Most mainstream audiences hear “SciFi” and think of big blockbuster films with explosions and years of CG rendered landscapes. Husband and wife team, Ant Neely and Sloane U’Ren, had a different vision. Their film, Dimensions, is set in the 1920’s and 1930’s and looks more like a lushly romantic period piece.
Ant and Sloan are no newcomers to the film industry. Sloane has worked on films such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Batman Begins, and Being John Malkovich. Ant is an experience composer. They knew from the beginning that financing for this project would be hard to come by, so they slashed the budget and sold their house to fund the film themselves. This also gave them complete creative control. The limited funds would seem to guarantee the film would be quiet or small, but the beauty on display in the trailer seems to demand to be recognized as something grander.
The cast includes Camilla Rutherford (Gosford Park, Rome), Henry Lloyd-Hughes (The Inbetweeners, Weekender) and Patrick Godfrey (The Duchess, Remains of the Day, A Room a View)—all signing on for a period SciFi love story that asks what price you’d pay to revisit your childhood. And clearly, they all worked at reduced rates to make it happen. Pretty incredible.
Still, the film and its producers are going to have to work hard to find the audience for this film and make them take notice. Even if the odds are long, I wouldn’t bet against them. They’ve already accomplished the amazing feat of making the film and it is being screened today and tomorrow at the Cambridge Film Festival in hopes of sparking interest and finding a distributor.
You have to admire the passion Ant and Sloan have for their vision.
The Dimensions trailer is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq3vwQywQ54
You can find our more about Ant and Sloane and updates on the movie on their website/blog: http://www.dimensionsthemovie.com
It’s easy to dream and often tough to make the sacrifices to make the dream come true. Kudos!
Posted by steph from fangswandsandfairydust.com | September 21, 2011, 4:47 pmVery true, Steph!
Posted by Charlie | September 21, 2011, 6:14 pmWhile I like whiz-bang, I am a sucker for period pieces. This looks like something I would watch.
Posted by Maria Zannini | September 21, 2011, 5:25 pmI remember awhile back RT had a survey that showed there was a good bit of crossover between SciFi and Historical readers. I think it has to do with the desire to be fully emersed in a culture different from our own. Maybe they will tap into that.
Posted by Charlie | September 21, 2011, 6:27 pmI gotta see this! I bet it will end up on Netflix if nowhere else! How courageous!
Posted by Julia Rachel Barrett | September 22, 2011, 2:29 pm