A MOVIE based on one of Victor Hugo’s most famous novels – written about Guernsey while he was living there – could be filmed in Jersey, after the producers turned their backs on the island to seek funding here.
David Shanks and Joy Mellins are trying to gain financial backing from Jersey’s government to help produce Toilers of the Sea, which is based on Les Travailleurs de la Mer – a tale about a shipwreck set in Guernsey. Victor Hugo wrote the story during his 15-year exile when he was resident in the island.
The producers have set their sights on Jersey as the main location after they were unsuccessful in their bid to secure between £500,000 and £2 million from the States of Guernsey to aid production costs.
Mr Shanks, whose previous film credits include Blind Dating starring Chris Pine, said the duo were in ‘very early conversations’ with the government about potentially backing the project – although he did not say how much they would be asking for.
‘I’ve had the book for a long time and I’d always wanted to make a film of it.
‘It will be a classy, feature film that we hope would be up there for awards,’ he added.
SIX MOVIES OR TV SHOWS THAT WERE FILMED IN JERSEY (AND ONE THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT: CLICK HERE
A previous film project which received £200,000 of government funding caused controversy a decade ago.
The Knights of Impossingworth, which was being championed by Canbedone Productions, was to be a fantasy film set in Jersey.
Hundreds of young people auditioned for the principal roles in the movie, which later changed its name to Crystal Island. It never made it off the cutting-room floor.
The affair prompted criticism around the management of the grant and the viability of the project in the first place.
Mr Shanks explained that government funding would give the project a ‘stamp of authority and legitimacy’, which could help secure some of the estimated £10 million they had initially been promised by private investors.
‘We are sort of starting again – we think we can probably salvage some of the [original investors’] promises but we would also seek to raise private equity in Jersey,’ he said.
‘We feel very strongly that it is a Channel Islands’ project and should be done here. Film tourism is enormous and so it would benefit the Channel Islands as a whole.
‘We are ready, we have a team together and have some top-of-the range actors whose names we can’t mention yet – but we are talking A-list.’
The government was contacted for comment.
