In this episode of the ScreenUK Podcast, director Ben Gregor, producer Pippa Harris and writer Simon Farnaby take us inside the making of one of the most ambitious independent UK family films in years.
Pippa Harris shares the story of her nearly 20-year journey to adapt Enid Blyton's classic - from securing the rights to piecing together independent financing. Simon Farnaby talks through writing a script that went through around 40 drafts, updating the story for modern kids, and why he also ended up playing an unintelligible farmer called Brian. And director Ben Gregor explains "Blytopia" - the timeless visual world he built to make THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE feel like the classic it always should have been.
They also discuss: casting Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nicola Coughlan and Rebecca Ferguson; building a three-storey climbable tree on set; setting up their own VFX company above a tube station to deliver 800 shots on an independent budget; and why Michael Palin, Lenny Henry and a dedicated beard-stroking unit were essential to the Land of Know-Alls.
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Check out other episodes of the ScreenUK Podcast:
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