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After scouring a handful of locations, U.K.-based Msr Media producer Philippe Martinez has landed on the Caribbean island of Nevis to shoot six films back-to-back. With the pandemic still wreaking havoc in many countries, Nevis Island ticked all the boxes where stringent protocols have rendered few cases and no deaths. “One has to think outside the box when you’re a producer; we decided to shoot in the Caribbean when we saw that the pandemic was not abating,” said Martinez, who despite Covid restrictions, shot two films in the U.K.: “Father Christmas Is Back,” which he directed and produced, starring Liz Hurley, Kelsey Grammer and John Cleese, and “Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop,” with Nathalie Cox and Grammer.

“We closed the country down on March 25 and opened our borders on Oct. 31, but with some restrictions still in place,” noted Jadine Yarde, CEO, Nevis Tourism Authority.

US acquisitions manager will handle feature film development at the UK-based production company.

Msr Media has appointed Nick Royak as vice president of development as the UK-based production company continues to build its slate of features.

Royak joins from US distributor Gravitas Ventures, which he first joined in May 2014. He most recently held the position of senior acquisitions manager, picking up more than 200 titles, and was previously international sales and business development manager, operating as one of the company’s key sales executives at international markets.

At Msr Media, Royak will oversee the development of feature films submitted to the...

Exclusive: UK production and sales firm Msr Media is planning to shoot comedy feature One Year Off on the relatively Covid-free Caribbean island of Nevis, the producers and island’s leadership are announcing today.

Stringent Covid-19 guidelines, as well as its location, have helped Nevis avoid many of the ravages of the virus. To date, Nevis and neighboring island Saint Kitts have only recorded 37 Covid cases and no deaths.

One Year Off will be directed by Brad Watson (Miss Willoughby And The Haunted Bookshop) and is being produced by Msr principal Philippe Martinez (Father Christmas Is Back) and Stewart Thomson (BBC’s The Break) from a script by Kate Wood (Miss Willoughby And The Haunted Bookshop). Casting is underway.

The film will follow a woman who rekindles an old flame on the island only to discover that ‘paradises’ have their own challenges.

A cast and crew of about 50 people have...

BAFTA and industry training group Rocliffe have selected eight TV comedy writers they deem to be the UK’s most promising, and they’re taking them on the road. Three of the scripters will head to the Edinburgh TV Festival in August and the other five will go to the New York TV Festival in October where their works will be performed by professional actors. The BBC will also pay for a full script commission from one of the writers selected for Edinburgh. The initiative hails from the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum, now in its third year of bringing talent to New York. It’s adding Edinburgh for the first time. The writers were chosen from a pool of about 500 candidates by a jury that included Jessica Hynes (Twenty Twelve), Caryn Mandabach (Nurse Jackie), Tom Anderson (Cheers), and reps from the major UK broadcasters. Click over for a round-up...

The low budget initiative will be run at Edinburgh Napier University for a second year.

A search for Scotland’s next generation of talented film-makers has been launched for a second year, with a call for screenplays.

Contemporary Scottish stories are being sought by lo-fi, a low budget film initiative run by Screen Academy Scotland - a Creative Skillset Film & Media Academy at Edinburgh Napier University.

lo-fi Phase 1 will see up to six screenplays developed over an eight month period by up-and coming Scottish talent.

The projects will then be pitched to an industry panel, where one screenplay will be selected for advanced development and financing – lo-fi Phase 2.

Last year, five Scottish film-making teams were selected for lo-fi and now, after three development workshops, the finance panel chose the feature film Rocket Surgery (written by Glaswegian writer Stewart Thomson, to be directed by Luke Snellin) to go forward for financing and intended production.

The story centres...