from the heart of a boy comes the story of a man PRESS PACK
Based on a true story..
Lad: A Yorkshire Story is the heart-warming tale of a thirteen year old boy who comes to terms with the loss of his dad through the friendship he forms with a park ranger in the Yorkshire Dales.
T: (44) 020 8981 6115 M: (44) 7887 548 640 E: [email protected] www.ladayorkshirestory.com LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRES PACK About the Film
Synopsis Context When Tom Proctor’s dad dies his world falls apart; his brother joins Over and again filmmakers have trained their lenses on the landscape the army, his mum is threatened with eviction and he faces a criminal and people of Yorkshire and triumphed at the box office. From stories prosecution after spreading manure over the local bank. about communities in decline such as The Full Monty and Brassed Off, to individuals rising up and empowering themselves as with Calendar Girls All this changes however when Tom meets park ranger Al Thorpe in this and Little Voice. inspiring story of two individuals overcoming adversity and finding true friendship. Never before however has there been a film that explores the profound relationship between the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales and the The debut feature film from BAFTA nominated director Dan Hartley. communities that thrive inside it’s boundaries. With stunning cinematography and naturalistic performances from it’s first-time cast, Lad: A Yorkhsire Story is a classic story filled with humour, heartbreak and hope that will appeal across all generations. LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK
In telling this story, I’m coming home. I’m returning to the villages and communities Director’s Vision that I grew up amongst and to my delight I’m finding that the world I cherished lives on. The boy from down the street is now married to the girl who lived on the farm. The farmer, the publican, the quarry man, they all still live here, drink there, celebrate this and disagree about that. The community that I left behind when I was sixteen still thrives and I want this film to be a celebration of that. The ranger in my life was a man called Al Boughen, a park ranger whom I gravitated towards as a teenager; accompanying him on weekends and school holidays as he attended to his park duties. When I was sixteen my family emigrated to Australia and though I wasn’t to know it at the time, I was never to see Al again. Over the intervening years I’ve thought often of Al and the desire to tell his story has bubbled away as I’ve made the progression from film industry runner to director. Finally in the autumn of October 2010 I felt that the time was right and I began to put into motion the script that would eventually become Lad: A Yorkshire Story. Whether through fate or happenstance, the embarkment of this journey coincided with Al’s passing and though I wasn’t to meet Al again, I was lucky enough to meet his widow Pat, and through conversations and photos was able to piece together a portrait of the man throughout his years as a park ranger. It was humbling to see these old photos of Al at work. He was a striking figure, immaculately dressed no matter how strenuous the work. And fit too, a testament to his younger years as a Queen’s guard. Armed with the photos and Pat’s blessing, I began to craft the story of a boy and his mentor, along the way discovering some incredible local acting talent, including the two leads, Bretten Lord who would play Tom and Alan Gibson who would play Al in the final film. With a combination of workshops and improvisation we worked on finding the voice for the characters and their relationship. With their gift for improvisation and inherent naturalism they fell into the roles and I crafted the film around their real-life friendship. The making of Lad has been truly life transforming and the professional pinnacle I grew up in the Dales. Every formative experience I of my life to date. What started as a process of introspection became so much had was shaped by the landscape that surrounded more and the relationships that I formed with the people who helped to bring the film to life will be ever lasting, as will my renewed appreciation of the landscape me. I can’t begin to describe just how powerful that that shapes the Dales. feeling still is to me today. In so many ways too this is a coming home story, an opportunity to close the circle that opened when I left for Australia so many years ago and with it, the opportunity to once more call Yorkshire my home, which is perhaps the greatest But I can show it. gift of all. In telling this story, I’m coming home. I’m returning to the villages and LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK Cast & Crew
Dan Hartley Writer, Director, Producer, Editor
Dan Hartley joined the film industry after obtaining a WINNER WINNER degree in Law at Newcastle University. After two years NEW PRODUCER ALLIANCE NEW PRODUCER ALLIANCE working on commercials, as a runner. Dan was employed SHORT FILM COMPETITION SHORT FILM COMPETITION by Warner Bros. as a video co-ordinator on Harry Potter AUDIENCEWA ARD JURY AWARD & The Philosopher’s Stone, a position he held through all subsequent films. WINNER NOMINATED As such Dan has led a team of up to five video operators, BOSTON INTERNATIONAL BAFTA CYMRU AWARDS FILM FESTIVAL using a digital playback system with a large degree of set- editing and compositing for Visual FX. Amongst his other credits are Clash of the Titans 2, The Bourne Ultimatum, Love You, Joseff Hughes Eragon, Maleficent, All You Need is Kill and a number of other studio films. As a filmmaker Dan has directed ten short films that have played at dozens of international film festivals winning WINNER WINNER BAFTA CANNES FILM FESTIVAL numerous awards. His most recent film White Other starring Imelda Staunton and Tom Felton is currently BIG PITCH COMPETITION 24 HOUR CHALLENGE touring international film festivals and is supported by an innovative interactive website at http://www. whiteother.com. Dan’s next film is a thriller set in Alaska called Black Ice, which recently won the BAFTA Black Ice Serial Filmmakers ‘Big Pitch’ competition and which he intends to shoot in summer 2014. LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK Cast & Crew
Richard Shean David Mackie Producer Cinematographer Richard has a life long passion for cinema and has Last year David completed the feature film The Last worked in the industry since 2002. He started as an Seven, and the short film White Other with Imelda in-house runner before moving into the video Staunton (Vera Drake) and Tom Felton (Harry department on feature films. Potter). Since that time he has worked on many high In addition to these, he has shot over a dozen short profile films including Harry Potter, War Horse, films including the award winning Maybe Older (Fuji Alice in Wonderland and The Bourne Ultimatum Scholarship Awards), Stricken (Soho Shorts Sony working with renowned directors such as Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. Newcomers Award runner up), as well as Taylor’s Trophy, which picked up numerous international awards. He has a number of producing credits to his name including White Other starring Imelda Staunton and Tom Felton and Buck Diablo starring Anthony Barton. He has shot ads for Land Rover and Sunday Telegraph as well as a number of music promos for tracks by Coldplay, Oi Va Voi, Milke and L*Star to name a few. As a camera assistant David learned from some of the world’s leading cinematographers, working for, amongst others, Wally Pfister (on Batman Begins & The Dark Knight), Seamus McGarvey (on Nowhere Boy), and Adrian Biddle (on V for Vendetta). LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK Cast & Crew
Bretten Lord Nancy Clarkson Alan Gibson Molly McGlynn Tom Proctor Sarah Proctor Al Thorpe Lucy Thorpe Bretten is 14 years Nancy is from a Al Left school with Molly, who is 18, old and was raised small mill town in very few qualifica- comes from Grange- in the same village Lancashire who tions and joined over-Sands. She is as director Dan graduated with a BA the Merchant Navy currently studying Hartley. His parents (hon) in Event Man- and later the army. Performing Arts at owned the local pub agemenet before During this time he Kendal College. She and so he spent his pursuing a career spent seven years became a member formative years interacting with the locals. as an actress. In New York she studied at with the Royal Artillery and five years with of the National Youth Theatre at 13 and at- He went to Austwick School for a short the American Academy of Dramatic Arts the Airborne forces, completing six tours tended Kendal Stagecoach Theatre School time then onto Clapham Primary and is and the William Esper Studio (Meisner of Northern Ireland, two small wars in for 11 years. She is now an assistant there now at Settle College. He loves acting technique) and performed in a number of Africa, a year in Columbia and was part of for 4-7 year olds. and singing and has been a member of the conservatory theatre productions, making the Task Force sent to liberate the Falk- Since playing Mary in the nursery nativity, Settle Operatic Society since 2008 when her off Broadway debut in a production of land Islands in 1982. Molly has always known that acting was her he played Oliver. He also played Jerome in The Amerissiah by Derek Ahonen before After leaving the Army in 1984 Al held a future. She hopes to attend Drama School South Pacific this year. heading back to England. Since that time number of jobs in the hospitality industry. in 2012. She loves music and cycling, and she has had lead roles in two independ- Bretten is a member of Take One Drama Despite never having acted profession- was a finalist in the CBBC’s children’s ent feature films and now spends her time Group and appears in pantomime with ally before, Alan was drawn to the role of programme Raven. travelling between the Uk and the US them. His other loves are karate and Al and attended an open audition for the where she currently resides. animals and he has a pet crow called Colin. part. Since that time he has secured an agent and is now embarking on a career as an actor. LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK Production
It’s quite possible that Lad: A Yorkshire with a view to showcasing the changing heads of department and so everyone Even the local council surprised us by allowing Story might never have been made. With our landscape and echoing the development of helped across a multitude of disciplines. us to convert the town hall into a bank and intended shoot date approaching we had no our lead actor Bretten on his journey towards A local lad who worked in a bank became then giving us permission to spread several finance, an unfinished script, half our cast and manhood. In so doing we established a our gaffer. A student from the local college tonnes of manure across the front of it! the challenge of finding a crew that would, at principle that guided the production from operated the boom and a childhood friend Looking back at the production now, I realise least initially, be willing to work for free. That that point – that we would shoot the film became our photographer. That said we how incredibly blessed we were. From the all these obstacles were resolved in just one chronologically and allow the story to adapt to also had some experienced hands to guide stunning local actors to the hard working crew, month of pre-production feels little short of changes as they occurred. It was this organic us with professional crew from the likes of favourable weather and community support, miraculous. But from the outset there was a process that ultimately gave Lad the heart Harry Potter and James Bond comprising we managed to create something that to us special energy that the film engendered, a that it needed; the actors developed genuine our camera crew and this combination of feels like much more than just a film. feeling simply of something being ‘right’. But relationships with one another and as these experience and newcomers worked together just as importantly independent filmmaking relationships evolved, so too did the story. with surprising ease and professionalism. Making Lad was a life changing experience for thrives on the unknown and the unplanned But there was also another advantage in this many of those involved in it and we hope that In other areas the community proved vital and from the outset we determined that our grassroots approach, in that the distinction it touches the world in the same way that it through their contribution and support. limitations would become our advantage. between cast and crew evaporated with touched us. The National Park service provided us with everyone taking an investment in the whole So in the winter of early 2011 we gathered the expertise and use of a Land Rover that was and contributing to the part. crew into a village hall that would become our featured throughout the film. They also production office and began the year long In terms of the crew, they could not have helped us gain permission for the numerous process of crafting the film. One of the first done more for the film. Because of our limited locations that would serve as the backdrop for decisions we made was to shoot the film in a budget we couldn’t afford many of the usual our story and which were spread throughout number of ‘blocks’ the national park. LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK The Tour Spring 2013 In 2013 we will be taking Lad: A Yorkshire Story on a tour of all fourteen UK national parks,
From the heartland of North Yorkshire through the highlands Yorkshire Dales Snowdonia of Scotland to the mountains of Wales and the lowlands of the New Forest, in spring 2013 we aim to take Lad: A York- North York Moors New Forest shire Story into the heart of the communities that comprise Northumberland Dartmoor the fifteen UK National Parks. Whether it be a small village hall, outdoor cinema or local art Cairngorms Exmoor space, we want to take the film off the beaten track and into the most beautiful parts of the country so that it be enjoyed Lake District Pembrokeshire with the same spirit that engendered its creation. As well as providing a platform to introduce the film to the Loch Lomond South Downs world, we also want to honour the ethos of the film by giving back to the communities we visit and as such will be provid- Brecon Beacons Broads ing filmmaking workshops in schools and colleges within each Peak District national park. LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK Sponsorship HEADLINE SPONSOR - 30 second video ident before each screening - Named sponshorship of the tour in all national publicity - Endorsements in TV/Radio/Newspaper coverage For an opportunity to be - Use of publicity photographs and footage from the film associated with Lad: A - Logo featured on www.ladayorkshirestory.com Yorkshire Story, please get in - Logo featured in social media touch with us via our website
www.ladayorkshirestory.com REGIONAL SPONSORS
- Poster and print advertising at screening venues - Named sponsorship in all regional publicity - Sponsorship of our youth workshops
SUPPORTER
- We want you to see our film and welcome all sug- gestions for screening venues through the UK and abroad. As such if you’d like to request a screening we’d love to hear from you. - We need your voice. Please support our film by visiting our website and social media portals. http:www.ladayorkshirestory.com http:www.facebook.com/ladayorkshirestory. http:www.twitter.com/LADthefilm LAD: A YORKSHIRE STORY PRESS PACK In Memory
AL BOUGHEN Yorkshire Dales National Park Warden 1975–1990 1933–2010 The inspiration for this story