Today I went to a location just East of LA called The Vasquez Rocks. It was to film the introduction to my online seminar, and wanted a backdrop that suited the tone of the intro. I was particularly excited to go to the Vasquez Rocks as it was a heavily used location for film and […]
I just wanted to share an email I got from a fellow film maker. I met up with him last year for a coffee as he seemed ‘blocked’ in his next career steps. We discussed many of the issues I put into practice while making Gone Fishing, specicifally the carrer plan that forms one of […]
I wanted to share a short talk I stumbled upon at ww.ted.com. It’s with writer Elizabeth Gilbert, and it touches on the madness we can all be touched by in any creative endeavour. Here’s what TED said about it… Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses – and shares […]
For a short while now I have been collaborating with two film makers on a project called ‘From Beneath Us’. Judy Goldberg, formerly of Impact Pictures, and Thorsten Hagemann, formerly of Constantin Film, wrote the script over the last year or so, and when he read the script, editor Eddie Hamilton (who had worked with […]
Last night I had my first one… Earthquake that is. The earth shook, the house rattled. Everyone stood very still for a moment. Apparently it was a 3 on the Richter scale, and the epicentre was right beneath us in Santa Monica. So another LA experience is chalked up! Right now I am utterly exhausted. […]
I am sat here at Terminal Five, Heathrow airport and about to board a plane for LAX. Officially, I am flying over to attend the Santa Barbara Film Festival where Gone Fishing is playing. Unofficially, I am also going to LA to be as close to the Oscars as I can get, for the nomination […]
I wanted to share two particularly poignant emails I have received, both from professional film makers who have suffered personal loss. The first email is from an Irish Director, Paul Brady, who saw Gone Fishing last week and felt compelled to contact me. Second is from our old friend and Gone Fishing Associate Producer, Simon […]
More incredible words have been flooding from people who have seen Gone Fishing. I designed the story to be evocative of my childhood, growing up in the Northwest of England, with an old brick works at the top of my road, surrounded by woodlands, quarries and lakes. In fact that history is actually in the […]
Most of us have dreams and ambitions, some big, some small. But most of us pay lip service to those dreams. Yeah, we will do it one day some day. I want to share with you a video and story of one incredible friend of mine, Lyn Hawkins. She had a dream. And it wasn’t […]
As everything starts to wind down, we become a little reflective at Christmas time. It’s true that the next few months, potentially, could be the most exciting yet for Gone Fishing, with the Oscar nominations being announced on Jan 22nd, the BAFTA nominations being announced on Jan 15th, and with it attending another festival in […]
First off, can you believe, we won another festival. While in the Bahamas, Gone Fishing also won the Barbados Film Festival. I am waiting for the organisers to send me more details and hopefully some photos. I thought I would share some comments I have had, both at the Bahamas International Film Festival, the Oscars […]
I have just completed the Photoshop work and layout in Adobe InDesign for the charity photo calendar we shot a few weeks back. I am amazed at how quickly I can use those tools now, I guess that’s the result of many thousands of pages of work in the Guerilla Film Makers Handbooks. I think […]
I wanted to share an email I just received from someone who I have just recently got to know, but who I already count as a close friend… Chris – Well done – again! I just have to tell you that I was so extra pleased to hear this (Thunderclap Awards), because my 85 year […]
Some of you may recall, a good friend of mine, Johnny Newman, made a short film called Foster which played at Rhode Island (and Johnny tipped me off about the suitability of RI for Gone Fishing). This short film took him on a rollercoaster ride to Hollywood… you can read the blog entry here. Recently, […]
I got an email this morning from Oli Lewington. Some of you who have kept up with the blog may know that Oli suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and last year, before shooting Gone Fishing, he wrote to me. I had posted a blog about my fears of failure, and Oli wrote to me encouraging me, […]
The video says it all really… The calendar shoot was a VERY long day and among everything else going on, really put a strain on my life. BUT, by making this calendar, we will be raising around £5k for a local cancer hospice. The next stages are going to be Photoshop retouching and layout in […]
Some of you may know that I have been working on a huge ‘Green’ project with some pretty big hitters. I can’t say much about it for confidentiality reasons, but in due course, I am sure everyone across the globe will hear about it. I was just sent this link – an animation made by […]
I wanted to take a moment to just acknowledge a few people involved in Gone Fishing, sometimes in a slightly lateral way. Johnny Newman, a director friend of mine, encouraged me to make a short after he made his own short called Foster, which also played at Rhode Island! Johnny also encouraged me to enter […]
Since returning from Rhode Island, I have received a huge number of emails on all manner of subjects. I thought I might share a few with you… There's nothing I can really put into words about how I feel about your project, we've all felt loss, and your film speaks to me, especially with my […]
There are two things of note today that are not in the video blog from yesterday. First off, at the panel and seminar sessions, actor Dan Butler gave his key note speech. Dan is most known for his role of Bulldog in the TV show ‘Frasier’, but he had his own movie at the festival […]
I am writing this en route back home to London from Ireland, while cruising at 32,000'. I am a great believer in taking short breaks to help re-asses ones plans and goals. We are all victims of our routines, and occasionally, our daily habits need interrupting so that one can get a clearer view of […]
I got a few responses from yesterdays blog and I just wanted to share with you one from a film maker I met on one of my courses a few years back, Oli Lewington… Hey Chris, I’m a long-time follower of your various activities – got the books, done the course, blah blah blah. I […]
I am suffering right now (well actually last night to be specific, but past it this morning) from one of the symptoms I discuss on my two day film makers course. It’s a common problem and it can be quite crippling. When you set out on any creative venture and think up some kind of […]
I am a great believer in what you give, comes back to you. But that is often in ways that you don’t expect. A friend of mine just, last weekend actually, swam the English Channel. Each year about 800 people manage to climb Everest, but only 200 manage to conquer the Channel. Lynn is one […]
