Some More Press For Of Shark and Man And A New Milestone

I got a nice surprise the other day from Mike who emailed me a link to an article about me by the very cool people at "The Coral Triangle" that I didn't realise had been online since November!

If you went to any of the Beneath The Waves Film Festival events in 2013 you would have almost certainly seen the film "The People of The Coral Triangle" which really is very, very good. James and Jonny are both very talented guys and are doing some great things so please check them out!

I did the interview with Jonny ages ago and had forgotten about it so it was a nice surprise when it landed in my inbox. You can read it here.

Speaking of Beneath The Waves I have entered A Ray of Light II into this year's festival. The criteria for film's is that they must be ten minutes or less and with A Ray of Light II coming in at 28 minutes 40 seconds, I was unsure whether to apply but they actually asked for it personally so I'm hopeful it gets in as I think BTWFF is one of the best underwater film festivals around and I like Austin a lot. I'm not going to lie either, if it gets in and is considered for an award, I hope it gets one!

I'll be entering it in some other festivals as well so watch this space.

As for Of Shark and Man, we are half way through the music which is the last thing that needs doing so there will be an official trailer soon! On Wednesday we are doing some more work on the marketing side including the website which looks absolutely fantastic! The branding is done, the content is being readied and as we start 2015, a release of the film is not far away at all. All this means that very soon, there will be some exciting stuff coming your way including content from the film, merchandise and ways you can help get the film out to the masses.

2015 marks the 40th anniversary of JAWS and later this year, the BBC are airing a three part series dedicated to sharks which will be incredible, I know this because a good friend is working on it and from what he has told me, it will be yet more world beating brilliance from the best in the business at this kind of stuff.

This year has also seen his blog reach a bit of a milestone as it has now surpassed a quarter of a million views! That is no mean feat given its only promotion comes from links shared on the Facebook "shark community" hich is pretty over saturated with content meaning these kinds of shares get lost easily and quickly. Pretty amazing that with that in mind, this is one of the most popular shark related blogs in the world!

Here's to reaching half a million before 2016! ;)

Of Shark and Man update and more good news about A Ray of Light!!

 Missy, hard at work editing

How's about an update?

Of Shark and Man

Serious progress has been made over the last few weeks to the point where I am now 1 hour and 14 minutes in with only three main sections left to edit. I was always wondering if the film would hit ninety minutes and it looks like the first cut will go slightly beyond that. That is not me trying to stretch the film out by the way, it's merely that I want to cover everything properly and not just fly through everything to get you to the commercials quicker! 

I really dislike the modern day trend of just glossing over everything, giving you the minimum you need to class the film as "factual" and then trying to create some kind of drama where there is none. This film is jam packed with content, talking points and even a bit of controversy and I want to do the story justice so I'm not concerned about its length.

I have a few bits and pieces I want to film which will only take a couple of days and two of the remaining three sections are quite straightforward although one is very complex but I am tentatively saying that the first time line for Of Shark and Man will be completed by July. Yes, you read that right, this is the first time I've put a completion timescale on the edit, that's pretty big news.

The animation team have been hard at work and I have to give extra special mention to Lian for her heroic efforts so far and to Faeez for offering to help animate a bar graph for me. They are an incredibly talented group who I am over the moon to have on board as part of this film, thanks to them, a vital aspect of the story will be presented in a fitting way. I cannot wait to see their finished work!

When the first cut is done, I will colour correct and grade it, before recording the voice-over with Adam and Liam at the Banter Media Studios in Manchester. Following that, Mark and I will sit down to the arduous task of sound design and soundtrack, including composing and recording bespoke pieces for the film as well as using music from other talented musicians, including Chris Zabriskie, an ever present in all my film work.

Aside from actually constructing the film, I have also been coming up with a plan for promotion and release. I will start work on the second Teaser Trailer next week, focusing more on the sharks this time. This will be accompanied by something else connected to the film's promotion which will go a long way to determining how successful this film can be so please, make sure to keep an eye out for that.

I do have a few things I am very keen to do, when the first cut is done the first thing will be a small batch of individual test screenings for industry friends, other film-makers and objective voices, so that I can look at ways the edit can be improved. When those improvements are made, I will then move on to a few small scale test screenings for members of the public so I can evaluate their feedback and again, if any changes need making, I can make those changes.

That's when things will get interesting. Some of you reading this will be contacted about receiving a pre-release copy of the film to watch and review on your blogs, websites, video channels, newsletters and websites. I already know most of the people who will be contacted and you will know a lot more about it nearer the time.

After that, it will be an official premiere screening for members of the press and public before the film festival submissions start.

It's all getting rather exciting now!

 A Ray of Light

Another film festival has requested A Ray of Light to screen at their event. The London Eco Film Festival which takes place on Sunday May the 12th and I will be there if I am able to attend. At this stage, it's not listed on the website but that's only because I haven't sent the DVD yet, that will be going next Tuesday. This will be the first public screening in the UK of "A Ray of Light"

On Thursday June the 6th, the UK stop of the Beneath the Waves Film Festival in Falmouth, at The Poly, will be screening A Ray of Light and not only that, I will be introducing the film and even doing a Q&A session afterwards. Please feel free to come along, watch some films by some talented people and ply me with alcohol in the bar afterwards.

Have a top weekend!

A Ray of Light Just Keeps On Truckin'!

Beneath The Waves 2013 line up

You probably all know the story by now. Went to Mallorca, shot a short film, released it for free on the internet, film gets seen in over 120 countries, helps start a community conservation project in Mallorca, gets shown on TV and now, I am very pleased to say, in the most recent stage of its story, film gets included in one of the biggest marine film festivals around!

Beneath The Waves 2013 opening in Savannah, Georgia, has 63 films on this years roster, meaning many of the films will be alternated in the various venues, however, I am incredibly proud to be able to report that, from the guys behind the festival themselves;

"Your film's first screening will be at the Beneath the Waves Film Festival in Savannah, Georgia on March 21-24, 2013. We also plan on bringing Ray of Light on the road with us as a headlining film for our mini-festivals around the world, especially in Europe...with festivals planned in Germany, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, the UK, throughout Oceania, and the US."

"A headlining film..." Wow! That is awesome!

This film just won't go away (not that I want it too of course!) We had zero budget and the whole thing was a one camera shoot, filming as and when I could, often without the film's stars knowing they were being filmed. They had no idea what the film would be like either so it was interesting to see their response especially and the response from the public, which has been overwhelming really. There was no fanfare, just a quiet online release and all of a sudden it kind of went everywhere and just kept on going, so this is another big win for our tiny little film!

Huge thanks go to the stupendously talented Chris Zabriskie for his music which lends so much to the film's emotional journey and of course, to Brad and Bea about whom, this film is very much a love story in some ways and a testament to their sacrifice, dedication and determination.

If you go to one of the festival dates and you get to see A Ray of Light, please let us know what you think!

Congratulations to all the film-makers whose work is being featured in this year's festival, you can be assured that much expense, effort, sweat and toil has gone into every single one of the featured films, so if Beneath The Waves comes to your town, go down and see what's on offer and support the talent on show, more often than not, made at the film-maker's expense with zero support in doing so and if any of the film-makers are there, buy them a beer and give them some feedback! They deserve it :)

Thanks to Austin and all at BTW for supporting my little film with a big heart.