Location scouting

Easter Monday in Pere Lachaise. It’s cold but there’s still a good traffic of tourists, alone, in pairs and in groups. One couple have brought their cold and unhappy toddler. What’s Oscar Wilde to him? The sky is ‘white as clay’ - but even in this dead light the cemetery looks great. You can see my location shots at http://picasaweb.google.com/Iain.Weatherby/OscarAndJim

It's who you know

George Every put me in touch with Nadine Chaussoniere, a producer and former location manager. In Paris to recce the cemetery I go to see Nadine. We talk locations and I mention Oscar & Jim’s Eurostar scene. Nadine remembers arranging a train for James Ivory (it ended on the cutting room floor). She seizes the phone and fires off calls, an unlit cigarette tapping the desk. I look around the room at film posters. In five minutes she has the lowdown, the names and the likely fees for all our locations. It would have taken me a week.