Shooting Fish director Stefan Schwartz is directing The Best Man, a romantic comedy that is part of a trio of new filmson the AFM slate of UK-based sales agency The Works.

Shooting has already startedon the story of a hapless best man who falls in love with the bride. Thepicture, which stars Stuart Townsend, Amy Smart and Seth Green, will bereleased by Redbus in the UK, with German-speaking rights taken by PictorionPictures.

Neil Peplow is producing forInsider Films, with backing from development and production financier SureFireFilms, The Works' affiliated production operation The Film Consortium and theUS' Endgame.

SureFire, which has aminority stake in The Works' parent Civilian Content, is also bankrolling The Proposition, written by musician NickCave and directed by John Hillcoat, whose credits include Ghosts Of The Civil Dead. Set in 1880s Australia, the film iscurrently shooting and stars Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Ray Winstone, DannyHuston, John Hurt and David Wenham.

Cat Villiers, Chiara Menage,Jackie O'Sullivan and Chris Brown are producing the film, which has pre-sold toAustralia (Columbia TriStar), the UK (Tartan Films), Benelux (A Film) andPortugal (Lusomundo).

Another new SureFire-backedtitle is Gillies MacKinnon's Tara Road,a romantic drama set in Ireland which is also shooting now. Based on MaeveBinchy's novel, the film stars Andie MacDowell, Olivia Williams, Iain Glen,Stephen Rea and Brenda Fricker.

Ferndale Films and SarahRadclyffe Productions are co-producing, with funding from the Irish Film Boardand the Bank of Ireland. Telemunchen has rights for German-speakingterritories, Italy and Eastern Europe, while BVI will release the film inIreland.

Rounding out The Works'slate are Richard E Grant's Wah Wah; TheMighty Celt, starring Robert Carlyle and Gillian Anderson; and black comedyGuy X, from hot young director SaulMetzstein. The company also has troubled New Zealand epic River Queen.