22nd March, 2012

Here is a sneak preview of the British Airways-sponsored short film Boy, starring Timothy Spall, which will be shown onboard in the run-up to London 2012. The film forms one strand of the airline’s Great Britons programme, which it has been running as part of its sponsorship of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

BA ran a competition to find British talent in three areas – film, food and art – with the winners of each section having their work showcased by the airline.

Screenwriter Prasanna Puwanarajah won the film selection with “Boy”. Over nine minutes, without any dialogue, it tells the story of a carpenter, played by Spall, who works at the Velodrome in the Olympic Park and is trying to come to terms with the loss of his cyclist son.

Boy will be shown onboard the airline’s long-haul flights from April to September, and BA estimates that as many as six million passengers will see it. A behind-the-scenes documentary will also be shown at the pre-opening of the Olympic ceremony.

Puwanarajah was mentored during the process by actor Richard E Grant. The film was directed by Justin Chadwick – whose credits include The Other Boleyn Girl and Spooks – with cinematography by Danny Cohen, Oscar-nominated for his work on The King’s Speech.

At the screening Grant praised the screenwriter’s “succinct, focused” story, saying he was “far ahead of everyone else” who had entered. “It just got you,” he said. “It went through the judges like an electric current.”

Puwanarajah said he wanted to write a film “about the transformational experience of living in London during the Games”. “I’m interested in the impact the act of putting on the Olympics has on a city,” he added. “My take on it is that the Olympics is about people’s own personal experiences.”

Spall said the “incredibly truthful” script was what persuaded him to get involved. “A huge amount of the entries were about a granny and a 16-year old on a council estate,” he said. “This told a story that was so personal – everyone has experienced loss. There’s a lot of razzmatazz around the Olympics, good and bad, but to make this so personal and human is so rare, and so British.”

Luisa Fernandez, BA’s global sponsorship manager, said the Great Britons scheme was “all about helping talent to take off”. She said: “We wanted to create a life-changing experience for three individuals and showcase their work on an international stage. It wasn’t about making a commercial advert for BA but about creating a platform for Prasanna. I feel we’ve found an incredibly talent screenwriter.”

The other two winners of the competition are Michelin-starred chef Simon Hulstone, who has worked with Heston Blumenthal to create a “bold British menu” to be served onboard – and artist Pascal Anson, who has designed a dove-inspired livery to be featured on nine of BA’s aircraft, with mentorship from Tracey Emin. The livery will be unveiled at Heathrow airport on April 3.

Fernandez said Hulstone had “taken inspiration from British Airways’ menus from 1948 [the last time London hosted the Olympics] and given them a modern twist”.

The winners’ work will be on show at “Flight BA2012”, a pop-up venue the airline is setting up in London’s Shoreditch, which will be open on selected weekdays between April 4 and 17 (see online new March 9).

Fernandez said of the airline’s overall sponsorship efforts: “We wanted to stand out from the other Olympic sponsors – we’re the British flag carrier and we have a global platform which we can use to showcase talent. We wanted to demonstrate our leadership in the UK market. It’s about getting people to consider British Airways more – we call it ‘bringing the love back’.”

The video below is a behind-the-scenes “Making Of” of Boy.

Visit greatbritons.ba.com for more information.

Report by Michelle Mannion