film & media

Nick McCann worked in television for many years and as a writer, director and producer made several films, winning awards at international film festivals. As a complement to his painting he continues to enjoy making films.

10-part series for BBC2, devised by Nick McCann, made by Leopard Films

‘Early in the noughties, food on television was really taking off. I put together a lavish treatment combining the two ingredients, stately homes and food; many country houses had interesting historic kitchens and estates with authentic local produce - not to mention great visuals and settings. The series was commissioned by BBC2 Daytime and made by Leopard Films. Presented by celebrity chef James Martin and lifestyle presenter Alastair Appleton, 10 half-hour programmes were made each featuring a different historic house. I was Originator of the series and acted as Series Consultant throughout. Stately Suppers was first broadcast on BBC2 throughout April 2006. Cooking doesn’t get any posher than this!

Stately Suppers

https://vimeo.com/53078388

Director
Melanie Wray

Executive Producer (for the BBC)
Lindsay Bradbury

Executive Producer (Leopard Films)
James Burstall
© Leopard Films

Properties featured
Berkeley Castle
www.berkeley-castle.com

Nether Winchendon House
www.netherwinchendonhouse.com

Chavenage
www.chavenage.com

Cothay Manorr
www.cothaymanor.co.uk

Highclere Castle
www.highclerecastle.co.uk

Tissington Hallll
www.tissingtonhall.co.uk

Belvoir Castle
www.belvoircastle.com

Kentwell Halll
www.kentwell.co.uk

Eastnor Castle
www.eastnorcastle.com

Loseley Park
www.loseleypark.co.uk

Filmed by Nick McCann in Extremadura, Spain, Oct 2012 with Geoffrey Bond

Presented by Geoffrey Bond, heritage & Byron expert, broadcaster and veteran presenter of ITV and Channel 4’s long-running series, Something To Treasure, the forerunner of so many modern UK antiques and heritage TV series. This brief and on-the-hoof taster evokes something of the romantic poet’s first continental travels in Spain. Filmed in October 2012 by Nick McCann in stereo HD on a Canon 7DSLR with a wide-angle and 700 mm lens. Edited by Theo Leeds. Music by Chick Corea from the album, ‘Light as a Feather’. Taster film – 8.05 mins

Byron in Spain

https://vimeo.com/53055371

Presenter
Geoffrey Bond OBE, DL, FSA

Dir / Cam
Nick McCann

Film Editor
Theo Leeds

Each Christmas the renowned British re-enactment ensemble, The Tudor Group, led by TV’s Ruth Goodman, appears at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. The Group’s authentic music and food are highlights at this special time. Filmed by Nick McCann on super-8mm film, telecined to broadcast HD, and edited by Theo Leeds. © Nick McCann Associates Ltd. Filmed in Super-8mm Kodak movie film by Nick McCann Taster film – 2.36 mins

Reflections of a Tudor Christmas at Haddon Hall

One of England’s Oldest & Most Romantic Houses

https://vimeo.com/53085093

Dir / Cam
Nick McCann

Film Editor
Theo Leeds

The Tudor Group with
Ruth Goodman
www.tudorgroup.co.uk

Haddon Hall
www.haddonhall.co.uk

'Between 1939 and 1946, Chatsworth in Derbyshire was taken over by a girls’ school, Penrhos College in Wales – a clever wheeze by the then Duke to prevent it becoming a billet for soldiers. At a meeting to discuss my production of Chatsworth’s new guidebook, the Duchess (now Dowager Duchess) pointed out that a Penrhos 50th anniversary reunion was to take place and that all the surviving girls would be re-visiting Chatsworth for the day. The Duchess agreed to my idea of getting a documentary off the ground, based on the book ‘War Years at Chatsworth’ by Nancy Park – one of the pupils at the time. I soon got Yorkshire Television on board and this gentle piece, presented by Gaynor Barnes, was broadcast in bite-sized chunks over a week on YTV’s Calendar programme (and subsequently as a one-off special). I borrowed a helicopter to low-fly Chatsworth to recreate the occasion when German bombers straffed the house while the girls were there, and inserted dramatised costume vignettes in black and white super-8mm, courtesy of pupils from Derby High School for Girls'. © Yorkshire Television/ITV.com

Sentimental Journey

‘St Trinian’s at Chatsworth’
YORKSHIRE TELEVISION - Writer, Director - Nick McCann

https://vimeo.com/53085092

Presented by
Gaynor Barnes
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2012-05-30/meetthe-team/

With the Duke & Duchess
of Devonshire
Chatsworth
www.chatsworth.org

Director, Writer, Producer
Nick McCann

Executive Producer
for Yorkshire Television
Mike Best

'Liverpool is my home town. This elegiac sequence was part of a corporate tender to Liverpool Council for a new branding project. I filmed it with a 700 mm Canon lens on a 7DSLR and edited it with the fabulous music Main Theme from Out of Africa by John Barry, performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carl Davis. Chris Reece at digital film-makers, 5 Lamps Media in Derby, produced the wonderful front-end animation. Derek Tarr was an invaluable assistant on location.'

Liverpool’s Historic Waterfront by Nick McCann

Corporate teaser

https://vimeo.com/53055373

Camera / Editing
Nick McCann

Digital Animation
Chris Reece
5 Lamps Media
www.5lamps.com

Liverpool Historic Waterfront
www.liverpoolwaterfront.org

www.visitliverpool.com/things-to-do/attractions/heritage

Liverpool World
Heritage Site
www.liverpoolworldheritage.com

‘As I lay asleep in Italy, there came a voice from over the sea...’ The exiled romantic poet Shelley was horrified by the events of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, where 650 unarmed protesting civilians were seriously injured and 15 lost their lives to the authorities. The late great Celia Gregory stars as Mary Shelley in this thought-provoking and layered first short feature by British artist Nick McCann, highlighting Shelley’s response to the events at Peterloo in his prophetic work The Mask of Anarchy, alongside the gruesome events of his drowning and cremation on an Italian beach. The ghost of his wife Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, reflects on our conflicts and injustices in the modern world. The recipient of several international film awards, it was first broadcast on ITV in 1992 and was short-listed for the First Timers Awards in London. ‘A great looking film with plenty of bite’ – Melbourne Film Festival. Nick McCann (Writer, Director, Film Editor) reads Shelley’s works and Christopher Ellis plays witness-to-the-cremation Edward John Trelawney. RAF Marham Tornado GR1 Squadron performed the low-flying sequences and most of the film was superbly shot on North Norfolk’s stunning Holkham beach by Richard Crafter. John Lunn (Downton Abbey) composed the epic music, making this an emotional and visceral rollercoaster. Trailer Editor – Theo Leeds. © 1992 Anglia Television / ITV.com

The Heart of Shelley

by Nick McCann
starring Celia Gregory – movie trailer

https://vimeo.com/49682365

Writer, Director, Designer,
Film Editor
Nick McCann

Lighting Cameraman
Richard Crafter

Art Director
Nicola Tarr

Music
John Lunn

Producers
Ian Vasey & Geoffrey Bond

Executive Producer
(First Take Films)
Sally-Anne Lomas

Series Executive Producer
(for Anglia Television)
John Swinfield

Low-flying sequences
performed by
Tornado GR1 Squadron
RAF Marham, Norfolk
www.raf.mod.uk/rafmarham

News footage courtesy of ITN
www.itnsource.com

Holkham beach
www.holkham.co.uk

CAST:
Celia Gregory (Mary Shelley)
Christopher Ellis (Trelawney)
Shelley’s voice (Nick McCann)

THE FULL FILM CAN BE ACQUIRED
FOR SCREENING OR BROADCAST
AND A LARGE NUMBER OF UNIQUE
STILLS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE,
EITHER AS GLOSSY B&W PRINTS
OR SUPPLIED DIGITALLY.
PLEASE SUBMIT A FORM ON THE
SHOP PAGE

'In 1824 Lord Byron’s body was brought back from Greece and buried with his mother and other relatives.' In 1938 his tomb in the little mining town of Hucknall in Nottinghamshire, was secretly opened and his embalmed body was viewed by the local vicar, who commented specifically on the poet’s manhood, 'His sexual organ was of quite abnormal development.' National treasure and veteran of innumerable great comic roles, Leslie Phillips, stars in this second broadcast short feature, by British artist, Nick McCann. A bawdy innuendo-ridden romp in the English tradition of Rowlandson and the ‘Carry On’ series, psychic medium (Dana Gillespie), her blowsy blonde friend (Tricia George) and vicar (Leslie Phillips), cook up a publicity scheme to boost funds for the church where Byron is buried. The terrible trio rope in an unemployed miner come taxi driver (Nick McCann) and his Moll (1980s glamour girl Debby Quorrol), to discover whether Byron was really there and whether the rumours are true. Hot on their heels is Dick the dirty detective (Dicken Ashworth), and his sidekick (Chris Ellis). Harry Toseland is the Estate agent. Shot in Super-16mm black & white, in the authentic locations by Ray Goode (awarded his BSC for his Lighting Cameraman work in Granada TV’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’), the film was broadcast on ITV in 1993. The soundtrack features tracks from Dana Gillespie’s album ‘Blues It Up’ 1990. Dana Gillespie’s music is available on iTunes. Copyright Nick McCann Associates Ltd All Rights Reserved

Byron’s Mine

by Nick McCann
starring Leslie Phillips – movie trailer

https://vimeo.com/47517507

Writer, Director
Nick McCann

Lighting Cameraman
Ray Goode

Art Director
Nicola Tarr

Music
Dana Gillespie

Producers
Ian Vasey & Geoffrey Bond

Trailer Editor
Theo Leeds

CAST:
Leslie Phillips
Dana Gillespie
Tricia George
Dicken Ashworth
Christopher Ellis
Debby Quorrol
Harry Toseland

THE FULL FILM CAN BE PURCHASED ON DVD AND A LARGE NUMBER OF UNIQUE STILLS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE, EITHER AS GLOSSY B&W PRINTS OR SUPPLIED DIGITALLY. A FULL 35mm CINEMA PRINT IS AVAILABLE FOR THEATRICAL FESTIVAL SHOWINGS.

Roy Hudd heads a strong ensemble in this surreal East Anglian tale of a struggling seaside soap opera director and his inspiration, the Italian ‘maestro’ of film, director Federico Fellini. Filmed in Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea & Rome. ©Anglia Television/ITV/Arts Council of Great Britain

The Sweet Life – a Fellini tribute

by Nick McCann
starring Roy Hudd – movie trailer

https://vimeo.com/52202385

Writer, Director
Nick McCann

Lighting Cameraman
Ian Liggett

Art Director
Nicola Tarr

Music
Dominique Le Gendre

Producers
Ian Vasey & Geoffrey Bond

Trailer Editor
Theo Leeds

CAST:
Roy Hudd
Eve Ferret
Malcolm Tierney
Mary Tamm
Padraig Casey
George Murcell
Mark Northover
Vicky Lee (Victoria Eisermann)
Lenka Lanci
Geoffrey Bond
Jean & Harry Toseland
Richard Hall
as Surprisingly Useful

THE FULL FILM IS AVAILABLE ON DVD. A LARGE NUMBER OF UNIQUE STILLS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE, EITHER AS GLOSSY COLOUR PRINTS OR SUPPLIED DIGITALLY. A FULL 35mm CINEMA PRINT IS AVAILABLE FOR THEATRICAL FESTIVAL SHOWINGS.