Who's Dated Grant Kempster?

Okay, this is getting ridiculous now. First I wind up on some sleazy naked website (nb not ACTUALLY naked) and now I'm on some kind of 'Who's Dated Who' site! You can vote for my 'Top Romance', rate my relationship with my wife and even add girls I've been out with. Come on!! Why would anyone care?! Probably not the best idea to highlight this to my pals, some of who will most likely be more than happy to fill in some of the blanks on my behalf! Be nice people!!!
I also seem to have found my way onto Rotten Tomatoes for no apparent reason!
In other news. I met up with Chris Dines (director of KillingTime - the film I cut my acting chops on last year) at lunch for a coffee. Looks like the film won't be ready for another year, while his first film Finding Autumn might be hitting festivals this summer.

Something for the Weekend?

It's funny where you some times find yourself. Last weekend I happily agreed to shoot a friend's music video (for his band, Kylie's Bitch) in Nottingham. We'd worked together before (briefly) on the Star Wars fan flick Order of the Sith: Downfall and have stayed good friends since (and we'll work together again soon on a sit-com). But I don't think any of us were prepared for the day's events.
A while ago Marcus had mentioned that he'd managed to assemble a cheerleader troupe for the shoot. The numbers seemed to dwindle with every conversation and by the time the day came, we were down to two girls. But it all worked out for the best.
I'm really not sure you're supposed to have such a good time shooting a video, but that was certainly the case in this instance. As the girls danced around the boys, trying to distract them, it was all we good do to stop from grinning like idiots. The end result won't be online for a few months, but I really can't wait to see it!

Inching Forward

So, the bad news: Our Hollywood actress is off the project. Reason? She's switched agents and her new reps don't want her filming a low-budget British rom/com. The good news is that we may have found our director and the money we need to get the film made. If we follow the current plan then there's a fair chance we could be shooting by the end of the year... but then I'm starting to get the jist of how this business works (and if you've read everything here, you will too), so there's no chickens being counted at this point.
It would appear there's still some work to do on the script, but over all things are looking up. the romantic comedy is now up on the IMDB (although the details are currently only available to IMDBpro users) and my producer Terry will be making noises about it in Cannes over the next week or so.
We're also going to have another crack at getting the veteran British actor on board...

Exit the Sandman

I don't want to make a habit of posting reviews of films on here. That's a job that I've happily left behind me. However after seeing Spider-Man 3 last night (with just three other people in the cinema) I felt compelled to put something on the page.
What a mess! Too many strings and villains turn Raimi's third chapter into a miandering over-long (and often tiresome) film that underplays all of its best moments.
As a kid who LOVED the black suit when it showed up in the late 80s, it was terrible to see the concept shoe-horned into the second act, dismissed in just a few scenes and then over almost before the fun got started. Then there's Venom, Spidey's coolest and most revered villain reduced to a last-minute showdown that rarely lived up to expectation (with the small exception of the line "I like being evil") Moving on to Goblin Jnr, a concept which was conceptualised in Spider-Man 2 beautifully but which is all over the place here. He's evil, then he's not, then he is again, then he's not. The sudden appearance of the Alfred-esque butler suddenly remembering to mention that he happened to know that Spider-Man didn't kill his dad (after two battles and a nice big facial scar) was laughable.
And then there's the Sandman. Nothing against the character in principle, but he serves absolutely no purpose here and could (and should) be excised effortlessly from the film to make a much tighter and more compelling story. I'm sure there's some Spidey fans out there with enough spare time on their hands for such a task, and if such a version does wind up doing the rounds, it will be the only reason I'll have for watching this again.

In other news... I'm meeting our potential director tonight to discuss the script for the romantic comedy. He's fairly low profile, although he's just finished a film with a pair who are often in the limelight, so that could change. Also, we have funding in place, so it could be all systems go...

Get Set...

The band I've been collaborating with for the last few months have finally released some of the artwork onto their MySpace site (above). Spiders Superstars are an eclectic five-piece band fronted by Dav (who I currently sit opposite at work) that pitch themselves somewhere between glam rock, dance music and good old-fashioned rock and roll. Head over to their site to check out some of the tunes. With any luck, once we've got some of the artwork into the public eye (we're talking about a merchandising brand rather than just a few t-shirts... hopefully), we can start publishing the images online.
I've also decided to use my MySpace site (Kempys Corner) as an online portfolio (about bloody time!) which might help in my upcoming job search.
No more news on the romantic comedy yet...

Dreams are Like Snowflakes

We hit the first pot hole in the road to getting the romantic comedy made yesterday when the aforementioned veteran British actor passed on the script. It wasn't a surprise really, it was a bit of a long shot, but it's still a shame. The part he would have played was written for him and ultimately became one of the richest characters in the whole script. Never mind, I guess that's how the business goes.

While this will most likely impact on the funding, it's not slowing down the juggernaut that is my producer who is always incredibly enthusiastic and gung-ho. With any luck we'll get some more actors on board soon, and maybe inch just a little closer to getting this film made.

Meet the Cinema

Just a quick update. Took my eldest son, Jacob, to the cinema for the first time on Saturday (to see the fairly average Meet the Robinsons). Probably sounds silly but it's a moment I've wanted to savour ever since he was born. Cinema is such a large part of my life, I couldn't wait for him to start enjoying it too (just like I couldn't wait for him to start enjoying Transformers - oh how my 80s toy collection is regretting that decision!). He spent a good part of it with his fingers in his ears, but for the most part he loved it. Talk about your bonding father and son moment. That was definately up there! Now I just have to wait for Noah to reach the point where he can sit still for five minutes and he'll be next!
Not much happening with the script. Turned the second draft in last week and my producer seemed to like it. It's gone off to a range of people again now, and so it's a waiting game. Read a really good horror movie script (which I'm going to try and read for) which my producer is involved with. More news on that if there's any to tell.