Remembering Nigel

Plot Summary 

A group of people get together to remember a man they once knew named Nigel. Unfortunately everyone’s opinion of this man is so vastly different you soon realize nobody knew him at all. In a series of flashback scenes, some funny, some sad, we piece together a man's journey to find the humanity in himself - and in those who loved and despised him.


A funny, sad and finally triumphant life that makes us realize that there’s a little Nigel in us all....Some people can never be forgotten, no matter how hard you try.

A Brief History

The history of "Remembering Nigel" is an interesting story and I'm sure a great one for the press when it gets released. It's the little engine that could.

When I returned to Australia about 4 years ago after living in L.A for about 8, the Melbourne Underground Film Festival approached me about having a retrospective of my old films, 8 of them they wanted to show during their festival season. I agreed to this and the head of the festival, Richard Wolstencroft, approached me with the suggestion that it's be good to end the festival with a new film by me. At that stage I wasn't sure whether I ever wanted to make another film. For various reasons I'd come to associate success with pain.

I told him that it had to be a short film and something I could do quickly and economically. "Whatever you want to do, Frank, I'd be honored to show," said Richard. So I began to write. It seemed to me that seeing this film would only be screened once, as a bonus, for Festival goers, and coming after them sitting through 8 of my films, that I'd poke fun at my myth and my life with references to some of the old films as well. But also it had to work on another level so that if you weren't aware of me it still made sense. Thus I came up with the idea for "Remembering Nigel".

What was the most touching thing of all, and something that whetted my appetite for making movies again, as the fact that once word got out I was inundated with some of the finest and most successful actors in Australia wanting to be in the movie. And most of them refused even the day rate to do it.

The short film was completed about 4 hours before the final night's screening and from the moment it began people howled with laughter, and at the end were in tears. It received a standing ovation and, although it wasn't supposed to be in competition, Richard had no other choice, given the response, but to award it the Best Short Film Award.

Afterwards just about everyone came up to me and urged me to extend it into a feature film. Even Tait Brady, head of the Australian Film Finance Corporation. 

So, I bit the bullet and continued on, self-funding it myself. It became like an Orson Welles production - I'd make a bit of money, shoot a bit more - make a bit money shoot a bit more.

When I came to Los Angeles to film the US segment, which is now half the money, the response from name actors here was the same as in Australia. So many great actors wanted to do this movie for scale, such was their belief in the message of the move, and me.

We now have a film that contains 2 Oscar winners, 2 Oscar nominees and some of the best acting talent in the world. Martin Landau, Thea Gill (star of "Queer as Folk"), Sally Kirkland, Tyler Hilton (Elvis in "Walk The Line"), Mark Rydell, Michael J. Pollard, Creed Bratton (from "The Office"), John Savage, Steven Berkoff, music legend P.F. Sloan, Eric Burdon, Ker'in Hayden, Bud Tingwell (in his final performance), Alex Scott ("Romper Stomper", "Darling", "Fahrenheit 451", etc.), Rick Rosas ("Hearts of Gold"), Bernard Fowler (from The Rolling Stones"), etc. etc., etc.

The enigmatic P.F. Sloan (composer of "Eve of Destruction", "Secret Agent Man", "You Baby", “She’s A Must To Avoid” and a hundred more) has composed and recorded the incidental score.
The music soundtrack & album boasts P.F. Sloan's own version of "Secret Agent Man"), Jack Tempchin (writer for the Eagles) has contributed 2 songs, Eric Burdon, Al Kooper, Little River Band, Becca Solodon (who's recording of the new P.F. Sloan song "Ginger Street" has Oscar nomination written all over it), Bernard Fowler (from the Stones), Eric Idle, John Swan, etc., etc.

The documentary "The Nigel Diaries - The Making of Remembering Nigel" won the Best Documentary Award at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, and the feature, "Remembering Nigel (although not technically finished there were a few effects shots not done) won the Paso Robles Film Festival Award for "Best Foreign Film." It was the first festival we've screened the feature at and the response again was incredible.
Anyway, thought you'd like a brief history on how the film has evolved over 5 years. This film, although basically a comedy affects people in the most profound way. If you want proof of this screen it with an audience and watch the reaction. It is truly something magical.  - Frank Howson

Elijah Allan-Blitz - Don't Let Me Die In Hollywood 
The first single release from the soundtrack of "Remembering Nigel". 

Frank Howson – Biography

Howson was born in Melbourne, Australia. He entered show-business at the age of 7 as a tap dancer, singer and child actor, and had starred in 21 major theatrical productions by his 21st birthday. Ever restless, he became interested in writing his own songs and went on to enjoy great success in this field by having his compositions recorded by such acts as The Little River Band, Richie Havens, Dan Hill, Marc Jordan, Eric Idle, Kate Ceberano,Venetta Fields, Guy Pearce, amongst others. He discovered and published the band Pseudo Echo who enjoyed much chart success internationally and scored a top 3 hit in the U.S. Howson recorded his own singles and enjoyed success in his homeland. He also headed a thriving music publishing and recording company. He went on to write many hit theatre shows and gained a great deal of respect in Australia for his productions for children.


In 1987, he wrote and produced the movie Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988) which was nominated for 7 AFI Awards including Best Film. It eventually won two. From there, Howson wrote and produced What the Moon Saw (1990), Hunting (1991) (which he also directed),Beyond My Reach (1990), Flynn (1997) (also directed) and others. During that time, he discovered Guy Pearce as a movie actor and starred him in his first 3 films. In 1989, he was presented with the Producer of the Year Award from Film Victoria. His films have been sold to such companies as Miramax, Disney, Warner, Village Roadshow, Paramount, J&M Entertainment, Filmstar, ABC, Hoyts, Skouras, etc. After a very prolonged and messy break-up with his business partner, Howson moved to Los Angeles in 1997 where he now resides. He has been commissioned to write several screenplays for various producers and has remained active. In 2000, Arthur Hiller optioned the rights to Howson's screenplay "The Lonely Heart". That same year, he was commissioned by Joe Eszterhas to write original songs for the movie "Burn Hollywood Burn". During that time, Howson was asked by acclaimed English actor Steven Berkoff to direct the TV version of his hit off-Broadway play "Shakespeare's Villains". In July 2001, Frank Howson married actress Terri Garber in Miami, Florida. During the time he spent with Garber, he gave up his showbiz career but, since the split, has written new songs recorded by The Little River Band on their 2004 album "Test of Time". He was invited to be President of the Jury for the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2005 and began writing his memoirs on his life in the movie business. His award winning song "Andre" was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall by 'Judith Durham' (v) during her latest U.K. tour. He recently received the Short Poppy Award in his hometown of Melbourne and his screenplay "Winter in America" was performed in a rehearsed reading at the ACMI theatre, Federation Sqaure. In September 2005, he directed the Melbourne premiere of Caryl Churchill's acclaimed play, "A Number" to positive reviews. It was revived due to public interest at Chapel Off Chapel for a return season, this time starring Alex Scott and Ross Ditcham.


That same year the Melbourne Underground Film Festival ran a retrospective of the films of Frank Howson and screened 8 of his early Boulevard movies. On the final night the audience were treated to a new short film entitled "Remembering Nigel" (which has just been completed that day). It brought down the house and was awarded the Best Short Film Award. Numerous industry people who viewed the film and reaction urged Howson to extend the short film into a feature length version.
In 2007 Howson was invited to direct "The Replacement Son" for the Short & Sweet season at the Melbourne Arts Centre, In March 2008 was inducted into the Cinema Pioneers, and later that year was appointed Creative Director of the movie version of the hit stage musical "SHOUT! - The Musical". Keith Potger's album "Sunday" was released and contained 6 songs co-written with Howson.


The feature length version of "Remembering Nigel" has taken 6 years to complete and now features performances by Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland, Steven Berkoff, Thea Gill, John Savage, Eric Burdon, Mark Rydell, Michael J. Pollard, Alex Scott, P.F. Sloan, Bud Tingwell, Lucy Honigman, Ross Ditcham, Bert Newton, Alan Fletcher, Creed Bratton, Bernard Fowler, Rick Rosas and many other star cameos.
A feature length rough cut version won the Best Foreign Film Award and the Best Music Soundtrack Award at the Paso Robles Film Festival in California. In August 2009 Howson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and his film "The Nigel Diaries - The Making of Remembering Nigel" won the Best Documentary Award.


Howson is presently completing his memoirs on his tumultuous life in the film industry and has recently collaborated on new songs with P. F. Sloan (writer of "Eve of Destruction" and "Secret Agent Man" amongst others) and Jack Tempchin (writer for The Eagles, Johnny Rivers and Glenn Frey).  Keith Potger's new album "Smile Now" contains another 3 songs co-written with Howson. His song "Andre" also appears on the recent Andre Rieu album "Moonlight Serenade" and a version  of the same song appears on the latest Judith Durham hit album "Epiphany".  A compliation album "I Used To Be An Outlaw - The Songs of Frank Howson" has been released by Aztec Music and contains Howson songs recorded over the years by such artists as Eric Idle, Richie Havens, Littlle River Band, Stephen Cummings, Dan Hill, Marc Jordan, Renee Geyer, Guy Pearce, Billy Miller and others.


Frank Howson has also collaborated with his cousin (John-Michael Howson) on a theatrical musical based on the life of Bobby Darin entitled "Dream Lover" and this has been picked up by internationally successful producer John Frost for a full-scale production later this year. Rhonda Burchmore's one woman show "Cry Me A River - The World of Julie London" is also based on an original treatment by Howson.
Howson appears as an actor in the latest Richard Wolstencroft film "The Beautiful And Damned" as well as the latest Jason Turley film "Crazy In The Night".


His epic film about the human journey "Remembering Nigel" is now ready for release.

Frank Howson on IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0398271/bio


Personal Quotes
"I started in show business so young sometimes I feel that I was born in a cab on my way to the theatre."


CAST

Martin Landau
Steven Berkoff
Sally Kirkland
John Savage
Michael J. Pollard
Thea Gill
Creed Bratton
Joan Brockenshire
Rick Burchall
Rhonda Burchmore
Eric Burdon
Georgina Capper
Verity Charlton
Kristen Condon
Olivia Connolly
Patrick Constantinou
Robyn Corrie
James Cox
Ross Ditcham
Peter Donelly
Lucy Durack
Kole Dysart
Tommy Dysart
Gary Files
John Flaus
Alan Fletcher
Bernard Fowler
Robert Grubb
Ker'in Hayden
Tyler Hilton
Lucy Honigman
John Michael Howson
Oliver Howson
Pearl Howson
Henry Francis Howson
Tim Hughes
Camilla Jackson
Stephen Kearney
Bruce Kerr
Belinda Kirwan
Audrey Lamont
David Man
Ted Markland
Ian 'Molly' Meldrum
Stacy Michelle
Billy Miller
Adrian Mulraney
Roger Neave
Bert Newton
Nicki Paull
Tony Porter
Barry Porter-Robinson
Keith Potger
Rick Rosas
Chris Rydell
Mark Rydell
Alex Scott
Jenny Seedsman
Mahlia Simpson
P.F. Sloan
Ian Smith
Mike Smith
Felicity Soper
Susan Strafford
Barbara Ady
Kevin Summers
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Tanya Wenczel
Stephen Whittaker
Richard Wolstencroft
Ceilidh the Wonder Dog
Gavin Wood
John Wood
George Zack
Lindsay Bick
Michael Bishop
Tait Brady


CREW
Produced by
Danne Montague-King  .... executive producer
Sally Kirkland       ....producer
Frank Howson    .... producer
J. Marshall Craig .... producer
Barry Porter-Robinson .... associate producer
Mike Smith                  .... associate producer


Cinematography by
Miles Bennett
Derek Goodall
Michael Town


Film Editing by
Miles Bennett
Andrew Brinsmead


Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leesa Carriage .... first assistant director


Art Department
Nick Pensa .... set designer


Sound Department
Steve Burgess .... sound mixer
Craig Carter .... sound designer
Oliver Howson .... boom operator assistant
Sarah Lucy .... boom operator
Rhys Richards .... sound editor


Visual Effects by
Heather Galvin .... visual effects
Darrin Hanley .... visual effects
Russ Maehl .... visual effects
Leigh Newman .... visual effects
Emile Rademeyer .... visual effects
David Tindale .... visual effects


Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Lock .... gaffer
Kai Smythe .... dolly operator


Editorial Department
Ben Broad .... conform editor
Tom Meares .... colorist
Martin Thorne .... post-production producer