11 Days in Gran Canaria - Angel Sharks and The Public Reaction To Of Shark And Man!

Not bad for a first screening of the Director's Cut!

So, I'm back in the cold and wet of the UK after a brilliant eleven days in Gran Canaria (including a day trip to Tenerife) where I met wonderful people, did some very cool dives, got a bit of a tan, ate some massive steaks, saw Of Shark and Man on the big screen for the first time with a public audience and even walked away with two awards!

Firstly Gran Canaria is great, the weather was hot, there is actually life underwater and the people I met were just amazing. I was a guest of Fernando and Manuela who run Alianza Tiburones Canarias, a small, grassroots conservation NGO which works to educate and inspire the people of the Canary Islands about sharks in their waters, in particular the Angel Shark.

The hospitality I received was second to none and I cannot speak highly enough of them, they are passionate, informed and ambitious and these are three things vital to running successful campaigns and above anything, they're really, really nice people!

I had been invited over as a guest for their annual film festival,focusing on marine life and films about the ocean for which they were incredibly keen to have Of Shark and Man screened. It was also a chance for me to do some diving and try to get some footage of at least one Angel Shark so I couldn't say no and off I went.

My day started at 3am for my 8am flight, I landed in Gran Canaria just past midday, met up with Fernando and Manuela along with David from EDNA and was immediately whisked off to a live radio interview, in Spanish to talk about the film and the festival! It was then off to the venue to discuss the structure of everything and meet a few of the volunteers who were (as was the case with everyone I met) really lovely people, I even had my own translator who was a real help, very kind and with whom, along with her boyfriend Christian, Dave and I went out for something to eat later and discuss all things shark.

Photo by Kepa Garmendia

So, to the festival itself!

Photo by Kepa Garmendia

 Photo by Kepa Garmendia

There were, if I remember correctly, sixteen films spread out over two days, two feature length films (including OSAM), a few animations which were great, one of which, "The Health of Our Oceans" had a super cool credits sequence at the end at which both Dave and I were salivating it was that good. Most of the films were shorts, split between pros and amateurs even including first time film-makers (which I love), most of the films had little to no narrative and topics varied from sharks to plastic pollution, to location pieces and everything in between. Friday's highlight for me and most of the audience was without question a short film by Alberto Ramos Rodriguez called "Utopia" which was both surreal and at times ingenious, I loved the fact it thought way outside the box. The audience seemed in agreement that the other highlights included the beautifully shot "Secretos de Macronesia" by Rafa Herrero Massieu, "The Azores in 5K" by Nuno Sa and Lee Burghard's "A Fight for Survival."

Saturday saw the screening of "Of Shark and Man," and to be honest, I was quite nervous, there was a lot of expectation and I was worried about the duration of the film as it is all in English and would play out in front of a majority Spanish/German audience. At 104 minutes with an enormous amount of content, I had visions of an audience gradually sneaking out to go to the bar during the film leaving only David and I in the theatre...

Photo by Kepa Garmendia

With that being said, it came as a very happy surprise that throughout the film, not one person left, even to go to the loo, people reacted to the film, there were laughs, the odd "woah" and audience members exchanging nods and smiles of approval with each other. When the film came to a close, the applause started immediately as the credits rolled and lasted almost the entire duration, leaving me, having been invited up on stage, rather embarrassed by it all. I don't really take public displays of praise too well when I'm there in front of a room of people!

What was particularly encouraging was the Q&A session, people were picking out parts of the film and quoting bits back to me, asking intelligent questions about everything and most importantly telling me what they liked and how they felt when they watched the film which isn't really the norm in a Q&A. Not only that but there was a genuine enthusiasm for not only the three stories in the film but the technical aspects of the Cinematography and Sound Design.

What became apparent over the remainder of the evening was not just that people liked the film, but that it awoke something in them, either a reminder of the kind of films that inspired their love of the oceans originally, or the desire to perhaps rethink their own opinions of things, discuss the incredible story of Shark Reef and also to readdress how they saw the portrayal of sharks in the media. What people really seemed to love is that the film does not claim to be or have a message, it just does what it does and encourages the viewer to think throughout and as such, amazingly for a foreign language audience, they felt the film's length was perfect as it passed by quickly.

They also mentioned it had an approachability in that instead of making breathy statements or trying to push ideas on the viewer, it informs by simply telling a story through one man's eyes and also, the people in the film itself were extremely popular because again, no caricatures or considered personas, just honest, decent people speaking from the heart.

To go in thinking I'd see people quietly sneaking out to the bar and instead to have more than one person tell me after the screening that "Of Shark and Man" was "the best shark film I have ever seen" (honestly, we have it on camera) is something I will never forget.

See what an audience mamber, Marjo, had to say about the film here.

Photo by Kepa Garmendia

Even saying all that, when I found out there would be awards presented, I didn't expect to win one, I thought maybe I'd get a small one for taking part and making the effort to attend the event but that's it, so it all came as a bit of a surprise that OSAM was chosen as the "Best Film" by both the City of Aguimes and most importantly of all, unanimously apparently, by the audience.

Photo by Kepa Garmendia

So after the evenings wonderful event and a celebratory meal in a cave (ginormous steak obviously) the focus turned to diving and trying to get some shots of what is likely the world's rarest shark, the Angel Shark.

Photo by Yuneysa Garcia Flores

The diving in Gran Canaria is actually really good, I've become accustomed to the Mediterranean in the last few years and there is so much more life around the Canary Islands, the water was a mild 19 degrees, the viz pretty good and on most of the dives we'd see some big shoals of fish which I always enjoy filming.

Photo by Yuneysa Garcia Flores

The dives felt wilder than in the Med and I like that, there was always something to see but what made the dives so special were the people I dived with. Mareike from Diving Centre Nautico with some additional RIB support from Jerry at Canary Diving, Kepa, Yuneysa (who took the two shots above), Felipe, Eugenio and of course, Fernando and Manuela.

Kepa and Manuela

Mareike and I

It took a few days but I saw my first Angel Shark (two actually) on a night dive at a place called Sardina but it was a couple of days later at El Cabron where I really got to have a proper encounter with a nice sized female we found towards the end of our dive. They may not be one of the big, charismatic species but it was so exciting to see one because they are so very rare and this particular shark really co-operated for the camera which is of course, always appreciated!

 Photo by David Diley

 Photo by David Diley

 Photo by Fernando Reis

 Mareike with the Angel Shark - Photo by David Diley

Fernando with the Angel Shark - Photo by David Diley

So, Gran Canaria was brilliant, I loved it! In the week I also did a press conference and an interview with VIVA Magazine alongside filming some more stuff for the Making Of features we will be releasing on the official website. There will also be a short film of some underwater footage coming up so keep an eye out for that.

I was also invited to the University of Las Palmas to give a talk about Shark Feeding and the Shark Reef story which was really cool as the students seemed really enthusiastic about it and asked some brilliant questions. It's nice to be a part of getting this story out to a wide audience.

I want to thank everyone I met for their hospitality, warmth and most importantly, their friendship. Huge thanks to the City of Aguimes for putting me up in the beautiful Casa Aldaba, which, if you ever plan to visit there, I strongly recommend, I loved it, it's a gorgeous little house in a gorgeous, quiet little town.

I'm feeling ever more confident about Of Shark and Man, it won over an informed audience of people in a foreign country for whom English is not a first, or often second, language and people didn't only like it, they loved it!

Lots of good stuff is coming your way so keep your eyes peeled, this journey is about to get very interesting!

Starting 2011!

 

So it's finally come to it and I have now left my lovely City Centre apartment.

Back in July I knew that it was extremely likely that I would have to sacrifice the place where I had really enjoyed living since moving in the previous December, but there comes a time when big decisions need to be made in order to get to where you want to be and after leaving my job, this was the second biggest decision I have had to make in the last seven months.

As always, moving home is never a pleasurable experience and the stress that goes with it is certainly magnified when taking into account I have no idea what the future holds for me. There wasn't a new permanent address, a new job, the excitement of living in a different city or country or any of the other stuff which often comes as a result from moving home, instead, there is more uncertainty, more pressure and less a feeling of security and independence. However, more uncertainty and pressure can often mean more excitement, it is also testament to how seriously I am taking all this and instead of just talking the talk, I am indeed, walking the walk.

 

I was in London last week for a meeting with someone with whom I have been speaking for the last few months about "From the Office to the Ocean" and who's organisation has shown a great deal of enthusiasm and support since I first met with her colleague in October. This meeting was originally scheduled in for December last year but upon confirmation, within two days of the date being agreed, Britain was under the worst snow at that time of the year for something like a hundred years...Typical!

Anyway, we met at Bentley's in London which I have to say, was fantastic and a lot posher than I was expecting, so posh in fact that Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron, as in Prime Minister and scourge of the ordinary working man, David Cameron, was stuffing her face with the magnificent food on offer downstairs. I felt dreadfully under dressed as I was in jeans and a T-Shirt ("From the Office to the Ocean" branded naturally) and it was clear to all I was indeed under dressed as I stuck out like a sore thumb, however, the staff treated me no differently and were nothing other than thoroughly pleasant. The meeting itself was excellent and incredibly encouraging, I am not, at this stage, about to tell you with whom this meeting was so as not to jinx anything but the feedback was nothing short of amazing and I really feel I have taken huge steps towards getting confirmation of when we can start full production of this film so watch this space!

 

 

I finally got my hands on my Canon 7D at the weekend as well and have spent a fair bit of this last week getting to grips with it and what an amazing piece of kit it is! I haven't even started on film tests with it yet but will be assembling my movie shooting rig as soon as possible and absolutely cannot wait to start shooting some film with it and will hopefully have it in the water sooner rather than later. If you're a photographer/film-maker or like me, film-maker/photographer, I cannot recommend Canon's range of DSLRs enough.

The last couple of weeks has also included some very positive Skype chats with two wonderful people, Lesley Rochat in South Africa and my new Aussie mate, Brad Robertson in Majorca who, along with his partner Bea, runs a company called Ondine. What is so fulfilling about speaking to both Lesely and Brad is their enthusiasm and energy when it comes to sharks and innovative, exciting ways to aid shark conservation. I have a huge amount of pretty cool ideas and speaking with Lesley and Brad about them is a revelation, there is no negativity, no defeatist giving up before we have even started, instead it is positive, supportive and a wholly enjoyable experience and I can't wait to get stuck into working with both of them sooner rather than later.

The Indiegogo campaign has now finished and raised a fantastic $1000 towards helping with post-production of "Shark. My God." I want to give my wholehearted thanks and gratitude to everyone who was kind enough to contribute, that money will do a huge amount of good in the making of this film. 

At this current stage, I am essentially waiting for news on a couple of things which will hopefully give this film the full green light. A plan is in place for promotion both before and after production alongside some pretty cool ideas of how to get this film out to a wider audience. I am also storyboarding elements of the film and have had some great ideas regarding the music and artists I would like to approach to contribute their considerable talents to helping me realise my vision for the film's soundtrack so in regards to where we are in pre-production, I can say with confidence we are pretty much ready to go barring a couple of things which require the funding being in place first.

As always, thanks for the support, I am hoping we have some encouraging news coming through this month so cross everything for me! I have never been so confident that this film will be made and available in the short-term future...Let's hope so!

David

www.officetoocean.com

Edit: Thank you to my very good friend Kris Allen for pointing out that I had officially made the two headed beast that is the UK's coalition government, officially a singular element of corporate greed and oppressor of the great unwashed, by naming it "Nick Cameron." Ooops!

2010 - What a year!

 

Firstly I'd like to wish each an every one of you a very happy Christmas! I know it's a little late but still, the sentiment remains and with the onset of 2011, I thought it would be a good idea to cast my eye over what has been a pretty amazing, humbling, challenging and sometimes bizarre 2010!

2010 has probably been the biggest year of my life so far, certainly the most important in terms of my long term future, with some major decisions and changes taking place. To establish whether this year has been my most successful would depend upon how you define "success," if you define it merely in financial terms then 2010 has been my most difficult year since I first left university and was a penniless out of work musician in a brand new city, struggling to juggle the responsibilities and expectations I put upon myself. If you define success through emotional and spiritual fulfilment and achieving goals you set yourself, no matter how big or small, then 2010 has been a roaring triumph I would say!

There have however been a few downs, I lost a good friend at the age of only 21, someone who shared my adventurous spirit and lived every day to it's fullest, there have been frustrations and difficulties, disappointments and worry but all of these contributed to me making the decision to make changes which, for many years, I had dreamed of making, the first six months of this year unquestionably shaped the last.

I'm gonna list the moments which shaped the year for me and in turn, thank some incredible people for their support, generosity, kindness and encouragement, people without whom, I would not be going into 2011 with a sense of excitement, belief and expectation.

1. "Googling" myself!

Seriously, this was possibly the most important moment for me in 2010! Everybody does it, I think I'm just one of the few who is sad enough to admit it! I was browsing the internet on a Sunday afternoon before having to catch a train back to Leeds and as I occasionally do, popped my name into Google. The results were pretty surprising, the first page was made up of a number of blogs discussing both myself and more importantly, this article (the second down).

Coincidentally, one of the blogs belonged to a dive operation in an area that upon further inspection, was instrumental in a story with which I have been fascinated for years. With the help of Patric Douglas, another man who had responded warmly to my article, I tracked down the author of the blog in question and from then on struck up a friendship, the man in question, Mike Neumann, also responded with support and encouragement for a project upon which I had been working for eighteen months, "From the Office to the Ocean." In the following days I came up with an idea for a film, pitched it to Mike and I was on my way.

 

2. Leaving my job

Without doubt, the most important big decision I have ever made. At this point, I think it only fair that I offer my sincerest thanks to Dean, Lisa and Joe at Nixon Allen where I worked as a recruitment consultant for professionals within the insurance industry. I was pretty good at my job, always wanted to do my best and was extremely lucky to work with some brilliant people and for a boss who was supportive, trusting and always keen to reward hard work. I enjoyed working with my colleagues and friends and enjoyed some great relationships with some brilliant clients and candidates but the major issue, as with probably 95% of people, I wasn't passionate in the truest sense of the word about my job, it didn't get my blood pumping and  never saw myself doing it until I retired. The last few years have been very difficult for the industry and the problems and difficulties started to outweigh the rewards, I woke up one morning, fed up of not fulfilling my potential or stretching myself creatively so one Monday morning, filled with dread at another week of wishing my life away, made a huge decision and resigned. My boss was brilliant about it and very supportive and by the Wednesday, that was it, I was on my own with a seemingly impossible task but feeling absolutely brilliant, like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

 

3. The idea 

I left work on the Wednesday and was up at 8am on Thursday to start the very long process of learning how to get what was in my brain, onto a definitive document which clearly laid out every facet of what, why, where, when, who and of course, how much. I am not going to lie to you, when you haven't done this before, this is really, really difficult but spending time, hours and days, on sometimes the smallest detail is absolutely vital. I had the benefit of ten years in the music industry with four other brilliantly creative and passionate people who's talents and strengths were always underpinned by abject poverty and lack of resources. So, what do you do in this situation? You work with what you've got and you work ten times harder than everybody else. Throughout those years I learned the skill of promotion and how to make as many people know as much as possible about what you do whilst spending little, if anything and in my current situation, this is possibly the most important skill I have.

Richard Theiss and Jim Standing of Fourth Element, all the while, my ever-present, erstwhile friend and companion Hamish Harper was there to provide his endless enthusiasm and support, for which I will be forever grateful.

 

4. Going it alone

The first plan was to pitch my idea to people within the television and film industry, get one on board, work with them and make this film with their professional and financial backing, easy! Well, no, quite the opposite in fact. Production companies get people like me contacting them all the time with ideas and to say they're a little weary of entertaining dreamers with grand ideas is putting it lightly! After one such conversation during which one television exec made no secret that "if they wanted to take your idea they would and there was nothing you can do about it..." I decided instead to go down the route of doing it all myself and then approaching the relevant organisations with a finished product. This type of undertaking is extremely difficult but in this situation, is most definitely the best route to take, it is also incredibly daunting but I've done this all before with huge success so I'm no stranger to doing things the hard way!

5. Support and endorsements

"Hi, my name is David Diley, I really love sharks and although you have never heard of me, I'm making a brilliant film but I have no money, can you help me please?" Although this isn't quite the approach I have been taking, it is in essence, what I am saying. It still amazes me when looking back to when I started this journey, how truly isolated and alone I was whilst trying to make this all become reality, I had the goodwill and support of friends, acquaintances and strangers but that can only get you so far. 

Within a couple of weeks, Britain's premier supplier of underwater photography equipment and advice, Cameras Underwater, were on board and backing me. The support and generosity shown me by Dave, Mario, Duxy and also Mario's partner, Caroline, made me feel on top of the world because they too believe in what I am doing. Mike Neumann at Beqa Adventure Divers has been invaluable to me, because of him I have full access to everything I want to cover and huge support in many other areas. Fourth Element have been around the longest, going all the way back to the very first, embryonic stages of this project in 2008 and only recently I became fortunate enough to be endorsed by Camera giant, Canon. There are also exciting things in the pipeline for early 2011 so to think it was only six months ago that I was at the bottom of what seemed an almost insurmountable mountain to climb, it's pretty amazing what I have achieved at the turn of the year!

6. Getting out there

Since returning from the Bahamas in 2008 and formulating the basic ideas behind "From the Office to the Ocean," I have focused on getting out there and meeting people face to face, nothing can beat discussing ideas about which you are passionate with people face to face, it is the moment these people can see what you're all about and how genuine you and your ideas are. In 2008 I bought a ticket for the Dive Show at the Birmingham NEC and sent out about one hundred emails to exhibitors, explaining my idea and that I would be coming to talk to them about it at the show. Most emails went unanswered, most conversations on the day were brief and rushed due to the nature of these shows but it was at that show in 2008 that I met Steve Weinman from DIVER Magazine and Paul Strike from Fourth Element. My meeting with Steve led to the publishing of my shark feeding article, the article which opened the door for me to make this happen and meeting Paul in turn, led to me forging a friendship with Jim Standing, both have been key in me getting thus this far at this stage of the project.

This year has been no different, I continue to attend the shows to promote "From the Office..." and this year  achieved my goal of being an exhibitor, albeit a small one, and am on target to hopefully achieve my next, that I will be a guest speaker within two years. This year I had numerous meetings with some great people, many of whom had already heard of me prior to my introduction, proof that doing your research and meeting the right people, alongside tenaciously chasing personal goals, does work!

 

7. Publicity and promotion

"From the Office to the Ocean" has been featured online, on the radio and in print in the last six months, the BBC, Rock Radio 106.1, The Yorkshire Evening Post and numerous online blogs and websites have carried positive and enthusiastic coverage of what I am doing, in fact, every piece has looked upon this with enthusiasm and actively supported the inspirational and conservation value of this film, it started with me contacting them, now, they're contacting me. It's also worth noting that in less than six months, this blog now attracts an average of 5000 unique visitors every month and that number is increasing every month!

8. The generosity of strangers

We hear a lot about how awful the world is and how horrible people are to each other, if this project proves anything, it is that that claim is nonsense. I was contacted via the Facebook group by a couple of the members asking how they could contribute financially. I had thought about the use of fundraising from the public to raise the amount needed to make this film but was unsure how to go about it, we are after all, in the grip of financial meltdown and how much interest will total strangers have in a guy who loves sharks trying to make his dream come true (and do his bit to save sharks along the way) anyway? Well, the answer is quite a lot actually! People want to see this film made, people like me, like you, who can often feel helpless when trying to make a difference and who see somebody doing what they can to change their life for the better and inject some positivity into the world as a good thing and something worthy of support. I have been overwhelmed by the generous donations and every penny will have been instrumental when this film is completed, these people can also watch it and say, "I helped make that," this isn't a film for me, it's for everybody.

If you like the sound of that, feel free to click this Indiegogo link.

9. Self belief

Believing in yourself is not a bad thing, in fact it is a pre-requisite of success and something which should be admired. Not arrogance or conceit, the belief that anything is possible and that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve what at first might seem impossible. If you don't believe something is possible then it isn't but if you do, then it is, I truly believe that. In fact, I will go so far as to say this film could be one of the best shark based films ever made, it's different, innovative and inspirational, whether it is or not depends solely on me and I can assure you I and the team making it, will do absolutely everything possible to make it as good as it could and should be, I owe it to myself, to my supporters and perhaps even more importantly, the sharks to make this fulfil its potential.

10. The Trailer

It took a long time to film and edit but I am really happy with it, it was also my first foray into HD and the creative aspect of being responsible for everything, from the direction, filming and writing to the music was something I thoroughly enjoyed. It also opened doors for me with regards to promotion and publicity and has proved an invaluable tool in the last couple of months.

This year, at least the second half of this year, has been a positive and fulfilling experience and has set me up nicely for 2011 which will be the most important year of my entire life, I couldn't have got this far without the support of my friends, both old and new, from those in my personal life to those who work in the industry so to all of you and especially those below, I offer my heartfelt thanks, admiration and humble gratitude to everything you have helped me achieve this year.
 

Mike Neumann 

Cameras Underwater 

Patric Douglas 

Richard Theiss 

Lesley Rochat 

Canon 

DIVER Magazine 

Fourth Element 

Richard Peirce 

Hugh Fairs 

Howard Sawyer 

Mark Thorpe & iDive Sharks 

Duncan Carson & Stop Shark Finning 

Banter Media 

Hamish Harper, Kris Allen, Mark Burrows, Nicky Crawford, Andy Richards, Steve Hayward-Jones, Rock Radio 106.1FM, The Yorkshire Evening Press, Amanda Robinson, Susana Navajas, Colour Copy Express, Brian Barnes, Red Issue, Jan Bailey, anyone who has ever read this blog and all of you who have contributed, no matter how big or small, it means the world to me.

Fingers crossed, I will have some more great news in the early stages of 2011, I feel closer than ever to making this all become a reality and not only that, even have parts 2 and 3 being formulated, you never know, if all goes well I may even be starting filming on those in the coming year as well!

Have an amazing New Year, be safe and be good to each other and because of you all, I'm on the verge of something pretty special in the coming months.

All the best and lots of positivity to you all.

David

www.officetoocean.com

The Official Teaser Trailer for "From the Office to the Ocean!"

"From the Office to the Ocean" - Official Teaser Trailer from David Diley on Vimeo.

A huge thank you to Hamish for the additional camera work for shots involving me, Mark Burrows for his skill in recording, mixing and mastering my music, Lee for the use of his roof terrace and Nick Rowan for allowing me to film in his office!

Please let me know what you think!

To be somebody...

There I was, sitting in the office pondering various sales targets whilst trying to speak to people I desperatley needed to contact who had seemingly disappeared off the face off the planet at the worst time possible. At that moment the phone rang, it was yet another client expecting me to work twice as hard but for a massive discount on the standard fee we would charge...

"It's the recession" they said, it's what they all said, here I am with my own rent and bills to pay, barely scraping by, merely existing from month to month and they wanted to talk to me about the recession! At that moment, barely two months ago, I made up my mind that I wasn't going to put up with mediocrity anymore, I was sick of having no control over my life, I loved the people I worked with, my boss was great but it just wasn't me, I wasn't achieving anything and most importantly I wasn't making a difference in the world.

When I was six I told my parents I wanted to spend my life diving with sharks and making films, just like my heroes, Ron and Valerie Taylor, but here I was at thirty-one, sitting in a stuffy office, spending all day wishing I was somewhere else, I would wake up on Monday morning with that sense of dread, so on that Monday morning I made a decision...I quit.

Don't get the wrong idea, I'm skint, my parents are skint, everyone I know is skint so I didn't have a safety net, the only safety net I have is my belief in myself and what I can achieve when I put my mind to it. I had already built a band from nothing, with no support (particularly financial) to one which appeared in Joel McIver's A-Z of the most important Rock bands in the world, shifting hundreds of thousands of EP's, albums and downloads and becoming one of the most critically acclaimed and popular underground Metal bands in the country. I figured the absolute desperation of my situation would drive me to achieve what everyone had told me to give up dreaming about so six weeks ago I set about realising the first of my many shark based ambitions...

Last year I wrote an article that appeared in the August 2009 edition of DIVER magazine which had managed to make it's way around the world. A couple of months ago I discovered my article had been posted on various websites and blogs with some highly complimentary feedback from some serious individuals within the shark world. I tracked one of these individuals down and formulated the idea for a film I wanted to make. In the space of a week I had gained full access to the story I wanted, I just needed the money to make it!

Just to remind you, I am skint, I certainly can't afford to pay for it, and so here begins my quest to make this film happen, the endless telephone conversations, emails and door knocking, all in a race against time before I lose my flat, end up homeless and have to go back to work, undoubtedly doing something I hate!

See, that's the thing about me, most people would imagine coming face to face with a large predatory shark to be their idea of hell, to me that is heaven, sitting in an office, clockwatching, making endless phone calls and wearing a suit is hell. It is that motivation that pushes me to achieve what I know I am capable of.

In the grand scheme of things, I am a nobody, but this nobody has so far managed to secure the services of an award winning underwater cameraman and interest from two major production companies, interested in discussing the posibility of making this film happen and a number of organisations who are discussing with me, the possibility of becoming involved. That's the point of this blog, I want to show all of you, also made to feel like nobodies by the restraints on your life through work, family and what you perceive to be your own boundaries that sometimes risks pay off and that ordinary people like you and I can achieve extraordinary things.

Great achievements happen through two two major factors, inspiration and perspiration. I would say that perspiration makes up 90% of this equation, the inspiration is covered, I have a great idea, a few great ideas actually but the perspiration is the hard bit! You may be asking where luck falls into this, I am firmly of the belief the harder you work the luckier you get, I also don't want to be relying on luck given my current situation!

I would imagine every person who reads this blog has a dream and that 99% of you haven't achieved that dream yet, hopefully I can show you that it is possible. I am an ordinary bloke from Manchester with an extraordinary passion for sharks, your passions may differ from mine but if I can help you go for it and realise at least some of your ambitions, I would consider that a pretty good result!

So here it is, Wednesday July 28th, I have no money, most likely won't have anywhere to live soon but I have a great idea, okay I have had interest in my idea, but at this stage all I have in the world is a great idea, passion, enthusiasm, knowledge and self belief...Should be one hell of a journey!