A good romantic comedy ???

We are preparing a reading of our current draft of "Enchanting Rupert" and I am very much looking forward to it. There are many things we would like to test and find out, there are many details to hone... but most importantly, we will continue our discussion about what it is that drives us to make this film, what it is that draws us to the story and characters of "Enchanting Rupert" - and how we can make that apparent to our audience.

In this article in the New York Times Maureen Dowd publishes an eMail dialogue that she has had with a writer-friend. They discuss why there are so many bad romantic comedies these days and so very few good ones.

"It happened one night"

It is certainly true that throughout recent years a lot of romantic films have appeared oddly homogenous. Just think of the ad campaigns of films like "The Proposal", "Valentine's Day" or "The Rebound". They all feature posters on a white background with the title in (bold) red letters and the two principal actors smiling broadly. - And I agree with Maureen Dowd, as exchangeable as these posters are, so are the films they are promoting.

Maybe it lies within our age of corporate culture, brand identity and target groups that brings a particular exploitative quality to romantic film. Stories about love, romantic dreams and entangled human relation ships have always sold well... and whatever sells well can be refined, re-created and manufactured...

"Pretty Woman"

As true (and maybe unavoidable) as that might be from a business point of view, it is not why we got into making films or why we like romantic stories as much. Thinking about watching classics like "It happened one night" (Frank Capra, 1934), "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) or "Pretty Woman" (1990) for the first time I remember how they made a lasting impression, how you adored the characters, the small details and moments, how they made you dream and how you really were looking forward to watching it again... Although these films certainly have been conceived as commercial productions (very much like the films mentioned earlier) the difference is that their makers deeply cared about what they were doing.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Caring about your story... Understanding your characters. Accepting that the first idea is rarely the best. Being playful about it all. Keep trying to make it even better. Wanting to do it!
Now, making these thoughts the guide lines of a production might sound like reaching for high ideals - which it exactly is. Well, call me an idealist then! But if these are not our guide lines then there is no point in making a film like "Enchanting Rupert". I cannot guarantee that we will succeed - as with every new production it is a new adventure - but we will certainly try our best and and I, for one, cannot wait to find out to see how far we can go.


Rainer

Welcome to the production diary of 'Enchanting Rupert", our wonderfully magic, quirkily romantic modern day fairy tale.

Imagine you bumped into a cross-dressing Scotsman on your way home and were offered a magic potion that could turn you into anything you wanted. What would you do? Who would you want to be?

When this happens to Rupert he decides to turn himself from a shy guy into the perfect man for his perfect woman, Cindy. But as you know about magic spells, they only last till sunrise... and things always look different in the morning.

"Enchanting Rupert" is a 30min short feature film which we we will shoot in London in November.

Stay tuned here for our production diary and check out our website www.playonfilms.co.uk

The Producers (Rainer, Jan, Gugulethu, Rikki-Lee)

hello world

hello world