Paul Hardcastle has just cut this wonderfully loony pilot directed by Tim Hope and written by Siggi Eybergand and Colin Carmichael. Tim is best known for his work at Passion Pictures, and has directed a swathe of treasures from the acclaimed animated "Wolf Man" to parts of "The Mighty Boosh".
"Grand Hotel" is brilliantly cockeyed. It features a demented cast of misfits all played by the writers Siggi Eyberg and Colin Carmichael who protray jaded boy band "Brian". There's an abundance of wigs, and it's tinged with the kind of comic Faustian undertones that recall those pacts you made with the devil as a student. Or was that just us?
Eyberg and Carmichael are an Anglo-Icelandic hybrid. They met at E15 Acting School, where the training is renowned for being a bit mental. Having both worked with the famed Theatre Company Ridiculusmus they decided to do something of their own in 2002, Along with their mate Max, another E15-er, they became a prolific group, making several shows a year and becoming supported artists at Battersea Arts Centre, became Arts council funded, went to Edinburgh and performed at The National Theatre, where they were escorted off the premises. Since 2006 they have been experimenting with T.V. and film. 'The Grand' is there take on what Brian Television could look like. Apart from Brian, Siggi and Colin are Actors/Theatre Makers. Among other things, Sig is single handedly saving the Icelandic economy and Col appears in the 118118 and Carling Ads
We'd love to see Grand Hotel get made.
Grand Hotel from Brian on Vimeo.
Check out Tim Hope's page on Passion's website for more of his directing work.
http://www.passion-pictures.com/flash.html#page=p3
Written and Performed By Siggi Eyberg and Colin Carmichael, Directed by Tim Hope, Produced by Archie at Domestic Science, Music Paul Clark, Editing by Paul Hardcastle. Art Director Ellan Parry, Director of Photography Sky Sharrock.