Pinewood Studios

At the weekend I attended a function at Pinewood Studios (that's my step-son Jonathan) and had the opportunity to see one of the Harry Potter external sets. Photographs are forbidden, but the experience really brings home to you the difference between a micro or low budget film and a Hollywood funded movie.
Acres of scaffolding, flats, decking, tracking, camera cranes, snow, barriers, window decorations, a pub interior, a church front - with tower, a derelict house, a row of house fronts - with snow on the roofs, a bend in the road by the churchyard, the churchyard, more house fronts and a bridge to nowhere - part built! I thought to myself how many pages of the script did this represent? One, two maybe as many as five in one hundred and twenty pages! But the scariest thing of all was that the set is still up… I believe the film is in post, so the set is deserted but still standing, what British Indie Filmmaker could afford that? The gap in production values is like comparing a teardrop (and it does make you cry!) and the ocean, so it is simply amazing to think that so many modest budget films turn out to be great! And of course if a modest budget film is a box office success the ratio of cost/returns is equally amazing. I believe that if we get the right funding for Babbage then this could be just such a film. So watch this space!

A Question Of Content is now in the Cannes 2009 sfc catalogue!

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NBC - Another Film Festival

And the beat goes on for A Question Of Content as I’ve entered the film into another competition festival. The NBC Universal Short Cuts Film Festival is free to enter and they look favourably on films 5-7 minutes long and AQOC is 6 ½ minutes… ainsi nous verrons. Having said this, even a very good film is only likely to get into 1 in 10 festivals and a win or be placed in a similar but unpredictable ratio. For example, Gone Fishing, the short film from Chris Jones (with Jack Marshall, Trevor Hughes and myself as Associate Producers) was short-listed for the Ocars, but has yet to be accepted by any European competition festival! So let’s see what we will see. And just for fun, below is a film made by Trevor (on his mobile phone) during the filming of Gone Fishing… enjoy!

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First Film Festival!

Not one to rest on a place in the Cannes 2009 Short Film Corner (sfc), I've entered A Question Of Content (AQOC) into it's first Film Festival. Unlike the sfc the Washougal International Film Festival is a competition rather than a market place. I selected the WIFF (via Withoutabox) as it has a category for shorts between 3-10 minutes, which fits nicely with AQOC's 6 1/2 minutes. Selection is early June so watch this space!

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Preparing For Cannes 2009

Good news Jack Marshall’s short Intruder has arrived at the Cannes Short Film Corner so we are all set for next month. With this in mind I’ve been updating my web-site. I’ve added separate status pages for A Question Of Content, Babbage and The Bloodline and updated the general status page. They will not be updated as often as the blog, but I try to update the web-site once each month.
On the Babbage feature front, we have our next development meeting at the end of the month but I’d like to thank publicly Sabina Sattar (Gone Fishing, The Crocked House, The Lover) for her recent input to the project. You know that generally speaking Filmmakers are a friendly bunch, often ready to help fellow Filmmakers at the drop of a hat. I suspect it is because we all have a common enemy "The Lack Of Funding Opportunities!" … thanks again Sabina!

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Tag Lines - Vistaprint

It looks like Jack Marshall’s short film Intruder should appear tomorrow, along side A Question Of Content, in the Cannes 2009 Short Film Corner catalogue. One of the items for the catalogue is a tag line for your work. Often it is very difficult to encapsulate your themes in one sentence or phrase, but for A Question Of Content it seemed very clear and it’s; “At the end there is always a question”, which I hope will prepare the viewer for something a little enigmatic?
A trailer for Intruder is now available at Jack Marshall's web site – go visit! This fact has pushed me into making a brief trailer for A Question Of Content. This is not as easy as it sounds as my short is under 7 minutes long and therefore a trailer could almost tell the story! Enjoy (or not)!





I’ve used Vistaprint to produce my promotional material (Business Cards, T- shirts, Pens, calendars, mini and micro posters etc) and if any reader is interested click HERE to get a 25% discount (and I will also get a few credit points!).

Draft II of the Babbage feature seems to have gone down very well with the Producer and the next production meeting is set for 1st May, let's hope the Director feels the same way? Clarity of vision between writer/producer/director is essential if a project is to continue to move forward. So far Babbage has this clarity, whereas The Bloodline (my other feature in development) seems to have run into the mud because of a lack of this clarity. I’m still waiting for feedback on my historical drama so watch this space.

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Cannes Plus

Apologies for the bloggap - busy week no more to say. Oh yes, it’s a blog so I’d better say. Briefly, the weekend was a dip back into the past. That is, medieval re-enactment, taking the war of the roses period 1455-1487. My wife and I are common archers, but I hadn’t loosed an arrow for 18 months. I’m pleased to report that it’s like riding a bike! The event was at Castle Hedingham where my ancestors first took their name from a Norman knight (Barham) who’d been granted land in the area. I also found time to visit Coggeshall nearby. After the weekend it was back to Babbage and I’m happy to say I’ve finished the second draft of the feature and sent it off to Frame On Frame. Oh, and last but not lease my short A Question Of Content arrived at Cannes and I have completed my registration and booked my flight!

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Cannes 2009

On Wednesday I received Jack Marshall’s final edit of my short A Question Of Content. By Thursday I’d authored a DVD, sent it on it’s way to the Cannes Short Film corner (the CFC is part of Cannes 2009 Film Festival market place) and registered myself to attend. I’ve followed this up by ordering some promotional material and new Business Cards but I have no specific plans during the event so I’m feeling some pangs of guilt about going on a whim! This is mainly because The Bloodline is still stuck in the mud, I’m still waiting for feedback on my historical drama and the Babbage feature was promoted last year by a short at the CFC! So as AQOC was only intended as a calling card I really have nothing to promote at Cannes (except perhaps myself?). The good news however is that the second script draft for Babbage is going well and I’m on schedule to complete by the end of the month. Watch this space!
For Filmmakers who like Podcasts they may be interested in this one from Stacy Parks (Click Here).

A Weekend With Fens

As promised more about the weekend. Jack Marshall is reaching the final stages of his short Intruder and on Sunday the music for the film was being recorded at Witchford near Ely, Cambridgeshire. This was an elaborate affair with an 18 piece orchestra, sound recordest and camera team (for the "making of"). My wife and I decided to make a weekend of it so on Saturday we "did" Ely, including the cathedral by day and a concert in the evening (Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah). Sunday morning we were on the Fens at Wicken Nature Reserve and PM, into the early evening, helping Jack with the camera work at the music recording. I was extremely impressed by the professionalism of the conductor, sound engineer and orchestra who had all given up their day for the love of it… And now I must get back to Babbage draft II! Oh, and as a taster, below are some of the impressions of the events, enjoy.

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Charles Babbage Plus

On Friday I met with Trevor & Claire (Frame On Frame) to discuss the exploratory Babbage script (i.e. draft I) for their feature to be filmed next year. After four hours plus of hammering out the ideas and requirements for the next draft I had a pretty good idea of the way ahead and have already started work. However, I got no further than page 4 before a busy weekend started. More on this to come as it involved a B&B at Witchford, recording the music for Jack Marshall’s short Intruder, a tour and concert at Ely Cathedral, a walk along the Cam, a visit to a nature reserve on the Fens and the collection of the final edit of my short AQOC. Watch this space!

Alice De Lacy - A Divided Kingdom

Did I tell you that the other day my Producer asked me to dust off an old script of mine as he had a Director interested? The script is for a full-budget film (ie £M+) historical drama, which I've been holding back until one or two other (much cheaper) projects have been completed (if ever!). The film really needs studio backing, but if an Indie Director wants to read it who am I to stop him? So, today I sent off a 123 page script to my Producer... it has a working title (if only they'd read it!) of "A Divided Kingdom" (formerly Alice De Lacy on my website) and it's based a true event in history. If you'd like to know a little bit about the real Alice De Lacy click here.

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