Pair plan film tribute to Cowley Road (From Oxford Mail)

Pair plan film tribute to Cowley Road

5:46pm Friday 11th January 2008 in News By George Hamilton

Two Oxford writers are planning a film which they claim is a love letter to the city's Cowley Road.

Martyn Chalk and Simon Porritt have been fine-tuning their screenplay, provisionally titled The Cowley Road Drinking Club, for two years.

Their script is now in its third draft, and the pair have begun tentative talks with industry insiders about how best to transfer their characters to the big screen.

The co-writers hope the film will immortalise Cowley Road as a cosmopolitan area, before it gets swamped by chain stores.

Mr Chalk, 33, of Reliance Way, Cowley, said: "It's a comedy, and the story follows a guy called Sunny, who's a man in his mid-30s coming to terms with life after his divorce.

"He's a funny guy who has had relative success at being a stand-up comic, and he uses the pubs on the road as a way of escaping from the seriousness of life. I'd like to think it's a celebration of British pub culture before it gets wiped out.

"It's more of an Ealing Comedy than something like Four Weddings and A Funeral."

Both writers remained tight-lipped about the plot, but revealed that Sunny spends a lot of time at the Hobgoblin pub and they wanted to feature as many of the road's quirks as possible.

They also refused to reveal their ideal cast members, as they had app- roached three top British comedians, well known for their film and TV roles.

"It's basically going to be an advert for Oxford, and what it's really like for all the different characters in Cowley Road," Mr Chalk said.

"We've got such a great road here, and it's changing. We want to try to freeze it and show why we love it and why we spend so much time in it."

Mr Porritt, 36, who lives in Chatham Road, New Hinksey, said: "We want to pinpoint a time where we feel it was still what we think of as the Cowley Road. It's very much a love letter to Cowley Road."

Mr Chalk said they would begin seeking financial backing for the film soon, and said he had begun talking to shopkeepers in the road about shooting scenes.

He said: "Writing the film is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

"But we want to do something really traditionally British. We want to keep it relatively low budget - £5m would be nice."

Max Tanner, assistant manager of the Hobgoblin, said: "I think the film is a great idea.

"As odd as this road is, you do grow to love it after a while. Part of the fun is wandering down the road seeing all the strange people."