19 May 2009

Hooley's Good Vibrations For Big Screen

The man behind the emergence of Northern Ireland's own punk music revolution, Terri Hooley, (pictured) is to hit the big screen, reports Brenda McNeill.

The new movie Good Vibrations is currently in pre-production by a team that includes the partnership behind another NI-based movie success, Cherrybomb.

Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, are the husband and wife film-making team behind the 'sold out, stand out' local production that starred at this year's Belfast Film Festival.

They are now working with local writers Glenn Patterson and Colin Carvery on a screenplay about the life of Terri Hooley.

Glenn Leyburn said: "It tracks Terri's life from the late sixties right through the whole period of The Troubles.

"Terri was the person who put out 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones and was involved in the punk scene in a big way; it's a brilliant story," he said.

The local success of Cherrybomb - starring Rupert Grint, Kimberley Nixon and Robert Sheehan - has this week seen it 'explode' at the Cannes Film Festival - as part of the producers' bid to sign an international distribution deal.

Back in Belfast Lisa Barros D'Sa explained: "We've formed a production company together with David Holmes who did the music for the Cherrybomb film.

"We have a couple of features that we will be doing as co-productions, one of which is a script that I am writing which is a spooky, psychological thriller.

"However, the other project is Good Vibrations, which we are working on with these two really brilliant local writers," she said, noting that the life of Terri Hooley makes an excellent subject.

Still at Cannes and there's news of a €6m movie being filmed in Ireland later this year - again with a Cherrybomb connection - through the film's music.

It was revealed at the Cannes Film Festival by the Irish Film Board (IFB) who announced Octagon Film's latest venture, The Last Furlong.

It will go into production in November with filming taking place in Dublin and Wicklow.

The project will be directed by Agnes Merlet, produced by James Flynn, and is scripted by Nick Murphy, who previously worked on a series of the Irish language television drama, The Running Mate.

The multi-million euro feature film was presented at a reception for the Irish film industry in Cannes to promote the best of new Irish cinema.

DJ David Holmes - who did the music for the Cherrybomb film - played a special performance for guests, who included Aidan Gillan from US series The Wire and even Robbie Sheehan, one of the Cherrybomb stars.

Meanwhile another new Irish film, Lend Me Your Face, will begin production in Ireland this month with filming in Dublin and New York.

Funded by IFB, it is directed by Maurice Linnane, written by Barry Devlan, and stars Jayne Wiserner from Coleraine (who starred in Sweeney Todd), Mark O'Halloran (Adam and Paul) and Lee Arenberg (Pirates of the Caribbean).

(BMcC/KMcA)