No News is...

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this, but if you do, I apologise for not updating sooner (it's been about two months!) A lot's been happening in that time, both personal and professional, all of which has kept me away.
I finally turned in the third draft of the romantic comedy last week and am waiting to hear what my producer thinks. If we want to get it into the schedule of a particular production company then we need to submit it by September. Just hope any changes that need to be made before then are achievable.
It was a tough re-write this time, altering the structure for the second time took its toll on me. You start to wonder if you're losing your way, having thought that you'd already nailed it twice already. Of course, it goes without saying, that with each pass the script is improving. But it's hard to see that when you're going through it all again. Over all I think it's a better script, but these things are subjective.
Some other projects that are getting me excited include Bad Dog, an indie sitcom that I'll be working on with my pal Marcus. If we can get the schedule sorted, we should be filming that in September with a view to maybe lauching it online.
Also my buddy Pete is going to be looking at my horror movie Chiller (to be retitled) in a month or so (if all goes well!) so that will be interesting.
And, of course, September 7th sees the release of Rise of the Footsoldier, produced by my producer Terry and featuring yours truly for about an eighth of a second in the background of the big hooligan scrap. The trailers look great, so I've got high hopes for this one (although my critic pal at Film Review wasn't particularly kind).
More news if there's any to tell!

Back to the Drawing Board

It'd all gone a bit quiet on the romantic comedy. The pace had been gathering nicely through April and May, at the end of which it looked like we might be ready to roll. But for various reasons (which I'm not going to go into indepth on here), the director - and funding which would have accompanied him - just wasn't the right fit for us. Consequently we're back to being a script without a home. Further to that I've had another round of notes on the second draft and it would seem that there's still a bunch of work to do. So this morning I began the third draft and, I guess... we'll see how that goes.
It's frustrating to once again be staring at a blank Final Draft page, but then that's the nature of the business and I really shouldn't complain. I'm under no assumption that I'm actually any good at this. I'm just learning the ropes, and if this thing actually gets made, I'll be one of the lucky few.
I've given myself a couple of weeks (as I start a new 9-6 job at the end of the month) to get this done... maybe there'll be more news after that.

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...