Though I have spent many more years living in the West Country than I have living in my native place of birth, I was born in the Warwickshire town of Stratford-Upon-Avon. As this town is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, I felt that this last journal entry was suitably titled to introduce our actors.
And so, ahead of our Red Carpet Event this week….The final piece of the puzzle.
When I say that we didn’t know any actors, that wasn’t completely true. My stepdaughter is an accomplished actress, though she lives miles away, has a family, her own life and a demanding job. I didn’t feel that I could burden her with another role…especially one that didn’t pay. We did, however know that “The Land of the Giants” had produced some brilliant music videos which required them to do a certain amount of performing. As they were one of the artists that would be part of our soundtrack, we asked Andy Quick if he would like to play a part in our film. Fortunately, he agreed and told us that one of his good friends was also an actor and was currently moving back from Bristol to Plymouth. He would love to get involved. So far so good. Or not, as it turned out, for this particular actor, who then moved straight back to Bristol. However, he had dropped us a name of someone that he knew currently living in Plymouth. She was an actress: she had already been involved in several short films, and she had writing experience. Enter…Abi Louise.
Abi, thank goodness, was one of those people who “knew people”: people in the business of acting. She was someone who could reach into a crowd and pull out an appropriate actor or actress to fit a role almost on demand. Enter, in quick succession another two of our leading actors, …Leroy Jomali Wild and Jon Laight. My brother-in-law, Giles had done some limited stage acting in what is affectionately termed “Am Dram,” and our mutual friend Steve, who fronts a talented Cornish band named “The Cornish Groove Collective”, came on board to help build props, and took to acting like a duck to water.
We had what was to become our “core group” of actors to take up the lead roles. We needed a couple of people to play Paramedics in the film. Enter Paul and Lisa, who were, conveniently, Tam and Dave’s neighbours. Not only this, but they actually work within the NHS,, and, although they had no previous acting experience, it turned out that Paul had written a successful stage play that had enjoyed an extended run, due to popular demand. The icing on the cake was that on set, they turned out to be “one-take-wonders.” Amazing!
The screenplay for the film also features a pub scene with live music, plenty of drinkers, a birthday party, and plenty of additional extras, for which we needed to find about another thirty people. Not a single person that we asked said no. Especially when we told them that this job would involve hanging around the pub for several hours, and that we would provide lunch.
That particular day’s filming was approximately fourteen hours from start to finish, but it was also great fun. With everyone giving up their spare time, everyone having their own jobs and personal lives, many of our cast playing in bands with copious bookings in their respective diaries, getting everyone together for rehearsals and filming wasn’t an easy task. There is a saying that covers this “Purr-fectly.” it is the saying: “Like Herding Cats.” Considering the original myth of “Best Goon Brenn” even this seemed appropriate. Thanks to all of our “cats” who performed magnificently.