Stylish and darkly comic, Big Nothing is the story of Charlie Wood (David Schwimmer), a frustrated, unemployed teacher who decides to take revenge on life by embarking on a supposedly fool-proof blackmailing scheme with an unpredictable scammer Gus Dickinson (Simon Pegg) and Josie McBroom (Alice Eve) an ambitious former teenage beauty queen turned con-artist.  Just as things get really bad for the ill-fated trio, you can rest assured, they're going to get a whole lot worse.
Big Nothing also boasts the cream of the UK's filmmaking talent including cinematographer Richard Greatrex (Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown, A Knight's Tale) and production designer Sophie Becher (Alfie, The Borrowers, Life is Sweet).
Shot during December 2005/January 2006 on location in the UK and British Columbia, Big Nothing is directed by rising new director Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Dead End) from an original screenplay by Andrea and Billy Asher.  Produced by Andras Hamori (51^st, State, Crash, Fateless) and Gabriella Stollenwerck (Dead End), Big Nothing is executive produced by Francois Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, Duncan Reid, James Clayton, Steve Christian and Linda James.

The History Behind Big Nothing
"The script came to me from Cameron McCracken at Pathe, who told me that they liked it and suggested that I watch the director's first movie and meet with him" explains producer Andras Hamori.  "I watched Dead End and it was great fun.  It was dark and stylish, and funny and scary at the same time.  Still, I was a bit suspicious,  because you get about ten of these 'small clever crime stories' each week.   Everyone seems to be writing 'small clever crime stories' in Los Angeles because they think that works and sells".
Big Nothing did both -- Hamori was soon pleasantly surprised, "I read the first ten pages and I was sure it was not going to work. The stakes were too low, all this hoo-ha for a $100,000 scam.  But on the next page it became a $200,000 then a $2million scam and five more pages later there were five people dead. I read it in one go -- which is very rare --  and I realized that it's a really good story with great characters,  which is hard to find these days.   I screened Jean-Baptiste's first movie again and knew that he could direct and most importantly:  he can direct comedy".
Gabriella Stollenwerck's involvement in Big Nothing stems back to her collaboration with writer/director Jean-Baptiste Andrea on his debut feature Dead End,  "That was a much smaller-scale production than this one" explains Stollenwerck, "we shot it in eighteen days and it was very low budget, but we got along so well and decided to form a creative team".
"We wanted three actors who were going to have fun with each other," continues Hamori.   "It might sound funny but that was our major consideration.  We started to think about actors who know each other.  There were several combinations and I knew several young actors whom we knew wanted to make a movie together.   One of these combinations was Simon Pegg who was friendly with David Schwimmer from when they were together in Band of Brothers. They were even talking about doing an other film together".
"I am a big fan of Simon Pegg" admits Hamori, "I've seen Shaun of the Dead and the series Spaced about seventeen times.  He just has that cheeky almost, surreal sense of humour that really appeals to me and that's something I saw in the character of Gus.  David Schwimmer is the other side of comedy - the American comedy.  Every joke bounces off him really effectively.  Having the two of them together could be just like watching good tennis.  We knew they would make a perfect team".
"I sent the script to Simon and I was expecting him to turn it down because he's very picky - he turns everything down and he was also committed to doing another movie immediately after ours.  But, his agent called in a week and said that Simon absolutely wanted to do the film, and asked if we were really going to David Schwimmer for the role of Charlie.  I told her David Schwimmer was reading it over the weekend as we spoke.  On Monday, David Schwimmer called and said he wanted to make the movie".
A two month search for Josie followed -- "We went through all the A-list young American and British actresses, and meanwhile our casting director Nina Gold was working her genius. She kept bringing in young talent and insisted that if we didn't find a suitable Josie amongst the A-list, then why not discover someone young and hot?  Alice Eve was absolutely brilliant in the casting -- she blew us all away.  But, we had an obligation to our financiers and distributors to go with an A-list actress.…"
"On the last weekend before our cut-off point, we decided if we didn't get a yes from an A-lister, we'd  immediately go with Alice.  We spent the entire weekend praying that our 'A-list actress' would turn us down!   
It was obviously meant to be:  the timing wasn't right for "the A-list actress", so we cast Alice in a second: she was our first choice anyway.    She is a natural comedienne and she's beautiful.   She has perfect timing, she has several faces and lots of energy.   She was in character,  she was Josie from her first day".
The next step was to build a strong supporting cast as the producers and the director wanted to create a solid base for the lead trio.   "Natasha McElhone is a very solid and very lovable actress and Jon Polito is very funny and very dangerous" comments Hamori. "We also had this crazy cameo role of Mrs Smalls, who just comes in, has two minutes of dialogue and sits there with an axe in her head! We wanted someone with a weight and presence to be the sitting corpse in the background. Mimi Rogers said the part sounded fun, so there we were. We've got a great cast!".

The Look and Feel of Big Nothing
"It's like a really dark fairy tale for me" says writer/director Jean-Baptiste Andrea.  "Richard Greatrex, our DP and I have decided to shoot it in a stylized way without going over the top.   We're trying to get unusual camera angles and unique style.   It's heightened reality, it's real but it's slightly more than that and that's what we are trying to translate visually".
"The combination of Jean-Baptiste's direction and Richard's (Greatrex) shots give it a certain energy and style", notes David Schwimmer.  "I think that's really going to make it fun and fresh and visually interesting and at times shocking.  It's been really challenging, really fun and different.  I've had a camera strapped to my chest, another time I had it strapped to my back and that makes for all these great angles.   The shots are really imaginative".
"Jean-Baptiste co-wrote the script and he has brought a unique energy, vision and humour to the table" says producer Andras Hamori. "His humour is very dark which is great.  I'm a big fan of film noir and this is American film noir, which I prefer to the original French film noir.  American film noir combines slapstick humour with danger and bleakness: Big Nothing isn't just a crime story, it's not just a caper, it's constant fun and that's an element that I loved about it".
Big Nothing marks producer Gabriella Stollenwerck's second feature film collaboration with Jean-Baptiste:  "He's incredibly focused and has an incredible visual style and is very dynamic. He's an extremely good director in terms of energy and the crew really follow him, the pace of the shooting has been really fast and most importantly, he's very, very good with his actors".
Hamori was keen for Jean-Baptiste to have a really strong support team around him, "We had to shoot this movie in very hectic conditions, on a short schedule, in three countries, so we needed a top team with a lot of technical experience, which is why Jean-Baptiste and I decided on Richard Greatrex our cinematographer".
The very special chemistry that existed between the three lead actors, also existed between the director and his cast, which made for a rare creative energy on set.    "The French guy -- he's cool" enthuses actress Alice Eve, "Jean-Baptiste definitely knows what he wants, so there's never any faffing around.  You always know what you're doing and  there's never any nonsense and I think that's apparent because he's thea writer as well as the director.   It's an interesting concept because he's wearing two hats but at the same time you have the luxury of being on set, working a scene in practicality and if it's not coming together like it necessarily should, he's able to change it without having to defer to this absent writer.  It's quite a hands-on process.   He really hangs out and mucks in with us too.  He's like one of us, so that makes for a very comfortable environment".
"I think there's also a moral tale in there," concludes Pegg, "the whole idea of doing right by others and they will do right by you.  I think there's a sort of karmic tidal wave in a way, in that everybody, no matter what their transgression, has to pay for it in some way.  So, in that respect, morally, it's saying if you start messing with the wrong way of doing things, then it will come back and smack you in the face, or shoot you in the chest, or poison you or chop you into little pieces!  I guess it's highly moral, even though the characters don't come across as terribly moral.  Josie's obviously a hellcat, but you'd like to think that they all have some humanity about them - even Gus. Towards the end, even Charlie  just starts unraveling".
Co-writer Billy Asher (who also came on board to play the role of the Deputy) explains his role in enhancing the look and feel of Big Nothing:  "The idea for Big Nothing was Jean-Baptiste's.  We'd worked together on Dead End, Jean-Baptiste's first feature film and it was brought to me to Americanize the dialogue because he's French.  We worked well together and had a good understanding of what we thought was funny or goofy in a movie, and something horrible was born out of that!
"I think our appreciation of dark humour is some form of arrested development," elaborates Asher. , "It's almost like that juvenile thrill of doing stuff behind the teacher's back or doing something bad the second your parents have left the house. You know it's going to get you into trouble if you are caught but it's the greatest thrill in the world.  You know you're running along the edge of disaster, but you can't stop yourself".

The Director's Cut…Jean-Baptiste ("Jeb") Andrea
"Big Nothing was kind of born out of frustration really.  I'd spent three years trying to get my second project off the ground and I reached a point where out of that anger and frustration I created Big Nothing - the story of a frustrated guy who suddenly decides to do something really wrong because he's fed up and disillusioned.  I was fed up with sending scripts out everywhere and I suddenly hit on the idea of plotting the perfect crime.   I realized I'd never get away with it and it became a running joke, so I decided to write about it instead".
"It's about not being able to resist temptation.  I wrote it in a month and I asked Billy Asher to join me because I was tired and didn't know whether it was good or not any more.  We finished the script together and worked on the dialogue and made it what it is today. 
"Directing is my passion and when I'm on set it really is the most amazing moment for me - it's truly unique.   It must be like climbing Mount Everest - you do it once and want to do it again.   The time between directing is always too long.  It's like a drug - it's very exciting but it's not as dangerous, but yes, it's certainly addictive".   
"Billy Asher and I work well together. We first collaborated on Dead End and he gave that script quite a polish. We share the same dark sense of humour and really had fun together, so we stayed in touch over the years and became friends.  So, it was natural for me to go to him once I'd written the story and the first draft for Big Nothing".
"Billy is very talented with dialogue and enhancing the characters and he brought about a fresher vision of the script.   Working with him is something I really enjoy.  I wouldn't work with somebody without feeling that really special connection.   We share the same vision.  It's really nice to be able to change and bounce ideas around with someone else - it's a great process.  I don't think anyone should be alone in the writing stage".
"Big Nothing is a very dark comedy. There are some really light moments too and Charlie and Gus' relationship is really nice and the relationship with Josie is great too. But, we do explore some very dark places in this movie".
"The cast have all been a joy to work with.   They're all very different and Simon Pegg is probably the easiest actor I have worked with. He's really  is the sweetest guy on earth and I love his comedic side, yet there is something more behind this and I think we're revealing that in Big Nothing.  Simon's really going places - way beyond comedy.  I think he'll end up getting big dramatic roles in the future.
"Alice was the only actress out of maybe fifty girls who auditioned who offered me that creative vision of Josie - it's as simple as that. I was really bored with the casting process, it's not necessarily a process I enjoy.   It's not a very pleasant position to be in where you have to say, sorry you're not good enough.  But, you have to do it and I'd reached the point where I was very frustrated because I couldn't find a Josie.  Then Alice walked in when we were casting in England.  I thought England was the last place I'd find Josie because most of the casting took place in Los Angeles.  She was fantastic -  she really took me by surprise.   She's so full of life, full of energy.  In that half an hour, she offered me a different vision of Josie, and she's been a light on the set.   She's always smiling, always in a good mood. She had a horrible toothache for three days but she was always nice and she really is a pleasure to work with". 
"As for David Schwimmer, I was a big fan of Friends and I think it's a challenge for him to make the transition between TV and film.   I thought it would be interesting for me too to rise to that challenge and show another side of him that people are not familiar with. I'm really exploring his dark side here -- he couldn't be further away from Ross in Friends.   He's been really willing to do that and to give me a different side of him which has been really successful. As a person he's very sweet, very humble and you'd never think that he's such a big star - he has such a great way with him and is very nice to everybody on set".
"The chemistry with David, Simon and Alice worked really well.  My challenge was to find actors who worked well individually and as a trio.  I just had to find three fantastic people and I think it's worked with these guys".
"I love Jon Polito.  I actually had Jon in mind for another project, but suddenly we discovered he was available for this and we jumped at the opportunity.  He's crazy, but in the nicest possible way.   He's joking all the time and is so full of energy.   When he walks on to set it's like a light has suddenly been switched on.  He's joking with everybody, teasing everybody, he's really genuinely funny and is willing to go that extra mile.  Jon isn't one of those self-conscious actors with an image problem, he's the exact opposite of a diva.  He takes directions very well and is willing to work with you and he's a fascinating talent.  In his role as Agent Hymes he's wearing these big thick glasses and can't see anything through them. We found a pair of glasses with two different prescriptions for each eye, so he could barely walk while wearing them.  It was very difficult for him so we changed the glasses to the same prescription for each eye.  He could walk with those on but not much more than that!   We didn't make life easy for Jon, but he was willing to do and we had great fun along the way with him".
"Getting Mimi Rogers for a cameo was a real coup for us.  We needed someone with a sense of humour because of what happens to her character and Mimi was always my favourite choice.  She certainly had the sense of humour we needed -  to come from Los Angeles for two days just for a few lines and to endure what her character endures!   It's always surprise with American actors, I half expect them to all to be divas, but she's not at all.   She's like Jon Polito in that respect -   a real one for making fun and teasing everybody.  She's got that very dark, almost European sense of humour which made for an enjoyable experience on set".
"It's also great that we have Natascha McElhone playing a cop and the wife of David Schwimmer's character.    I remember her mostly from Solaris, a movie which I really loved. I auditioned Natascha and we discussed the character of Penelope who is a cop and Charlie's wife.  I really wanted someone who could be intimidating yet believable as a wife.   I think she has that perfect blend of qualities because she's really beautiful but her beauty's unusual too.   So, she's a really intimidating cop and she's really a lovely wife at the same time".

"Working with Richard Greatrex our cinematographer has been one of the biggest highlights and a truly satisfying experience. It's so hard to find a DP with whom you share values and a vision, and with Richard I've found both.   We talked a great deal before we started and the first thing I wanted to avoid was references to any other movie.   I was really keen for us to do our own stuff and create our own look.   Richard liked the idea of starting from scratch and I really love the work he does.   He's like a little boy and I feel like that too. When you're directing a movie it's very exciting and exhilarating. 
When we watched rushes together and he was laughing his head off. I remember he was shaking his legs like a five year old, cracking up at the rushes, it's really great to find a guy that has such experience --  he shot Shakespeare In Love,  he's an Academy Aaward®-nominee, he has  plenty of accolades and he still works as if it was his first day in this industry.   That's quite unique because a lot of people are jaded.   It's surprisingly hard to find enthusiastic people because this is a really difficult industry and some people just decide to go through the motions and this guy is still one hundred percent passionate".

The Filmmakers

Jean-Baptiste Andrea Writer/Director
French-born writer/director Jean-Baptiste Andrea was raised and educated in Cannes and attended the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and the ESCP-EAP European School of Management where he graduated in economics and political science, before pursuing his passion for filmmaking and becoming a director of Paris-based Eleusis Productions.
Andrea garnered acclaim and several prestigious awards for his debut feature Dead End which he wrote and directed.  Notable accolades include the 2003 Audience Award at the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Festival, the 2003 Silver Grand Prize and the Pegasus Audience Award at the Brussels International Film Festival, the 2003 Jury Prize at Fant-Asia and the 2004 Best First Work at the Pensicola Comedy Film Festival.
Andrea co-wrote the dark comedy Hellphone, which is currently shooting in France.

Billy Asher Deputy/Co-screenwriter   
Born in Philadelphia, Billy Asher is an MFA graduate of New York's Columbia University's acting programme.  After studying theatre and comedy in Boston and London, Asher appeared on the London stage with the likes of Sir Ian McKellen, Clive Owen and Rachel Weisz, as well as working with acclaimed director Sean Matthias at the National Theatre.
A versatile and colourful rising talent in the worlds of film, TV and theatre, Asher combines his acting work with screenwriting and it was through producer Gabriella Stollenwerck that he first met writer/director Jean-Baptiste Andrea when Asher was brought on to assist with the script on Andrea's feature film debut Dead End.
Asher and Andrea have since built a strong creative working rapport and plan to collaborate further on a number of projects including The Man Who Melted.  He also is currently working on his own screenplay My Name is Mudd, a dark teen comedy.
Asher's film and TV work as an actor has included projects for Revolution Studios and HBO.   He recently completed the feature film, East Broadway with comedienne Margaret Cho.   Asher resides in Los Angeles, California.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

READ MORE ABOUT THE CAST TALKING ABOUT THE FILM AND THEIR CHARACTERS










About The Production…
Once all the final elements were in place and Big Nothing was green-lit as a collaboration between Pathe Pictures, Andras Hamori's H2O Motion Pictures and Ingenious Film Partners, the Isle of Man