Shooting 'Stormbreaker' in London

We talk to the producers of 'Stormbreaker' about directing a horse chase through Hyde Park Corner.

Jul 19 2006

London has long had the reputation of being a tough city in which to make a film. 'The perception of London in the past was: it's difficult to move around, people always say no and you can't access certain kinds of buildings and public spaces,' says Adrian Wootton, chief executive of Film London, the strategic agency for film and media in the capital that was founded in 2003.

And yet, in the last few years, London has played host to 'V for Vendetta' (for which Whitehall and Parliament Square were closed for filming), 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Basic Instinct 2', 'Match Point', 'Batman Begins', Alfonso Cuarón's forthcoming 'Children of Men' starring Clive Owen, and this week's 'Stormbreaker', with Film London providing the 'coordinating glue' between production companies and London organisations such as the police, Transport for London and Royal Parks. Such is the demand, in fact, that the Met even has its own dedicated film unit.

Marc Samuelson, producer of 'Stormbreaker', the £21 million adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's bestselling children's book, approached Film London for its help with a script that required locations all over London, from Brompton Cemetery to Hamleys, Liverpool Street Station to the Science Museum, as well as a bike chase across Albert Bridge. But it was a horseback pursuit through central London that proved the most logistically complex to stage, requiring not only the assistance of the Household Cavalry but the shutting down of Hyde Park Corner and Piccadilly Circus.

'We had a meeting where every stakeholder in filming in London was present,' Samuelson recalls. 'We had all the boroughs, Transport for London, Civil Aviation [Authority], the police, the military, we had about 50 people round a table, and we set out for them what our ambition was, which was to shoot real London, and to show a fantastic chase through the middle. We didn't want to pretend, and we explained that we would do it with care, a good eye on safety, and wouldn't disrupt the residents. The amazing thing was having set out this plan and thinking that in no way were we going to be able to achieve it – and then they all said yes.'

So it was that 'Stormbreaker' spent six weeks shooting in London last summer, with the crew blocking off Piccadilly from Albemarle Street to Piccadilly Circus one Sunday from 6am to 10am. Seven cameras and 55 stunt vehicles (including three buses and 12 taxis) were involved in the scene in which the film's young hero, Alex, and his school friend, Sabina Pleasure, ride along Piccadilly.

'It was an amazing moment,' remembers Jessica Parker, the film's associate producer, 'when the fist assistant director said cut and all the cars then reversed back down Piccadilly [into their first positions].' Hyde Park Corner, too, was closed during another early morning, this time a Saturday between 6.45 and 10am, with traffic held back during takes.

For Film London, there's the bigger picture: the presence of London on our cinema screens profits our city in terms of marketing, promotion and, of course, tourism. The economic benefits of filming are enormous. There are 10,000 shooting days a year in London – including film, video, corporate, and TV – with up to ten crews on the streets on any given day, particularly during May to September.

Last year, Film London worked on 125 feature films of differing sizes, from low-budget British to European co-productions to Hollywood blockbusters. Only last month, Paul Schrader shot for 15 days on his new film, 'The Walker', with London subbing for Washington DC. According to Wootton, 'The Da Vinci Code' spent 'something like £30 million in London in three months.'

But it's not just about money. Creativity plays a part too. 'Our raison d’être,' continues Wootton, 'which 'Stormbreaker' to a certain extent exemplifies, is to say to filmmakers, "We don't want you to restrict your visual vocabulary or the kind of lexicon of London you can use. We want you to expand it and give you the opportunity to go and shoot in places that you thought were inaccessible. So you tell us what it is, you give us the advance planning, and we will try and get you in there."'

'Stormbreaker' opens on Friday.

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