SAXON (UK, Sillwood Films Ltd, 2007) is an independent Britfilm written and directed by Greg Loftin, produced by Elise Valmorbida and starring Sean Harris in his first feature lead role. The world premiere on 22 August 2007 is part of the British Gala selection of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Set on a fictional corrupt housing estate called SAXON, the film is a hybrid genre: comedy, drama, mystery, thriller and spaghetti western by turns. The story runs along classic lines: a reformed bad man is compelled to undertake a desperate mission which unleashes the demons of his past. Strong plotting and comedy aside, the film is concerned with issues of race, celebrity and violence. Sean Harris is a British actor. ... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... The Edinburgh International Film Festival or EIFF is part of the Edinburgh Festival, which takes place every August, in Edinburgh. ... The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ... A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ... Mystery film is a film genre which uses mystery as an element to the plot. ... The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. ... Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ...

Principal Cast

Sean Harris, Sarah Matravers, Michelle Connolly, Henry Kelly, Tony O’Leary, Drew Edwards, Stephen Manwaring, Paul McNeilly, Divian Ladwa

Principal Crew

Director: Greg Loftin Producer: Elise Valmorbida Screenplay: Greg Loftin Line producer: Sam Parsons Director of photography: Steven Priovolos Music: Michael Portman and Vincent Browett Executive producers: Elise Valmorbida, Greg Loftin, Jack Fidler, Barry Bassett

In development

SAXON is the brainchild of writer-director Greg Loftin, who developed the original screenplay over several years, quoting as influences classical Greek tragedy and the Clint Eastwood film Unforgiven. The script garnered rave reviews from Triggerstreet.com, Kevin Spacey’s website for screenwriters, eg: “Enjoyed every second. Great dialogue, well-paced, very funny… Eddie's the down-and-out anti-hero we've come to love in British films, beginning with Clockwork Orange.” This article is about the actor/producer/director. ... This article is about the 1992 film. ... Kevin Spacey (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor (film and stage) and director. ... A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian 1962 novel by the Mancunian writer Anthony Burgess, adapted as a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971. ...

Acclaim

SAXON won Official Selection in the 61st Edinburgh Film Festival under the artistic direction of Hannah McGill. Debut feature director Greg Loftin was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature. Loftin’s earlier short film ‘‘Don Juan’’ appeared at the Santander Film Festival. First-time producer Elise Valmorbida, also a published writer (‘‘Matilde Waltzing’’, ‘‘The Book of Happy Endings’’), was honoured as a Skillset/EIFF Trailblazer, one of ten film-making talents in the UK to win this accolade. EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill wrote of SAXON: “Startling UK thriller brings the grit of 70s Hollywood to a messed-up London estate… Sizzling with tension and vivid, near-surreal imagery, this is a forceful and confident debut.” There have been several well-known people named Michael Powell or Mike Powell, including: Mike Powell (writer and filmmaker), creator of the movies Discretion and Chorus Mike Powell (athlete), world record holder in the long jump Michael Powell (director), a British film director of the The Red Shoes (film) Michael... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Skillset is the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries in the UK. It was founded by David Puttnam, and is jointly funded by industry and government. ...

Synopsis

London, the present. Soon after leaving prison, Eddie has his eye cut out by a loan shark chasing an old debt. Eddie's other eye will only be spared upon repayment. Desperate for cash, Eddie phones Linda, a childhood sweetheart. She lives in SAXON - a ghost-town of grim flats run by a corrupt council. Linda is very wealthy. Her husband Kevin won a million pounds on a TV quiz show. But Kevin has gone missing, feared dead. Eddie offers his services as an amateur sleuth, and so embarks on a comically gruesome journey through the surreal underworld of SAXON: the place where he grew up, the place where his mother works as a prostitute, the place where he murdered a bailiff.

Micro-budget EIS

SAXON was funded entirely by private equity, including the producers’ own mortgage. The film’s financing structure was first announced publicly in ScreenFinance magazine: “Sillwood Films is launching a micro-budget Enterprise Investment Scheme to finance its urban thriller Saxon. Unusually… The EIS will be used to give a tax incentive to individuals who have already put money into the film.” As with many micro-budget productions, SAXON’s cast and crew worked on the basis of part-deferred fees. Other professionals worked for company shares rather than cash. Post-production was delivered by St Anne’s Post (part of the giant Ascent Media Group) under the direction of Patrick Malone. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is a series of tax reliefs designed to encourage investments in small unquoted companies carrying on a qualifying trade in the United Kingdom. ...

External links

• EIFF Artistic Director review
• EIFF Featured Article
• Official website
• British Council Britfilms
• International Media Database

ScreenFinance Volume 18, Number 22, November 30, 2005 Angel Magazine, April 2006