EXCLUSIVE: Bectu, the creative industry union, has called for better pay protections for freelancers after a contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey collapsed, owing crew members potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Deadline revealed on Monday that Northanger Abbey, a £7M ($9M) production mounted in the UK by a team of inexperienced U.S. producers, fell apart during advanced prep and has failed to deliver on its promises to pay workers what they are owed. A handful of crew are now pursuing legal action.
Northanger is the third high-profile UK indie film collapse Deadline has reported on over the past year. Simon Pegg’s Angels in the Asylum and Cara Delevingne vehicle The Climb both went down amid similarly rancorous stories of producers running into financing issues, despite having committed to crewing up.
In a statement, Bectu head Philippa Childs said: “This kind of thing happens all too often with production companies commissioning work when they don’t have secure funding for the project in place. There are insufficient checks in place to prevent this.”
She continued: “Bectu has previously proposed a number of possible solutions to this problem, including requiring productions to deposit funds in escrow or put a completion bond in place, so that wages are covered before work starts.
“This is the kind of thing the freelance champion will hopefully take forward when appointed. Bectu will be engaging with them at the soonest opportunity to highlight this ongoing and unacceptable problem which leaves talented workers unfairly exposed.”
There are no rules in the UK around putting crew cash in an escrow account, meaning freelancers are uniquely vulnerable when films run into financing issues. This was a point made by a Northanger crew member, who told Deadline: “If you want to buy a house, you can’t just rock up and purchase a house. You have to prove who you are and provide proof of funds. If you’re coming into this country to make a film, you should prove that you can pay people.”
Northanger producers said they have remained in constructive conversation with freelancers, adding that debts will be settled once the film is remounted. They blame the film’s financier APX for the issues, while the financier blames the producers. Talks have been ongoing with potential new investors.
Led by David Alan Ruben, who made his directorial debut on the 2024 PVOD comedy Ain’t We Got Fun?!, Northanger was a modern reimagining of Austen’s novel. It was focused on a young American literature teacher named Catherine Winslet, who relocates to Bath to ghostwrite the memoirs of her eccentric idol, Mrs Daftwood. During the trip, Winslet meets a charming Brit named Edmund, who helps her live out her Jane Austen-inspired fantasies.
Yellowjackets star Sarah Desjardins was approached to play Winslet, while producers wanted Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) to play Mrs Daftwood, and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) was lined up to feature as Mr Daftwood. Jane Seymour (Live and Let Die) was also in talks about a role.
If you would like to get in contact with the author of this story, please email jkanter@deadline.com.
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