A WEYMOUTH writer is on her way to the Cannes Film Festival for a date with destiny and – hopefully – George Clooney.
Claire Fordham, a former columnist with the Echo who now lives in Los Angeles, will be at the festival on Sunday, May 17, for the launch screening of her ‘mockumentary’ The Making Of Plus One With Kate, Cate and George, The Story Of A Hollywood Nobody.
The short film follows the trials and tribulations suffered as she struggles to get her book Plus One – A Year In The Life Of A Hollywood Nobody made into a feature-length movie, ideally starring George Clooney with Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet as Claire and her musician sister Julia.
“Just to be a part of that world is so exciting,” said Claire, who was born and brought up in Weymouth and wrote the Echo’s Cross Talk column in the late 1980s.
“It has been a big, exciting adventure and as far as I’m concerned, for me, personally, life is all about having as much fun as you can, being creative and having an adventure.”
The Cannes Film Festival is arguably the biggest, most glittering celebrity event of its kind. It is where the next big films are previewed and fight it out in a prestigious competition to win the Palme d’Or ‘best of festival’ award.
This year’s competitors include Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric, Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock and Jane Campion’s Bright Star.
There is also a large, non-competitive part of the festival, in which Claire hopes The Making Of Plus One With Kate, Cate and George will attract attention and acclaim.
She added: “I haven’t been to the Cannes Film Festival before, but I hear it is a complete zoo. I shall be wearing red velvet – vintage Banana Republic – and comfortable shoes, taking my high heels in a bag for the main event.”
Claire will be travelling to Cannes with her Bridport-based friend Diane Aldred. Her sister Julia is unable to go with her as she will be undertaking a week-long tour of Japan, following two sell-out concerts at the Newbury Theatre and Pigalle Club in London.
The Making Of Plus One With Kate, Cate and George, The Story Of A Hollywood Nobody stars respected Hollywood actors Oscar nominated Jennifer Tilly, Amanda Plummer, Geraldine Chaplin and John Sessions.
Directed by Mary McGuckian, it has TV soap actress Amber (Jennifer Tilly) optioning Claire’s book for filming with a view to playing her, hoping that by using an English accent she will get an Oscar nomination.
However, she is hopeless, so the conniving producer (played by Michael Eckland) tries to get Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett to play Julia and Claire.
Claire said: “Julia and I had an absolute blast filming our parts. It is a very funny film but has a lot of truth in it.
“The vast majority of books that are optioned for films never get made, largely because it is so hard to get the money together.
“For every JK Rowling or Da Vinci Code, there are thousands that never see the light of day. Even if you get the actors you want to star in your film, there are so many things that can go wrong.
“Living in LA, you hear these terrible stories of people who have started filming but have run out of money. There are people there who have mortgaged their home to make a film and then lost their house or are up to their eyeballs in debt.”
Claire has written a sequel to Plus One called The One and is hoping that Cannes will be the key to the continued success of her first novel.
“I really hope there will be enough of a buzz around Plus One that someone will want to make a movie of the book,” she said.
“I have written the screenplay to it, so what I really need is someone to decide to make the movie then I can hand them the screenplay and say ‘and here is one I made earlier’!”
n Plus One – A Year In The Life Of A Hollywood Nobody is available from Amazon. You can also find out more about Claire’s latest adventures at clairefordham.com, while Julia’s website is juliafordham.com To see the trailer for Plus One, go to youtube.com
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