News Archive

Paul’s 2018 novel ‘Sunny’ about sectarianism and racism in Scottish schools has been hailed as a major weapon in the fight to eradicate these dangerous social issues and he’s now adapting it into a 6-part tv series. To date he’s published 7 novels including 3 in ‘The Peck Chronicles’ fantasy series. He’s done workshops and presentations in schools and libraries in the UK and throughout Europe to more than 30,000 children and produced and presented a series of educational cross cultural video programmes for schools.

Keith English’s feature, The More You Ignore Me, will be screened as part of Australia’s November British Film Festival following a successful run in New Zealand. It is currently streaming in the US after winning Best Comedy at the UK’s National Film Awards.  Adapted by Jo Brand, from her own novel it tells the poignant and darkly funny coming-of-age story of dysfunctional family life in 1980’s rural England. Produced by Debbie Gray of Genesius Pictures,  it stars Sheridan Smith, Mark Addy and the young rising actress Ella Hunt. 

Producer, writer and director Jean-Paul Mertinez runs Illumina Studios & Media, his Soho production company. He is currently producing a number of major feature documentaries, the first of which is An Officer & His Holiness: The Dalai Lama’s Secret Escape into Exile, which will have a major event premiere in India early in 2019. The film tells how and why the spiritual and political head of Tibet escaped from the Chinese oppressors into India in March 1959 and has not been able to return since. Interviews with those involved together with historic b&w footage brings to life the incredible dangerous escapade. This the first of 3 films about the Dalai Lama and his work.

Director and writer Simon Blake’s first feature Still starring Aidan Gillen, Jon Slinger, Elodie Yung and Amanda Mealing premiered in 2015.  It won Best First International Feature at the Galway Film Fleadh and Simon also won Best Director at The London Independent Film Festival 2015.  It was Nominated for The Roger Ebert Award for Outstanding Debut at the Chicago Film Festival, The Heinrich Award for New Directors at The Braunschweig Film Festival and The Regle Du Jeu Heartbeat Award at The Dinard Film Festival. He has also made a number of shorts  including Love In Vain, The Show, Lovejuggling and Awayday which won Best Short and Best Screenplay at The Valencia Film Festival.  Chosen by The British Council in its Best of British tour, Awayday has screened at more than 50 film festivals worldwide.  Simon also wrote and co-produced the feature Heaven’s Only Daughter for the independent film maker Philip Harder.

Composer Chris Rowe getting rave reviews for his score for the 90 mins feature documentary Spitfire now on general release after  star studded red carpet premiere at the Curzon Mayfair on July 7 attended by top brass from the RAF, some of the surviving pilots from The Battle of Britain Squadrons and celebs, in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the RAF.

Fergus O’Connell’s latest business book, The Project Management Book: 50 Ways to Run Successful Projects in Half the Time has just been published by LID Publishing. His 15 business books have been published in 25 languages running alongside his successful career as one of Ireland’s most successful novelists. He’s recently completed a screenplay based on his book The Paradise Ghetto (Accent Press) which is now in development.

Crime novelist and screenwriter Roger A. Price after a 30-year career in the Lancashire Police Force, the Regional Crime Squad and the National Crime Squad is now an established crime writer with four successful novels to his credit and a fifth due out in 2018.  Now concentrating on an original returning 6-part tv drama series, McCall & Stamp, about covert and undercover police work drawing on his own experiences in the UK,  across Europe and the Far East.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’s production of The Secret Theatre, directed by Matthew Dunster, is getting great reviews at London’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, as is Alexander Balanescu’s brilliant score for Anders Lustgarten’s Elizabethan espionage thriller.  The music has been described as “Hitchcockesque”.

Many congratulations to our Swedish composer Uno Helmersson for ace review for his score for The Lion Woman  He’s currently working on the next series of the brilliant The Bridge http://smatalent.com/helmersson-uno/

Congratulations to composer Natalie Holt on her RTS Nomination for her brilliant score for Phillippa Lowthorpe’s Three Girls. Meanwhile the Kudos tv film The Boy With The Topknot airs 9 pm Monday November 13 on BBC 2. Journey’s End premiered in October at The London Film Festival and Pin Cushion opened The Venice Film Festival.