A forthcoming Brian Jones 'murder mystery' film has roots in Birmingham, as Roger Shannon discovers... As a film financier and executive producer of 12 years standing, Birmingham resident Gary Smith has worked with some of the best - actors such as Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Kate Beckinsale, Sigourney Weaver and Gene Hackman - and his films with Winchester Films such as Shooting Fish and Last Orders have reaped commercial gain and artistic plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic. His current project as executive producer, which finished shooting at the end of 2004, is one of the most challenging and potentially controversial. The life of Brian After ten years in development, The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones is finally in production, and is one of the first films to be financed by Gary Smiths new film company, Intandem Films. Its the story of the charasmatic musician and Sixties rock icon, Brian Jones. The talented guitarist founded The Rolling Stones, but was later fired by the band, and a few weeks later was found dead at the bottom of his own swimming pool. The film was shot in London, Surrey and Morocco, and focusses on the whirlwind and all-consuming life that Brian Jones lived between the ages of 16 and 26 years. Brian Jones was an avid consumer of women, drugs and drink. He was a father of five different children from five different women. Keith Richards, of all people, told him to calm down! says Gary. Jones lived the Sixties iconic hedonism, and in doing so he was the catalyst transforming the blues he loved into the rock music we know now. The film brings together a cinematic shedload of talent. Making his directorial debut is veteran independent producer Stephen Woolley. The screenplay has been shaken and stirred by the James Bond writing duo Neal Purvis and Rob Wade, and the cast is a rough guide to contemporary edgy acting - Dave Morrissey, Paddy Consadine, Ben Whishaw, with Leo Gregory playing Brian Jones. The soundtrack also promises to be a highly original take on the music of the period with contributions from Bono, PJ Harvey, The Hives and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The film dives into the mysterious circumstances of Brian Joness death, challenging some of the assumptions held at the time, as director Steve Woolley describes: Im doing a murder mystery, not a rock biography or a cut and dried documentary. The inspiration is films like The Servant and Performance. Alias Smith and Jones Gary Smiths new film company, Intandem Films, has one movie already completed - the death row thriller Return to Sender directed by Cannes award winner Bille August - and a slate of 20 projects in development. These all have an edge to them; theyre independent films - half from the UK, half from the USA - representing high calibre talent in writing, directing and producing. For Gary Smith the name of the company - Intandem - is important, as it represents his sense after a dozen years at the forefront of the UK film industry that success is built on all the relevant parts working together in tandem: financiers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, producers, directors, writers etc. This is the ethos that Intandem will take to the international film markets. The most recent UK film he wished Smith had produced is a Bridget Jones-type movie and, in a nod to the Midlands, the director hed most like to work with is Shane Meadows, the prolific Nottingham film-maker (director of Dead Mens Shoes). Another Birmingham connection with the activities of Intandem Films is the association with Audley Films, set up by property mogul Paul White, which will partner Intandem projects. Audley Films financed the Brian Jones film. Would he like to do a movie in Birmingham ? Yes, of course, if the right project comes along, replies Smith. The new film fund at Screen West Midlands could act as a catalyst for ongoing film business in the city. Thats whats needed. The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones will be released later in 2005. | 
