22/07/08 - Scripts Update & Blaggit Update.

Over the past month or so, I've started work on the second drafts of both: 'The Gateway' and new project: 'Awakening', and all is going well so far. 'Awakening' is a script that I've been developing since the beginning of the year with actor Ben Field, and can only be described as a psychological thriller about spirituality. It's an exciting project, and it'll be my third feature film which we're looking to shoot in 2009.

As for Blaggit, I've had some very positive news in the past week, which may mean we'll have to postpone the August shoot - but for a very good reason. Can't say too much yet, but will update this page as and when I can.

05/07/08 - ACRE Interview now online.

A couple of months back I took part in an interview for ACRE. ACRE is a major EU research project, involving people working in creative and knowledge-based industries, and policy-makers, in 13 cities across Europe.

One of the main aims of ACRE is to better understand what it is that attracts talented and creative people to work, or to start businesses, in specific cities or regions. I was interviewed by researcher Caroline Chapain to discuss what factors play a key role in his decision to locate Sepia FIlms in the West Midlands region. You can read the interview here.

03/06/08 - Blaggit June shoot postponed until August.

I know in my previous news post I stated that we'll be shooting in June, but we've had to have a bit of a rethink and have now postponed the shoot until August. This is all down to financial reasons, but it's a wise move - shooting in August will give us more preparation time to make sure everything is as good as it possibly can be for the film. More news as and when it happens!

20/05/08 - Blaggit Update!

Apologies for the serious lack of updates on here for a while. You'll be pleased to hear that touch wood, fingers crossed, we're going to be shooting Blaggit next month as well as in July. I've been busy prepping the upcoming shoots: securing equipment, locations, props etc. We've been forced to finish the film on a minimal budget, but I'm just relieved that all being well we are going to complete this film this year.

I've also finished a new script that I've been developing, and have received some very encouraging feedback on the first draft - second draft will be done before September. I'll post back probably after June to tell you how the shoot went - this time we really are going to get it finished!

21/03/08 - Need 2 Know Video Interview now online.

In February I did an interview for Need 2 Know, which is an educational website for youngsters, and the video is now online. In the interview I discuss how I got into filmmaking, the ups and downs of making films, and how to go about getting a career in the film industry. You can view the interview here.

15/02/08 - Script feedback for: 'The Illuminati: Part One' & 'The Gateway'.

Since Christmas I've been attempting to submit my scripts to numerous US literary agencies and production companies, with varying success. One such company; Abbot Management, allows you to submit scripts online, and after a period of time you'll receive analysis on your script from a number of their readers.

I recently received feedback from two of my scripts that I submitted: 'The Illuminati: Part One' & 'The Gateway'. Although the readers were very critical of my writing, there was a lot of positives to take from the analysis. Here's some of the positive feedback on: 'The Illuminati: Part One':

"The premise sounds interesting and very unique...It has the potential to generate a fair amount of interest...It is pretty original and unlike anything...The overall pacing was pretty strong."

And here's another readers feedback on: 'The Gateway':

"First of all, I have to say that this script definitely has its merits. It is well paced and certainly the concept is interesting...The dialogue is very realistic, and flows from the characters."

"Overall, I think this is a talented writer and an intriguing script. With a little more work it would definitely be ready for the marketplace."

So some encouraging feedback, but there's still a lot of work to do on these scripts and I'll definitely be rewriting them at some point this year. Since the new year I've been developing a new film idea with an actor colleauge of mine, and I'm going to start work on the first draft of that soon. More on that to come.

As for Blaggit, I'm waiting to hear on one final funding application. If unsuccessful with this funding application, I'll be taking the necessary actions to ensure that we shoot the rest of the film this year.

17/12/07 - Pete Blaggit Appreciation Society group now on Facebook!

Yep, you read correctly, the: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit' Appreciation Society group is now up and running on facebook. If you're a member of facebook, then you can join the group here.

The film will be finished next year, and that's a promise.

Merry Xmas y'all, see you in 2008.

03/12/07 - First Draft of new script: 'The Gateway' finished!

Since the start of September I've been writing yet another script, and I'm pleased to say that I've just recently completed the first draft of: 'The Gateway'. It's very hard to categorize 'The Gateway' into one particular genre - it's a drama, but not a straightout drama, it has supernatural elements, but isn't a horror story. I guess it's a mix between a good Stephen King novel and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. But as I say, it's not a horror movie and it doesn't involve any aliens!

Either way, I'm very excited with the script and look forward to receiving feedback from a few chosen colleagues soon. During the Blaggit hiatus, I'm trying to develop a number of feature film projects - so far I have the Illuminati trilogy and now The Gateway, so I'm going to be very busy in the future! Things are progressing with Blaggit (I know that's what I've been saying over the past year, but trust me - things are happening!) and the concept artwork for The Illuminati is looking very cool, so there's lots going on at the moment.

04/11/07 - Concept Artwork for: 'The Illuminati' really is underway!

Having spent a year or two trying to find concept artists to work on: 'The Illuminati' and failing miserably, I'm very excited to announce that I've finally found a fantastic local artist onboard who has begun work in earnest! The artist is very talented and has already started a few sketches for the 'Lizard Men' who'll play a key part in the films.

The sketches are looking fantastic, and it's great to at last be making some progess in the development stages of this project. Hopefully next year I'll set up a seperate website for the Illuminati, where I'll be able to put online the artwork for all to see.

17/10/07 - Blaggit Sound Design update & other news.

I'm very happy to report that the work on the Blaggit audio is coming along nicely. Our sound designer has spent the past few weeks cleaning up the dialogue, and the film is now sounding a hell of a lot better. We still need to spend a few more weeks working on the foley and sound mixing. Hopefully there shouldn't be alot of adr work, which is a relief.

It's good to know that there is some progress being made during this hiatus with the film, and hopefully the Blaggit hiatus will be coming to an end in the near future. I'm still chasing the money men, and let's just say that things are finally moving in the right direction. So I think we're looking to shoot in the first half of next year to get the film in the can. No point in rushing, we have to plan carefully and make sure the rest of the film matches what we've already shot.

Although the Blaggit hiatus has been incredibly frustrating, it has allowed me to develop other projects that I have, mostly my: 'The Illuminati' trilogy. I've also begun writing the first draft of a new script the past month, I'm 30 odd pages into it and I'm really excited about it. So the big plan for next year is to finish Blaggit and shoot a concept trailer for: 'The Illuminati'. More news as and when it happens!

05/10/07 - Sound Design work on Pete Blaggit begins.

The sound design is finally underway on Pete Blaggit, having found a very talented local sound designer. Work will begin on foley, adr, dialogue editing and I'm sure that'll make a big difference to the film.

27/08/07 - Whatever Happened to a Pete Blaggit update?!

Apologies for the lack of updates on Pete Blaggit the past couple of months. We've been focused on sourcing private investors to fund the rest of the shoot and this has been a long drawn out process. Obviously this has been a bit of a frustrating time in trying to finish the film, and I still can't say for definite when we will be shooting the remaing scenes.

What I can say for definite is that I remain 100% commited in getting Pete Blaggit in the can, whether that's this year or next year. As I say it's been frustrating and this year has been something of a limbo period for myself and the film, but we'll get there eventually. Of course I'll keep you posted with any developments as and when they happen.

06/08/07 - Wolverhampton Politics Show - podcast available for download.

Last Friday I was invited as a guest on the Wolverhampton Politics Show, which is a new local radio show presented by Matthew Revell. There were two political activists on the show as well debating issues such as local flooding and the smoking ban - I was interviewed half an hour into the show to discuss my filmmaking career and what support there is for young upcoming filmmakers. You can listen to the podcast here.

19/07/07 - Blind Man Freddy screening @ MAC Theatre.

Just to let you know that one of my short films: 'Blind Man Freddy' is being screened at the MAC Theatre in Edgbaston, Birmingham next Thursday 26th July at 7.30pm. The screening is part of the monthly Screen Test competition that's held at the MAC, where audience members vote on a series of short films made by local filmmakers.

07/07/07 - First Draft of: 'The Illuminati Part 3' completed.

This week I finished the first draft of: 'The Illuminati Part 3'. I've been writing it non stop the past couple of months, and I'm really pleased with it considering it's only a First Draft - it's a really good conclusion to the story and the characters, and it's great to say I've written a trilogy of scripts. The next stage is to actually make the films! Obviously this will take alot of time and money, but I feel quite motivated and determined.

I have a few ideas in place, and I'll be developing the project this year and try to raise finance next year. I'm tempted to shoot a concept trailer as well to help secure finance, and I've been working on a 5 page script for this as well. Rest assured, Pete Blaggit remains top of my agenda - I'm currentlly purchasing several props off ebay for the rest of the shoot!

16/06/07 - Blaggit prep work underway.

The last couple of weeks I've been doing lots of preparation work for the second block of filming for Pete Blaggit. The production schedule and the budget for the 11 day shoot is in place, and I'm now lining up a few location recces. My storyboards are also coming along rather well and I can actually see the whole film taking shape now, which is a nice feeling. No confirmed dates yet, but we're probably talking 2-4 months away from the shoot.

29/05/07 - The Illuminati Part 3 script news.

Since mid March I've been writing the first draft of 'The Illuminati: Part 3' script when I've had the chance. I'm now 40 odd pages into the draft and I'm really enjoying the writing process - I'm eager to get the trilogy all on paper so we can start developing the project further once 'Pete Blaggit' is finished. I've also written a 15 page treatment of a new script which I'll be writing next - as usual it's very Mark Jeavons - surreal, weird, bizarre, funny etc.

25/05/07 - Blaggit Update!

There's been a few developments on the Blaggit front recently, mostly creative work. I had a good meeting with our sound designer yesterday who's going to begin sound effects work on some key scenes. And I'm about to begin storyboarding the remaining scenes that we have to shoot. Location scouting will also be on the agenda soon, so alot of prep work will be out of the way for the rest of the shoot - more on which soon.

10/05/07 - Update & new FilmShed Interview online.

Apologies for the lack of any updates throughout April, our website was down for a couple of weeks due to domain hosting problems but all is resolved now. Throughout April we were busy sending out countless Pete Blaggit Press Kit dvds to UK & international sales agents/distributors and we've had some positive reactions to the footage so far.

There's also a new interview online with myself which I did with FilmShed. I did an interview with FilmShed a few years back to promote 'Boy with a Thorn' and in this new interview I discuss moving onto Pete Blaggit. You can read the interview here.

27/03/07 - BBC Online Feature on Pete Blaggit trailer.

We've been busy promoting the Pete Blaggit trailer since it appeared on Youtube at the end of the week. The response and feedback so far has been really, really positive and has given us fresh impetous to get the film completed. BBC Online have done another nice little feature about the film, which you can read here.

23/03/07 - Official Pete Blaggit trailer online @ Youtube!

The official trailer for: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit' is now online at youtube. Producing the trailer has been an event of it's own - work commenced on the original edit back in November and it went through numerous edits, but I'm very happy with the final product. I think our music composer Phil Mountford has done a fantastic job as well, and was instrumental in the structuring of the trailer. You can view the trailer here.

17/03/07 - Pete Blaggit joins MySpace!

Yep, you read correctly. Find out what the Blag man has to say for himself here.

22/02/07 - Concept Artwork for: 'The Illuminati' Trilogy underway.

A few weeks back I had a meeting with a local artist who's begun concept artwork for our future project: 'The Illuminati' trilogy. Originally, the plan was to produce a graphic novel (which is an idea I'm still very keen to do) but we've decided to concentrate on concept artwork to help support getting the movie made in the future.

Altogether we have four artists working on the concept artwork, and the sketches I've seen so far looks amazing. The artists will be working on the artwork throughout the year, ready to support our launch to get the trilogy off the ground next year. But for 2007, our focus is to complete 'Pete Blaggit' - and there should be good news on this project in the next couple of months.

15/02/07 - Another Blaggit update - expect trailer & website in March.

Last week I had a really good meeting with our music composer; Phil Mountford, who has been busy scoring the Blaggit trailer. It's all sounding and looking great, I'm taking my time on the trailer as obviously we want it to be as strong as possible. Expect the trailer online in March, along with the official Blaggit website.

On the funding front, this week I've started a business consultancy programme to help further our investment chances, and that's been very intense but has been going really well. The earliest we can expect funding will be May, so we won't be filming the remaining shoot until June at the earliest, August at the latest. I know it sounds like a really long, drawn out process getting Blaggit finished, but trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

01/02/07 - BBC Online Feature now online.

Last week I was invited to take part in a BBC Online interview with journalist Chris Osborne. The feature is now online and is very funny and tongue in cheek, and details my progression as a filmmaker and making 'Pete Blaggit'. You can read the feature here.

30/01/07 - Fuji Film Magazine feature on 'Pete Blaggit' now online.

Back in December, Fuji Film magazine published a two page feature on 'Pete Blaggit', and the article has now appeared online. In the article, our DOP Charlie Stanfield is interviewed and he discusses the visual style we went for when shooting Blaggit, including the new Fuji film stock we used and what advantages that gave us. The article is in PDF format, and you can view it here.

25/01/07 - The Illuminati Part 2 script and Blaggit Update.

Since October I've been working on the first draft of: 'The Illuminati: Part 2' script in my spare time, and the draft is now finished. It's easily the most ambitious script I've ever written and will take a long time and a lot of money to make, but hopefully we'll shoot it sometime before 2012 ;-)

First of all though is the completion of 'Pete Blaggit' which is our main priority. Throughout January I've been in the process of applying for completion funding, and things are looking positive on this front, fingers crossed I should have some good news soon. The plan is to get the remaining two weeks of filming shot before May, in time for a short break at the Cannes Film Festival.

18/12/06 - Blaggit Diary News and Seasons Greetings.

Just a quick note to let you know that we've taken down the Blaggit Diary page, but fear not, it will reappear at some point next year with the Diary broken down into Pre-production, Production and Post-production sections. I'd also like to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Have a good one.

14/12/06 - Pete Blaggit Book Interview now online.

Back in October, myself and Rob Leetham, lead actor in 'Pete Blaggit' did a book interview which was conducted by Julia Jones. Julia's research for her book focuses on the representation of mental illness in film, and she intends to publish the book in early 2008 on the subject. 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit' will be one of the key films examined in the text.

In the interview, myself, Rob and Julia talk indepth about the character of Pete Blaggit and his psychosis, plus how we came to make the film in the first place and how Pete is portrayed in the film. Many thanks to Julia for arranging the interview. You can read the transcript here.

16/11/06 - First Draft of: 'The Illuminati: Part 2' underway!

Over the past couple of months and during any spare time I've had from the Blaggit edit, I've been writing the first draft of: 'The Illuminati: Part 2'. Obviously my focus right now is on completing 'Pete Blaggit' but it's been good to get back into some creative writing when I've had the time.

'The Illuminati: Part 2' is a project that is a long way off from seeing the light of day, but I'm a good thirty odd pages into the first draft and I'm enjoying the writing process. The script continues where Part 1 left off, and is even more dark, twisted and surreal than Part 1, if that's possible! I guess I started writing Part 2 as a reaction to spending a year working on 'Pete Blaggit', and to say that has been a stressful experience would be the understatement of 2006.

And yes, in case you were wondering, 'The Illuminati' is now officially a trilogy of films I plan to make in the not too distant future, and I'll be writing Part 3 at some point in 2007 all being well. Will keep you up to date with how the scriptwriting goes for Part 2.

15/11/06 - 40 Minutes of 'Pete Blaggit' complete.

Post production on: 'Pete Blaggit' has continued throughout November, and I'm pleased to say we have close to 40 minutes of the film complete, albeit in a rough cut form. It's all looking really good, but obviously we have a lot of work to do - sound design, ADR, grading etc.

I've shown a couple of scenes to a few cast and crew members, plus people who weren't invovled in the making of the film, and feedback so far has all been very positive. We have a second block of filming to do as well, which we're planning to do in early 2007, so there's still a long way to go.

24/10/06 - Blaggit Update for October.

October has been another busy month for Sepia Films - post production work on 'Pete Blaggit' is underway, so far we have four edited scenes and it's all looking very cool. We've brought an experienced co-producer onboard to oversee the sales and marketing aspect of the film.

A few weeks ago myself and lead actor Rob Leetham took part in a book interview about mental illness in cinema and how that relates to Pete Blaggit. Hopefully we should have a transcript of the interview online in a few weeks. We should also have a trailer ready by November as well, plus work has begun on the Pete Blaggit website. Watch this space!

07/10/06 - Photo Gallery from 'Blaggit' shoot now online.

Just to let you know that the Photo Gallery is now online in the 'Pete Blaggit' section of this website. There's 50 really cool stills from the shoot - cast stills, crew stills and behind the scenes stills. Simply click on one of the thumbnails to view each still individually, or you can browse from one still to the next. Enjoy!

06/10/06 - 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' Update

It's been emotional. Apologies for the severe lack of updates over the past two months but things have been incredibly hectic since we started shooting our second feature film: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' throughout August/September.

Firstly, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to every single cast and crew member who contributed to the 24 day shoot. A lot of people put in a lot of hard work and I'm extremely grateful for the effort that went into bringing my vision to life. There was a lot of good times had by all and most importantly the rushes are looking absolutely fantastic - can't wait to get started on a rough cut!

09/07/06 - Last month of pre-production for: 'Pete Blaggit'!

Well, after several months of script re-writes and nervous breakdowns, we're now in the home straight of pre-production, with just five weeks to go until we shoot our second feature: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?'. It hasn't been an easy ride in pre-production (but is it ever?), we've had numerous problems, setbacks, disappointments - but the good news is that everything is coming together nicely for the shoot in August/September.

We have a fantastic cast and a really great crew team as well, there's still an awful lot of work to do between now and August 14th, but I really can't wait to get the film shot and in the can. If there is a lack of updates between now and mid September, then obviously it'll be because I'm too busy to update the site with any news! But come the end of September we'll have loads of behind the scenes photos to put up on the site, and I will do my best to update the Blaggit Diary page throughout the coming months.

29/06/06 - The Illuminati: the Graphic Novel.

With Sepia Films currently focused on our second feature: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' you might be wondering what's happening with our feature in development: 'The Illuminati'. Well, I'm very excited to bring you news of a graphic novel that is being planned for the project. This wasn't my idea but was sprung on me by a very good friend of mine who happens to be a budding artist/illustrator.

Within no time at all we now have a team of four illustrators who are keen to work on the graphic novel, each of whom will focus on different sections of the script. This is very much a long term project, and I don't foresee the graphic novel to be finished for a year or so - just in time for me to get 'Pete Blaggit' out of my system! Being a big fan of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, I think it's a fantastic idea and can only help in making this film in the not too distant future.

25/06/06 - Location Recce week for: 'Pete Blaggit'

Last week was our location recce week with our DOP, 1st AD and location manager. We saw countless locations throughout the week, almost all within the Birmingham region, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with the locations we saw. I can really see the film visually coming together having now seen the locations, and I know exactly what shots I want for each scene. So with the locations nearly all in place, we can concentrate on working on the logistical side of how we're going to make this film!

11/06/06 - Pre-production update for: 'Pete Blaggit'

There's now only just over two months to go until principle photography for: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' and I'm happy to say everything is on track, touch wood. We had a bit of a scare with regards to the finance situation a few weeks back, but we've had some very positive news on this front lately.

The rest of June looks busy: we have our location recce week coming up soon, and we're arranging a day of make-up tests for the main character. We also have to sort out all the equipment hire, accomodation for cast and crew and more work on the SFX make-up designs, which I'm very pleased with so far.

04/06/06 - Locations secured for: 'Pete Blaggit'

Throughout May I was working closely with Itasca Films Ltd who specialise in securing locations for Film & TV productions. The locations for our feature: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' are now pretty much in place, with permission granted for the locations. I'm delighted with the locations we've found and I'd like to say a big thank you to Itasca Films Ltd for their help and support over the past few weeks.

29/05/06 - Casting Sessions for: 'Pete Blaggit'

I'm pleased to say that we've now finished the last of our casting sessions for: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?'. Throughout May we saw close to fifty actors reading for the principle characters in the film - we saw some very good actors and we now have some very tough decisions to make! I'll be making the final casting decisions within the next week or so - I'd just like to say thank you to all the actors who came along to audition - it was great meeting you all!

21/05/06 - Fourth Draft of: 'Pete Blaggit' completed!

The fourth and final draft of: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' is all done and dusted, I'm pleased to report. The script has changed so much since the first draft I wrote back in August last year, and I can honestly say I'm 100% happy with the script. It really is very surreal, quirky and dark and should make for a very interesting shoot! Remember you can still keep up to date with the production on the: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' diary page.

15/05/06 - MicroFilmmaker review of: 'The Boy with a Thorn in His Side'!

Exactly a year on since I took the film to Cannes, a new review of our first feature: 'The Boy with a Thorn in His Side' is available thanks to MicroFilmmaker. MicroFilmmaker is really cool in that it writes essay type critiques rather than just a couple of paragraphs which normally passes for a review these days.

The reviewer breaks the film down into content, performances, use of budget, use of audio etc, and is very encouraging. Although highlighting a few technical issues in the film, the reviewer says the film is: 'a very unique movie' and: 'a remarkable achievement'. You can read the review here.

10/05/06 - Casting throughout May.

Apologies for the lack of news updates in May - things are really getting busy throughout pre-production! We've been holding casting sessions over the past week in Wolverhampton, and it's all been going well. Last week we auditioned a few actors and at least two of the minor supporting roles have been cast.

Today was really positive too - we saw five actors throughout the morning and met some genuinely keen actors who are enthusiastic about the production. Casting continues this week, next week and fingers crossed we'll be holding a casting day in London at the end of the month if we can secure a cheap enough venue!

29/04/06 - All Systems go for: 'Pete Blaggit'

There's only 14 weeks to go until the production of our new feature: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit?' and pre-production continues at break neck speed. An experienced London based co-producer is onboard and is helping to raise finance for the production. Our crew is pretty much in place and casting is soon to get underway throughout May. Locations will be secured by the end of May as well, just in time for a week of recces with our DOP. And the fourth draft of the script is coming along nicely, so it's all happening!

14/04/06 - Fourth & Final draft of: 'Pete Blaggit' underway!

Happy Easter! The fourth and final draft of: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit' is underway - I'm aiming to get the script complete by mid-May all being well. The sooner the script is complete the more time I can concentrate fully on pre-production. I'm 75% happy with the third draft of the script as it is, so this final draft will just involve some tweaking and refining here and there, improving on the strength of the script as much as possible!

09/04/06 - Pre-production update on: 'Whatever Happened to Pete Blaggit'

A brief update on our latest feature project. Pre-production is becoming very hectic at the moment, but everything is moving in the right direction. More crew members are attached to the project, including a production designer, a costume designer and more production assistants.

Locations should be secured by the end of April or mid May all being well. Our focus throughout May is casting for the film, while June and July will include recces with the DOP and overall organisation for the project. We're now planning on shooting for four weeks with a week long break in between the shoot. I'll soon be starting the fourth draft of the script which might just be the final draft, though don't take my word for it!