Spice Factory: A British Miramax?

If you haven't already heard of Spice Factory, you soon will. Founded by screenwriters Michael Cowan and Jason Piette, this Brighton-based production outfit has set its sights on becoming a UK 'mini studio', a film company with the financial clout to greenlight films on its own. Since 1996/1997 they have already financed over 40 films and, with a new crop of movies in the can starring the likes of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz, Cowan and Piette look like they're already on target.

How did you start?

MC: As screenwriters back in 1995. We wrote a feature called Killer Tongue together with Alberto Sciamma, who also directed it. It was about a bank robber on the run who gets turned into a flesh eating vamp by a meteorite. It was part arthouse, part psycho-sexual thriller - quite mad really. We even got Robert Englund (Freddie Krueger) and Doug Bradley (Pinhead from Hellraiser) to appear in it. It was turned down flat in the UK. So I got on a plane and sold some territories. The film was already in profit by the time we came to shoot. Producer Vicente Gómez helped a lot, saw the potential, and had the courage to back it, which helped.

What is the division of labour at Spice Factory?

JP: Michael is more of an evangelist for the company. He does the selling. Day to day we divide work down the middle. I take on one film, Michael the next. We have an open-plan office so everyone knows what is going on. We're more 'hands-on' than people think.