Welsh film project wins Lottery backing

Plans to film a highly acclaimed Welsh novel, Desmond Barry’s 'A Bloody Good Friday', have moved forward significantly with the news that Cardiff film and television production house, Green Bay Media, have won a £20,000 National Lottery grant to develop the script.
Published earlier this year the book is the post-industrial love story of Davey Daunt, known as 'Spazzy' - the man with the leg brace - and Maria Grazia, a gorgeous Welsh-Italian woman. It unfolds against a backdrop of criminal rivalry and street-gang rioting on a dark Friday night in Merthyr Tydfil.
Green Bay’s John Geraint, said: “A Bloody Good Friday is a compelling myth for today. It’s a story of real working-class heroes and villains. The novel is packed with cinematic incidents and images. It has all the makings of a film with huge impact.”
The big-screen adaptation will be supported by Lottery funding, through Sgrîn and the Arts Council of Wales, and will be written by Desmond Barry himself. He plans to shift the novel’s setting from 1977 to the present, creating a new story structure, while keeping the mythic power of the original.
Sgrîn’s head of production, Judith Higginbottom, said: “Sgrin are very excited about this project. Desmond Barry has proved that he is one of Wales' most successful novelists with his best-selling 'A Bloody Good Friday'. The novel has clear cinematic potential.”
Green Bay Media have won commissions for 15 major television projects since they set up last year by former BBC executives Phil George and John Geraint. The company already has another feature film, 'My Father’s House' in development with lottery backing.
(GB)