Cannes 2010

My latest short The Triumph of Venus will have its first international outing at the Cannes 2010 Short Film Corner from May 12th. However due to ill health I will not be attending myself, instead my good friend Jack Marshall will be over there pressing his own projects and TToV. The first public showing for The Triumph of Venus will be in the USA during August at The Washougal International Film Festival.

The Triumph of Venus - First Results

With a great thank you to Jack Marshall I can announce that my short film The Triumph of Venus is launched on the film festival circuit. The world premiere will be at Cannes in the short film market place (Short Film Corner) and the first public showing will be in the USA at the Washougal International Film Festival.

My feature script The Pied Piper Killer has almost completed its proof reading stage and then I must decide how to proceed. One thought would be to go for crowd funding and produce the film myself... this would require around £80k (cash). If I could attract a crowd of around 300 then a contribution of little over £250 would get the film made. Of course my current health problems really mean that this could be just too much. However, my experience with other producers leads me to believe that if I want one of my scripts actually produced, then I need to take the short film approach and get on and do the job myself!

The Triumph of Venus

The Triumph of Venus is off and running, with Screeners sent to three film festivals; The Cannes Short Film Competition (France), The Washougal International Film Festival (USA) and The Norwich Film Festival (UK). Now is the time for lots of sustained finger crossing! Once I have a file in the recommended format (from our stalwart editor Jack Marshall) for the Cannes Short Film Corner then this market place will be the films premiere (unless we get into the Competition!!!!). The current screener has a small continuity error which hopefully Jack will be able to correct shortly. When this version is available then several other festivals may be hearing from brokenarrowfilms! Follow this blog for progress reports.

Finally, my new feature film script The Pied Piper Killer is currently being proof read so there’ll be more to say about this soon.

Shutter Island - Review

Yesterday I was luck enough to be sitting in a comfortable West End cinema seat at a preview showing of Shutter Island. If you are a film goer that likes to relax back and allow the film to wash over you; then Shutter Island has enough visual stimuli to satisfy you. However, if films make you think and you enjoy trying to solve a good mystery then I’d avoid this film. The mood music tries desperately to enhance the mystery but in reality the film is transparent and then it’s a long wait until the end, which is admittedly rather well done. To make a feature the plot needed so must more death, as a short film it would have been a winner!

The Pied Piper Killer

The Pied Piper Killer is the new name for my feature By Degrees. I’ve been fiddling with the script and I’m now very happy with its 103 pages. In any event it’s now printed and my dear wife will be proof reading and critiquing the work over the next week or so (wish me luck!).

My other feature The Bloodline is still stuck in the mud having obtained an almost non-existent priority with my Producers (Oh, if only we could do without them!).

However, there is good news about my short The Triumph of Venus…. It’s now officially entered into the Cannes 2010 Short Film Competition (lots of luck wishing here please!) and will shortly be entered into the Cannes 2010 Short Film Corner (which is the Cannes market and not a competition). Well done to Jack Marshall who edited the film!

By Degrees

There is one advantage of being a little physically weak for a while and that is that one can turn ones attention back to writing. I have just completed a 100 page first draft for my low budget feature By Degrees... naturally I think that it’s brilliant at the moment... what I’ll think when it comes to my first review in a few weeks time is another matter! The first big test for the script will be my wife, who will be proof reading soon... wish me luck!

Visitors to my website will notice that By Degrees does not yet appear on the site. This is because I have been experimenting (using a shadow side) with a complete re-write of the site. So watch this space!

And as for my short The Triumph of Venice this is still in post but should be ready in a week or two for it's first festival entry!

The Vet and the Pornstar

It is more than possible that I have lost a few readers due to my long absence. However, I do have a good reason I've been ill!

This has not stopped the post-work on my short The Triumph of Venus but it has meant that I've had to leave it in the hands of my friend Jack Marshall .... overworked as he is, he has managed to produce a great edit (including underwater shots and other effects) which should be ready for Cannes 2010. I've also managed to put in some work on my low budget feature, which has a working title of By Degrees.

I had an email from an LA actress friend of mine (Paula Labaredas) , which brightened my spirits as she sent a clip of her latest film The Vet and the Pornstar. It's an interesting take on traditional film making and I wish it well. Click here for the clip and here for the IMDb entry.