FOR SALE €15.99

The Heartland Film Festival ended over the weekend, with the final screening of 140 on the 22nd. By all accounts the screenings were successful, people enjoyed the movie, even cheering when Indianapolis came up! Wish I could have been there!

(Among the filmmakers present were

Kevin Makice and his son Carter)

(Also present at the festival was 140 filmmakers Gustavo Ron, centre,

who was a Crystal Heart Award Winner this year for his feature film

'Ways To Live Forever' - composer Cesar Benito is using the award

as a tooth-pic!)

Heartland has always been a supporter of my work, with Emily's Song and Bill, For Short screening in previous years. And even though I have now had three films screen at the festival it's not something I would ever take for granted, it remains an enormous honour to be selected for such a great festival. I hope I can continue to make the kind of films they want to show.

However, my next film wont be one of those! Derelict, a crime thriller, is moving along and set for a January/February shoot tbc. I've written the first draft of the script, but needs work and I'm slightly stumped. I blasted out the first draft in about 3 days, just to get the story out of my head and on to paper. It's all there, the storyline, the plot, the characters, the beats I wanted - but it needs more, another layer of depth to real make it work. My challenge now is to find that layer, add it and quickly.

I have started casting, people have come on board, which I'm very excited about, but I'll wait until things are more solid before I announce any names.

Some sad news, my good friend Mark Lebenon, who I originally started working on Derelict with, is leaving Ireland and going back to South Africa. Super nice guy. Good writer, filmmaker and collaborator (what time we had to collaborate) I had hoped he would be able to work on Derelict with me, but unfortunately Ireland, and the state we're in, have not made it easy for him and his family to make a life here. I wish him, Donna, Aidan and Liam all the best and hope to see the back on our shores again in more prosperous times. Good luck Mark, I'll miss you buddy.

Couple of other projects looming on the horizon, would love to talk about them and share but some odd things have been happening lately that have made me paranoid about sharing ideas online. Some high-profile filmmakers and companies I've had dealings with have come out with projects that are almost identical to some I've had over the years and posted on here.

Maybe I'm being silly, these things happen, as they say: There's nothing original under the sun. But when a big company comes out with and ad campaign with monster puppet suits, and you think: "Hey, they look just like a design I did 3 years ago for a short film that never got made!" Coincidence? Maybe. But then you find out the company you spoke to about making that suit for said short film is the very same company that made these monsters, and you go back to your emails from three years ago and see conversations, description and concept art... you start to wonder if it's really wise to share ideas! - So there will be no more of that from me! All I'll say is that I'm excited about what's coming up and I hope to be able the share it with you soon.

Meantime:

FOR SALE: €15.99

As part of my fund raising efforts for Derleict I'm going to start selling 140 on DVD, if you would like to purchase a copy of the movie you've been reading about for near two years! You can do so by clicking 'Donate' (on the right-hand bar) fill the box with for the amount: €15.99, which will include postage and package. Include you name and address and I'll get one off to you that day.

FOR SALE: €20

I'm also selling T-Shirts €20 a pop. Click 'Drop Me A Line' to the right and we can arrange size, colour and payment (range is limited).