PUB LUNCH

The premise:

PUB LUNCH will be a brand new series, providing a slight twist on the traditional 'chat show' format, in which the series' presenter will host a lunch-time meal in one of the UK's many and varied pubs with a revolving guest list of actors, writers, musicians, filmmakers and much more.  In short, famous people with an interesting tale to tell.

The party of guests will order food and drink directly from the pub's menu and they'll talk up a storm.  The presenter will mediate (but never dictate) whatever conversational topics come up, and the entire duration of the meal will be filmed by rolling cameras before being edited down to a 25 - 30 minute show offering the audience a 'fly-on-the-wall' experience of a lunch-time spent with fabulous guests.

Our mission on IndieGoGo...

...is to raise the funds required to create the pilot episode of PUB LUNCH which we will then use as a vehicle to gain a commission for the full series.

The pubs:

Each episode of PUB LUNCH will be filmed in a different Pub in a different part of England, showcasing some of the wonderfully diverse, always somehow beautiful, venues which are home to some of our very best and very worst moments.

The pilot episode will be filmed in one of the many stand-out, unique British pubs which sit proudly in the heart of Europe's world-famous "London".  The exact venue is to be confirmed, and an update will be added to this site as soon as this alters, but we currently have it narrowed down to three of the beautiful and historic establishments which so define England's capital.

The guest list:

UPDATE: Writer/Director and all-round brilliant bloke Leigh Dovey (THE FALLOW FIELD) is now confirmed as our first guest down the pub.  We're chuffed to bits to have him on board, and if you help us to reach our funding goal, you'll see exactly why!

UPDATE: Film and Television Producer Steve Abbott (A FISH CALLED WANDA, BRASSED OFF, AMERICAN FRIENDS) has confirmed that he will also be joining us for lunch.  Steve is full of wonderful anecdotes and experiences of working in Hollywood, the British Film industry, his love for making high quality television shows, and of course his experiences of working with 6 people who have since become a Great British institution - The Pythons.  He's also a wonderfully pleasant and amusing chap.

Meanwhile, we are still finalising the remainder of the guest list for the pilot episode, and the names of each of the guests will appear in this section as we confirm their attendance over the coming days.  

As things stand at the moment it looks as though the pilot episode will see our presenter, and confirmed guest, joined by yet another quite brilliant British movie director who has enjoyed much critical acclaim throughout 2010 for his debut feature as well as a very well-established actor who has starred in some of the most renowned, successful, and celebrated movie franchises in modern history.

What will we need?

We are a small, fast-working, production unit (as we will need to be) and that part of the beauty of PUB LUNCH which is not found in its honesty will lie in its simplicity.  In spite of this, there are still some things that we will clearly need if we're to make this work:

1) Use of the Pubs

2) Equipment hire - 2 x cameras (1 stationery and 1 mobile), lighting, audio recording equipment

3) Travel budget for the guests

4) Budget for the meal (if not wrapped up in point 1)

5) Minimal pay for the crew

6) Travel/food budget for the crew

The main thing, of course, that we need is the funding to pay for all of the above.

So, just how much are we talking about here?

We anticipate that we're going to need around $5,500 to get the pilot episode shot and edited.  That's approximately 3,500.  An amount that seems large for an independent producer, but that could well be dwarfed when confronted by the collective power of ALL OF YOU (lovely, lovely people).

Other ways you can help

If you don't have the money to donate, fret not for you are not powerless.  You are, with the aid of your computer/smartphone/iPad, in fact an all-powerful God or Goddess of the internet with the ability to spread this pitch to all and sundry with the sort of speed and inexorability of a forest fire.

A simple e-mail, status update on Facebook, tweet on Twitter, or shout out on Myspace could make all the difference.

Technologically unencumbered?

Why, simply use your voice and an appropriate device for the projection thereof.  We recommend a telephone, or perhaps an upturned milk crate and a megaphone in a crowded place.

What's in it for you?

Besides the knowledge that you'll have helped us to forge out a whole new style of chat show, and the feeling of satisfaction that accompanies that knowledge, we are also offering a plethora of rewards as a 'thank you' for the love.  And the money.  Mostly the love though.

Cheers you lovely, lovely people.

Matt Waldram.