Shooting Begins In Soho On Steve McLean’s Second Feature POSTCARDS FROM LONDON starring Harris Dickinson

Shooting has commenced on POSTCARDS FROM LONDON, the second feature from Writer/ Director Steve McLean and the follow up to his successful debut Postcards From America.

Set in Soho POSTCARDS FROM LONDON tells the story of a beautiful teenage boy who suffers from a rare fainting disorder triggered by his encounters with astonishing works of art. Harris Dickinson (The Medium) stars as the lead alongside a talented upcoming supporting cast including Jonah Hauer-King who is soon to be seen opposite Alex Lawther in Danny Huston’s The Last Photograph. Richard Durden (Miss Marple,Churchill, The Borgias) also stars.

Funded with support from the BFI and Creativity Capital, POSTCARDS FROM LONDON is produced by Soledad Gatti Pascual of Diablo Films. The Bureau Sales have international sales rights and Peccadillo Pictures have distribution in the UK and Ireland. It is shooting entirely in studio for 4 weeks in London.

Essex boy Jim is so beautiful you’d think a Greek sculpture had just come to life, but with no future in the cultural-desert that is his small town and the prospect of fame, fortune and cultural stimulation beckoning in Soho, like many before him, Jim journeys to London.

On his first night, Jim is robbed and left penniless. He spends the night in an intricately made DIY cardboard box home with a homeless kid who suggests he join ‘The Raconteurs’ - a coterie of male escorts whose unique selling point is their encyclopedic knowledge of the arts. What follows is Jim’s comic descent from unsuccessful escort, to artist’s muse and art authenticator – a journey complicated by a rare psychosomatic condition called ‘Stendhal Syndrome’ which renders him painfully oversensitive to art. Jim’s encounters with paintings by artists such as Caravaggio cause fainting and hallucinations. But while this condition threatens to bring about his downfall it might also open up new opportunities if Jim is willing to grab them.

A light-hearted meditation on the idea of the muse, POSTCARDS FROM LONDON explores the relationship between art – classical and modern - and the male body that inspires it.

On beginning the shoot director Steve McLean commented “This is my homage to a Soho which sadly no longer exists”.

Producer Soledad Gatti Pascual added “Postcards is a love letter to the Soho of my youth where on any given night you’d party with straight men in skirts, and transgenders in neon pink outfits and 6” killer heels. It was fun, eccentric but most of all safe for people to express themselves and be who they were. I’m so grateful to all our financiers but particularly to Lizzie Francke and the BFI who have supported Steve every step of the way”.

Steve McLean studied politics and philosophy at the University of East Anglia. Everything was going to plan until he enrolled in a ‘History of Film’ class where he was exposed to Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock. On returning to London, he pursued his new found interest in the visual arts by working in the Art Department on commercials and music videos and later directing music videos. He has worked with artists including George Michael, The Communards, Depeche Mode and Jimmy Sommerville. McLean moved to New York where he developed his debut feature based on the writings of American artist David Wojnarowitz - the critically acclaimed Postcards From America - which played in competition at Sundance, Berlin and The New York Film Festivals. POSTCARDS FROM LONDON is his second feature.