Mobile phone, 1928... wait a minute!

This has peaked my interest. This video, link below, appears to show a woman with a mobile phone held to her ear, but its 1928? Two questions here one- mobile masts weren't around so how was it sending out a signal? Two- if as suggested this person is an actual time traveller, then why is she walking in front of a camera with a phone from the future? Surely she would have realised it was a camera....

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/blog/article/57334/time-traveller-spotted-at-chaplin-premiere.html

Have a look and see what you think. I have to say that as she turns towards the camera there does appear to be something in her hand... This will lead onto the question of time travel, can it be done? Has someone in the future discovered how? And where is Jean Claude VanDamme when you need a time cop?

If you happen to be a time traveller, any chance you'd send me next weeks lotto numbers? For all the draws....

The Whatmans- Kiss The Mind

About a year ago I answered a post on a film makers forum. A band were looking for a video to be made at, well at a budget that was so small I fell over it... Little did I know at the time that this band were to become an icon of Irish rock. Robbed of a chance to play at Glastonbury these guys and a gal went on to work, work and work some more to turn out what will be a massive album. Due for release soon. These guys were in Canada a short while ago and they rocked the little place out of its foundations.

If one is to listen to their manager they would hear tails of the band defeating fire breathing dragons, slaying  monsters of Rock and beheading Indie bands by the score. A band who have and will be a beacon to what one can do, if they put the heads down and win over loyal fans. Of course none of this would be possible without TALENT, which these guys have in abundance, this being a word to small to describe what the have in bucket fulls.....

So here we are with the release of their new tune Kiss The Mind, which I have called Enter the Mind, F the mind and pure class in the mind. We produced the video, 50LB Films and it was directed by the talent that is Kuba Kolinski. So here's the link
Text music 6544 to 57501 to buy when you get the text back in just log on to www.downloadmusic.ie and download it-- please remember you need to download it to count for the char...ts.
Also available ...on ITunes and www.7digital.ie
Thank you for your support and for supporting original Irish musicSee More

Fire Up the Masses - Single by The Whatmans - Download Fire Up the Masses - Single on iTunes

itunes.apple.com

Preview and download songs from Fire Up the Masses - Single by The Whatmans on iTunes. Buy Fire Up the Masses - Single for just 0,99 €.

Now f-off and down load it and let these guys hit the big time, a time they richly deserve...

A new Company

Apart from being a writer, I also run two newly formed businesses. 50LB Films was set up with three friends, Gemma Horan, Kuba Kolinski and Peter O'Dwyer. This is a TV and Film production company. If you follow the link to my web page you'll see some of our work. We have a great team of people who work with us and for free as we are currently unfunded and therefore have to work extra hard to bring in projects that will pay, not only us but the team of people who help bring our projects to life. 50LB Films is nearly a year old now and still working hard to be everything we can, as our company motto says- small enough to care, big enough to compete. We are currently working on a documentary and a feature film along with some promos for TV pitches and other projects.

The second business I have is also in the arts world and I have set this one up with Helen Dunne. Helen is a dance teacher and has worked for herself for a few years now and earlier this year worked with 50LB Films on a music video for The Whatmans.. The company we are setting up is called Dance Connect. This is the first of its kind in Ireland and will bring dancers to producers, production companies and to the theatres by allowing them to showcase their talents. Most dancers in Ireland who want to be professional have to leave the country to find both education and work. But as Helen pointed out to me, there's plenty for them here, its just not well advertised... So Dance Connect was born.

Setting up these companies is hard going and one thing I've learned is, well I've actually learned alot from doing this. One of the things is that nobody will do the work for you... Surprise! In the last year I have learned how to produce films, videos etc with no money. Learned how to do up business plans, marketing plans and how to pitch ideas to people. Its hard and not being a person to back down from a challenge I've worked my backside to make these come to life.

Late nights, early mornings and the will to succeed is all you need, oh and a little bit of luck. After the year I've started to make headway. TG4, an Irish TV station has showed an interest in two of 50LB Films Projects. Dingle is getting ready for our arrival in December to shoot a documentary down there. I can light at the end of the Dance Connect tunnel and most importantly, I've met some very interesting people along the way and I've started writing a new book and some new plays. So here's to 2011 and all that it'll bring.

Effigy Road has been part of my life now for nearly a year. It was written by Rob Kelly, whom I met on a film makers forum. He sent me the script, hoping I would produce it and I did. We had no budget and any monies spent on it were from our own pockets. Rob is a very talented Director and working with him has been a journey to remember.

Our shoot began in June, six months after we had started working on the short. Rob wanted to CGI it to death and I wanted to do as much as we could for real, this included me getting access to a plane.

The story revolves around a group of friends who wake up in a hotel and discover the world is empty of people. So that was my first problem, how do I get rid of every one?

Our first day of principle photographery was to take place in Carlow town centre. Our cast and crew arrived on set at 3am on a wet Tuesday morning. We had two scenes to shoot here and we got stuck in. We started shooting in the Roadhouse cafe in the centre of Carlow. The crew were  glad to be inside and as we set about getting our first shots, some of us tucked into a hot breakfast and lots of black coffee. Rob and Daniel set up the first shot and action was called. The first day got off to a flying start. Once we had all our shots in the cafe, we moved outside, where some of our crew had closed down the centre of the town. Traffic was light but we knew if would soon get busy. We had a crane on site to get some high shots of our casts car arriving in the deserted town. Gerry, our driver, was on-set at 3am and had sat around until after 6. With the roads blocked off and our crew directing traffic around the shoot location, Rob set about creating a deserted town. We got our shots and re-opened the centre of Carlow at 0755am, a mere five minutes before our deadline. A massive thank you has to go out to Noel Dillon of Carlow Town Council for helping us out and allowing us to shut down Carlow for those few hours.

  The Dolmen Hotel in Carlow was our second location. They gave us access to their hotel early on the morning of June 2nd and so began day 2 of the shoot. We arrived out to the hotel at 5am. It was a sunny morning and the cast and crew got stuck in. We had access to one of the hotel beautiful suites and the staff and management were great to work with. Marianne you're a star! With our second day in the can, our cast and crew were given a few days off as our next location was Carlow Shopping centre. We had some important scenes to get here, including two stunt scenes.

John Chatten, the centre's manager, was emailed and a meeting was held and agreement reached, we had our location.

Our cast and crew arrived on set for 6am four Sunday mornings in a row. Effigy Road was back and the cast and crew were eager to get stuck in. Gemma Horan of Forget Me Not Make-up came onboard to do our Sfx make-up for these scenes and we had the great pleasure of working with Paul Burke and his stunt team too.

So our four Sundays went off with out a hitch. We had the local radio in, thank Edwina and KCLR, and the local papers in covering our shoot. Our stunt scenes drew a large crowd as they watched Sarah get dragged into the rafters of the centre and James been thrown some 20ft backwards from stairs. So now we had six days shoot in the can and only two to go. The next day would come on September 29. 

As this short had a lot of Sfx and CGI, we needed a green stage. So it was off to Ardmore studios in Bray, Co. Wicklow. After a few phone calls, we were in. A big thank you to Kevin in Ardmore for giving us the stage for the day. The call time was a late 9am start and when the morning came we got stuck in and got our shots in record time. The sole surviving member of our cast had landed on Alien decks and he and a few survivors were in for a nasty surprise. We had a blast shooting these scenes as our cast of extras and John ran back and forth attacking a green stage. A massive thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help us out in Ardmore. We also have to thank Jason, in Cine Electric and Teach Solas for all their help on the day. With Ardmore studio shot, that leaves us one more day to shoot, before this 12minute short is finshed. It will have taken a year to get 12minutes of Sci-fi, but it will be a project that I will always remeber,and I hope that the cast and crew will hold as an experience never to forget.

We plan on having our first screening of Effigy Road in December in Carlow and from there its onto the festival circuit. 

The story won't end there however, as Rob and myself are now in the pre-production stages of 50LB Films first feature film, We've Got Balls, but not only that, Rob has given me the first of four episodes to a Sci-fi series, that I am really looking forward to making with him, named 

Effigy Earth... 

What's On Tom? Productions

Saturday night saw me attending a selection of new short plays performed by the very able cast and crew from What's On Tom? Productions, headed up by Margaret Farrell and Kery Mullaly. This small production company, from Thomastown, Kilkenny, is a blessing for those new playwrights who are trying to get their work out to the regular Theatre-goer.
This year's show, Kult, fresh from a sell out night at Kilkenny's Watergate Theatre, saw 7 very different plays from those performed by the company earlier this year in 7 Deadly Scenes, a show case of comedy from some fine writers.
Kult brought new plays from Samantha Heaney, Tony Deegan, Shawn Sturnick and returning writers Gillian Grattan, Hugh Cardiff, John Morton and myself.
Samantha Heaney gave us some great laughs with Robbin and Lovin'. Samantha is a working actress with a love for writing comedy. Our cast for this entertaining piece included John Doran, aka Dangerous Dave a bungling first time small shop robber, along with Ciaran O'Dwyer and Rebecca Watkins, making this a favorite with the audience.
Next came Ashes to Ashes by Tony Deegan. A monologue delivered by Orla Kelly.  This vignette from the play Voices In The Park, pushed Orla to make a connection with the audience, as she remebered her husband Cyril.
Next came my own play, The Land. Fronted by Niall Sheehy as Paddy and ably assisted by Frank Kelly as Captain. This play centres around Paddy, a young man facing not only the fear of being alone in no-mans land but of what the land has done to him.
Perhaps my favorite play of the night came from Shawn Sturnick in his cleverly written piece, A Closet Flung Wide Open. This is the coming out story of a young man with a literary preference that he can no longer hide. Well delivered by David James Glendon.
Gillian Grattan gave us an insight into how to serve up revenge and make it cold in her No Room For Sweet. With a great performance from the cast, fronted by  Adrienne Regan   and supported by Mairead Forristal and their love interest Shane Connery.
Hugh Cardiff delivered a very strong and thoughtful piece entitled Same Old Scene. With a strong performance from Bernie Brennan, and recordings played as voice over effect, came a mother's memory of the loss of her daughter, I felt it carried on to long and while I did like it, I felt it  repeated its point several times, which for me took away from what was a very strong piece.
John Morton's play, Tenterhooks, from 7 Deadly Scenes earlier this year stole the show and as to be expected from a great writer came another highly entertaining piece entitled Denouement. With an allstar cast, Geraldine Plunkett of Glenroe and The Clinic and joined by Des Manahan, came a very enjoyble tale from the end of the world.
What's On Tom? Productions delivered another great night of Theatre and will I hope, continue to deliver more great nights over the coming years.
Well done to all!

An extract from some of my writing

“Witches.” The old man had climbed halfway up the steps towards Rheims and the pyre, shouting at the top of his voice. “Witches, Witches, sure aren’t we all witches. Haw, what do you think?” Bending down he shoved his nose into a guard’s face. The crowd were pointing and laughing at the old drunk on the steps.

“Oh, well ye can laugh.” All the time he was pointing at the crowd. “You butcher, with your money, stealing an extra bull or two from farms, so you’ll have more to sell than the others…”

            Sven looked down at Rheims who had stopped talking, his stare fixed firmly on the old drunk, disgust dripping from his expression. Sven watched as the Angels of Mercy descended the steps leading down to the crowd and watched as the old man dodged their attempts to grab him. The crowds heckled and cheered with every evasive move the old man made, slipping just out of reach as they got close to him. The old man continued his line of accusations while being chased.

“Who was it that really stole your money, was it truly Maisie here?” He pointed back at the young girl on the stake. “Or was it your own greed that stole it and now that you have nothing, you blame it on something that no one wants to understands. Magic, the black arts or it is Devilry...” The drunk began to dance a merry dance, pretending to cast spells on the crowd and avoiding the Angels of Mercy and their attempts to catch him. The crowd gasped as the drunk spoke, whispers running rampant amongst ears and then silence as the thunderous voice of Theobald Rheims rained down on the heads of men and women alike.

            “Blasphemy…” His voice sending tremors through the strongest and weakest alike. “Heresy, I command you not to listen to his words. Angels take him to the to the Room of Repent.” As the Angels of Mercy closed in on the old man, Sven knew that he wouldn’t get a better chance than this to rescue the girl from the witch hunter. Taking the bottle from his belt he threw himself out of the window and threw the bottle at the torches at the base of the pyre. 

“Look a witch flying from the cathedral!” The voice of a woman drowned out the shouts of the crowd, drawing Rheims away from the pursuit and to Sven falling towards the ground. A bright flash blinded Rheims, causing him to cover his eyes and stumble down the top two steps. The crowd began to panic, running from the edge of the steps, cutting the city’s guards off from the commotion. Rheims regained his balance just in time to see Sven hover over the young girls head.

            “What magic is this? Who are you?” Rheims voice trembled as the words spilled out. Grasping his war hammer in his hand, he called his Angels of Mercy to his side. Sven remained silent and watched as the old man fell to his knees behind Rheims watching what was happening, then Sven spoke. 

“Silence.” His voice swallowing the crowds sounds of panic. “Old man, release the girl.”  Sven looked down at the old man picked himself up from the ground and walked to the pyre to untie the girl. His hands had just touched the ropes binding her when Rheims spoke in a commanding voice.

            “Do not release that witch or you too shall feel the cleansing touch of holy flames upon your skin.” The old man stopped and looked up at Sven and winked.

“Oh, Theobald I don’t think I’ll feel the flames.” The man tugged at his hair and it came away in his hand revealing a smoothly shaven head. Sven watched to see how Rheims would react. “Don’t you recognize me?” The old man dropped his tattered coat to the ground revealing two swords at his side. 

            “You...” A look of disbelief fell on Rheims’ face. But I burned you in Stanoss last year.” Rheims mouth dropped as he saw the man now revealed in front of him.“How did you survive the flames?” Theobald drew up his hammer to his chest, readying himself for the attack. 

“The next time you try to burn Miguel Hernandez Juan Raul Pablo Carlos Alejandro Fernando Pedro De La Cruz, I suggest you stay till the fire burns out.”

Work

I've spent the last few days getting paperwork ready for a number of projects that I'm currently working on and I have to say that some people are very slow in getting information to you... I've sent out requests for prices on a few things, that I need for these projects and I have, in fairness to the companies, got back the great and ever dependable automated reply 'We shall reply to your query within 24hrs'
Simple little things like a price on a website, rough ball park figure will be fine, that will look like this one- here's a link- but no reply in 24 hours. What they fail to say is, 'What 24hours?' Today, tomorrow, next week, christmas or maybe its next year.... Who knows?

 Since I started applying for funding to make movies, I have been amazed. If I'm looking for funding for a short film, I can fill out the application online and get all the other information together and hey presto, I have an application pack. But get this, I have to print 3-5 copies of everything and then post it. Why, oh why, can't I just email you the information and then you can email it onto the panel for reading...? Why do I need to kill a tree for a rejection letter? Ever heard of EMAIL?  No, what about the interweb? Yes, well sign up for email, its FREE!