Mike Goodridge, founder and CEO of British production banner Good Chaos (“The Triangle of Sadness”), loves fame. However, Prestige did not pay the bill and highlighted industry veterans while speaking at the Creative Investors Conference at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
We’ll talk about Edward Berger’s experience producing “Ballad of Little Players.” Colin Farrell’s lead psychological thriller will be performing at the Basque Festival later in the week. “We want to do more of them. I have the fame that comes out of my ears. Prestige doesn’t pay bills.”
“What I’m trying to do is create a company that filmmakers want to work with because they know we’re a safe home,” he added. “It’s going to take a while. We only actually started in 2020.” Regarding his project in his home country, the UK has “a legacy of great cinemas and there are great new films every year. I want to make British films.
Still, Goodridge believes that it is a “blessing and curse” that Britain shares “the same language as America” because “most British engineers are employed by American companies.” “Harry Potter and James Bond are British, but not so. It’s us. We have to navigate this path through America’s chaos,” he meditated.
Goodridge and Ballad of a Small Player began in 2018. At the time, the producer was the director of photography of the British main character, defending major auter-led films such as Chloe Chao’s “Rider” and Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project.” Goodridge joined the main character in 2012 after serving as editor of Screen International. He left the protagonist and worked on another project with Lawrence Osborne, the author of the novel that inspired “Ballad of Small Players,” who was about to become the artistic director of the Macau Film Festival.
“Laurence said: ‘If you’re going to Macau, you should choose my Macau story,'” the executive recalled. “I didn’t know at the time that I wanted to be an independent producer. By chance, we got a book with Ed Burger in 2018. He liked it. But he liked a lot at that point.”
Goodridge reiterated that, even after Berger exploded internationally, he won two Oscars in 2023 for “All Quiet On the Western Front” and became another major Oscar player in “Conclave” two years later. “When the director is so popular, things come to him in such a spectacular way. That’s a testament to Burger, and he stuck to it.”
“Everything on the Western Front is quiet.”
Netflix
Filming in Macau was the “bigest challenge” for Burger’s latest film. “There were very few Western films filmed there. I had to go through Hong Kong and work within Macau. This was one of the most challenging things I had to do so far,” Goodridge said. His experience in Macau, which he served between 2017 and 2021, has proven useful.
“I love Macau,” he added. “It’s a very small city. It’s a city-state, so it’s very difficult to build indigenous industries. It’s very difficult to get through Hong Kong and it’s not easy as Macau doesn’t know about it either. Edward couldn’t find anyone who owns the land because he wanted to shoot.
The story, which is primarily linked to Macau’s bustling casino, also faced challenges when it came to filming inside a busy betting center. “The moment you’re filming, they lose their income,” Goodridge said. We explained why they were unable to close the casino for shooting. “They once said that a high roller can spend more money in a day than your entire budget.”
Speaking about the budget, Goodridge publicly thanked partner Netflix for their support for the project. “We were seeing the value of the film in an independent market. We saw it and even Colin Farrell could make it for about $15 million. And so much more came in.
Good Chaos has yet another partnership with Netflix, with streamers gaining a large portion of Shih-Ching Tsou’s global rights to “left-handed girls.” The film premiered early in the year at Cannes Critics Week and was produced, co-written and edited by Oscar winner Sean Baker.
“A ballad of a small player”
Provided by SIFF
It was a busy fall festival season for Goodridge. Goodridge went to Telluride with Berger and Venice, along with Las Ronemez’s “Orphan”. Now, producers are paying attention to television.
“I’m very comfortable in the world of cinema,” he added. “I watch independent films and immediately see the funding structure. You see it in your mind’s eyes, and you can make it in some way. But TV isn’t like that. It’s about broadcasters and commissioners who usually say no. TV.”
