Paul D

RIP Ken Russell

British cinema has just lost one of its true visionaries, director Ken Russell.

We crossed paths once, at Pineapple dance studios in London. At the time I had a huge beard and as we passed, on a staircase, like two directors in the night, he gave me a very warm inviting smile. Later on I discovered he had been holding auditions there for a production of Treasure Island and concluded he must have mistaken me for an aspiring pirate.

RIP

Sex & Docs & Rock ‘n’ Roll

With a lineup boasting Albert Maysles, Nick Broomfield, Morgan Spurlock, Molly Dineen, Bruce Parry, Adam Curtis, Danfung Dennis and more commissioners, exec producers and distributors than you could shake a begging bowl at, it’s easy to see why this year’s Sheffield Documentary Festival (which took place earlier this month) attracted over 2000 delegates from across the globe. Staged at venues across Sheffield’s city centre, it was a heady mix of film festival, programme market, seminars, masterclasses, roundtable discussions, pitching sessions and educational opportunities, that offered something to everyone who is or aspires to be part of the documentary world. Continue reading “Sex & Docs & Rock ‘n’ Roll”

The Great Camera Shootout 2011

Last month, Zacuto invited me to the London Screening of their Single Chip Camera Evaluation, in which Robert Primes ASC put 12 cameras through 15 tests. The results were shown to industry audiences around the world and the discussions that followed were filmed, edited and combined with Primes’ test footage, to create ‘The Great Camera Shootout 2011’. Like the 2010 Shootout, this latest documentary is being released in three monthly instalments, the first of which is available now on Zacuto’s web site. Continue reading “The Great Camera Shootout 2011”

Sensoria Pro

Last week I appeared on the ‘What Makes a Great Music Video‘ panel at Sensoria Pro, with Martyn Ware of Heaven 17.

Sensoria is an annual film and music festival that takes place in Sheffield a (northern English) city boasting a rich musical heritage that includes Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League, Heaven 17, ABC, Pulp, The Arctic Monkeys, Def Leppard, Moloko, The Longpigs and Reverend & The Makers. Sensoria Pro is the two day music industry festival within a festival. Continue reading “Sensoria Pro”