Pounding The Pavements....The Only Road to Success

Some news just in regarding two other of Oceanstorm's growing slate of projects has everyone in the office (all two of us for now) and those committed to a long-term association with us (too many to mention) in excited raptures, Firstly we have had positive feedback from the folks at ICM, and the afore-blog-mentioned Mr Pertwee, regarding INFECTED, that essentially reveals a genuine interest in a possible working agreement. All we have to do is ensure Hotel Caledonia gets off the ground to a healthy start and we're in business. Secondly our supernatural-horror, BASTILLE , has secured the attachment of the Hollywood-touted, and seriously up-and-coming Director of Photography, Steven Priovolos (whose work can be seen all over the net). My thanks to Steven for his enthusiasm and belief in this project. Our next step is to secure (now we have avenue to reach them via person-to-person) the producing talents of Mr Alexander Aja, and Mr Gregory Levasseur (Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) and chances are this French flavoured, rollercoaster of a script should be set for Hollywood involvement. But more on that later.

Work has temporarily been halted on THE HARVESTER, a short horror film that brings the influence of Takashi Miike, and Hideo Nakata to the inner suburbs of Manchester in a spooky tale of sexual excess and fateful judgement. With the production aimed squarely at festival release, the project is also being seen as a teaser for a much larger project, tentatively titled RIDERS OF THE APOCALYPSE, a sweeping epic about the final days of judgement on earth. This is a big picture - and with so much already going on, I felt it best, with the Director Scott Davenport's support, to shelve it for now and see where we are in terms of time and resources in 12 months. The project does, however, continue to flourish in a minor capacity as both I and my good friend, and talented graphic artist, Steve Simmons, push ahead with both story and pictures for what we hope will be the first two installments of an eight part graphic novel bearing the same title "Riders of the Apocalypse".

G.E.C.O, an animated feature script, envisioned as the first fully 'motion video' animated feature since Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, is now complete - at least in its third draft - and is ready for the first pass of critique from our script reader contacts. Fingers crossed it will pass initial muster. It's a cracking action adventure tale set in the jungles of Belize, Central America, as a British Army unit, infiltrated into Guatemala on a face-saving mission for the Americans discover they have been duped into a cat and mouse race for survival against a gentically engineered half man/ half ape-like hybrid designed to stem the tide of human battlefield casualties around the globe. G.E.C.O will, no doubt, eventually make its way direct onto DVD - though we always hold out the hope that cinematic release is possible. Somehow on this one I doubt it. But it'll be one hell of a ride, and who knows, maybe there's a video game in there somewhere as well.

Well I guess that's it for news - at least for now. Keep checking up on Hotel Caledonia - the big greenlight isn't too far away, and then 'the storm' really will be gathering!

Nick

INFECTION is out in the country

Just a quick announcement that the feature script INFECTED has been put out to Sean Pertwee for possible attachment as Oceanstorm Films continues ahead with its slate of three features. The project, tentatively budgeted around the Dog Soldiers mark of 2002 (£1.5m) is a Horror/Scifi concept that brings the aforementioned actor into conflict with a travelling band of surfers and a duo of hand-raised zoo exhibits roaming free on the moors of the Lake District. With a character unlike anything he has played to date we are confident Mr Pertwee will respond favourably to the material.

We are also prepararing BASTILLE, a Horror/Supernatural story set on a decaying oceanic fortress to Alexander Aja and Greg Levasseur of Hills Have Eyes / Switchblade Romance fame in the hope they will entertain producing this French-set horror film. Naturally I hope to be at the helm of both pictures, but time will tell if that is a possibility.

More news on those submissions next month I hope.

Nick

Safe Harbour?

This week has been one of relative, though guarded excitement following an approach to an agency about possible representation and a very favourable response. There's nothing better than someone else taking interest in your work, and the prospects of actually getting representation after 10 years of learning to write and touting projects around the industry, are extremely welcome. Suffice to say that the projects presented to the agency are vibrant, innovative, and entertainingly exciting and so stand a good chance of finally seeing the light of day - Bastille, and Infected being the two projects that I personally favour the most. That said, the agency have shown interest in two other projects currently in develoment so I'll have to get my thinking cap on in order to get them finished to at least a half decent draft.

So, I suppose the message to be derived from this news, for all writers out there continually struggling, is this - never ever give up. As the 'signature' on my emails to you all reminds.......
failure succumbs to the will of persistency!

Keep writing y'all

Nick

Any port in a storm......

Well this week, and as a bit of respite from the mind numbing concentration of feature film production, I met with a talented young director from Wigan and began steps to develop and produce a new short film. Bearing the working title of 'THE HARVESTER' this 11 min horror highlights the last moments of a young, selfish, and self-absorbed female before her divine judgement - at the hands of a very dark and sinister figure. A moralistic and spooky tale, that strives not to be too preachy, it focuses on the debauched excesses of modern youth, and the disintegration of social values. The film will be produced and directed in an 'Asia Cinema Extreme' style - something more readily associated with Takashe Miike and the Pang brothers. We are hoping that this revolutionary approach to horror narratives (especially in the UK film industry) will draw audiences at festivals around the world. We are planning to begin filming in the early Spring of 2008, with at least one major talent attached in a starring role.

Keep a close EYE out for further details. When we finally do an AUDITION for parts in the picture, you'll definitely get a RING back if you're successful in grabbing a role! Asian Cinema Extreme is coming to the UK - and it's going to be scary!

NDL

Keeping the ship afloat....

Oceanstorm Films have been very busy of late - pre-production on Hotel Caledonia occupying an awful lot of the time, naturally. But outwith of that we have been busy putting new projects onto the conveyor belt and receiving some encouraging news along the way:

INFECTED - a horror feature written for low budget cinema, £750k -£1m market, is now being considered by Diplomat Films as a possible two-parter for TV.

KAROSTA - a supernatural horror project being developed for low budget cinema, the £400-500k market, has received attention from a possible investor and is currently being developed in cooperation with Rogue FX in London (HP5, Casino Royale, V for Vendetta, The Descent).

SECOND SKIN - a psychological thriller project originally developed for NWV's £250k Digital Departures scheme, has received a positive flag from an independent producer, and is now being considered for a much larger budget.

HOTEL CALA D'OR - a comedy/horror sequel to Hotel Caledonia has received positive response from a large Spanish production company and distributor, already earmarked for involvement in Hotel Caledonia.

BASTILLE - a supernatural horror project now in discussions with French production entities for a large budget co-production agreement.

BIN MEN & BAG MEN - this crime caper/comedy has been pitched to a large national TV company as a possible one off feature for TV and is being considered. Budget unknown at this time but set in Liverpoool.

Obviously should all these projects come to fruition in the passage of time, Oceanstorm Films will be looking beyond its own shores to develop projects from new writers - just to give the company director a rest from writing!