How a note on Facebook from writer/director Kirk Jones set the movie of I Swear into motion. More on the story here. The story of John Davidson MBE hits the big screen today, in the shape of the superb movie I Swear. Davidson, a Tourette’s syndrome awareness campaigner, has lived most of his life with ... I Swear | How a Facebook note kickstarted the movie
How a note on Facebook from writer/director Kirk Jones set the movie of I Swear into motion. More on the story here.
The story of John Davidson MBE hits the big screen today, in the shape of the superb movie I Swear. Davidson, a Tourette’s syndrome awareness campaigner, has lived most of his life with the condition, and writer/director Kirk Jones’ film covers some of the challenges he’s faced throughout his lifetime.
It’s a funny, tense and moving film, but one that came together when Jones was going through his old notebooks. John Davidson had been the subjected of several documentaries over the last decade or two, most notably 2005’s John’s Not Mad.
Kirk Jones, as he explained to Film Stories, regularly jots down ideas and thoughts about possible projects in his notebooks, and it was two or three years ago he was going back through them. He spotted he’d written John Davidson’s name, went back to the documentaries, and realised there was a movie here. But a movie that’d need John Davidson’s involvement to do properly.
He thus tracked him down online, sending him a Facebook message that ignited the pair’s conversation. What followed was Jones flying up to Scotland, renting a pink FIAT car from the airport, and driving to Galashiels to meet with Davidson about the film.
But Jones didn’t just need to persuade John. He also talked to Davidson’s friends, Dottie and Chris, both of whom feature in the movie. There was an understandable wariness, given that previous offers had gone into John that would have used him as a punchline. This time, though, things were different. Trust was built between everyone, and the deal was soon done to make the film, initially as an independent, and then Studiocanal acquired it for UK distribution.
And perhaps the most remarkable thing about the story? From the sending of the first Facebook message, to the first screening of the film, it took less than two years. And that includes Jones writing the script from scratch, as well as the full post-production.
It’s a remarkable film, and it’s in cinemas now. It’s also exclusively the front cover story of our 168-page print magazine, and you can find that here.
