Wide Angle Productions

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Wide Angle Productions is a film production company based in Leicester, England. They have produced a succession of films for Diamond Cable 7 Television.

[edit] History

The company was founded in 1994 by Alan Tanner, who Directed many of the productions. In its early days the company staged original plays for the local community. The plays dealt with many themes and largely starred a young cast. Rehearsals were based at Winstanley School in Leicester Forest East. Often employing children from the school in its productions.

In 1996 the company broadened its interests into film production. Working in partnership with Diamond Cable 7 Television, they struck a deal to produce an 18th Century period costume drama for the television channel. Their film, Betty Limpany was based on the famous case of the last girl to be hanged in Devon. Featuring a large cast, filming commenced at Belgrave Hall on February 7, 1997. The production continued to shot for several months, finally wrapping on May 5. During which time it had filmed on location in Devon, and at The Guildhall once said to have been the place where Shakespeare performed as an actor. When filming finished, the company had over 5 hours of footage for the 2 hour film. It was edited throughout the summer, with a final print completed on August 22. The 90 minute film premiered on Diamond Television in October. By the end of the year it had been screened on the television channel 19 times.

With the success of Betty Limpany, Wide Angle decided to hold an in-house screenwriting contest to find their next production. In order to avoid bias, the rules clearly stated that the entries must be anonymous. Over thirty scripts were entered by both cast and crew. All of which received a stage read through to decide on the final three. The Cinematographer from Betty Limpany James Hughes won joint first place with After Eight and third with Aperture.

Hughes was offered the chance to direct one of the winning scripts and chose After Eight. Drawing from the cast of Betty Limpany the film was shot in November 1997, with Hughes making his acting debut in the lead role. Filmed entirely in black and white, the film was screened at the Paris Film Festival in 1998.

Wide Angle continued to produce a host of short films that found an audience on Diamond Cable Television.