Background
After seeing the Parkour documentary Jump Britain I immediately saw the potential for a straightforward genre crime/action script. The "Point Break" formula of cop going undercover has proved successful for many films (take a look at The Fast and the Furious amongst many others) so I used this as my starting point. The story needs to be relatively simple because the action is going to be amazing!
Once again, this was a pitch I made to Rory who could also see it straight away. When I was researching there were actually real-life smash and grab gangs hitting various parts of London in daring raids and making off with handfuls of valuables on scooters. They hit the headlines when a wild police chase that saw one of the criminals get killed. News Article
This just fuelled my imagination more and I saw a whole world of rival gangs with their preferred extreme sports getaway methods all in competition and the police just left behind in their cars and running down the street with their own legs – how 20th century! (Or you can apply the US cliché of the fat doughnut eaters!)
There have been quite a few short films made focusing on Parkour (Free Running) and most noticeably Luc Besson has written a few - Yamakasi and District 13, and one of the founders Sebastien Foucan starred in the fantastic Casino Royale scene on the crane. It's influence also makes itself know in The Bourne Ultimatum, so definitely something that is popular.
So I think this has legs (literally!). It's a digital shoot with the camera really getting involved in the action. It has to be realistic to emphasise it's real and no wires attached. A great location shoot for London but the insurance would be high!
Anyone reading this who wants in, just let me know!
