Jude Law is rumoured to have severed ties with Natural Nylon, the independent production company he co-founded seven years ago with a group of celebrity friends. Following hot on the heels of recent defections by both Ewan McGregor and producer Damon Bryant, his exit is thought to spell the end for a company that once aimed to galvanise British cinema.
Law's decision is believed to have been prompted by lucrative work commitments. Since forming the company, the actor has become one of Hollywood's hottest young properties, bagging an Oscar nomination for his role in The Talented Mr Ripley and co-star slots in AI and The Road to Perdition. Law recently finished filming Cold Mountain, opposite Nicole Kidman, and is due to star opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the sci-fi thriller The World of Tomorrow, which begins shooting in London next month.
Natural Nylon was founded in 1996 by Law, McGregor, Sadie Frost, Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee and producer Bryant. The enterprise was modelled on United Artists, the company set up in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and DW Griffith to bypass the big studios and develop their own projects. "With all our arrogance and bravado we wanted to make films our way," explained McGregor. "Character-driven, not plot-driven." But Natural Nylon soon found itself sidelined as its principal players began forging more lucrative careers elsewhere. The small number of films it actually produced included David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, starring Law, and the unsuccessful James Joyce biopic, Nora, starring McGregor.
Bryant quit the company last year in order to set up a new production division, Sonnet Pictures. At a recent Guardian interview at the NFT, McGregor confirmed that he had also left Natural Nylon. "I'm not a member anymore," he said. "I don't have any time to do it, and I felt bad about that, so I left." Frost, Miller and Pertwee are still officially linked to the company. But insiders predict that, without its major players, Natural Nylon looks set to die a natural death.
