This company's previous incarnation was Palace Productions, founded in 1983 by Nik Powell and Stephen Woolley, their first feature being The Company of Wolves (1984), directed by Neil Jordan, with whom they have frequently been associated. They moved into some American-based production after Mona Lisa (1986). The Crying Game (1992) won the Producer's Guild of America's 'Producer of the Year' award for Woolley, and was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Jordan winning for Original Screenplay.
Backbeat (d. Iain Softley, 1994), The Neon Bible (UK/US, d. Terence Davies, 1995) and
Fever Pitch (d, d. David Evans, 1997) all reached certain sections of audience, as did the praiseworthy Scala-BBC Films co-production 24 7: TwentyFourSeven (d. Shane Meadows, 1997). The Scarborough-set Little Voice (UK/US, d. Mark Herman, 1999) found appreciative audiences, and this concentration on British-based subjects paid off with
Last Orders (UK/Ger, d. Fred Schepisi, 2002), an excellent assembly piece starring Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Tom Courtenay, Helen Mirren, David Hemmings and Ray Winstone. Scala also ventured into animation with Christmas Carol - the Movie (2001), employing the voices of Kate Winslet and others, and a raft of
new titles in production in 2000 included one based in Mississippi.
Stephen Brown, Encyclopedia of British Film
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