Birmingham-based events specialist Big Cat Group has been awarded the contract to manage the UK premiere of British independent film Clubbed.
The event will be held in January at Birmingham’s Cineworld cinema on Broad Street.
Set in the 1980s and inspired by Bafta-winning Coventry author and ex-bouncer Geoff Thompson’s autobiography Watch My Back, the film was shot on location in the city and has been co-financed by regional screen agency, Screen West Midlands.
The film follows the descent of a factory worker into a life of violence after he is humiliated in front of his children and looks to a group of night-club doormen to give him the confidence to fight back.
To celebrate the film’s release across the region from January 16, the Big Cat events team will be putting on a full red-carpet event with a few quirky twists.
The premiere and afterparty on January 13 will both have a “glamorous 80s” theme including touches such as a retro dance troupe. To mirror the boxing theme of the film, there will also be sparring on the red carpet.
Big Cat senior events manager Nick Ruffles said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to manage the premiere of Clubbed. The film celebrates the region, drawing from local talent and locations.
“For Big Cat, it’s important for us to show the creativity and professionalism of the Midlands and deliver a UK premiere for Clubbed to rival any seen in London or New York. The premiere will be attended by the stars of the film and a strong, local celebrity presence.”
Birmingham and the West Midlands has become an increasingly important region for the film industry with a number of independent films either being financed, produced or made in the vicinity. Earlier this year How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, based on the book by Toby Young and featuring Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg and four times Oscar-nominated Jeff Bridges, also premiered at Cineworld in Broad Street having been financed by Intandem Films, the AIM-listed, international film finance, sales and marketing company headed by Birmingham businessman Gary Smith and chaired by former lawyer and now business consultant John James.
