By: Valerie Milano – Pasadena, CA (Hollywood Today) 2-22-12

Ovation Network presented at TCA winter press tour this year and as Gaynor Strachan Chun, Senior Vice President of Marketing told HT, the cable network “is a network of artists, a network where you will experience the best artistic stories and storytelling from around the world and from our own backyard, stories about the artists that create the art that moves us, stories that connect each and every one of us, to a range of human emotions, stories that showcase the greatest works of art shaping our culture and everyday lives.”

To prove that point and in celebration of artistic expression, the network premieres their first original movie “We’ll Take Manhattan” on US television on March 3^rd with the true story of David Bailey, (Aneurin Barnard), who forever changed fashion photography in the 1960’s.

In 1962, David Bailey lands a contract with Vogue magazine. Bailey, an odd man to say the least, began a professional relationship and love affair with  model Jean Shrimpton, (Karen Gillian), “literally fresh off the farm.” Explained Kris Slava, Ovation’s Senior Vice President of Programming. When Bailey is sent to New York City, he brings his muse, Shrimpton along to the photo shoot  which would become legendary in fashion: Shrimpton dripping in haute couture, holding a stuffed teddy bear on the gritty streets of the city.

In an effort to stay as real as possible the stars did their research and were allowed an amount of freedom, “The director was very open for us to kind of just go for it. Like I was using the original cameras from back then. I was using the Rolleiflex camera and the Pentax S3. And I had film in them. I was actually taking shots,” said Barnard.

Both actors were able to discuss the story with both Bailey and Shrimpton, though when Gillian spoke to Ms. Shrimpton who is now in her 70’s found that “actually, she doesn’t really like the kind of fame aspect of what she did. So she gave her approval to have the film made, and then she didn’t want anything more to do with it. So I didn’t get to meet her, which was a little disappointing, but I respected that. But then she was sent a copy of the film, and she left a voicemail just asking how we got it so accurate, which was so nice and relieving,”

“For me,” said Barnard, “it was really important to look at his early life before he became David Bailey, how he grew up, where he came from, his background, because we don’t in this story you don’t really go into when he became the famous photographer.”

Bailey had quite a reputation back in his day, and to date Barnard was able to find a video and 2 photographs. “David Bailey is a completely different kind of character. So I had to completely change. And a lot of it was just finding out what the young guy was like in the ’60s. The rock and roll, best mates with the lead singer of The Rolling Stones, sleeping endlessly with several models, cheating, drinking, drug taking. I didn’t get into all of that.”

 In the UK, it aired February 15, 2012 at 10:30pm on BBC HD
In the US, it will air March 3, 2012 at 8:00pm ET/9:00pm PT on the Ovation Network