I finished the new draft.
The guys who were meant to be building the Swordsman seem to have drifted away, but Ian and I have a Cunning Plan. Well, not that cunning. An Expensive Plan might be a more fitting description. I think it would be a good idea for me to just spend a big wodge of money on the pilot scene ASAP. Start the snowball rolling and see what happens.
Some of you may recall that, during the dark days of Development Hell on Soul Searcher (which preceded the dark days of pre-production, the darker days of production and the darker-than-dark-itself days of post-production), I served as DoP on a microbudget feature called Beyond Recognition, shot in upstate New York and the Italian Dolomites. Well, the Circle of Life has turned again and tomorrow I fly out to NYC for three weeks to DoP Tom Muschamp’s new feature, See Saw. If his last one was anything to go by, it should be a lot of fun.

I haven’t done anything more on the script, more for the want of spare time than anything. But the other day I heard back from the UK Film Council. Once again, I’ve been turned down for development funding because the script’s not good enough. I guess their dictionary doesn’t have the word “irony” in it.

I’ve nearly finished the new draft, but I’m not sure one of the biggest changes I’ve made is working. It feels a bit shoe-horned in. I’ve got to decide whether to take it back out or not. Thing is, it’s a change a lot of people have suggested I make.
I had a meeting this evening with a producer who really liked the script but thought I should get someone else to direct it. It’s kind of annoying that the most recent example of my directing abilities (Soul Searcher) is three and a half years old now. I’m sure I’d be much better at it now. Another reason why this pilot scene is needed.

The lovely folks at FX Home have posted a review of Soul Searcher and an interview with me on their website, including some of the artwork from this site and a competition to win a copy of SS.

I finished the new videomatic. It showcases my staggering vocal acting talents.

Anthony had a baby. Well, his partner did. So Phil Stevens – Anthony’s prop-making buddy – is going to be doing most of the work on the Swordsman for the time being. He has tested out some wood and brass finishes for Ian to look at.
A few weeks back I did a talk at Sci-Fi London 2007, a film festival at the swanky Apollo West End, on low budget lighting and special effects. It went very well – the FX bit at least – but unfortunately because it was moved back later in the day than planned, I didn’t get to meet certain useful producery and writery people who were giving a talk elsewhere. On the bright side, I was given some free software by some impressed programmers from FX Home.
In my quest to find a writer, I read some good scripts, but nothing that screamed out, “You need to work with this person!” So, painful as it was, I started draft five myself. After procrastinating for a few days over early scenes, I finally got moving late last week. At the moment I’m happy with how it’s going, but I might hate it when it’s finished.

Briefly back in Malvern on the way home from an editing job in the Hairy Ford, I shot part of another videomatic with Ian using sketch models he had made of one of the airships and the town. And Lego men. Paying work is keeping me pretty busy at the moment, but you’ll see the finished thing here on the website as soon as it’s finished.

The premises next to the Tea Building used to be a biscuit factory. How good is that? This trivia was imparted to me at the NPA Business Breakfast yesterday morning. This is an event where schmucks like myself pay money to pitch their films to executives in front of other schmucks. Free drinks lacking again, but plenty of croissants.
Part of the appeal is the chance to watch other people pitch. I was relieved to see I haven’t been getting it wrong all these years. No-one else had a folder full of amazing concept art. (Engage Smug Mode.) By now I’ve got used to the laughter when I reveal how little the film will cost.
At least one of my pitch sessions looks like it may lead somewhere, but that doesn’t mean anything of course.
This morning I received Ian’s working drawings for the Wooden Swordsman, which are big enough to paper the walls of my bedroom.

I advertised for a writer on Shooting People. The responses are still coming in.
Last night I went to a place just down the road from the now legendary Tea Building for the launch of Make Your Mark In Film, a campaign to get young people into filmmaking. Several months ago I was asked by the producer, Louis Savvy – also the man behind the Sci-Fi London film festival – to be an ambassador for the campaign. So far this has involved me doing pretty much nothing, but they have promised to involve me more from now on. During the mingling I randomly met the drummer from Tears for Fears and a guy who produces Blake’s Seven audio plays.
Today I met with Nina, a producer I had spoken to at one of the Raindance classes. We talked about stop motion, set construction and shooting in Spain.

We’ve chosen Anthony Sibley to build the Swordsman. This decision could have been based entirely on the fact that he has a diecast Back to the Future DeLorean on his sideboard. I couldn’t possibly comment.
But seriously, the evidence of his talent was all around, from the full-size Dalek in his porch to the extremely impressive Davros model in his display cabinet. (He was a bit embarrassed that he had made so much Doctor Who stuff recently, but apparently there’s a big market for it amongst convention-going Whovers.)
The next step is to finalise the designs.
Remember the meeting I had in November with the guy from Screen West Midlands? He still hasn’t read the script. Nothing ever changes.