young talent to never give up and learn as much as they
can to build a solid foundation with a positive spirit. With a goal to
make a successful and entertaining feature film in our beautiful country
in May 2011, Sri Lanka can now look up to the stars and possibly
fulfilling that dream of an international Academy award! |
