Here’s the brand new promotional image for Club Vamporama, featuring Elizabeth Hastings as the mysterious Marie and Dru Stephenson as the somewhat jaundiced Jenni. Photograph and digital design by Chrissie Harper.
Category: News
The Lure of the Silver Scream [4]
With our Club Vamporama teaser “Who is Bette Noir?” filmed and edited, Chrissie Harper and I headed over to a quiet Solihull cul-de-sac on Tuesday morning to shoot “Hail Cthulhu!”, a minisode set in that same universe featuring Dru Stephenson as Jenni and Elizabeth Hastings as Marie. In case you’re wondering, they switched position from Chrissie’s storyboard because Dru pointed out the uneven ground would elevate her to the same apparent height as Lizzie. This was typical of the professionalism, attention to detail and enthusiasm both actors brought to their performances, and we can’t wait to get the finished short film ready for a public screening.
Good News for Bad Things
Had some fantastic news yesterday about our short film All Bad Things…, which centres upon a bizarre meeting in a restaurant. Obviously, it’s crucial we get an authentic location for the shoot; no one’s going to be convinced by a couple of trestle tables under a bed sheet.
Well, last night I took a ‘phone call from the owner of an award-winning Bangladeshi restaurant which my late wife and I first visited shortly after its launch in 1987, remaining regulars for the next twenty years. He’d read our proposal and wanted to support the project, offering access to either (or both) of his two premises. It’s a massive thumbs-up for the project, and for everyone working on it.
We’re hoping to schedule the shoot for the last Sunday in July. Now the lead actors and location are in place, we’re looking for volunteers to help out on the day, either behind or in front of the camera. If you’re interested, drop me a line via steve.green@ghostwords.co.uk.
Update 30/7/17: Unfortunately, we had to postpone the shoot, but only by a few weeks. As the Romans used to say, festina lente.
Update 10/8/17: The shoot is now scheduled for 20 August.
The Lure of the Silver Scream [3]
Further to yesterday’s Club Vamporama update, here’s a screengrab of myself interviewing manager “Jude” (Melyza Fay) at the titular nightspot (portrayed here by Birmingham music venue Route 44, thanks to the generosity of owner Brendon Daly).
The Lure of the Silver Scream [2]
Above left: Dru Stephenson as “Jenni”. Above right: Melyza Fay as “Jude”.
In addition to our short film All Bad Things, work continues on our proposal for a tv series adapted from the comic strip Club Vamporama. My colleague Chrissie Harper and I spent the afternoon at Route 44 in Acocks Green, Birmingham, where we shot the second of three mock news reports featuring characters from the show; the third (with Lizzie Hastings as “Marie”) is scheduled for Friday morning.
It’s been a fascinating experience, not least because Chrissie roped me in to play the interviewer; I won’t pretend to have anything like the talent displayed by the actors I was working opposite, but I think I managed to avoid total embarrassment.
On the Slab [2]
Remember that interview with Autopsy of Jane Doe director André Øvredal I mentioned here? Just learned the latest issue of The Dark Side had a last-minute flood of advertising (as editor Allan Bryce quipped to me, “a nice problem to have”), so it’s been held over until issue #186, due out 31 August.
Calling the Tune [2]
The project I alluded to in a previous entry moved another step forward on Tuesday evening, when Chrissie Harper and I met with Rob Hoffman, owner of Birmingham’s Robannas Studios, and Kerrang! Radio presenter Johnny Doom. It so happens that Johnny and I both used to appear on Made in Birmingham TV, and experienced much the same unceremonious farewell, so it was good to get together in a more upbeat environment.
Discussions are still at an early stage, but we will be making an announcement about this project very soon. In the meantime, those of you on Twitter can follow us here.
On the Slab
About to send in my first feature for The Dark Side in more moons than I care to contemplate, an interview with André Øvredal, Norwegian director of Troll Hunter and The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Should hit news-stands in late July.
The Lure of the Silver Scream
Chrissie and I were in Erdington on Friday, shooting a feature on local comedian Charlie Hall at the pub named in his honour (there may well be a photograph in the next issue of the JD Weatherspoons magazine). Afterwards, we met up with Demelza O’Sullivan, who’ll be appearing in our short film All Bad Things… alongside Liam Woon. Here’s one of the photos we took of Demelza, plus a piece we shot earlier this month for Liam’s showreel.
Calling the Tune
As mentioned in my previous entry, Chrissie Harper and I are no longer supplying content to Made in Birmingham TV. Despite our track record for turning in material on fit and ready to air, we were unceremoniously dropped without warning just two days after our next item had already been announced (luckily, I found another show eager to screen it, though that avenue also appears to have closed since). Considering the channel’s current downward plummet (eight hours per day of US imports simply shoehorned in from TruTV, including the station ident), it was a good time to make the break, although the circumstances left something to be desired.
Still, it’s freed us to explore another project, which really moved up a gear this afternoon. Whilst I can’t say any more at the moment, this has the potential to be a really exciting career move.