Background
I pitched this idea at the Raindance Live Ammunition event under the title of "White Bhaji" and won! Earned a few pounds and had a drink but the main thing was getting the judges contact details. Richard Holmes was one of the judges and had said he really liked the idea.
Richard had produced "Shooting Fish" and "Waking Ned" amongst others and was then chairman of Civilian Content, a lottery funded production company. He was still keen when I followed up with him a few weeks later and he offered me a development deal on the spot. I was astounded and wowed and it's a credit to Richard that when he believes in something he makes it happen (an attribute sadly lacking in the industry).
Richard then moved full time into his own production company, Gruber Films, but took my script option with him. I knocked out a few drafts and it was a pleasure working with Richard. He then shopped around for a director and Hardeep Singh Kohli came on board. We re-wrote the script together with Lucy Ryan as script editor. It was also a great experience, the three of us working really well (I'm glad that Hardeep is getting some success on TV, he deserves it.)
IMHO the final draft of the script is very good – funny and touching, just what you want a rom-com to be. We had some professional readings and everything was looking good. Ron Fogelman came into Gruber and the script was renamed "The Things We Do For Love".
Unfortunately, with the industry changing as it does, Gruber had to scale down their operations and "Bhaji" (as I know it) is on the back burner. I have high hopes that it will get made but as always in this business you need some patience…
