08 December 2006
Stars return to the Lake District for Exclusive Miss Potter Premiere
On Sunday 17 December, The Royalty Cinema in Bowness-on-Windemere will be the official host of the Lake District Premiere of new film, MISS POTTER, inspired by the life of Beatrix Potter, starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix and Ewan McGregor as her publisher, Norman Warne.
Key actors from the film will be in attendance - Lloyd Owen who plays Lake District solicitor, William Heelis and Barbara Flynn who plays Beatrix's mother, Helen. Local celebrities from the Northwest will also be on the red carpet.
Through her books and philanthropy, Beatrix Potter is synonymous with The Lake District. As a child, Beatrix and her family holidayed in the region and after leaving London she bought Hill Top Farm, Near Sawrey with Heelis. An enthusiastic conservationist, she invested heavily in land and at her death in 1943, she left 4,000 acres to the National Trust including Hill Top.
The Lake District is the heart and soul of the film and the production spent a number of weeks in early 2006 shooting the film around the region. While there, the beauty and magic of the area inspired the cast and crew.
"You really can sense the peace she found there, that she craved," says Renee Zellweger.
"The access to all the things she liked most, the things that inspired her, the colours she used in her paintings, the quiet that allows you to sit and take it in. This would feed the woman's work. You can feel it."
The premiere is presented in association with The Northwest Regional Development Agency, Momentum Pictures and Penguin Publishing.
Peter Mearns, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), said: "England's Northwest has the perfect backdrop for blockbuster movies. This is an incredibly diverse region and our cites and landscapes have doubled for New York, Prague, Moscow and Vienna to name but a few.
"The Lake District will undoubtedly be one of the stars of the forthcoming Miss Potter film, increasing worldwide awareness of Cumbria and of England's Northwest. Improving the image of the region in this way will not only benefit tourism, but also the wider economy."
Ian Stephens, Chief Executive of Cumbria Tourism, said: "The beautiful and inspiring landscape of Cumbria and The Lake District is always worthy of the big screen - now MISS POTTER has helped to put the county where it belongs, in front of an audience of millions."
"We hope the film will educate and inform audiences across the world about Beatrix Potter and the stunning Lake District surroundings that gave her inspiration to create some of the most famous children"s characters in the world.
"We are delighted to have the regional premiere in The Lake District, and just a stones throw from where Beatrix Potter lived and worked."
Tiffany Hunt, National Trust Regional Director, North West said: "The National Trust and Beatrix Potter are a natural combination - indeed Beatrix Potter left all her farms, cottages and land to the Trust in order to conserve the Lake District.
"We were delighted to work with the production company in filming MISS POTTER using locations such as Yew Tree Farm (recreated as Hill Top), Loweswater and Loughrigg Tarn, which epitomise The Lake District, Beatrix Potter and the birthplace of the conservation movement.
"This film will really begin to tell the story of her life and her commitment to this very special place. We hope that visitors to the Lake District will come and experience the 'real' MISS POTTER by visiting Hill Top and the Beatrix Potter Gallery this year and contributing to her legacy by supporting the National Trust"
Richard Foster, General Manager of the World of Beatrix Potter â„¢Attraction, which is hosting the post premiere reception, said: "Our attraction which displays delightful 3-D characters and Lakeland scenes from Beatrix Potter's tales already welcomes visitors from as far away as New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan and the USA, and along with many other Cumbrian attractions, I am confident that that the film will help attract more UK and overseas visitors to this beautiful region - so loved by Beatrix Potter."
About the film
Starring Academy Award-winner Renée Zellweger as Beatrix Potter and Ewan McGregor (MOULIN ROUGE) as Norman Warne, MISS POTTER boasts a stellar British cast which includes Emily Watson (BREAKING THE WAVES, HILARY AND JACKIE) as Norman's sister and Beatrix's confidante, alongside Lloyd Owen (MONARCH OF THE GLEN, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT), Bill Paterson (SEA OF SOULS), Barbara Flynn (THE LINE OF BEAUTY, ELIZABETH 1st) and introducing Lucy Boynton, as young Beatrix.
Set in London and the Lake District in 1902, MISS POTTER portrays Beatrix Potter as a woman ahead of her time, a free spirit who defies the conventions of her Victorian upbringing to create a publishing phenomenon. Going against the wishes of her parents she secretly falls in love and becomes engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne.
Despite delighting generations of children with her tales, there is one that she has kept secret until now….her own.
Beautifully filmed on locations in London and Cumbria, Academy Award-nominated director Chris Noonan (BABE) said he was blessed behind the camera, supported as he was by a raft of award winning technicians: triple Oscar winning Costume Designer Anthony Powell (DEATH ON THE NILE, 101 DALMATIANS, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE); Oscar winning production designer Martin Childs (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, MRS BROWN, CALENDAR GIRLS) and critically acclaimed cinematographer Andrew Dunn (THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, THE HISTORY BOYS). MISS POTTER is written by Tony Award winning Richard Maltby Jr (AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, FOSSE).
Advance screenings are booked for 29th and 30th December and 1st January. MISS POTTER is released across the UK on 5 January 2007
Ends
Notes to Editors
Images from the film available at www.papicselect.com
Website: www.misspottermovie.co.uk
Tourism website: www.visitmisspotter.com
For further information on the Lake District Premiere of MISS POTTER please contact:
Mark Jones at Momentum Pictures, Tel: 020 7388 1100
mark.jones@momentumpictures.co.uk
For further information on the Lake District locations used in the film, please contact:
Liz Houseman at the National Trust on 015394 63810 or email liz.houseman@nationaltrust.org.uk
For further information on Beatrix Potter please contact:
Jennifer Norton, Warne & Co/ Penguin, jennifer.norton@uk.penguingroup.com
For further information from Cumbria Tourism call the press office 01539 825019 or email ldicicco@cumbriatourism.org/ ebutcher@cumbriatourism.org
For further information from the Northwest Regional Development Agency call Helen Batte on 01925 400235 or email helen.batte@nwda.co.uk
For further information from The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction call Denise Dawson on 01772 679383 or email denise@icgonline.co.uk