From Hollywood to Gateshead

Hearing pitches from film companies last week seemed like a great excuse to put on dark glasses and pretend the glimmer of Newcastle sunshine was really Los Angeles. This may sound frivolous but the objective was serious - to commission a company to make films of our Relu Awards finalists. These will be shown at The Sage Gateshead on 16 November so that delegates at our conference "Who Should Run the Countryside" can vote for the winners, X-Factor style. We do know how to do glamour at Relu. While the Hollywood mogul act from the customers may have been unconvincing, all the film companies seemed to know their stuff. We have now commissioned Xube, a London-based company to produce a five-minute film of each of the finalists and a ten-minute compilation that will include some interviews with our Director. I just hope I can persuade him to remove his dark glasses.