Driving over Lemons
A Spanish-UK co-production between Whistling Thorn Films and Jaleo Films, based on the best-selling book by Chris Stewart.
Adapted by Lucy Shuttleworth (The Secret of Moonacre, Men Don't Lie).
Directed by Andy de Emmony (West is West).
Scheduled to go into production 2012.
Title: Driving Over Lemons
Genre: Feature-length Comedy Drama
Duration: 100 mins
Production Companys: Whistling Thorn Films Ltd and Jaleo Films
Producer(s): Alvaro Alonso, Lou Spain & Stephen Marsh
Premise:
This comic drama follows the adventures of an English couple as they struggle to run a tumble down subsistence farm in the remote foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Chris, a hapless optimist, and his wife Ana, a no-nonsense, straight-talking pragmatist, embark on a series of comic misadventures with oddball locals and expats as they attempt to build a new life in the Spanish Alpujarras. The real hero of the story is their farm, El Valero, a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves on the wrong side of the river. With no access to a road, no running water, and no electricity, Chris and Ana learn the harsh realities of what it takes to survive in this beautiful yet unforgiving landscape.
Director:
Andy de Emmony - Award-winning director Andy de Emmony started his career on Spitting Image, directing ten series of the BAFTA-nominated satirical show. He has directed many sitcoms, including Red Dwarf (winning an Emmy) and Father Ted (won a BAFTA).
After moving to drama he was BAFTA-nominated for the first series of Cutting It and The Wife Of Bath, one of two Canterbury Tales he directed, and again for Fantabulosa! starring Michael Sheen and based on the Kenneth Williams diaries. Other notable credits include Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, the three-part adaptation of the novel by Meera Syal, the series At Home with the Braithwaites, A Thing Called Love and 55 Degrees North. Andy also directed the single drama Recovery (starring David Tennant and Sarah Parish), Filth, The Mary Whitehouse Story, starring Julie Walters, and God on Trial, which is set in Auschwitz, and was broadcast in Autumn 2008.
Andy's most recent TV Drama for the BBC, Whistle and I'll Come to You, is based on an M R James ghost story with John Hurt, Lesley Sharpe and Sophie Thompson, and aired on Christmas Eve 2010.
He has recently completed his first feature film, West is West, the sequel to international box office hit, East is East, is shortly to be released by Icon.
Writer:
Lucy Shuttleworth - BAFTA juror member, Lucy Shuttleworth is an experienced screenwriter and script editor. Lucy has worked as a script consultant for, amongst others, the UK Film Council, Miramax, Universal, and Buena Vista. Lucy worked as Head of Development for The Spice Factory from 2001-2007, where she developed, co-wrote wrote and associate produced the $27m family feature The Secret of Moonacre, released by Warners in 2008, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Juliet Stevenson, and Natasha McElhone. Directed by Gabor Csupo (creator of The Simpsons, and director of Bridge to Terabithia).
Other current writing projects include Earthquake Bird, a thriller set in Tokyo, which has rising star Tom Harper attached to direct. Lucy also co-wrote Men Don't Lie, directed by Jane Spencer, starring Jean Hughes-Anglade and Michael Masden, which is currently shooting.
Cast: Out to cast
Casting Director: Gaby Kester (Hysteria with Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Breaking and Entering)
Spanish Production Company:
Jaleo Films - Seville-based Jaleo films has produced seven features with debut film makers including Heartlift, directed by Eliseo Subiela, 15 Days with You by Jesus Ponce and The Appeared by Paco Cabezas, which was selected for Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. Jaleo has also produced several documentaries including Legend of Time, by Isaki Lacuesta and For a Fistful of Dollars with Elli Wallace and Claudia Cardinale.
Jaleo Films have also produced four TV-movies and several short films that have won international awards. Jaleo Films is also the most active Andalusian company in international co-productions with five features films completed, working with countries from Argentina to Morocco including The Orange Girl, a Norwegian, German, Spanish film based on the book by internationally acclaimed author, Jostein Gaarder.
http://www.jaelofilms.com/
Book reviews:
"Funny, affectionate, no hint of patronage, a true portrait of people and place.... Tuck it into your holiday luggage and dream." The Daily Mail
"A wonderful antidote to modern electronic life. I love this book." Peter Mayle
"When an author is as modest and humorous as this, his story cannot be told too often." Elizabeth Buchan, The Times
"Exquisite... in Driving Over Lemons the anecdote flourishes once more." Penelope Lively, The Daily Telegraph
Chris Stewart’s Blog: http://drivingoverlemons.co.uk/blog/
Chris Stewart’s website: http://www.drivingoverlemons.co.uk
