Folly locked!

The flick I shot over Easter has finally been locked in. Due to college work piling up at this time of year, the flick fell by the wayside in terms of post-production, and was sitting there half-cut for a couple of weeks with only minor adjustments. It's fnally done, and runs a little over twelve minutes without credits (making it the shortest film I've shot) and is all the better for it. It is more than likely the best thng I've done, for what that's worth, and that is entirely down to three beautiful, natural performances from the people in it. I hesitate to use the word "actors", as the three characters: a hyperactive 8-year old with a vivid imagination; his mother; and a gruff but soft-hearted stranger, are just that in real life. And the subtle, sensitive performances feel so real and so natural that a bloke who considers himself a "proper actor" (me) is shamefaced watching back the rushes.

The edit was certainly a challenging one, as the level of improvisation was tough to cut around (it shows how much bloody critiques our college makes us write when my blog starts to sound like one). But it looks good and is something that will hold up next to anyone's work, I hope. Anyway, I'm gonna be throwing it around a few festivals and hopefully make a few bob out of it (as beautifully crafted and personal as I like my pictures, I'm ultimately in ths for the cash and the skirt). I'll try get it up on the interwebnet soon freisin.

Next up, I'll be reuniting with actor Stephen Considine (No Turnin' Back, Audacious, and ths as of yet untitled film) and my own brother Paul for a film about a pair of brothers. And I'll be acting in what promises to be my first foray into badass territory in the western "Once Upon a Time in the Glorious Revolution", also featuring Conso, and directed (mariachi style) by Seán Clancy. It's a role a million miles away from anything I've done before, and it's gonna be a blast. It's also the first time I get to work with Steve in a purely acting capacity instead of directng hm. Which means far more craic. That and a certain men on a mission script should keep me occupied for the time being......

Sin e

Pete

McGann's Folly

Tomorrow morning I am going into the shoot which may be the most challenging I've worked on. Never mind the stunts of Suckers and The Suitors, or the lesbian subplot of No Turnin' Back. Páiste stuff. This is the first time I've had to work with a child actor. At age 8, my cousin Ben is making his film debut alongside "Audacious" actor Stevo Conso, and for better or for worse I'll be attempting to direct him. It could go wonderfully well, it could go disastorous. Either way, it's gonna be an experience......

Vultures

What I am about to write is more than likely going to be seen as a shameless exercise in promoting a series I have a recurring role on, but I can assure you that I am writing this as an independent observer. I do the series for the love of it, and because I want my name to be associated with something of this quality, not because I have aspirations to be the new Simon Pegg.

I have just returned from an intense weekend in Kilkenny of what is possibly the final time I will ever play Matt McLoughlin, the boozehound, skirt-chasing lawyer who represents the gentlemen detective agency of Vultures, in the increasingly popular and very, very funny webcom that can be found at www.vulturespi.com. In what has taken over a year to accomplish, those responsible for the story, a Kilkenny-based production company called Mycrofilms, are bringing the series to a close. While my involvment with the show has been limited to showing up for a day or two in order to shoot whatever scene I have in the episode at hand, I still had the opportunity to observe the blood, sweat, tears and semen that has gone into making the thing. Many of the cast and crew have given so much of their time (not to mention themselves) to this project, it is hard not to be seduced by the passion that they have for it, and this passion certainly comes across in the finished product.

In an era of weak, weak Irish scripted comedy (Soupy Norman, Bachelor's Walk and Aprés Match are some of the excluded, obviously), it is easy to be underwhelmed at the thought of an Irish series by twentysomethings, but this is no "Love is the Drug". Instead, Mycrofilms have set out to give audiences something that is purely entertaining, accesible, meaty and inspiring. Working with a micro-budget, they have crafted something which is filled to the brim with vivid performances, superiour writing, meticulous and evocative costumes, superior camera work (the lads are all clearly big film buffs), and, of course, grade-A gags. Be it the minor characters, like an Italia 90-obsessed wheeler-dealer who aids the detectives in their investigations, or some truly barmy sight gags (psychotic informant Jack Street's "ad for the telly" is my favourite joke in the whole series so far), it is clear that the term "low-budget comedy" is a disservice. At once buddy tale (the three detectives are, of course, mismatched, but in delightfully original ways); character comedy (the gallery of supporting characters keep things fresh, and give a sense of an ongoing world the detectives inhabit); and genuinly exciting detective serial (the ongoing series arc fleshes out the story, and the gothic churches of Kilkenny and the "Scarlet Lady" sublot give it a distinct Sherlockian feel). For some of the shite cranked out by broadcasters nowadays, this crowd are a breath of fresh air. As obnoxious teen/top-notch detective Janine Drew might say, "It's class as ya like, boy!"

Awww yeah.....

A Ring-a Ding-Ding

As I wrap up me new script and prepare for my "Vultures" bow, I got to thinking about what would be an ultimate "dream project" for me to work on. James Bond and any number of crime epics spring to mind, but the one that would truly allow me to die almost completely satisfied would be something just as obvious: A Rat Pack movie. it's been done on telly, with Ray Liotta as Sinatra, but imagine a bigscreen, full-blown movie event that could be made of these blokes. The next book I intend to pick up is "Rat Pack Confidential", as apparently it has it all about them, and I'd love to take a crack at a swaggering, epic look at a small group of men who lived life to the full and how they played a part through an explosive political time in the world. It has it all: style, romance, comedy, a dazzling location, political intrigue, high drama, racial struggles, the Mob, and heartbreak. And, of course, the fucking songs............Anyone have ninety mill in their back pockets? Fuck the recession, it'd be some craic.....