Somehow we’ve managed to blag all the equipment for the shoot - and the cast and crew are donating their time for free – but we’re still looking for big-hearted companies to cover some of the unavoidable expenses such as: insurance (£450), transport (£400), screening venue (£350), electricity generator (£270), catering for 30 cast and crew (£900), porta-loo (£200) and general bits and bobs (£400). In return for your (generous!) contribution, we’ll make sure your company’s name is included in the film credits and gets a mention at the screening.

Pledges to: cows@huddlecreative.com (guide contribution: £250).
All profits go to The Place2Be.

Gwendi, our storyboard artist, was due to give birth on April 8th, but probably down to the excitement of making this movie, she popped a few weeks early! We have to be careful not to stereotype here, but less than a week before the shoot, Gwendi called the Director and said in a soft German accent “Sorry Armand, I’ll be taking a fews days off but will finish the work by Friday, I had a baby this morning”. How efficient committed is that!

Joe Sharpe from Applied Works joined the crew for a reccy visit to a derelict nursing home in north London that will be used as the location for the film being shot this weekend. The place is largely in ruin through vandals and water seepage, but we stumbled across a box of saturated LPs amongst the broken glass, nappies and bits of plasterboard. Interesting, if poignant, little insight into the musical pleasures enjoyed by the last residents who lived there. See them all on Applied Works’ spanking new website.

After spending five minutes explaining what a ‘record shop’ was to my nine-year-old daughter, I set off for the small but perfectly formed Record Detective Agency to see if I could beg, borrow or steal a banged-up old record player for the opening sequence of our film. A very nice man in the shop didn’t need much arm-twisting. After explaining what I was after, he pointed to this nice little number on the floor. I grabbed it before he had the chance to change his mind and sprinted home to give it a spin, only to realise that anything resembling a black 12 inch disk was probably hidden away in my mum’s loft along with my Big Track and Acorn Electron.

After a very long search for a shabby (characterful) location, Erik (our production designer) hit upon Bedford House, a condemned property in Mill Hill, north London. The place has it all, from torn orange sofas to over-the-top floral window dressing, it’s a perfect backdrop for our characters to play off. The pics show the (far) better side of the house. After seeing the other images, me thinks we need to significantly up our public liability cover!

Over at Applied Works this morning, we reviewed version 2 of the storyboards produced by the highly talented (and still heavily pregnant) Gwendi Klisa. We all agreed that they were fantastic, real works of art in their own right. I for one will be popping down to the framing shop tomorrow.

We’re recently set up our Just Giving page so you can now donate directly to The Place2Be. Help us get way past our target of £3,000. A reminder where the money goes: The Place2Be is a school-based counselling service, dedicated to improving the emotional wellbeing of children, their families and the whole school community. Children today have all sorts of worries from friendships to bereavement, domestic violence, gang culture or crime. By supporting children early on The Place2Be gives them the chance to grow up with prospects rather than problems. Don’t think about it, just do it!

We are delighted to announce that Dado Valentic, director of My Theraphy and colourist extraordinaire (nothing to do with hair), has generously offered his services for our movie. Dado’s work spans blockbuster movies like Sherlock Holmes and commercials for Nike,  Orange and Guiness. With his help the film is going to look as beautiful as the message it conveys!

I’ve just seen the initial props list for our movie and it pretty much mirrors the entire contents of our under-stairs cupboard, except for the ‘stocking for bank scene’ of course…

Razor / Shaving Cream / loud, shabby colorful shirt (for Joe Meakin)/ BAGGY UNDERPANTS (for Joe Meakin) / nintendo DS / Game with aliens for DS (if it will be visible in shot) / Pack of Cigarettes / Hand bag / Dressing gown (Joe Meakin) / WORKING LP PLAYER AND SPEAKER SYSTEM / TANGO LP with a battered cover / leg brace (older nurse)/ buzzer (does it need to be shown?) / Travel Clock or sand timer? / Picture of Joe Meakin as a younger man (Keith Barron) / elements from joe’s past (what are they? an old box? books? etc. / Broken Nintendo DS / NEWS PAPER / favourite armchair / keep on doggin’ t-shirt (for Arthur) / Tea trolley / Tea set with cups for the trolley / roller skate for the trolley / red rose for Joe to put between his teeth? / STOCKING FOR BANK SCENE / SMALL DUFFEL BAG FOR BANK SCENE.

I have no idea why some items are in CAPS. Perhaps they’re for the extreme close ups?

Image: ZeePack

Armand has done it again and somehow managed to get the wonderful British actor Keith Barron to play the leading role in our film. If you don’t recognize the name (shame on you!) just do a Google image search and the penny will drop pretty fast. Keith is giving up is weekend to shoot the film for free and we really look forward to working with such an established actor. His involvement will – without a doubt – contribute to making our movie a real success.