UK Brit List topped by Charles Barker's The Call Up

The 2011 Brit List is being disseminated to the UK industry this week, topped by Charles Barker’s sci-fi script The Call Up which is to be produced by Stigma Films.

The annual list of best unproduced screenplays aims to draw attention to and stimulate interest in some of the best projects that have not yet made it to the screen and this year 160 screenplays were nominated for inclusion.

The Call Up is the story of a group of online gamers invited to test out a state-of-the-art virtual reality simulation representing soldiers in a war zone. But events take a sinister turn when the gamers find themselves fighting for their lives within the game.

Stigma’s Matt Wilkinson, who is producing The Call Up, was himself on the Brit List with his script The Intrepids in 2008.

The Brit List was created in 2007 as a UK version of the US Black List and has quickly gone on to be a popular annual survey voted on by more than 80 industry players across all levels of seniority and sectors in the UK and Ireland. A script has to receive three or more votes to appear on the list which this year totals 27 titles, and be written by a non-US writer. Scripts which have appeared on previous Brit Lists are not eligible.

Previous scripts on the Brit List which have gone on to be produced include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Salmon Fishing In Yemen, The Wettest County, Trap For Cinderella, Shadow Dancer, Song For Marion, Welcome To The Punch and Now Is Good.

Other big writing names on the list include William Boyd with an adaptation of his own novel Ordinary Thunderstorms, David Nicholls adapting Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, Abi Morgan with Dickens story The Invisible Woman and Hossein Amini with John Le Carre adaptation Our Kind Of Traitor.

THE BRIT LIST 2011

Rank (number of votes) PROJECT by WRITER (writer’s agent) production company where known; synopsis where available

1 (10 votes) The Call Up by Charles Barker (Marjacq)  Stigma Films

2 (8 votes) Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd (The Agency) Origin Pictures/BBC Films

A thriller in which an innocent man on the run across London is forced to go underground in an attempt to evade his dangerous pursuers.

3 (7 votes) Lilting The Past by Hong Khaou (unrepresented) Producer: Dominic Buchanan

A story about loss, memory, love and intimacy. A mother’s attempt at understanding who her son is after his untimely death.

3 (7 votes) Olivia And Jim by Henrietta & Jessica Ashworth (United Agents) Forward Films Comedy

4 (6 votes) Man Up by Tess Morris (Julia Tyrell Management) Big Talk Productions/Studio Canal Romantic Comedy

4 (6 votes) Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham (Alan Brodie Representation) Origin Pictures/Film4

When three children are left to fend for themselves in a London flat, things start to spiral out of control. Based on Polly Stenham’s critically acclaimed stage play.

4 (6 votes) X+Y by James Graham (Curtis Brown) Origin Pictures/BBC Films/ Minnow Films/BFI

A rites of passage drama that charts a teenage prodigy’s journey to the Mathematics Olympiad, and his quest to find a formula for love.

5 (5 votes) Second Is Nowhere by William Davies (ITG) Producers: AL Films/BBC Films

Drama

6 (4 votes) Bad Traffic by Jay Basu (ITG)

Producers: David Gerson, Nick Wechsler and Rory Gilmartin

A crime thriller about a former Chinese cop who arrives in London seeking revenge on a criminal whom he holds responsible for the murder of his daughter.

6 (4 votes) Baghdad Wedding by Hassan Abdulrazzak (Knight Hall Agency) and Nick Drake (The Agency) Focus Features

6 (4 votes) Burnthaven by Sebastian Foster (United Agents) Cloud Eight Films

An action western about a Federal Marshal tracking his best friend’s murderer through the Utah badlands to an outlaw stronghold. To bring his man to justice, he must first take out 23 of the most lawless fugitives in the land – and their leader, a shadowy figure from his past.

6 (4 votes) Like A Virgin by Catherine Shepherd (Curtis Brown) Kate Ogborn/Fly Film

A coming of age comedy about a woman visited by the angel Gabriel who tells her that she has been chosen by God to give birth to the next Messiah. This time the Messiah won’t be born to a virgin. What happens when a girl who isn’t ready to grow up is chosen to save the world?

6 (4 votes) Testament Of Youth by Juliette Towhidi (Casarotto) Heyday Films/BBC Films

An adaptation of the classic First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which tells the personal story of how one woman faces the tragedy of war, and rises above it.

7 (3 votes) Available Light by Amber Trentham (Casarotto) and Thomas Carty (Casarotto) Altered Image Films

A romantic thriller about a young ex-gardener paralysed in a bike accident who is abducted by a brutal brothel owner to service the voyeurism of a perverse client.

7 (3 votes) The Buccanneers by Heidi Thomas (The Agency) Ruby Films/BBC Films/BFI

Adapted from Edith Wharton’s classic, the story captures the adventures of three wealthy American girls. Unable to gain acceptance in East Coast society, they are taken by their English governess to hunt for titled husbands in her home country, where many an impoverished Duke and Earl will look fondly at an American girl with a fortune, wherever that fortune comes from.

7 (3 votes) The Chinese Busker by Trevor Preston (The Agency) Kennedy Mellor Limited

A thriller about a man without a history; a ghost operating in that no-man’s land between legal and criminal; a genius at providing unscrupulous corporate raiders with devastating information plucked from the air.

7 (3 votes) Far From The Madding Crowd by David Nicholls (ITG) DNA/BBC Films

An adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel

7 (3 votes) The Good People by Nicholas Horwood (Berlin Associates) Escape Films

A horror story about an American writer who moves to rural England to escape his demons, only to find that he is haunted by a very real danger instead.

7 (3 votes) I, Macrobane by Ben Wheatley (ITG) Rook Films/Big Talk Productions Black comedy

7 (3 votes) The Invisible Woman by Abi Morgan (ITG) Headline Pictures/Magnolia Mae Films/BBC Films/BFI

A romantic drama about Victorian England’s most famous author, Charles Dickens, and his secret love affair with young actress Nelly Ternan.

7 (3 votes) Miss You Already by Morwenna Banks (The Agency) and Paul Andrew Williams (United Agents) Embargo Films/Salt

A film about love, loss and laughter.

7 (3 votes) A Most Wanted Man by Andrew Bovell (HLA)  The Ink Factory/Potboiler Productions/ Film4

A thriller adapted from John le Carré’s bestselling novel. An enigmatic figure arrives in Hamburg with unclear objectives and the keys to a safe deposit box containing a fortune. He sweeps an embittered spy, a British banker and an idealistic young lawyer into a thrilling and moving mystery about his identity.

7 (3 votes) Our Kind Of Traitor by Hossein Amini (Curtis Brown) The Ink Factory/Potboiler Productions

The lives of a young couple are changed forever after a chance encounter with a charismatic Russian oligarch. The man turns out to be the number one money launderer for the Russian mob, and his days are numbered unless the couple can come to his rescue. Based on John le Carré’s bestselling novel.

7 (3 votes) The Slackfi Project by Howard Overman (ITG) Matt Tolmach/Sony Columbia Pictures

A comedic thriller in which a hapless and broken hearted barrista is visited by two bad-ass soldiers from the future who tell him mankind is doomed and he alone can save it.

7 (3 votes) Taking Off by David F Shamoon (unrepresented) Met Film Production A road movie about a 50-something couple whose failing marriage is driven to its limits as they cross the US to get to their son’s wedding.

7 (3 votes) Walking On Sunshine by Joshua St Johnston (Alan Brodie Representation) Vertigo Films

A musical set in the sun drenched Mediterranean about a mother and daughter who unwittingly fall for the same guy; featuring the greatest tracks from the 80’s.