FWOAN Interview with Ali & Lucy...

"For Want Of A Nail" producer Ali Causon and director Lucy Joan Barnes were recently interviewed as part of the FEEDBACK Female Film Festival, which took place last month in Los Angeles.

True to its name, the festival organisers provided video feedback from audience members for each screened film.

What motivated you to make this film?

Lucy (director): The script and it’s message, it was not trying to “sugarcoat” what having OCD is really like.. it was showing how intense it can be for the person who suffers from it.

Ali (producer): Although I was not looking for a script that specifically focused on mental health, after reading FWOAN just a couple of times, it felt like a natural follow up to my previous short about PTSD.  

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

Lucy: I believe it was about a year…

Ali: Writer Nick and I had been working together for a few months before mainly to find a director we wanted to work with. Lucy, Nick and I then ran a development workshop with volunteers from OCD Action and Actors to learn more about the condition.

Read the full interview with Ali & Lucy HERE.

Screenplay Sample Pages - How Mr Snuffles III and Others Met Their Maker...

How Mr Snuffles III and Others Met Their Maker is a dark comedy novella I wrote concerning the twisted exploits of Elnora, a pet therapist with a sideline in post-mortem pet portraiture, and Parker, a gifted taxidermist, who join forces to explore the limits of love, death, and psychopathy in the warped world of celebrityville. You can find out more info about it HERE.

I have since adapted it into a screenplay, which allowed me to expand on the characters and story first established in the novella - and now you can read some sample pages from the script.

These twenty-five pages are all taken from various points in the first half of the screenplay, giving you just enough of a taste without revealing too much. READ THEM HERE.

Blade Runner 2049 vs the Offendotrons (and a quick review)...

When Ridley Scott's 1982 detective noir/sci-fi mashup “Blade Runner” first hit theatres it was thrashed by critics and failed to draw an audience, much like John Carpenter's “The Thing”, which was released at the same time. The summer of 1982 belonged to Spielberg's “E.T.”, but in the years since, both Carpenter's gruelling paranoia-infused sci-fi/horror and Scott's cerebral future noir vision of dystopia 2019 have been reassessed and gained the adoration of film fans around the world.

That's worth bearing in mind considering Denis Villeneuve's belated sequel failed to draw much of a cinema-going audience, but did gather a vast array of five star reviews. Some have theorised that the long-winded 163 minute running time is responsible, while others blame a lack of 'broad appeal', but perhaps there are just some movies viewers are more comfortable viewing in their own home? Think about it, how many people will have discovered Scott's original on home video, DVD, or any number of other ancillary markets instead of at the cinema? Indeed, with a trip to the cinema being an increasing pain in the arse (ill-mannered patrons, rude staff, escalating ticket prices, an avalanche of pre-show advertising), it's hardly surprising that BR2049 didn't set the box office alight.

But enough about the film's financial failings over a short period of time in the temporary home of a darkened room, because the true lifespan of Villeneuve's sci-fi epic will be in whichever context the audience will choose to experience it. Personally, that was in the comfort of my own living room with the Blu-Ray that I'd pre-ordered months prior.

Belated sequels represent a treacherous path to walk for many reasons, including the very real risk of taking a large, steaming dump over a beloved original...

Click “READ MORE” below to continue...

Wonder Woman - in review...

What's it about?
The original superheroine finally gets her day in the realm of big budget blockbusters. This is the origin story of Diana, Princess of the Amazons, the warrior birthed of the Gods, who encounters mankind for the first time against the horrifying backdrop of World War I as she seeks to put an end to Ares, the God of War.
Who would I recognise in it?
Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielson, Lucy Davis, Ewen Bremner, and others.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It triumphed at the box office and was a critical success story (almost predictably so after the orchestrated clickbait bullying that Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad both received, pitched like some kind of Damascene conversion for DC) - but how does Wonder Woman sit outside all of the initial media interest and flash-in-the-pan obsession with box office numbers? The answer to gaining more female superheros in the genre is to create new, female superheros, not to lazily do an arbitrary bit of stunt writing to ask "what if this guy was a gal?" - because, if you really think about it, how insulting is that to everyone?

Newcomers to comics are disappointed to find that new releases aren't reflective of the hugely popular Marvel movies, while swapping the sex of an established character is a slap in the face to everyone. Not only is it a lazy move on the part of the writers and head honchos of the franchises, it also makes the suggestion that women aren't worthy of having their own custom-made superheroes. Furthermore, the binary sex-swap makes the insulting suggestion that women are incapable of enjoying male superheroes and that men are incapable of enjoying female superheroes, and that both can't find role models in the opposite sex - quite simply, that is utter bullshit.

Wonder Woman's history is a long one that pre-dates a vast swathe of rival Marvel's line-up of household names. Gal Gadot wowed in Batman v Superman (with a spine-tingling soundtrack riff to accompany her), and with DC getting a handle on their 'Expanded Universe', it was likely that Diana Prince's solo flick would turn out to be a cracker - and it certainly is. The film finds the perfect balance between DC's ability to 'go dark' (the merciless slaughter of World War I) and a sense of humour, warmth, and compassion...

Click "READ MORE" below to continue...

"Snuffles III" eBook FREE April 4th - 8th (2016)...

"How Mr Snuffles III and Others Met Their Maker" is FREE to download Monday April 4th 2016 through Friday April 8th 2016!

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

It's available worldwide through Amazon for Kindle or the free Kindle App (all computers, tablets, and smart devices).

Find more information on "How Mr Snuffles III and Others Met Their Maker" HERE.

How Mr Snuffles III and Others Met Their Maker - NEW BOOK AVAILABLE NOW!

So I accidentally wrote a new book (as you do!), having originally intended to just do a little short story, and long story short it's now available in eBook and Paperback formats worldwide via Amazon.

Find out more information HERE.

"Sleb" eBook FREE for a limited time offer!

Got a Kindle? Dig thrillers set in the absurd world of celebrity? Like FREE stuff? - well for the duration of Friday 14th & Saturday 15th November 2014, visit your local Amazon website and you can get my book "Sleb" for FREE and download it onto your Kindle anywhere in the world!

Don't have a Kindle? Download the Kindle App (which is also FREE) to your phone, tablet, or computer, and enjoy yourself some crazy celebrity chaos!

Sleb on Amazon US
Sleb on Amazon UK

Want to know more about "Sleb" - click HERE for info galore!