Isle of Man Guide

Alex Downie, Minister for DTI with responsibility for the Island’s film industry has recently returned from the most successful promotional visit to the Cannes Film Festival so far.

“The event this year was bigger and better than ever, as far as the Isle of Man was concerned.” said Mr Downie. “Some of the most successful films playing outside competition were Isle of Man films; STORMBREAKER created a major stir when legendary producer Harvey Weinstein turned up to speak at the post screening marketing summit where he extolled the virtues of filming on the Isle of Man and urged the buyers to get in on the Alex Rider franchise immediately. STORMBREAKER goes on general UK release on July 21st and will be screening at the Broadway Cinema locally. Merchandising materials to complement the launch of the film will include everything from STORMBREAKER back-packs to duvet covers to action figures and beyond. By the end of the Summer everyone in the country will be familiar with teenage spy Alex Rider and the STORMBREAKER logo.”

The film goes on wide US release on October 6th and Isle of Man Film is already working on the development and pre-production of the second film in the series POINT BLANC which it is hoped will go into production in March 2007.

Isle of Man Film also achieved major success at the Festival with the US sale of the film SEVERANCE which was shot on the Island last Summer. “We secured a seven-figure price for our North American rights on the comedy-horror production which had audiences giving standing ovations at each of the Cannes screenings.” said Mr Downie. “The sale to US industry major Magnolia gives us yet another very important link within the US industry which we will exploit fully.”

“A significant number of new projects were discussed at the Festival and a number of new contacts were made” said Mr Downie. “We use Cannes as the shop-window of our film marketing and promotional activities and this year we were positioned strategically at the very heart of the action. The presence of Isle of Man Film is now considered to be a Cannes pre-requisite and the traditional Isle of Man Film Reception on the Saturday night was one of the major events staged at the Festival, outside competition. The guest-list for the very private event reads like a who’s who of the key people in the film industry from both sides of the Atlantic. We can promise you a very busy year of production, continued financial success and a lot more positive exposure for the Island”.

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