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Cancer Hair wins Best Fiction Short AND Best of the Fest at Isle of Man

16/9/2014

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So, an utterly mental thing happened at the Isle of Man Film Festival this weekend.

We only bloody won it! Cancer Hair won Best Fiction Short and Best of the Fest.

Film Critic Mark Kermode gave out the awards and I'm still buzzing about the whole thing.


Before I collapse in a heap and start breathing into a paper bag I wanted to acknowledge
This would not have been possible had it not been for the hard work and dedication of the cast and the crew of Cancer Hair.

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Cancer Hair Festivals

31/7/2014

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Please as punch to announce that Cancer Hair will be premiering at the Cambridge Film Festival (2nd and 5th Sept) and then transferring to the Isle of Man Film Festival (14th Sept)

Awesome news - well done all.
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The Power of Editing

9/2/2014

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I have to confess that before I made my film, to me, the post-production process was a dark art carried out in dark rooms. As such, the whole thing filled me with dread. Having worked with Simon Reglar on the post-production for 50 Kisses, I went to ask him - once Cancer Hair had wrapped - what the devil I do next.

I’m very clear to me that my weakness as a director is my technical knowledge – ask me something about frame rates, ratio or format and I’ll turn to Isabelle my producer for a) understanding and b) reassurance that I’m choosing the right one. I know this is limiting some of my creative choices because I have to understand it first before understanding it what it means through the prism of the project.

Simon put me in touch with Dean Harding, whom he was editing Atlantis with. Dean and I met for a coffee and I am happy to say he reassured me of the process and dark art ahead. Within a week, an assembly edit had found its way into my inbox.

Assembly edits are strange beasts. They essentially take verbatim the script film and put it on screen. As a writer/director, I had to deliberately divorce the writer part of myself to keep the director part happy. Why? Honesty – heaven forefend but some of it just didn’t work.

Bottom line - You construct the final story out of the rushes you’ve got, you get the rushes by relying on the script. One thing that became very clear to us after watching that assembly edit was that the “heat” of the story was in the romance. Now the script and indeed the project had, in my writer/director mind, been geared towards female friendship and solidarity but up on the big screen it just didn’t quite work.

A deep breath taken, the cuts began

Over the process of about four weeks, we got the film from close to 11 minutes to just over 9 – which was roughly what I thought it was going to be.

This was after “locking” the film – then sending it to Chris Jones for his opinion and reopening the damn thing after a his fresh eyes found other ways to make it tighter. Arse ache though that was, the film is ultimately better for it.

Chris is great at giving straight between the eyes advice and although I didn’t take it all, the words left ringing in my ears were “Fix it now while it’s a small problem to unlock the film, rather that fixing it 6 months down the line when it’s not getting into festivals”. Ouch!

Where are we now? Well we’ve completed. We’ve locked. We have delivered. The film is now being submitted to film festivals and I am gingerly showing a few relatives and friends why I have been absent for the last year. It seems to be going down well – but the true test comes in getting entry to the festival we are applying to.

What I found in Dean during the editing process was that he was able to reassure me on the technical aspects of things without making me feel like an idiot for not knowing it.  Also, he had a natural understanding of what worked and what didn’t, seeing things that I didn’t and correcting them. This in my book is a big plus.

I’m going to be working with Dean on the next short, and from an earlier point in the process too which again I think will help tighten up some of the technical quicksand in my mind.

And here’s a recommendation for all you filmmakers out there, if you are looking for a smart up and coming editor you could do a lot worse than hooking up with Dean Harding.


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Cancer Hair Completed 

27/1/2014

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I am delighted to say that Cancer Hair is now complete and delivered. I picked up the HD Cam and Master DVD in my hot little hands today!

Amazing - and quick too! We shot in October, and here we are in January with a complete film ready to go to festivals.

So, what's next - well precisely that. Submitting to film festivals, organising a cast and crew screening and finishing off all the marketing materials and press packs that surround the film.

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Cancer Hair Shot - Now to Post!

3/11/2013

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Cancer Hair was shot on 12thand 13th October this year in central London. As well as being exceptionally lucky with the weather, our cast and crew, we've had a look at the rushes and are exceptionally pleased with what we have got through the other end.

So, now what? Well it's now on to post production. We have a couple of meetings set up this week to keep up the momentum and try to get the film finished this side of Christmas.  Thank you to everyone who has supported us to get to this point.





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Announcing the cast for Cancer Hair 

6/10/2013

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Laura Aikman as Claire

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David McCusker as Andrew

We are proud - and pleased as punch - to announce the cast for Cancer Hair.

Playing our lead character 'Claire' is the exceptionally talented Laura Aikman.   Playing opposite Laura as our 'Andrew' is the equally as talented David McCusker.

We are delighted to welcome them both onto the team and can't wait to get started.
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Cancer Hair Concept Art Winners

13/7/2013

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As you know in May and June, I ran a competition to find some KICKING concept art for Cancer Hair, my ambitious little short. It has been an interesting process all facilitated via Talent House. Talent House crowdsources great artists for you – if you offer a prize. My prize was paltry in comparison to some of the big boys but I wanted to go global and get people interested in helping Cancer Hair become a reality.

Cancer Hair is about a young, self-conscious women in remission from cancer, who goes on a date with a likely-lad who is seemingly after a one night stand.

We had over 20 submissions over the course of the competition and I am delighted to so we have three winners. Two that we chose and one "peoples choice" - we have decided, the public have chosen. So who has won?

Our two winners were:-

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David Vidal – David’s work can be seen HERE

What we liked about this image was that it captures some of what the film is about. A young couple on a first date get off to a bad start, partly because she is self conscious that she has lost her hair while undergoing chemo and partly because he says some things he shouldn’t. Although our couple don’t kiss in the script, this image provides a hopeful what if moment that our audience can follow.

David, as well as being an illustrator and fine artist, is also a music producer and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/jakoboofficial

Well Done David. And thanks, we love your art.

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Diane Gibson – Diane’s work can be seen HERE

What we liked about this image is that it really convays the emotions that the characters are going through. Again, the scene doesn’t necessary appear in the script but we love the rawness of it. This young woman is trying to get her life back after cancer has devastated it. She is going to be scared of what comes next. Will she be rejected? Will he like her? Will she want to run away?

Diane is a mother and a grandmother and has her hands full. As well as being kept busy by the family, she is also a talented artist, drawing out the emotion from the situation and laying it bare for all to see. Diane’s portfolio can be found at http://www.talenthouse.com/shamrockedlady

Thanks Diane, we love this piece.

The Peoples Choice winner was:-

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Diego Valdez – Diego’s work can be found HERE

What we liked about Diego’s illustration was that it showed a haunting portrayal of a woman without hair staring proudly at the viewer. It was a very powerful and arresting image and we can certainly see why this won the people’s choice. There is even a touch of angelic wings coming our the back of his image which gives the piece an ethereal feel.

Diego is a formal fashion model who is now an artist, author and illustrator. He has a number of projects on the go and more can be found out about Diego at his website http://www.diegovaldez.com/ . We also recommend you follow him on twitter at @realdiegovaldez

Thanks Diego and Well Done!

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Time to Vote

9/6/2013

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Our concept art competition has been ongoing for the past four weeks. We are now opening the voting up to the public to get their opinion on which piece of work encapsulates the spirit of the yet to be made film. It’s had over 650 votes so far, and we want to make sure you don’t miss out on getting your say.

There are two prizes – the prize for our favourite and the prize for the public favourite. These could be totally different treatments. So, we won’t tell you our number one but right at this point we want to know yours.

Go look at the designs and then vote by Facebook or Twitter for the one you think is the best.

Go to http://www.talenthouse.com/design-for-cancer-hair

If you can share our Talenthouse page with as many people as you can, we’d be most grateful.

Share this http://www.talenthouse.com/design-for-cancer-hair


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Search for Cancer Hair Concept Art Launched on TalentHouse

28/4/2013

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We are still in the very early stages of bringing Cancer Hair to the screen. One of the things of key importance to us is the ability to showcase what the film is about to potential funders. The easiest, and best, way to do this is via Concept Art.

Good concept art captures the essence of the film without giving too much away. It brings out the themes and concepts (hence the name concept art) of the piece into one image. For me, the reason it is so key is that it puts an image to the film before the image themselves have been captured via a camera lense.

We have teamed up with creative powerhub Talenthouse to find WONDERFUL concept art for Cancer Hair. Amazingly, like actually amazingly, Nokia have sponsored our creative call and so we are pleased to announce there is even some cash in it for the artist/designer or expert illustrator who manages to a) capture our attention and b) promote the heck out of their entry via their own social networks.

Let me tell you a bit about Talenthouse. You really should consider using it, if like us you are looking for great art or a way to collaborate with creatives around the world.

Basically, it is where creative people meet and collaborate with each other, with brands, with projects and get paid and recognised for their work.  

The concept is quite simple. You put out a creative call via Talenthouse – for in our case – Concept Art. Talenthouse promotes this to their community of artists around the world and if they are interested in your project,  they will submit something.

You can choose the “best” submission for you. But the best bit is that there is social element to the voting on talenthouse. This means that the artist can use his or her social capital to promote their work, or your project. That means you benefit not just from their great art but the halo effect of their friends, and followers, knowing about your project. Genius stuff.

If you are an artist, designer or illustrator I’d love for you to go our call for submissions and enter something.  Cancer Hair Concept Art Call On Talenthouse.

If you are a producer, director why not have a look at Talenthouse as something you can work with as part of your engagement going forward.


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Cancer Hair Storyboards 

10/4/2013

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    Gail Hackston is a filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. Her blog is about getting things made in the UK Film Industry.

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