This Month Baracuta are really excited about the future release film ‘Outside Bet’
The film is inspired by the book ‘The Mumper’ written by Mark Baxter and Paolo Hewitt. We will be holding a competition later this year for your chance to win 1 of 5 copies of the book signed by both Paolo and Bax!
Craig at Baracuta was lucky enough to catch up with them recently for an interview.
What music are you following these days and are there any artists that have caught your eye?
Mark: “got to say in the last 6 months, I’ve been mainly trawling through the archives and finding new music by established artists, most of which I have only recently discovered, so I would choose two old albums ‘Born Walden Robert Cassotto’ by Bobby Darin (check out the track ‘Sunday’) and ‘Jazz Suite’ by Stan Tracey with the stand out track being ‘Starless and Bible Black’ and one new release which is ’Away From The Grain’ by The Stone Foundation, a group of lads from the West Midlands who have Soul in their bones.”
Paolo: ”Just looked over at my player and other machines and in no order Stone Foundation and Joe Harris on BBC 6 Craig Charles Show, Simon Wells Sometimes In The Morning album, Magnus Carlson and the Moon Ray Quintet LP, Otis Redding’s Huckabee, Paul McCartney’s I Want To Go Home, Sir Michael Head of Liverpool, Tom Jones Lord Help, Tammi Terrell I Can’t Believe You Love Me, and The Scissor Sisters I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”.
What have been your stand out films over the past 12 months?
Mark: “I really enjoyed ‘Social Network’. A fascinating story very well told and some great acting from the main cast. I also enjoyed ‘King’s Speech’. Amazing how a very simple story like that has captured the public’s imagination.”
Paolo: ”Nothing has come close to Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘There Will be Blood’. Why that man is not hailed as the best living director remains a mystery. But as that was 2007 and you want 2010 I would put ‘A Prophet’ and also the hilarious ‘I’m Not There doc’ with Joaquim Phoenix”.
What clobber are you wearing lately and what brands do you follow?
Mark: ”My wardrobe at the moment is a mixture of old and new pieces. I’m often wearing a peacoat which I got from an army surplus store in South London, teamed with a pair of bespoke jeans from my tailor Threadneedleman of SE17. I always keep an eye of the range from Baracuta and love wearing my G-9 as much as possible.”
Paolo: “As I have been writing two books and a film script based on my book ‘The Looked After Kid’ whilst also keeping an eye on ‘The Mumper’ and the Spurs in the Champions League, I have to admit that I have been a bit slack on the clothes front. I would therefore like to make an international plea for help and ask my very wonderful friends at Baracuta to put together a Baracuta Red Cross clothing package and drop into my flat at some point as I will not be out of here until May at the earliest”.
And finally, Tell us about the new ‘weighed in’ film and what we can expect?
Mark: “The film ‘Outside Bet’ is inspired by the book ‘The Mumper’ that myself and Paolo wrote in 2007. We were delighted to have the film rights optioned by Talent Films in 2008 and filming began in December 2010. The book is set in 1985 and is the story of a group of seven Londoners of all different ages who buy a racehorse that they were offered in their local pub one day. We then follow the journey of them racing the horse around the country. Also thrown into the mix is the Wapping newspaper dispute of 1986, which I was personally involved in. The book is 75% factual and the screenplay for the film follows this pretty closely. The humour and the warmth from the book was captured very nicely by the script writer Nigel Smith. We were delighted with the casting for the film, with the likes of Bob Hoskins, Jenny Agutter, Phil Davis, Emily Atack, Adam Deacon and Calum McNab, (who plays me) all involved. Filming is now all done and we are looking at a release date sometime in the Autumn of this year. Obviously we hope people enjoy it and we can then wear our G-9’s to the Bafta’s!”
Paolo: ”Mark has given you the background, all I can say is that since it went into production there has been nothing but goodness attached to this project. It has been like a beautiful dream unfurling. The producer Tony Humphries rang us both on Friday after a very rough screening and he was purring with confidence. I truly believe The Mumper, both the film and the book, will be worthy of everyone’s attention. Thank you for listening”.
We will have more on this later in the year so keep reading the Baracuta blog to keep up to date.
