#DavidTennantShortFilms

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DT talk throwback: my interview w/Steve Pang, writer/director/producer of SPACES

This post is the second in the series of posts I'm making to rescue my lost interviews with people who worked with David in his earlier years: you can find the first, with David Blair - the director of Takin' Over The Asylum - right here.

Over half a decade ago now I was a writer for David Tennant News/DT Forum, one of the bigger unofficial fan sites of DT's at the time (now sadly defunct). During my time there, I got the chance in July 2015 to interview Steve Pang - the writer/director/producer of SPACES, a short film David starred in back in 1993. I didn't want this interview to sink into the depths of the Wayback Machine and I thought y'all might enjoy reading it, so here is that interview in its entirety (and if you'd like to see it in its original form, click here.)

Screenshot of SPACES from Moving Image Archive / Steve Pang, Writer-Director-Producer (today, and in a 1993 interview)

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Recently I was able to chat with Steve Pang, the writer, director and editor of SPACES. SPACES is a 1993 short film starring David Tennant as Vinny, a young man working a night shift in a car park in Edinburgh. The film depicts the characters Vinny meets over the course of the night: an older colleague with a troubled past, a bright young girl who uses the empty car park for her violin practice, and a young homeless boy.

Pang won a First Reels funding Award in 1993 from the Scottish Film Council and Scottish Television for the script he submitted for SPACES. First Reels was “a joint short film initiative from Scottish Screen (and its predecessor body the Scottish Film Council) and Scottish Television that was launched during 1991 by the Scottish Film Council in response to a perceived need for small grants to help young and first time film-makers to make or complete their first film or video project.”

Winning the award gave Pang the funds to make SPACES a reality. In the following years he decided to shift gears and move into film and television editing. He began in film as an assistant editor in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and on television in The Vicar of Dibley. Since then he has worked in various editing capacities on a lengthy list of projects including Wonka, Band of Brothers, The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The 10th Kingdom, and Gravity.

How did you hear about the First Reels project? 

The scheme was announced whilst I was at Napier University in Edinburgh studying for my degree. As it was open to students, pretty much everyone on the course applied as it was a rare opportunity to get funding to make films.

It’s my understanding the First Reels project gave filmmakers grants to help them realize their projects, but that the projects didn’t have to be finished films to be submitted.  What stage in its development was SPACES at when you submitted it? Did the grant you won help you film and complete the work or had it already been completed in a rough form? 

As I recall I submitted a script and a supporting application form. Had we not won the grant, I think the film would have still gone ahead in some form but we would not have been able pay the cast or equipment suppliers – which would have undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the film, in my opinion.

Was SPACES your first film? Take us through its development from idea to reality. How did you decide on it as your submission for First Reels?

It was probably my second or third short, but certainly the most ambitious (everything else before that was really more just fooling around and experimenting with a camera). The goal was to ‘keep things simple’ and come up with an idea that could be shot in one location with a small cast. I had worked part time in a 24hr car park in the past and my experiences in that job were the source material for the film.

SPACES is set in a car park and tells the story of one young man’s night shift. What were your inspirations for the story line?  he ending? Can you share a bit more about what you hoped people would take away from the film?

The short is essentially a dramatisation of a number of real life experiences I had working part time in a 24hr car park in Edinburgh. It sounds like a pretty mundane job, but I worked with some very interesting people and there were one or two unusual incidents. I thought collating everything into a single night would make an interesting short film. I’ve always found night time in cities really fascinating and I thought SPACES would be an original way of depicting that kind of atmosphere and mood. 

Screenshots from SPACES

Were the actors you chose initially the ones that actually appear in the film? How involved were you in choosing the talent, and how did the actors you chose come to your attention? 

We contacted a number of local actors agencies and as I recall the actors in the film were all our first choices for each role. At the time I had no idea who David was or that he was about to become a big star. Looking back, I think he was already making a name for himself as an up-and-coming actor within the industry but as a lowly, newbie film student I didn’t have that ‘inside knowledge’. All I knew was that he seemed remarkably in tune with the character I’d written and came across as incredibly natural in the first audition. The role was his immediately. It was only after the film was completed and submitted that I started hearing comments along the lines of ‘wow you had David Tennant in your short.’

Speaking of actors — David was very young when you worked with him (it’s listed as only his 4th credited role). Was there something that impressed you about this young unknown actor? What about the experience of working with him still stands out for you all these years later?

Working with him – from rehearsal to shoot – was great. We had a tiny budget, a cold, dark location, and it was a night shoot. In hindsight, given that we were a bunch of newbie students and he was about to break through as a major actor, I’m grateful that he was so tolerant of the unsociable hours, the unglamorous location and facilities we had!

I have information that SPACES was shown on television sometime in the latter half of 1993, when Scottish Television ran three half-hour documentaries showing excerpts of the winners from the First Reels. Do you recall if it was shown, and if so, how did you feel seeing your film broadcast?

An excerpt was shown yes, along with a short interview with me. I remember being wracked with nerves on the night of the broadcast and kind of being in shock afterwards. It was probably only a couple of minutes of screen time in total.

Do you have any interesting behind-the-scenes sorts of recollections about working on the short?

I remember our equipment causing a short circuit at the location that required us to completely re-order the schedule. And I think our catering consisted of soup and bread for everyone. It was all very basic.

How do you think working on First Reels influenced you in developing your career?

It was an invaluable boost and a great learning experience. Who knows what would have happened had I not received that grant.

For Further Reference:

View Mr. Pang’s IMDb or his extensive CV.

Synopsis from entry on SPACES from the full film record at the Scottish Screen Archive.

A copy of SPACES is held at the Moving Image Archive and can be viewed at the National Library of Scotland. Private and research viewing only.

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And that's that! I hope you all enjoyed this unique insight into SPACES and DT's work with Steve Pang!

#DavidTennant #InterviewWithStevePang #SPACES #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #DavidTennantShortFilms

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David Tennant's Obscure Performances: Sweetnightgoodheart and its time traveling release date(s)

Heya all you David Tennant fans! I'm back with a small thread about a 2001 short film which David starred in called Sweetnightgoodheart (hereafter called SNGH).

SNGH was 9:16 in length. It was written and directed by Dan Zeff and produced by Litmus Productions in association with Bliss.com films for BBC Films. Its original title was Sweetnight Goodheart (with the two words separated) but somewhere along the way, the words were connected.

More about the title, this time from the BFI: "This entertaining short film takes a lighthearted look at the anxiety of modern relationships. The mix up of the title - a play on the familiar WWII song 'Goodnight Sweetheart' - highlights the confusion and miscommunication that is the film's premise."

Now, although I just said it was released in 2001.....if you look at the IMDb entry above very closely, I'm sure you've noticed it says 2005.

This, my friends, is wrong. And I'm about to prove it.

According to the British Film Institute, SNGH was one of the short films which made its premiere in August of 2001 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was a nominee for Short Films. It also screened at the 45th Regus London Film Festival as part of their Urbania Shorts slot in November of 2001, and was a nominee for Short Cuts & Animation.

Sooooo.....unless David and everyone involved with the project are all time travelers and they somehow filmed the short in 2005 but took it back to 2001 to show at the festivals?....well, you get the picture.

After SNGH's premiere at the two festivals, it was sold to HBO and Cinemax. It was broadcast in the USA (and yes, you read that right!) on Cinemax beginning in August of 2002. It was shown every couple of months or so until July of 2004. It was first aired on HBO beginning in March of 2003 and was broadcast intermittently until June of 2004. Judging by the broadcast listings, it appears both networks used it as short "filler" material in between their full-length movie offerings. And after those two stopped airing it, PBS in the USA then aired it as part of its Imagemakers series in September of 2005. Here are some newspaper blurbs (with the newpaper titles and dates above them) to prove these broadcasts occurred:

Further proof? On Valentine's Day of 2009, the BFI screened SNGH with its other main features. That screening's entry for the short also says it was released in 2001.

I wanted to find out why IMDb would say 2005, so I poked around a bit. Oddly, its release date information specifies "Hungary" (okaaay?), while sources elsewhere have the 2005 date noted as the date of its "world premiere". The Hungary release date might well be accurate, but I'm not sure exactly what world premiere means...besides, it's obviously an error (since we've already shown it aired in the US in 2002 through 2004). So I think we can safely cross out 2005, don't you?

But ohhhh, we're not yet done on the dates, because some sources also give a release date of 2003! This date, however, is much easier to explain. The 2003 date originates from its initial broadcast on BBC2. It aired as a part of a 50-minute program called Ways To Leave Your Lover (hereafter called WTLYL) at 11:20 pm on 25 March 2003. WTLYL featured five 10-minute short films with a common thread - the end of love. in addition to SNGH, the other four films were Stag, Dog, Unscrew, and Dumping Elaine.

So...now that we've taken care of the date mix-up, let's get into the short itself!

SNGH starred David as Pete, and Kate Ashfield - who he would also go on to star with in a 2002 audio drama called The Island and in 2005's Secret Smile - as Juliet. It also starred Diana Hardcastle as Anthea, Cliff Parisi as Colman, and Thusitha Jayasundera as Yasmin. Here is the archived BBC press release for WTLYL before it was aired.

And the plot? Well, if you haven't yet seen SNGH here's a great plot synopsis which might intrigue you enough to chase it down. It's from the 23 March 2003 edition of the Sunday Times: "Dan Zeff's cautionary tale Sweetnightgoodheart observes [how] David Tennant's attempts to ditch his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield) spiral out of control." And from the

Here are also a couple of photos!

And while we're at it, here are a number of short summaries - and one longer article from the Evening Standard which includes a photo! - which appeared in various newspapers when WTLYL aired in 2003:

During my research into the origins of SNGH, I've seen the BBC series it featured in variably titled as Ways To Leave Your Lover, and Eight Ways To Leave Your Lover. This discrepancy appears both in print and on the CVs of various actors and crew involved with the project (here's an example). While not confirmed, my belief is Eight Ways to Leave Your Lover was a working title. Five films aired on the program, but I've found an additional two which didn't (which makes me think there was a third whose title I have not been able to ascertain). I believe that at some point in the process, a decision was made to remove three of the films originally scheduled to air, and the name was changed accordingly.

in addition to SNGH, the other four films aired during WTLYL were Stag, Dog, Unscrew, and Dumping Elaine. I didn't find places to watch most of them, but you can see Dog and Dumping Elaine at the links I've provided. Here's what I know about them:

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Stag - written by Ian Iqbal Rashid and starring Stuart Laing and Nitin Ganatra: a bridegroom wakes up on the morning of his wedding in bed with the best man.

Dog - written by Andrea Arnold and starring Joanne Hill, Freddie Cunliffe and Veronica Valentine: a fifteen year-old girl finds the will to stand up for herself when she witnesses a disturbing and violent incident.

Unscrew - written by Clara Glynn and starring Douglas Henshall and Emma Fielding: a surreal short about a guy whose girlfriend unscrews his penis and takes it with her when they begin separating their belongings after their breakup.

Dumping Elaine - written by Peter Lydon and starring Susan Lynch, Matthew Delamere and Dido Miles: waitresses play Cupid.

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SNGH is archived at the BFI on VHS and Beta, and in two master forms (16mm/35mm). You can see it there, but I'll save you a trip: while a 4.35G digital copy was made off the master, there's no access to it. The viewing copy MP4 is only 305MB.

If you've read this far, you're probably wondering how you can see it. There are plenty of ways! If you are a registered BFI Screenonline user - and registration is free for users in UK libraries, colleges and universities - you can watch it here (and perhaps download it, though I'm given to understand it's only available for download during certain times). It's also floating around the webs in various forms and qualities on Vimeo, Dailymotion, FilmNow, etc. All of these aren't the greatest of quality, but it's the best we've got. Ah, for a better quality video file taken off the master copy!

But I'd recommend watching it at Dan Zeff's own website.

And that's it for Sweetnightgoodheart. I hope you've enjoyed reading about it as much as I have writing and researching it!

#DavidTennant #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #DavidTennantShortFilms #Sweetnightgoodheart

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Update: new info about David Tennant's elusive 1996 short film Quality Control!

I've got a few new updates to add to this post I did a while back about a short film David Tennant did in 1996 called Quality Control. If you haven't yet read my first post about this short film, you can read it at the link I posted above. And then come on back!

Firstly, Quality Control was broadcast many more times than I thought it was! I thought it was only broadcast four times between 1996 and 1998, so imagine my surprise when I did some digging and found it had actually broadcast eleven times between 1996 and 1999. Oops!

But by far the biggest update I have on this short is that recently I've discovered why it was made...and by whom!

But first, the updated broadcast list:

BROADCAST DATES:

1996:

4 Jan 1996 - 1:55pm - Channel 4

10 Jun 1996 - 1:55pm - Channel 4

9 Dec 1996 - 2pm - Channel 4

10 Dec 1996 - 1:30pm - Regional S4C

1997:

18 Jun 1997 - 10:45am - Regional S4C

25 Jun 1997 - 10:45am - Channel 4 & Regional S4C

1998:

8 Feb 1998 - 3:30pm - Channel 4

26 Oct 1998 - 1:30pm - Channel 4

6 Nov 1998 - 1:30pm - Regional S4C

1999:

18 Jun 1999 - 1:30pm - Channel 4

29 Jun 1999 - 1:30p - Regional S4C

Of course now that I've found these, I'm aware there may be other broadcast dates I have yet missed. If so, I didn't find any past 2000. But I reserve the right to be mistaken, ha!

Now here's the bigger update: the why, and the who!

Published 23 June 1995 in The Scotsman, here's the article that broke it wide open for me, and its relevant quote:

"Simplicity and technical finesse marked this year's graduation films at the Edinburgh College of Art degree show. While Hannah Lewis's Quality Control makes excellent use of a superior comic performance by David Tennant as a youth trainee on his first day in a Leith sweatshop…"

WOW, right?

But this new information leads to all sorts of other questions. If this short was initially part of a degree course, how did it make the leap to broadcast? Was it in one of the short film UK production schemes happening at the time which were helping new film creatives launch their ideas: i.e., First Reels, Tartan Shorts, New Found Land?

I'm not sure. At first blush, Quality Control doesn't seem to have been included in a larger broadcast of shorts like Bite and Spaces had been (Bite was shown on the program Don't Look Down on STV, and Spaces was shown on STV as a part of First Reels.) In its broadcast listings, Quality Control is always listed on its own.

The description the article gives on the short is also very interesting. The article says David played a youth trainee on his first day in a Leith sweatshop. But reviews and blurbs of the short's plot in newspapers say he was a job trainee who becomes a quality controller/inspector at a skateboard factory. It seems to me that a sweatshop and a skateboard factory are two very different places, but are they? Was that changed somehow between its showing at the College of Art degree show, or was it just the article writer's bad description?

Blurbs about Quality Control from various newspapers

And just who is Hannah Lewis, its creator? Well my money's on producer Hannah Lewis, who's worked with Morag McKinnon and Colin McLaren. They all met at the Edinburgh College of Art, and had made three shorts together by 1999 (one of which, 'Home', won a BAFTA!) But if she is the right Hannah Lewis, Quality Control isn't listed anywhere on her IMDb. So while I can't be sure she's the short's creator, the time is right, and the place is right. A lot of the dots sure do line up!

Now we know why it was done - and who did it - can we find it? Is it archived somewhere? I haven't found it so far if it is - at least it's not archived at the Moving Image Archive in Glasgow, or at the British Film Institute. But I've yet to check to see if the Edinburgh College of Art may have it.

As far as all the other questions this raises - like how did David get involved with the project (since he was living in London at the time) and if he knew someone who knew someone who...ya know? Pfffft. Your guess is as good as mine! It's one more "I dunno" to add to the pile.

In conclusion, we may be as close as we've ever been to finding out more about David's elusive 1996 short, Quality Control.

I'll keep on searching!

#DavidTennant #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #DavidTennantShortFilms #QualityControl

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David Tennant's Early Work: the short film 'Bite'

My normal David Tennant thread heads in a new direction: to one of his rare first performances on film as opposed to TV and theatre: the short film Bite. I've got personal history with this short, so it's dear to my heart.

Bite is one of DT's long-lost gems. Most of his fans know it exists, but few have seen it. It was produced by Su Bainbridge and written by Andrea Gibb, who DT fans may recognize as the author of the brilliant DT audio Sunburst Finish. Paddy Cunneen, who also wrote the music for The Pillowman, was its musical composer. Directed by Brian Ross and with a running time of 6:58, Bite was produced on 16mm film and screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1997. It was broadcast in Nov 1997 as part of an STV arts program called Don’t Look Down.

But what is Bite about? "Bite is a film about Alistair Galbraith, a passive postman who tires of being a spectator in his own life and decides to take control. When Alistair’s wife, Alison, commits adultery on their wedding day and shortly afterwards he is savaged by a ferocious dog, Alistair hits rock bottom, unable to cope with even the most undemanding of life’s tasks. From the depths of despair, he is galvanized into action and in true anti-hero style sets out to take revenge on those who have wronged him. Through taking this action, he is re-born."

David played Alastair Galbraith and his wife, Alison, was played by Sharon Small, who recently reunited with David onstage in the play, Good.

At this juncture everyone usually asks, "Can I see it?" Yep! You can reserve a viewing time if you're close to the Moving Image Archive in Glasgow, as a copy is held for private and research viewing only. And I'm pretty sure it's available, either directly or indirectly, because of me!

But before I get into that (it's the personal aspect I talked about earlier) here’s a bit of Bite you can see. The film's editor, Gary Scott, has a :44 extract of the film online right here!

ALSO - SPOILER ALERT - If you're interested in a blow-by-blow spoilery summation of 'Bite' because you can't visit Glasgow to see the short, here's a detailed plot summation.

And now: how I wheedled it so Bite became available to view.

When I discovered back in 2014 that a copy of Bite was archived at the Scottish Screen Archive (now the Moving Image Archive) but not available - while his earlier short film SPACES was? - it made me wonder why, so I made inquiries at the archive to see why. It turned out SPACES had a viewable copy, but the copy of Bite in the archive was still on 16mm.

Now, this would've stopped any ordinary human being.

I am not an ordinary human being.

I was not a professional archivist then but I am now. The decision to become one this late in my life is partially due to my love of knowledge, organization and research, but also to my experiences since becoming - basically - an archivist and researcher with regards to DT's body of work. These things combined makes me rather dogged when there’s something I wish to attain.

I learned Bite was on 16mm and they couldn't make a viewing copy. Why? Because it was in copyright. And even funnier? They didn't know who held the rights! But I thought it should be available, so - even though I'm in the US and everyone else was in the UK - I decided to try and make that happen.

Archive personnel suggested I ask Creative Scotland about the rights, who suggested I ask the film’s production company. I was told it was rumored they had a VHS/beta copy of the film. I contacted each and every one of them to find out if this was true.

After months of back-and-forth emailing with the production company and soldiering on even through staffing rotations and I had to retell my entire story of the hunt again and again, I was still in a state of limbo. Finally the production company said they for sure did not have a copy of it but they could begin to negotiate with the National Library of Scotland for one. A few months later they learned they'd be able to procure a copy, but it would cost them X amount for a post-production company to digitize the 16mm, etc., etc.

Progress, right? Frankly, it felt like a scene in a comedy, as each thread in this chain of people needed to make their own copy in this format by this company for this archive or that person or...you get the gist. And no one could tell me if it would actually get done. So I kept reaching out. To make a ridiculously long story short, one full YEAR afterwards, the archive finally managed to obtain a copy that was viewable for others to view onsite!

That was a reward in and of itself. An obscure piece of David's body of work had been pulled from its original 16mm - where it might have languished forever - and preserved on a format available to us today. But I got a few tangible rewards, too. One, an email from the production company's owner that made me laugh harder than I'd laughed for a while: "Feck my old tin boots! I’ve just looked at who we cast in that film!"

Yes, sir. You DID cast David Tennant! Indeed you did!

And two, my very own copy of Bite (which, of course, I had to sign my life away for!) I got permission to release some screen shots, but that was it. And while it felt like an acknowledgement, I'm really just pleased we rescued it.

I took my copy to a convention DT was attending, and when I laid it down, he immediately looked up at me. "How - and where - did you get THAT?"

I laughed. "Persistence?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I hadn't thought of that one in a while. I remember that dog."

"You were a great postman."

And he was.

Lastly, I thought I should post some new screenshots. Sorry they're not great quality, but neither is my copy.

#Bite #DavidTennant #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #DavidTennantShortFilms

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David Tennant's Obscure Short Films: 1996's Quality Control

I'm back for a short(er) little David Tennant in Obscure Performances post today. Let's have a teeny-tiny chat about another rarity of David's, shall we? - a short film he did in 1996 called Quality Control. And when I say this is a rarity, believe me….it's a rarity.

I've at least been able to confirm David acted in this short film, for he mentions it as a film credit in two places: the 1996 programme for The Herbal Bed, and the 1997 programme for Hurly Burly - as evidenced by this cast listing of his from my Hurly Burly programme:

Quality Control has very little to no presence on the Internet, and there are only a few mentions of its existence. The first one I've been able to track which attributed the short to David was from a "David Tennant Fact Of The Day" post from May 2012.

The second mention is from the British Film Institute (BFI). If you study this notation, you'll notice another interesting detail: unlike many other works, the BFI does NOT hold any film or video materials relating to Quality Control. So they don't have a copy!

The BFI describes the film as a "comedy in which a job centre trainee finds himself totally inept in his new position of quality controller at a skateboard factory." But I hoped I might find a few other clues from another contemporary source: newspapers. So that's where I went!

All of the descriptions said Quality Control was a 20-minute short comedy - but I also learned it was the trainee's first day on the job, too. One can also assume (and I certainly do) David plays the role of the trainee. Here are some various listings I found:

What's very interesting, though, is something the BFI doesn't list: Quality Control was also re-broadcast two years later in 1998! The 'Fact of The Day' I mentioned earlier clued me into that detail, and that tidbit was invaluable in my search for mentions of the short. Why? Because this one's a real tough one to search. David's never mentioned in any printed synopsis, and seriously…just try to do a search using only the words, "Quality Control." It's an utter nightmare!

But knowing what I knew, I was able to add to the information the 'Fact Of The Day' had provided. Quality Control originally aired at 1:55p on 10 Jun 1996 on BBC Channel 4. In 1998, Channel 4 aired it two more times: on 8 Feb 1998 at 3:30p, and at 1:30p on 26 Oct 1998. It was also repeated regionally on S4C at 1:30p on 6 Nov 1998.

Its repetition in 1998 has intrigued me. It implies the BBC kept a copy of the short from 1996 to its re-air dates in 1998. The BFI listing for the short says it doesn't have a copy in its archives, but unless the BBC has subsequently erased it, a copy of that short might still exist. Somewhere. I'd love to find it, as it's one of the few things David did during that time I haven't seen. So we have no screenshots. But we know he did it. And who knows if the BBC has it in their archive.

But you know, maybe someone's got it recorded somewhere on an old Betamax tape.

#DavidTennant #DavidTennantShortFilms #QualityControl #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances

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An in-depth look at David Tennant's 1993 short film, 'SPACES'

I'm back!

Today's David Tennant post will stick with my trend of covering David's roles in his harder-to-find short films. Before 1997's short Bite (covered in my last post) and 2001's One-Eyed Jacques (covered a few posts back), David played the lead role in the 1993 short film SPACES.

SPACES got made because of a Scottish joint short film initiative called First Reels. First Reels - funded by Scottish Screen/Scottish Film Council and STV - was launched in 1991 to provide grants for young and first-time filmmakers to complete their first film or video project.

With a running time of 14:54, SPACES was written and directed by Steve Pang and produced by Pang, Jo Roberts, and Stray Dog Film Company. SPACES starred David as Vinny, Colin Brown as Duncan, Becky Baxter as Jane, Mike Gibbin as the Kilted Drunk, and Daniel Byrne as the Homeless Boy.

When the First Reels project was announced, Pang was studying at Edinburgh's Napier University. He submitted a script - and won the grant. When I spoke with him, Pang told me winning the grant helped provide the funds to make SPACES a reality, in the way he wanted it made. "Had we not won the grant," he said, "I think the film would have still gone ahead in some form, but we would not have been able to pay the cast or equipment suppliers – which would have undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the film, in my opinion."

In the following years Pang decided to shift gears and move into film and television editing. He began in film as an assistant editor in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and on television in 1997-1998’s The Vicar of Dibley. Since then he's worked in various editing capacities on a lengthy list of projects including Band of Brothers, The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The 10th Kingdom, and Gravity.

Initiatives like First Reels (and Prime Cuts, which funded six 5-min film dramas annually and helped fund the production of Bite) allowed creators the funds to produce incredible pieces of art that would have otherwise never been made.

And bless them for it! The years these kinds of initiatives were active also happened to be some of the first professional ones of David's career since graduating in 1991 from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). The fact these initiatives were both available and encouraged certainly gave us David Tennant fans more early opportunities to see him on film!

IMDb describes the short as "a young man's night shift in a car park in Edinburgh and the characters he meets over the course of the night: an older colleague with a troubled past, a bright young girl who uses the empty car park for her violin practice, and a young homeless boy." David's character, Vinny, is challenged with a difficult situation and must rise to the occasion to face it.

Pang told me his goal was to "keep things simple", and he came up with an idea to collate all his experiences working part time in a 24-hr car park into a single night. He settled upon an idea that could be shot in one location, and with a small cast.

About David, Pang told me that he was his first choice for the lead role of Vinny in the film. He said DT seemed remarkably in tune with the character he had written, and came across as incredibly natural in the first audition. The role was his immediately. "We contacted a number of local actors’ agencies and as I recall, the actors in the film were all our first choices for each role," Pang told me. "Working with him from rehearsal to shoot was great. We had a tiny budget, a cold dark location, and a night shoot. I remember once our equipment caused a short circuit at the location which required us to completely re-order the schedule. I think our catering consisted of soup and bread for everyone? It was all very basic."

That's it for SPACES. If you want to see it you can- it's available for onsite viewing only at the Moving Image Archive in Glasgow. If you're near there go reserve a viewing. Oh. and here's a screenshot of the film taken from the record for SPACES at the Moving Image Archive website:

And here are all the other screenshots I've gathered up from the film:

#ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #DavidTennant #SPACES #DavidTennantShortFilms