Dead on the Vine
Easdale-connected Mark Brown brings his award-winning film Dead on the Vine to town this week.
The darkly comic thriller about wine, family, friends and the horrible things we will do for them will be screened at Oban’s Phoenix Cinema on May 13 at 7.30pm, followed by a Q&A session.
Made during lockdown and shot over 13 days at Europe’s 11th most beautiful vineyard in East Sussex, the movie was debuted at American filmmaker Kevin Smith’s SmodCastle Film Festival in New Jersey winning best film, best actor and best ensemble accolades.
The UK premier was last month at Islington’s Unrestricted View Festival, scooping top awards for best film, actor, actress and director.
Director Mark, whose partner Victoria Johnston is one of the lead roles in Dead on the Vine and whose family have a cottage on Easdale, said he had been going “a bit crazy” with home-schooling and lockdown shutting down several projects he had been working on when he struck on the idea and had a conversation with his producer Laura Rees who happened to have access to the vineyard.
With no funding, a crew of makers and actors were tapped in to and it started to become a reality, camping in the grounds during the shoot. Mark rejigged the plot of a play he had been writing to fit in around a vineyard and it took off.
From having that initial conversation with his producer on May 9 that year, just two months and eight days later it was happening.
“It was an amazing experience. Everyone was just so excited about being allowed out again,” said Mark, who is a frequent visitor to Easdale with his family and hopes to move there one day full-time.
With no money to hire big screens to show the ready film, Mark applied to screen it at film festivals to get word out.
“Kevin Smith is a hero of mine so it was incredible to be there, meet him and be presented with awards by him. I was a bit speechless which was awkward seeing as I had to give a speech,” said Mark.
A sales agent is now marketing Dead on the Vine to screening platforms. Mark’s last film Guardians went to Sky Store and Amazon.
As for what comes next, Mark has already written three scripts inspired by Easdale and Oban - maybe one of them will be his next big film.
He is also looking for funding to re-start work on one of his other creations Limpets, a gothic comedy based in the town where Dracula landed in Britain, Whitby in North Yorkshire.