Production of a film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel “Northanger Abbey” has fallen apart, leaving crew members owed “potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds”, according to Deadline.
The project began as an ambitious reimagining of Austen’s gothic novel, but it all came unstuck before the cameras could roll. Some of the “hardest hit” workers have even been “left having to borrow petrol money to return home”, said The Times.
“A lack of money is at the root of many of the issues”, as funding “proved catastrophic” for the independent company behind the adaptation of the 19th-century book.
The £7 million production, “mounted in the UK by a team of inexperienced US producers”, got under way in Bath and Bristol, but “fell apart during advanced prep” early last year, added Deadline. The company has collapsed and “failed to deliver on its promises to pay workers what they are owed”, so a “handful” of the crew are taking legal action.
It’s thought that about 50 freelancers could be owed up to £200,000 after signing contracts with the independent business Northanger Limited.
The UK has “no rules” around putting crew cash in an escrow account, so freelancers here are “uniquely vulnerable” when films run into financing issues, said Deadline.
Philippa Childs, head of the broadcasting union Bectu, said “this kind of thing happens all too often” when production companies commission work without having “secure funding for the project in place”. |
