A Newcastle United fan film has finally been released after filmmakers secured Coronavirus business funding.
We are the Geordies was finally released on December 11 as the culmination of a four-year project to chronicle the club’s Championship promotion season through the experiences of 11 supporters who watched the team home and away.
The documentary features interviews with then manager Rafa Benitez, former players Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer and Malcolm Macdonald, plus journalists John Gibson and George Caulkin.
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The film features an unusual mix of professionally filmed interviews and footage, interspersed with “camerafan” footage.
Producer Zahra Zomorrodian, director James DeMarco and executive producer Keith Bell had completed the film, but needed funds to pay for a raft of items, including permissions to use news footage, music and other archive materials.
Determined to find the shortfall of cash, Mrs Zomorrodian said she was relieved when she managed to secure a Coronavirus Bounce Back loan for an undisclosed sum through Santander.
She said: “It was actually money from an investor and a bounce back loan from Santander that got us over the line with the funding we needed.
“The film was done and ready to be released but we still needed to pay fees for some licensing, archive recordings and images, and there was a lot of backwards and forwards with investors too.”
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One investor, for example, dropped out when Rafa Benitez parted company with the club.
Other potential investors also wanted the club’s star players to play a bigger role - yet the filmmakers were determined to maintain their independence and make a film to burst the bubble of cliched Geordie supporters, with the fans at the heart of the project.
Use of Mark Knopfler’s Local Hero proved to be one of the final stumbling blocks to be overcome before We Are The Geordies could be released, Mrs Zomorrodian revealed, despite already having backing from the musician.
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Early on in post-production, she contacted the songwriter’s record company in London and his personal PA came back within half an hour giving the nod to its use – but the crew also needed to get the go-ahead from its sister music company in LA. That, unfortunately, took more than a year to come to conclusion.
“I finally emailed them to say it was getting ridiculous, and it was quibbling over such a small amount of money - and they finally said yes.
“I’m really glad it has been released, and especially glad that the people we made it for, Newcastle United supporters, have received it so incredibly favourably.
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“It’s selling really well too. Whistler, one of the people in the film, sent me a message to say it’s number 7 in the iTunes documentary chart. Considering the people around us in the top 10 we’ve definitely got the smallest budget.
“And here in the North East at HMV, we’re outselling Mulan which had a budget of $200m, so that’s kind of amazing.
“Most importantly, this experience has highlighted the importance of building a sustainable production company here in the North East.
“It is awful that it has come out of because of Covid, but it is what is it – I’m just happy that after four years we can release it, and maybe at some point over Christmas I’ll sit down and celebrate that because I’ve not had time to just yet!”
We Are the Geordies is on sale in select retailers including HMV and is available for purchase on DVD or to stream through the site wearethegeordies.co.uk.