Mike Hodges to give keynote speech at Story Engine Conference

Director Mike Hodges will be the keynote speaker at the Story Engine Screenwriting Conference in Newcastle.

The Story Engine (March 11-12) conference will use the 40th anniversary celebrations for Hodges’ directorial debut Get Carter as a jumping off point to re-examine the crime genre in film, TV and online projects. Other speakers confirmed for this year include David Peace (The Red Riding Trilogy), Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), and Val McDermid (Wire In The Blood). The conference, now in its fifth year, features case studies, panel discussions and industry networking.

Hodges will also attend the 40th anniversary screening of Get Carter, on March 11 at Newcastle’s Tyneside Cinema.

The screening is sponsored by East Coast Trains and also supported by regional screen agency Northern Film & Media (Screen International is a media partner of the event). 

The screening is one of a number of themed events to mark the anniversary of the classic British thriller. Michael Caine stars as a London gangster to who returns to his Newcastle roots to investigate his brother’s mysterious death.

“Get Carter laid the foundations for a number of critically and commercially acclaimed films made in the North East including Alien 3, Atonement and Harry Potter. Get Carter is 40 is a fitting tribute to a film that has given rise to the development of a valuable commercial industry in the North East and has inspired a generation of filmmaking talent,” said Tom Harvey, CEO Northern Film & Media.

Historian Chris Phipps will present a two-hour Get Carter location tour during the festitivies.

Also, the Tyneside Cinema will show a Hodges retrospective entitled What Would Jesus Say?, from March 10-16.Screenings will include I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Suspect, Croupier, Flash Gordon and Pulp.

Other similar themed films to screen will include  the season will feature films which share similar themes or origins to Get Carter, such as Stormy Monday, Payroll, Brighton Rock (1947) and documentary T Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia.

Finally, music company Generator is starting a competition to encourage re-mixed and re-interpreted versions of Roy Budd’s soundtrack to Get Carter.