THIS JUST IN !! Catch up with me then keep up with me…
MARCH 2009
NEWS: Stonking SUPER 8 short film, ’Caller Pays’ has me playing a twitchy, self loathing, woman battering (sharp intake of breath!) good old fashioned crim who meets a justifiably sticky end. Harry Clegg at OTT films approached me after seeing my reel and asked if I was sick of playing twitchy, self-loathing villains. I said, “well that depends…!” After reading the watertight script and enjoying the twist in this three hander I agreed to read for him. It’s a sinister little article which should do well on release: harryclegg.com. COMIC ‘mockumentary’, ‘Colin Brumby’ (Frozen Tundra) is finally finished!! Zoe’s brother Nick Ball directed me as Rod, head of the dysfunctional Brumby clan and older brother to feral child and title character, Colin (get a taste of Rod at the start of my BRAND NEW SHOWREEL). This film is really very good indeed and I predict festival prizes, mate!! LATE last year I spent all afternoon being suspended from the ceiling in a harness somewhere in Old street. No, not my sideline in master and slave work but shooting on a new 'Sky Broadband' ad. I'm the main featured 'aspirational' (Still got it, still got it!!) artist on this spot, produced through WCRS and Rogue under the direction of Henrik Hallgren. Still not hit our screens but it won’t be long a-comin I’m sure! A FEATURE I shot in 2006 was lo-fi thriller, ‘Icharus Broken’, directed by new talent Tom Wilton at Bring It Give It. Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye gave this the thumbs up in his weekly column in December of that year; "There's a raw energy about this film..." and it went on to win ‘Best International Film’ at the TFC Film Festival, Detroit with a US sales agent attached and showings at select indie houses in the pipeline. The agent must have been a good one because it’s now available in ‘stores’ all across the US with an Australasian deal pending. Well done Tom!! Check out the trailer @ tomwilton.com.
MY BAND is on iTUNES. Bow Mods' debut album ‘EIDETIC’ is now available for £0.79 a track or £7.99 for the album. The first single from the album, ‘The Beats Still Have It’ is also smelling good on there. You can see the 'Beats' vid and the second promo video for the album, ‘Seventeen Weeks’ on the Bow Mods Youtube profile. I wrote the treatment for the song and directed the resultant grubby little short film, check it out. We've been on the RADIO a lot!! After being playlisted at XFM, Radio 3, Resonance etc, Tom Robinson at BBC 6Music invited us to play a live session on his show last year and it was a huge success, kickstarting interest from remixers, venues, promoters and of course the public. Remixers Cage & Aviary released a limited run of ‘Country Girls’ 12"s featuring their dubby remixes of the track to massive acclaim in January '09. Go to Bow Mods HQ: OUR MYSPACE PAGE (below) for our band history and read all about the on-air buzz. See details of how to catch us live and click on 'BLOG' for a full rundown of the sick fun we've been having at our recent shows. Check some new pix of me fronting the band on the slideshow, listen to then BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY a physical CD copy of the album @ myspace.com/bowmods
ME ONLINE: Last MARCH I did my first (and last, the new CEO killed you off - Ed) gig as the official online face of Lee Cooper jeans in a series of virals in Miami. I play Inspector Fleming, ‘Bottom Inspector’ and ultimate sartorial expert. It was my job to charm and/or mildly intimidate/humiliate the American public (well, mainly just beautiful, er, 'well built' females!) by describing how their ‘butts’, or ‘arses’ looked in a variety of trouserwears. No, really. The production company, Lightborne and the agency, Gyro actually approached me after being impressed/disgusted by this very ‘RANT’ page. No, really! You can watch me arsing around (pun intended) @ Bottom Inspector 1, Bottom Inspector 2, Bottom Inspector 3. Obviously I think these are hilarity itself with me likely to be lauded as the new Sacha Baron Cohen. YOU on the other hand may think they're about as funny as a cup of cold sick... ENJOY!!!! SEE me as tortured father of a young abductee in slick, rated short, ‘Catholic’ at director Martin Scanlan's (Prussia Lane) brand new film dedicated site martinscanlan.com AND catch prize winning short, 'The Queue' on youtube.com, featuring me as ridiculous drunken scally nutjob, Gaz.
IN POST: LAST year saw me collaborate with a variety of extremely talented folks in brand new comedy sketch show pilot, ‘A Bald Man In A Boat'. Now looks like this won’t come to fruition but brilliant, upcoming writer / helmsman Dan Smith recently invited me to join upcoming (yeah, I know I’m using that word too much but they really are!!) and frankly shit hot comedy duo, Ginger & Black in a brand new sketch for inclusion in a pilot vehicle for them. I got to play a patronising tosser director with absolutely no idea about the creative process. Oooh, wonder how one goes about researching that?...more news as it happens. WELL, I shot the main featured role in the promo for UK hip hop collective, Eighteen18’s ‘Body Armour’ last summer...or, Jesus, was it the Summer before THAT? This has been held back due to the massive amounts of FX work that needs doing on my body (that’s tattoos that move, NOT airbrushing my zits!) and I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever see the light of day. Shame as I really enjoyed the shoot. Director Samuel Smith assured me some months ago (again) that it is very near completion. We’ll see…