House of horror (From Stroud News and Journal)

House of horror

"When you talk to people in Cannes, everyone knows someone in Stroud."

Stroud, it seems, is a town that can cross countries and continents when it comes to artistic talent. The wealth of creative input that goes into creating the rich tapestry of the district is becoming recognised around the globe as film producer David Pearson found when he found himself on a jaunt to the Cannes Film Festival

"YOU have to have a vision," said David Pearson, from his studio on Daniels Industrial Estate in Stroud. "What film producers have is a vision of something other people can't imagine yet."

Vision is in abundance at Arturi, the film company he set up two years ago with co-producer Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock. They have just returned from the 58th Cannes International Film Festival, where they braved rain, insomnia and men dressed only in cling film to secure funding for their latest project, Touching Fear.

They describe Touching Fear as a range of low-budget horror movies with "intelligent stories, not just slash and gore horror."

At present, it includes three films: The One That Got Away, The Chain and The Dungeon Master.

"It's a package of the script, the director and the talent - the actors," said Elizabeth.

"The idea in the long run is they'll become a brand like Hammer House of Horror," said David.

"There's a lot of horror about that's not very frightening. We want the audience to feel they ought to be hiding behind their seats."

The Cannes Film Festival, which he describes as "about half a million people chasing each others' tails," is widely regarded as the world's most prestigious.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of film-makers, critics and fans descend upon the town, and the event continues to snowball.

This year, 83 countries were represented and the Cannes Film Market announced an 8 percent increase in attendance compared to 2004, despite the rain.

"This year we had the worst weather there it's had for ten years," said David. "It was pouring down.

"There are two sides to Cannes - one is launching films that have been made and the other half of it, which is bigger than the side that's shown, is people trying to buy and sell films and get the money to have them made.

"Everyone is vying with each other to get attention. There were about six girls with the longest legs and the shortest skirts in the world trying to attract attention for something, though we never quite figured out what.

"There were people dressed only in cling film. Essentially you can do anything in Cannes during the film festival.

"Some of the parties are pretty exotic but you can't really relax because you might be about to discover the next big thing."

Elizabeth said: "I think the more experience you have of Cannes the less time you try to spend there, because you don't sleep very much and the business can get done in a few days."

But their sleepless nights are beginning to pay dividends. They say they have had "a lot of interest" in Touching Fear, and hope to start production before Christmas.

"Producers have to be able to convince people that it's economically viable," said David.

"You have to be able to convey that conviction to other people who can't see it."

"You can come out of film school and have a great story but it's not going to be successful unless you know who the great people to work with are and who has money," said Elizabeth.

"A lot of people say they have money but they don't. You really have to be able to bring the right people together."

David is a former BBC executive, while Elizabeth originally trained as a dancer before working her way up from runner to casting agent to producer.

They met while working in the same building for different companies. "We got on well so we combined forces," said David.

"You have to like the people you work with because otherwise you are making it harder, and it's already hard."

They moved into their Stroud base two months ago, having decided they wanted to work in the area they lived in rather than commuting to London every day.

"Increasingly people are making movies here," said David, who also chairs the Gloucestershire Media Group, a non profit-making organisation which promotes the region's talent.

"For some reason this area is full of people who work in or with every aspect of film-making. It's funny, because when you talk to people in Cannes, everyone knows someone in Stroud. It's one of those places that has a recognition factor way beyond its size."