Category Archives: General
The First Light Awards 2013
It was really great to have attended The First Light Awards 2013 as it was an event that celebrated young talent that fills the future of British filmmaking full of hope.
Held at ODEON Leicester Square in London, the ceremony was hosted by funny duo comedian Iain Sterling and CBBC’s Hacker T Dog.
For more information, visit the website.
Useful links:
- First Light
- Second Light Blog
- Make a Film
What is creativity? vox pop
I was in Norway earlier this year and stumbled upon two filmmakers in the middle of Oslo centre who asked if I can be part of their short video on ‘what is creativity?’, so I agreed and here’s the vid…
Creativity is really key and it would be interesting to hear what everyone else thinks about what creativity is.
English National Ballet at City of London Festival
Three brilliant pieces from English National Ballet were put on show at the awe-inspiring St Paul’s Cathedral. The company returned to St Paul’s as part of the City of London Festival‘s golden jubilee year with an excerpt from Ballet Russes Suite en Blanc created by the legendary Ukranian-born Serge Lifar as well as the world premeieres of two new dance works Of a Rose (choreographed by Antony Dowson) and Van Le Ngoc‘s The Four Seasons.
The dancers were ever so graceful and were accompanied by fantastic music by the Orchestra of English National Ballet featuring City Chamber Choir. one of the highlights was during Of A Rose where it featured a solo soprano voice and the 15th century English poem Of a Rose, a Lovely Rose against the backdrop of St Paul’s magnificent altar.
What a brilliant evening set in such an historic place with beautiful dance, music and a celebration of art. Thank you City of London Festival for having an array of interesting events in your festival programme. The festival ends on July 27.
Useful links
English National Ballet
City of London Festival
City Chamber Choir
TV Fast Train 2012
Free training event for media freelancers TV Fast Train 2012 was a success. Hosted by BBC Academy in partnership with Creative Skillset and other industry partners, the day saw more than 500 attendees attending 24 masterclasses and 160 practical training sessions.
My first Fast Train session was Using Social Media to Grow Your Brand. It was about reaching, building and engaging audiences. It featured my online idols: BBC’s Social Media Lead Dan Biddle; Telegraph Hill‘s Barry Pilling and Twitter Guy Stephen Saul. It was chaired by Sara Brailsford from Atomized. Check out the podcast from the session.
Next session was Where’s the Next Big One? Features and Formats. It aimed to give those who wish to find the next big thing on telly tips on where to start when devising features and format hits. Panellists include Remarkable Television‘s Colette Foster; Bridget Boseley of Outline Productions; Alan Brown of Chocolate Media; Karoline Copping from Channel 4 and chaired by TV exec Anna Richardson. It was interesting to hear their own programme highlights from their careers and programmes that they wished they have come up with. What became apparent was that these shows were or a combination of the following elements: aspirational, relevant to the people and the times we are in, have good talent, good characters, good home take out and some element of jeopardy and pay off. A good narrative would not go amiss!
Then there was Social Media and second screens. Here are some interesting stats:
- Media multitasking: adults using two or more media in the same half hour 79%
- Nearly half of all adults and three quarters of 15-24s access the internet on their laptop while watching TV
- 20% of adults and 40% 15-24s watch TV via internet while watching another television programme on the main telly
- 6% of adults and 17% of 15-24 year olds like to chat about a programme online while viewing it on TV
I really would have loved to have made it to Meet the BBC Controllers. Luckily, there’s a controllers’ session podcast.
So there you have it, thought I’d share with you my TV Fast Train experience. It truly is wonderful to have events like this to really help with continuing professional development.
- TV Fast Train 2012: the round up
- BBC TV Fast Train Storify
- TV Fast Train on Flickr
Titus Andronicus
Part of Globe to Globe and World Shakespeare Festival 2012, Tang Shu-Wing Theatre Studio’s Titus Andronicus was a massive hit to the audience last night. Shakespeare’s Globe played host to the play spoken in Cantonese. Non-Cantonese speakers were aided with surtitles.
With a very simple minimalist stage, the play was injected with Hong Kong culture that was dominated by the actors’ voices and movements to really show off the energy of the text. Music was live done by a sole musician who was sat on top of the set using traditional Chinese instruments.
The ensemble was brilliant and emotive. The production, which was commissioned and premiered at the 2012 Hong Kong Arts Festival, has toured Singapore and the US, and the Globe to Globe festival is its first visit to the UK.
Here’s the synopsis:
Titus and his sons return to Rome triumphant with their Goth prisoners – Tamora and her sons. When Titus’ daughter Lavinia refuses to marry the new emperor Saturninus, Titus is horrified as Saturninus instead chooses Tamora for his bride. In their new position of power, Tamora and her sons set out to get revenge against Titus for crimes against the Goths. As the body count rises and the acts of vengeance escalate, Titus is pushed to extreme measures to avenge his family.
Here are some pics from the play:
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Facebook
Shakespeare’s Globe on Twitter
Tang Shu Wing Theatre Studio
The festival runs until June, so there are plenty of chances to catch all the other plays. The beauty of it is that the festival presents 37 plays in 37 languages. It goes to show that good storytelling through acting can get a message across despite differences in languages.
Globe to Globe website
Globe to Globe Schedule
Shakespeare’s Globe
Even more iApps for the creative mind
Here’s another round of iApps for you creative lot. I found some videos on YouTube that explains about the apps, so thanks to those who have posted their reviews.
WritePad
Hand recognition app for the iPad.
SoundNote
It’s like a funky dictaphone with other cool features.
Dragon Dictation
Dictation software that goes straight into Notes also available on the iPhone.
Notes on the iPad 3 has a dictation facility now using Siri technology.
ShotList
An app that enables the user to plan and schedule days on set, by replicating a complete production strip board. Can be used as a visual note pad, can send one line schedule update as well swap data wirelessly using Dropbox. Available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Cut Notes
It’s the iPad app for creating timecode notes during a screening. It can also export notes to Final Cut Pro marker lists, Avid locators and other formats.
Pro Prompter
Telly prompter using the iPad.
Movie Slate
Clapperboard and logging app. Now allows to synch multicameras.
Storyist
iPad app that can be used for mind mapping, laying out photos and images or just brainstorming.
Storyboards
A quick way of storyboarding.
Animation Creator HD
Allows you to animate using your finger tips!
Hope these help! It would be great to know what is working for you and your app recommendations too.
12th Whatsonstage.com Awards winners announced
Last night, the Prince of Wales Theatre in London played host to the 12th Whatsonstage.com Awards, which was a gathering of the cream of the theatrical world.
So, who were the big winners of the night? Matilda won four awards, including Best New Musical and Newcomer of the Year for composer/lyricist Tim Minchin; One Man, Two Guvnors won three awards, including Best Actor in a Play for previous Awards host James Corden and Best New Comedy; David Tennant-Catherine Tate’s reunion in Much Ado About Nothing named Theatre Event of the Year and Best Shakespearean Production, while Tate took home another prize, Best Supporting Actress in a Play, for Season’s Greetings and Vanessa Redgrave scooped Best Actress for her performance opposite James Earl Jones in Best Play Revival winner Driving Miss Daisy. Also, Ghost picked up three gongs including Best Actor in a Musical for Richard Fleeshman, while fellow screen-to-stage musical Shrek nets awards for Amanda Holden and Nigel Harman.
Longrunner War Horse, riding high after Steven Spielberg’s film release, ousts Wicked from Best West End Show slot for the first time, adding to the National Theatre’s tally of seven awards overall.
Other big-name winners include Danny Boyle, Alfie Boe, Kerry Ellis and Oliver Chris.
Whatsonstage.com is the UK’s leading theatre website and the ceremony is the only prize-giving event for the theatre industry voted for purely by the ticket-buying public. Over 70,000 people took part in the voting process – a major new record representing a 55% increase on last year’s turnout.
The awards – hosted by comedians Alan Davies, Jenny Eclair and nominee Sheridan Smith – were announced at a star-studded concert ceremony with performances from various artists including the legend that is Brian May.
Terri Paddock, managing and editorial director of Whatsonstage.com, said: “This is our most successful year yet. We’ve seen a 55% increase in voter turnout this year – with over 70,000 voters wildly supporting their favourite performers and productions. To satisfy audience demand to be part of our Awards, we introduced a live webcast of the acceptance speeches from the Prince of Wales for the first time tonight.
“These awards are vital to the theatre industry because, as the only major ones decided across the board by the public, they unashamedly measure popularity as well as quality. And they’re just plain fun! With our sponsor and new owner, Time Out, we look forward to continuing to grow the Whatsonstage.com Awards in the years to come. In the meantime, we congratulate all of our 2012 winners.”
- Whatsonstage.com 2012 Awards
- Stage One
- Year of the Producer content
Andrew Lloyd Webber will find new Superstar on television
Theatregoers on Whatsonstage.com previously voted for Andrew Lloyd Webber to begin the search for the next Jesus Christ Superstar on television. And it seems that he listened, as Lord Lloyd Webber announced with ITV that they will be conducting the search for the male title star in a revival of his hugely popular biblical musical.
Lloyd Webber’s last reality TV casting programme, Over the Rainbow, found Danielle Hope to play Dorothy in the current West End revival of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium.
Following the conclusion of Over the Rainbow, more than 1,000 avid theatregoers took part in the survey at http://www.whatsonstage.com to vote on the future of such TV programmes and which musical they would most like to see cast in this way next.
Check out Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ITV ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ search confirmed on Digital Spy
Isles of Wonder: Opening ceremony for London 2012 Olympic Games
Just got wind of an exciting collaboration, that of internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan and of Oscar winning filmmaker and producer Danny Boyle.
Khan is going to be part of team making “Isles of Wonder” opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games, which will be directed by Boyle.
Check out what Boyle had to say below:
Khan, who’s work Vertical Road won “Best Modern Choreography” at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards last week, is recovering well from a tendon injury sustained earlier this month. His performance at the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony will be his first public performance in 2012.
Khan said: “It is a thrill and an honour to be collaborating with Danny Boyle on the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“The eyes of the world will be on London, in what will be one of the most watched performance events of all time. To be able to contribute is one of the most rewarding and exciting moments of my career.”
“My work has always been about courageous and ambitious experiences, that take audiences on a unique journey that crosses cultural boundaries and I look forward to bringing all these qualities to my Opening Ceremony performance.
“I am recovering well from my recent injury and am looking forward to getting back to preparing for this incredible event,” he added.
Related links:
- Find out more about Akram Khan Company
- Read more about Danny Boyle
- Follow London 2012 on Twitter
- Akram on Twitter
- Danny on Twitter
The 12th What’sOnStage.com Awards shortlist
So I went to the 12th What’sOnStage.com Awards’ nomination launch party. Here’s the scoop!
David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s Much Ado About Nothing pairing nominated for Theatre Event of the Year.
Legends Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones both up for Best Actress and Best Actor for Broadway transfer of Driving Miss Daisy.
James Corden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tamsin Greig, Jude Law, Kevin Spacey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ruth Wilson, Sheridan Smith, Arthur Darvill, Amanda Holden, Nigel Harman, Mark Gattiss, Richard Fleeshman, Tara Fitzgerald, Simon Callow, Matt Lucas, Alfie Boe, Ruby Wax, Reece Shearsmith, Sarah Lancashire and Daniel Kitson receive performance nods.
Blockbusters Matilda and Ghost – both directed by Matthew Warchus – go head to head with 9 nominations each, including Best New Musical and London Newcomer of the Year for Matilda’s Tim Minchin.
Ecstasy and Grief: Mike Leigh up for Best Play Revival and Best New Play.
The National leads the way with 22 nominations, including five for One Man, Two Guvnors and four for Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein.
The shortlist of nominations for the 12th annual Whatsonstage.com Awards were revealed yesterday at a star-studded launch party at London’s Café de Paris. The Awards from the UK’s leading theatre website are the only UK event for the theatre industry voted for purely by the ticket-buying public. More than 11,000 theatregoers have cast nominations for their favourite performances and productions across 26 different award categories.
A major year for musicals
In the battle of the big musicals, screen-to-stager Ghost the Musical goes head-to-head with the RSC’s musical adaptation of Matilda, which opened in the West End after a sell-out season at Stratford-upon-Avon, with both grabbing nine nominations each.
In addition to competing for the Best New Musical, the shows’ stars are running neck and neck in all the musical performance categories: Best Actor in a Musical (Ghost’s Richard Fleeshman vs Matilda’s Bertie Carvel), Best Actress in a Musical (Caissie Levy vs the four young girls who alternate as Matilda), Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (Andrew Langtree vs Paul Kaye) and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Sharon D Clarke vs Lauren Ward).
The two blockbusters share key members of their creative teams with Matthew Warchus (Best Director) and Rob Howell (Best Designer) duly nominated for their work on both productions. Matilda’s composer and lyricist, comedian Tim Minchin, is also singled out for London Newcomer of the Year for his musical debut.
Several of the year’s other big musicals are also nominated, including Crazy for You, Betty Blue Eyes (with six apiece), Rock of Ages, Shrek the Musical (with five apiece) and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Wizard of Oz (with four).
Also in the running for Best Actress in a Musical are: Amanda Holden (Shrek), Clare Foster (Crazy for You), Emma Williams (Love Story) and Sarah Lancashire (Betty Blue Eyes). Additional Best Actor in a Musical nominees are: Nigel Lindsay (Shrek), Oliver Tompsett (Rock of Ages), Reece Shearsmith (Betty Blue Eyes) and Sean Palmer (Crazy for You).
Les Miserables, which won three awards in the 2011 Awards for its 25th anniversary celebrations, receives three nominations for the 2012 Awards: co-stars Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas (who reprised their O2 birthday gala performances in a limited West End season this year) compete for Best Takeover in a Role, and the Cameron Mackintosh production battles other long-runners Jersey Boys, The Phantom of the Opera, War Horse, We Will Rock You and Wicked for Best West End Show bragging rights.
The play’s the thing
Waving the flag for big-hitter plays are the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Anna Christie and the National’s One Man, Two Guvnors, with five nods each. One Man’s James Corden (a two-time host of the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2008 and 2009) and Anna Christie’s Jude Law are both nominated for Best Actor in a Play, one of this year’s toughest fields, where the other nominees are Benedict Cumberbatch (Frankenstein), Kevin Spacey (Richard III), David Tennant (Much Ado About Nothing, Wyndham’s) and James Earl Jones (Driving Miss Daisy).
One Man, Two Guvnors is also tipped for Best New Comedy and earns nominations elsewhere for Jemima Rooper (Best Supporting Actress), Oliver Chris (Best Supporting Actor) and Nicholas Hytner (Best Director). And Anna Christie is shortlisted for Best Play Revival and Best Supporting Actor (David Hayman), while its leading lady Ruth Wilson faces stiff competition from Eve Best (Much Ado About Nothing, Globe), Kristin Scott Thomas (Betrayal), Samantha Spiro (Chicken Soup with Barley), Vanessa Redgrave (Driving Miss Daisy) and Tamsin Greig (Jumpy), who won this past year’s Whatsonstage.com Best Supporting Actress prize for The Little Dog Laughed.
Richard Bean (One Man Two Guvnors and The Heretic) is one of two playwrights nominated in two different categories. His Royal Court play, The Heretic, is up for Best New Play, competing with Grief, the latest stage play by Mike Leigh, whose Hampstead production of his 1976 play Ecstasy is shortlisted for Best Play Revival.
Sheridan Smith, who last year won the Whatsonstage.com and Olivier Best Actress in a Musical gongs for Legally Blonde, is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Play for Flare Path. Hers is one of four nods for Flare Path, including Best Play Revival and Best Director for Trevor Nunn, who has overseen this year’s full in-house programme at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and is jointly nominated for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Big names, big events
This summer’s West End production of Much Ado About Nothing, reuniting Doctor Who’s David Tennant and Catherine Tate, caused such a stir that it has been nominated for Theatre Event of the Year, as well as Best Director (for Donmar Warehouse artistic director-in-waiting Josie Rourke) and Best Actor for Tennant. The 1980s-set Much Ado battles it out with Jeremy Herrin’s period production of the same play (and opened just a week earlier) at the Globe for Best Shakespearean Production.
The always-eclectic Theatre Event of the Year category also pays tribute to the RSC’s 50th anniversary season and reopening of its Royal Shakespeare Theatre home after a four-year, £112 million makeover. Other events in the running are: the Bush Theatre’s 24-hour cycle of 66 Books, Michael Sheen and Bill Mitchell’s The Passion for the National Theatre of Wales, Headlong’s 9/11 milestone Decade and The Phantom of the Opera’s 25th anniversary spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall.
The London Newcomer of the Year shortlist fields wide-ranging nominees from across plays and musicals. In addition to Tim Minchin for Matilda, there is Danielle Hope (The Wizard of Oz), X Factor winner Shayne Ward (Rock of Ages), musician-turned-actor Johnny Flynn (The Heretic), former EastEnder-cum-Strictly Come Dancing victor Kara Tointon (Pygmalion) and Kyle Soller (The Glass Menagerie, Government Inspector and The Faith Machine).
Other big names on this year’s shortlists include: Danny Boyle (nominated for Best Director for his return to the stage with Frankenstein), Catherine Tate (Best Supporting Actress for Season’s Greetings), Mark Gatiss (Best Supporting Actor for Season’s Greetings), Doon Mackichan (Best Supporting Actress for Jumpy), Niamh Cusack (Best Supporting Actress for Playboy of the Western World), Tara Fitzgerald (Best Takeover in a Role, Broken Glass) and outgoing Donmar boss Michael Grandage (Best Director for King Lear and Luise Miller).
Voting to crown the winners opened yesterday and will close at the end of January 2012. The winners will be revealed at the Awards Concert on 19 February 2012 at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre. Last year more than 46,000 theatregoers voted for their favourites. The Whatsonstage.com Awards are held in association with our 2012 presentation rights sponsor Time Out London in aid of this year’s adopted charity, Stage One, which is dedicated to developing the theatre producers of the future.
I’m backing Ruby Wax for Best Solo Performance in Losing It at the Menier Chocolate Factory & Duchess as well as ZooNation‘s Kate Prince for Best Choreographer for Some Like It Hip Hop, which is also nominated for Best Ensemble Performance. So, what are you waiting for? Get voting!
