Russell T Davies talks to Michael Grade

I'm currently reading "The Writer's Tale"by Russell T Davies, who, amongst many things, ran Doctor Who as head writer and executive producer when it came back from 2005 until 2010. It's an amazing book, with lots of brilliant insight into the mind of a brilliant writer, and it could help any aspiring writers a great deal - I'm certainly finding it very useful.

I could sit here and share a lot of quotes from the book, but this one jumped out at me:

"First of all, Michael Grade said some fascinating stuff at that lunch the other day. He said 'Do you know the difference between drama and melodrama? Melodrama is: I've got a gun, I'm pointing it at you, I hate you, I want to kill you, my finger is squeezing the trigger... and the gun jams. Drama is: I've got a gun, I'm pointing it at you, I hate you, my finger is squeezing the trigger... I can't do it.' I think that's brilliant. And he mimed all that, pointing his hand at me. In the Ivy! Funny thing is, it cropped up the very next day. Because the same difference applies to drama and science fiction. Gareth has written a Sarah Jane script where she meets her parents in 1951, but she knows she's got to get away. So, she drives out of the village, but the roads keep twisting back, space folding in on itself. She's caught in a loop. Every path she takes brings her back to where she started. She can't escape. But the drama version is: Sarah Jane knows that she's got to get away, and tries to drive out of the village.... but she can't. She knows that it's wrong, but she turns the car around, to go meet her destiny. Thank you, Mr Grade!"

So there's an important lesson in the difference between drama and melodrama.

Now, I'm off to give "Arrow" a try. Let's see if knows the difference.

Creative Talent Connections - 2nd Guest Confirmed - Dave Anderon

We're happy to announce that actor and regular participant in theatre and panto in Glasgow, Dave Anderson, has joined our next CTC Networking Event on the 22nd of January.

Click here to read Dave's IMDb Page

Dave has worked as an actor in TV and films since 1964 and is still acting today. We're extremely pleased that he's agreed to join our panel at our next networking night alongside Sanjeev Kohli. 

The talks kick off at 8pm on the 22nd of January so please make sure that you are there with plenty of time. We will also be offering prizes for the best networker on the night so bring plenty of business cards! 

All details can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/events/403478569726290/

We are still likely to be confirming a third guest to offer their insight and advice into the TV and film industry.

Creative Talent Connections - 1st Confirmed Guest! Sanjeev Kohli

Our next Creative Talent Connections networking evening has confirmed it's first guest of 2013!

Actor, writer and producer Sanjeev Kohli will be our first guest on our networking event on the 22nd of January.

Check out Sanjeev's IMBd Page Here!

Sanjeev's credits include Still Game, Fresh Meat, Gary's Tank Commander, and Hope Springs. He's also wrote for Chewin' the Fat, Goodness Gracious Me and The Big Breakfast. We are delighted to have Sanjeev give a talk on our night, sharing his experiences and advice to those wanting to get into the TV and film industry.

We're lucky that Sanjeev will also be our guest on our next special podcast, recording on the 24th of January, following from Greg Hemphill's and Kirsty Strain's episode that you can listen to here.

We'll have one or two more special guests confirmed for the networking night and the podcast before the 22nd

Our hope is to bring in established guests from all different fields in the industry to offer an insight, and hopefully encourage others to follow their dreams and ambitions in the world of TV, film and radio.

The networking night kicks off at 7pm, downstairs in Blackfriars in Merchant City, Glasgow, on Tuesday 22nd of January.

All the details are on the official Facebook page.

Del - The Invincible Music Video

Scott Forrest and I produced a music video for upcoming Glasgow rapper, Del, to accompany is track "Invincible".

We'll be working with Del again this month on his next track, "The Greatest Trick".

Check out Del's video below.

Night is Day: 2006-2009

(Glasgow superhero Jason Mackenzie played by Chris Summers and Caitlyn Smith played by Anna Walseth)

When I first started out on the quest to run my own TV show (i.e. be an executive producer/show runner) I was lucky enough to be part of the BBC's E-Force training programme. From there I found a competition to make a trailer for a film that didn't exist yet. I decided that I wanted to step away from the normal Scottish films and tackle the superhero genre. Being a fan of Doctor Who, Spider-Man and the like, I created "Night is Day".

I made a short film version of it after I left college, which was a great learning experience, and then in 2005 I started writing "Night is Day" as a web series. With no money and a willing cast and crew I shot 6 episodes and put them online for people to see. Propeller TV on Sky showed all 6 episodes too, which was fantastic.

So what is "Night is Day"? It follows the adventures of Jason Mackenzie (Chris Summers) a down on his luck guy in his mid-twenties who is dumped by his girlfriend and on a night out drowning his sorrows, is knocked down by a car. While recuperating he decides to change his fortune for the better, there he is contacted by a mysterious man called Ames (Alan Maclean) who tells Jason that he can change his fortune. Jason is duped and a lightning-powered demon is transferred into Jason, given him the power of foresight. Now when Jason touches anybody he gets a mind-numbing vision of their fate and must set out to save them, only with the power of lightning by his side.

And that's the basic concept of Night is Day. 13 episodes were produced in total, split over 2 seasons which you can watch here and here. There's a spin-off feature film version too. Below are some special features from the two seasons.

I'm exceptionally proud of what we achieved with no funding and I certainly learned a lot about running a show, writing and working with different actors and crew! Hopefully this will all come handy with Bloodline... 

Series 1 Cast Interviews

Series 2 Making Of Episode 1

Creative Talent Connections 22nd January 2012

Our next Creative Talent Connections Networking evening is on the 22nd of January, 7pm, downstairs in Blackfriars, Merchant City in Glasgow.

Freelancers, producers, directors, actors, writers, editors, sound people, camera people, everybody from TV, radio, theatre and film are invited to meet fellow creatives in a relaxed setting, get a drink and do some networking.

We’ll be inviting special guests from the industry to give a talk and answer any questions you might have.

You can find out more information at https://www.facebook.com/events/403478569726290/?suggestsessionid=1000002812074171357388797

What's going on in 2013...

First of all...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So here it is, 2013, a brand new year, endless possibilities, opportunities and fun times ahead! A lot of progress was made last year, and I plan on building on the foundations laid and move forward in a positive, opportunistic manner.

Here's what's happening for me, my company Silly Wee Films, and Creative Talent Connections...

BLOODLINE

Initially a 3-part, 15 minute supernatural fantasy web series as an excuse to let me do something low-key involving swords, Bloodline took off faster than expected after a chat with my co-writer Scott Forrest. Once we met producer Claire Mcguire at the BBC Scotland Directs networking night, the ball was rolling. 

"Bloodline" follows The Three, a pre-destined trio with the abilities of strength, agility and spiritual enlightenment, the team research and battle ancient Scottish mythological creatures, protecting the innocent people of Scotland (and maybe beyond!) while finding a way to close the cracks from the spiritual world once and for all. As the cunning business-minded Victoria Campbell follows her family's destiny, Charlie, Kate and Adam struggle to balance their lives fighting monsters and living a normal life.

We've got a 45 minute pilot finished, mapped out the series arc for 8 episodes, while researching all sorts of mythical creatures and stories from Scotland and at the start of January we'll be filming an additional scene to help us with our pitch, then it'll be on to pitching in the hope we can get the show on TV. Fingers crossed, eh?

THE CTC PODCASTS & NETWORKING NIGHTS

Listen to the first episode here!

While developing Bloodline, Claire, Scott and myself agreed that we should create our own networking events on a bi-monthly basis, allowing people who are either just starting out in the TV, film, theatre, radio industry, or those who are already established and managing to carve out a career doing what they love. The hope is that we can get like-minded people into the same room, have a drink or two and swap contact details and advice. 

We had 3 successful nights before re-vamping the night slightly, by introducing established special guests to give an hour-long talk about their experiences and offering advice. Tam Toye (Night is Day, Infiltrated) and Simon Weir (High Road, Spanking in Paradise, River City) were our first guests and gave informative talk about their careers. 

Our next night will be on the 22nd of January, 7pm, downstairs in Blackfriars, Merchant City, Glasgow, where our special guests are to be confirmed.

We also launched our first ever podcast, which, in the vein of the networking nights, invites special guests to tell their stories and offer advice to those wanting to follow in their footsteps. Greg Hemphill, co-writer and star of Still Game and Chewin' the Fat joined Kirsty Strain, best known from the comedy sketch show Burnistoun and her dramatic turn in River City, and gave a brilliant talk about their time in the industry. Episode 2 is being recorded on the 24th of January and will be released in February.

Thank you to Cue and Review for supporting our podcasts and allowing us to record in their studios!

You can listen to the podcast by clicking this link.

SHORT FILMS

In 2012 I produced "Chaos and Curlers", a short comedy film about the day in the life of a hair salon, where anything that can go wrong, does go wrong! This was written and directed by Claire Mcguire and will be finished shortly. 

I also took part in the 48 hour film project for the 2nd time, producing mockumentary "Cameron Stone: A Legendary Actor", using the majority of the Bloodline team to make it.

This year we will be producing a few more shorts, with Scott Forrest's spoof "MacDuff!" and my supernatural rom-com "One Year Later..." to follow after that. We may also be producing a comedy short film with Simon Wier too...

NIGHT IS DAY

Back in 2005 I was just finishing college, started Silly Wee Films, and was run down by a car and broke my leg and arm... from there I came up with the idea for a Scottish superhero web series. Enter Jason Mackenzie, played brilliantly by Scot's actor Chris Summers. Jason would fight gangsters, demons from another world while trying to keep student reporter Amy (Shian Denovan) safe from the corrupt businessman Mr. Philips and evading the police duo, Sloan and Mullan.

13 episodes of the web series was shot between 2006 and 2009 with cameos from Martin Compston (Red Road, Line of Duty) and Colin McCredie (Taggart, River City, Wooly and the Tig). As with all unpaid, unfunded projects, those in charge of post-production had to prioritise paid work, but thankfully the sound mix for episode 7 of series 2 is now being completed and all episodes will soon be online free to watch!

Click Here To Watch Night is Day The Web Series!

NIGHT IS DAY... THE MOVIE! 

In 2010 I wanted to finish the story of Night is Day... it had been with me since 2005 and I felt a good send of would be to make a big screen version of it. So I wrote a stand-alone story, pitting Jason against an ancient mythological creature, The Caillech (the resulting research would turn my eye to more research, resulting in Bloodline being born!), with the help of secret police, F-Division, led by Sloan and aided by Mullan and rookie Inspector Rebecca Munro, the team fight the Caillech and the evil Mr. Philips who has been reunited with his insane assassin, Frank Stone! 

Shot on a budget of £5,000 with the cast and crew working for a percentage of any sale we make on the film, filming took around 20 days over the summer and the long, arduous process of post-production began with 6 visual effects artists, re-recording dialogue and sound effects and the film being scored. 

Twice we attended Glasgow's Collectormania sci-fi and TV event in Braehead Arena, with our own stall, selling merchandise, previewing the movie and giving a talk amongst sci-fi stars such as Craig Barrie, Danny John-Jules, Sylvester McCoy, etc. It was a truly memorable experience and I'll never forget it. Especially after Mark Harvey's singing of The Lord of The Rings Musical and The Ultimate Showdown...

In 2011 I took the film to the American Film Market after members of the cast and crew raised money to walk from the Falkirk Wheel to Glasgow City Centre (and donating proceeds to children's charity, CHAS), where we met with distributors to discuss the film. With it now completed we have sent it to the distributors that were interested and sales talks have begun to continue, so watch this space...

So, that's what 2013 has in store for me... and goodness knows what else.

Here's to a year of opportunity, hard work and adventure, and another step closer to running my own TV show...

"You Will Always Have a Hero" the official song from Night is Day The Movie, by Philip Martin