One Year Later - 10 days to go!

ONE YEAR LATER - TEN DAYS TO GO!

Since writing the initial plot idea for this little supernatural rom-com on the 7th of November 2012 (161 days ago according to my iPhone notes) we've found a fantastic cast (April, Mark, Rhys, Simon, Tam and Paul) and an amazing crew (deep breath.... Claire M, Julie, Scott, Drew, Sarah, Megan, Sharon, Claire D, John, Sean, Samantha, Anne, Dougie, Katy and Rachael), as well as stunning locations - The Tall Ship, The Sk:n Clinic, The Libertine and two more to be confirmed over the next day or so...

We've also been SO lucky and crowd-funded over £2000 so we can pay our cast and crew from all of the lovely people out there on Twitter, Facebook and beyond who so kindly donated what they could in return for perks from the movie. I am forever grateful. We literally could not make the film without you guys.

So here we go, the final countdown! 10 days left until we're at the Sk:n clinic filming a hospital scene with Simon Weir and Rhys Teare-Williams. I'm feeling nervous and excited. I've made shorts before, and a web series and even a feature film, but the excitement and terror never goes away. We'll be filming our little film about David, a normal geeky guy with the perfect girl, Katy, his perfect match, and he decides to pop the question with the perfect proposal. Thankfully he's got his older brother, wise-cracking, slightly mad, Steven, played with such brilliance by Mark Wood (see him shake his booty over here!) who has always been there for him, to lend his support. The only drawback is that Steven is dead, and he's either a ghost or just a figment of David's imagination. 

And we need YOU! We're filming a restaurant scene in Glasgow in the late afternoon/early evening of Sunday 28th of April and we require 2 guys and 2 girls, aged 18+, preferably with *some* experience in TV, film or theatre, to be in our scene to help bring it to life. Unfortunately it's an unpaid position but you'll be fed and watered, and you'll be invited to our wrap party and our cast and crew screening too, as well as a copy of the final film. So if you're interested email your headshot and CV to contact@sillyweefilms.com - thank you!

When it's wrapped we'll be editing the film, adding in the special effects, having the sound work added, the music composed and once we're happy it'll be sent off to film festivals around the world in the hope that it'll be shown and our hard work will be showcased for all to see. 

We will also be holding a screening in Glasgow not long after it, a private screening that we'll be inviting members of the public to come along to, to support our film and the film industry in Scotland too. More details on that as it follows.

Wish us luck!

Cameron Stone - a Movie Scramble Review

CAMERON STONE - A MOVIE SCRAMBLE REVIEW

In October 2012 I took part in the Glasgow 48 hour film project and we made a short mockumentary based on a big-headed actor (write what you know kids!), Cameron Stone. We had brilliant performances from our cast and it's a film that will (haunt) stay with me forever.

The lovely people at Movie Scramble were kind enough to review the film and you can read it here - http://www.moviescramble.co.uk/index.php/2013/04/12/cameron-stone-legendary-actor-2012/

One Year Later - Brotherly Bonding

ONE YEAR LATER - BROTHERLY BONDING

Mark Wood and Rhys Teare-Williams do a script readthrough 

On Saturday night we held a production meeting with some of the crew of the movie to discuss costume, hair, makeup, locations and equipment. It was great to sit down with everybody and sort out how we were going to approach the movie. This is the third project on which I've had the great honour of collaborating with them and without sounding like an "Oh yah darling", I love this team and I miss it when we're not working together. This is why I really want "One Year Later" to do well. We've raised just enough money to pay our cast and crew SOMETHING for giving up their time on the gig, and I always want to pay people. It's not that I've deliberately avoided paying people in the past, the simple matter of fact is that if I waited to get funding there would have been no other projects. Not only that but only now, years later, having worked on these projects, do I know how to go about it and thanks to crowd-funding filmmakers are in a more likely position to raise the funds to make their movies - but we're still a long way away from that, and I'm getting off point. The reason I want OYL to do well is that hopefully someone, somewhere, might see potential in the film and help us make more projects and I can bring in the same cast and crew. That's the goal anyway.

But yes, back to the readthrough...

On Sunday I went along into town to meet Rhys, who is playing David, the younger brother who is trying to propose to Katy, played by the great April Pearson, who has appeared in Skins, Casualty, Tormented and has been filming a lot of projects recently, and Mark, who plays the wise-cracking, yet supportive older brother Steven. Joined by Scott Forrest, our assistant director on the project.

We met at the Libertine in the Merchant City end of town, one of our filming locations, and we went through the script, how I'd like the actors to play certain scenes and lines, asking them for their opinions and suggestions. I filmed a few of them on my iPad and I'm really happy with how it's coming about.

The day ended with us going around George Square taking photos of the actors, as they are supposed to be super close brothers, I needed photos of them being brotherly, to put around our flat location, and for a scene at the end of the movie.

A great day for definite and tomorrow I'm off to look out for a restaurant location for our 2nd biggest scene in the short film. 

A MASSIVE thank you to my cast and my crew and my exceptional producer Claire Mcguire and assistant producer Sarah Mooney for working so tirelessly to get our locations.

And here are some more photos of the boys...

 

Creative Talent Connections - All the updates!

("Bloodline" pilot stars Tam Toye, Matt Robertson and Catriona Evans on set)

ALL THE UPDATES

Lots and lots going on with both Creative Talent Connections and my own corporate video work including editing weddings, shooting music videos and working on corporate promotional videos.

Our Creative Talent Connections Podcast, which, features interviews with TV and film industry professionals discussing their careers and offering advice to fellow freelancers, can now be downloaded from iTunes! You can find them by clicking here. Our guests so far have included Greg Hemphill (Still Game), Kirsty Strain (Burnistoun), Anne Nicholson (freelance editor), David West (actor) and Simon Weir (River City, Highroad).

(Taggart and River City actor Colin McCredie)

Scott Forrest and I have recorded a mini-podcast featuring news from the Glasgow Film Festival and interviews from writers Tom Macrae (Doctor Who, Threesome) and James Moran (Doctor Who, Cockneys Vs Zombies) discussing their careers. Our next podcast will be recorded on the 20th of April and we'll be speaking to producer/director Michael Hines (Still Game, River City) and Colin McCredie (Taggart and River City)

Our supernatural drama series "Bloodline", which, follows the adventures of Kate, Adam and Charles, the chosen Three who are charged with supernatural abilities to protect humankind against ancient Scottish mythological creatures who are being harvested by the mysterious Victoria Campbell, managed to crowd-fund enough money to pay for the 6 day shoot for our pilot episode. We've now completed the pilot episode and wrote out an 8-part series arc and pitching it to production companies, so fingers crossed!

AND as part of our Creative Talent Connections group we successfully crowd-funded over £2000 so we can shoot our new supernatural rom-com short film, "One Year Later", where David (Rhys Teare-Williams) is planning to pull off the perfect proposal to his perfect woman, Katy (April Pearson) with the help of his wise-cracking, self-confessed playboy older brother, Steven (Mark Wood), who just happens to be dead and is either a figment of David's imagination or is a real ghost. Simon Weir guest stars as Doctor Evans. We've locked down locations including Skin in Glasgow City Centre and the Tall Ship at the Riverside Museum. Our shoot takes place on the 27th and 28th of April and we'll be submitting it to major film festivals to promote our talented cast and crew and Scotland as a filming location. 

Mark Wood, Rhys Teare-Williams and Skins star April Pearson will star in "One Year Later" this year.

I cannot wait to get back on the set again of a short film and work with the brilliant team who joined me on Bloodline and Cameron Stone. It's another step closer to my dream of writing and producing my own TV show one day... 

I leave you with my most recent work, Cameron Stone, a mockumentary we shot in 48 hours for the Glasgow 48 hour film challenge 2012, which I hope to be taking part in again this year! The rules were it had to have the line "It is our little secret" with the prop of a map and the character Ray or Ramona Lewis who had to be a captain. Enjoy!

Creative Talent Connections - April 2013

APRIL 2013

Scott Forrest and Claire Mcguire interviewing our guests Gabriel Robertson, Rebecca Thompson, Paul Donnelly and Ashe Hussain

We had a brilliant networking event last night in Blackfriars. We had producers (Rebecca), writers and directors (Gabriel), actors (Paul) and an organiser from The Network (Ashe) who were all on hand to discuss their careers and offer advice to our attendees on how to get into the industry and how to network.

Before hand we showed several short films from our CTC team - My Father's Son by Claire Mcguire, Behind the Screens by Julie D Dunn and Late Nights by myself. 

Again lots of valuable tips and information were on hand by the professionals and we hope to build on these nights and hopefully everybody who attended benefited from the night and we hope that more people will join us at our next event in June.

Information will be posted here and on Creative Talent Connections facebook page.

Next up for CTC is our first short film, "One Year Later"with a stellar cast and a brilliant crew. We start filming on the 27th of April in Glasgow and we're in the process of locking down locations and costumes.