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Continuing to actively promote animation in the region, Animated Exeter has secured a spot at the Glastonbury festival 2009 for films shortlisted for its competitions (reminding all that its work goes beyond the annual fortnight of festival).

Carrion film animation ‘The Screaming Skull‘ is one of  the  films to be shown due to its part in Animated Exeter 2009 and also for being being shortlisted for the Screen out loud 2009 competition (it was also screened as part of ‘The Best of the West‘ this year). The film recently received glowing praise at its screening in New York as part of the ‘Fangoria Weekend of Horrors‘ and is starting to gather interest, and a reputation  within the horror community.

Festival co-ordinator for Animated Exeter, Rosie Jones said: “This is a great result for our festival and a real achievement for many of the local young filmmakers involved.”

At Glastonbury, there will be two 25m square digital screens, back- to- back, which will broadcast a mix of short films, archive footage, gaming sessions, classic pop and highlights of the BBC’s coverage of the Festival from 10.00am to 3.00am every day.

The content has been gleaned from across the UK via the Regional Screen Agencies. 10 hours’ worth will be supplied by artists from the South West, after South West Screen launched a call for content to filmmakers across the region last month. A mixture of short films, animation, documentaries, virals and pop videos were submitted and project co-ordinator, Cathy Gremin from South West Screen was on the panel to draw up the final list. She says:

‘We had a huge amount of content sent in from across the SW so it was a tricky job to whittle it down to just ten hours. The kind of content that will work best has a strong visual impact to be able to stand out against the fairly noisy background of the festival.

‘This is a terrific opportunity for all the filmmakers and content producers, and we’re delighted to be involved. Glastonbury is an iconic festival, which hosts a mixture of arts, but this is the first time there has been a screen programme dedicated to promoting the work of new and emerging filmmakers and games developers.’ – From South West Screen.

‘The Screaming Skull‘ director, Ashley Thorpe – ” I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for local filmmakers and artists…though it has always been famous for being primarily a music festival it’s actually a festival of –  and a showcase for –  all contemporary arts. I mean that’s an audience of what,  150.000 people. Extraordinary really. I have to say though that if I had been partying all weekend, I’m not sure if ‘Screaming skull’ is the first thing I’d want to see, ha ha..”

The Glastonbury festival  is held at Worthy farm, Pilton in Somerset and runs from Wednesday 24th to Sunday the 29th June 2009.

As of June 15th the final draft of the script (assisted by David Bull – a collaborator with Aardman studios) will hopefully be signed off  and budget negotiated (by Producer Tom Atkinson)  to allow the 4th Penny Dreadful animation – ‘The Hairy Hands‘ – to finally commence shooting. Though at time of press… the actual title of the piece is, surprisingly, still in negotiation:

Director, Ashley Thorpe – “South West Screen’ have grand plans for the piece but they’re  worried that by naming the film ‘Hairy Hands‘ – so explicitly based and named on a local legend – it may alienate audiences outside the Devon region. They’ve been pitching for some title like ‘The Hand’ or ‘The Box’. Y’know, I’d rather call it ‘The Creeping Death’ … ha ha. I think they’re missing the point and the source of the appeal. The whole point of these films is to take these obscure tales and to reinvent them so that anyone can enjoy them, regardless of where they come from. The success of ‘Scayrecrow‘ in the U.S and Canada and the interest in ‘The Screaming Skull’ in Japan and Egypt has been proof of that! People have actually been attracted to these films because they’re obscure, they’re different but they’re simultaneously traditional – rich in English heritage and steeped in legend.”

“I guess with SWS they’re nervous possibly because generally new filmmakers tend to look East rather than to their roots and chase trends in a Nathan Barley sort of way… assimilating as much contemporary popular culture as they can to attract attention. This project has pretty much the opposite as its stance and has done since the beginning; its making people re-evaluate tradition, it’s going back to basics  with genuine enthusiasm – it has a streak of punk about it, with a collective ideology that is quite Python… and I guess perhaps that also makes them nervous. Well I’m still optimistic…hopefully fortune will reward the bold.”

Initially pitched to be completed for August 2009, the film will now more realistically be completed for a release date of Halloween ( a year to the day when ‘The Screaming Skull‘ was completed). Although still very much a Carrion film production this film has some marked differences apart from its funding. First and foremost, the film has a Producer independent from the funding source – in the shape of Tom Atkinson; Documentary producer (the award winning ‘Roy of the Rovers‘ recently shown in Cannes, E4 rave ‘The Pantomime‘ and an upcoming groundbreaking secret project). Tom is also the man behind the revolutionary ‘10 pound horror film’ project (see previous posting) and is a lifelong dedicate of the British Horror film. ( A full interview with Tom will follow shortly).

Similar thematically to ‘The Screaming Skull‘ – a film about a man on the run from himself,  ‘The Hairy Hands’ will also star Ed Berry as the lead character Cole. Ed’s first film role was playing the cowardly Fop in ‘Scayrecrow‘. Shortly after completion Ashley Thorpe embarked upon scripting ‘The Screaming Skull’ and though initially a location was the primary concern, a leading man was also a dilemma. It was Sue Tilbrook – who played Eleanor in ‘Scayrecrow‘ – who found the solution. “I was so impressed by Ed’s enthusiasm on ‘Skull’, he was really dedicated… Ed threw himself into it and that enthusiasm invigorated the set. So when it came to casting the lead for ‘Hairy Hands’, it seemed only natural that Ed should be the lead.”

Musical / Sound duties will be performed by constant composer Mick Grierson. Mick has created the soundtracks for all of the Carrion film animations thus far – including ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull’. Mick Grierson had this to say – “The process of building a soundtrack has to start with a gut feeling. I need to be able to to feel what the atmosphere is going to be like for the audience before I can begin. This can come from looking at the script or storyboard, but it’s still a bit of a mystery right up until we start to lay the sound on the images. That’s why I love working with Ash, because this is exactly the freedom that he wants to give me, and I really look forward to those times when we first sit down to do the audio.”

“Where soundtracks are concerned, people tend to split the process in two. There’s Music and there’s Effects – the old fashioned M & E track. I’m not usually in favour of this approach.  I’m not sure what the difference is between the two, as music can have and can be an effect, just as much as sound effects can have thematic value. However, for this type of stuff, you really do need a ‘ tune’ – a starting theme.”

“With a project as big as this, I knew that I needed to get the theme early. I wanted to try some ideas out on Ash and see if any of them stuck. Also, this tends to be the way things work with Ash for some reason – we often have to have an opening first, and this has to be right.” (Editors note: Ashley has commented that the first thing that he always does upon embarking on a new project is to create a poster in the style of the piece, to evoke the mood  and also to illustrate the films look).

“Ash has great taste in music, so it’s good to get an idea of music that he’d like to use. He often brings a couple a key ideas to the table in terms of temp-track material, and we’ve been talking about what the right approach would be. So far, the Carrion Film soundtracks have all been orchestral compositions, but I had a feeling that something different was going to be required – something that had a driving theme but still retained horror overtones. Ash had a couple of great ideas for this. One of them was Hermann’s ‘Psycho’. The other was much more electronic, which I was pleased about, as this was a route we hadn’t gone down before for the Penny Dreadfuls, and I make a great deal of electronic music.”

“So, armed with these ideas, I started to imagine what the opening shots would feel like…a pinch of ‘Lost Highway’, a dash of ‘Fight Club’, industrial electronic beats, the thrashing of Hermann-esque strings against a John Barry guitar line, along side the ‘secret sound of the Hairy Hands’. It’s still coming together, but I think I’m starting to see it now…” Mick Grierson

The film has been written and will be directed by Ashley Thorpe; director of ‘The Vampire, ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming Skull’. The film was originally planned to be part of the portmanteau feature ‘Hell-Tor’. Scripting was actually under way on ‘Spring heel Jack’ when an offer for funding came through. “‘Spring heel Jack’ was just far too ambitious and complex to try and make under the time demands made by South West Screen, I never would have finished it, the finale is six months work on its own… So I looked to the material that I had that was in development and this just fit perfectly: It  had a limited cast, was set in one location and had a hook that intrigued me – a horror film set in a car, a mobile haunted house if you will.…the original idea has been compromised a little bit, in that the protagonist was going to be an everyman driven to theft because he was desperate, not that he was a ‘villain’.

It was a ‘credit crunch’ morality tale, showing what desperation will drive people to…y’know, as Burroughs said – the face of evil is always the face of total need…Due to the re-writes it’s now a bit more ‘EC Comics’, very ‘Tales from the Crypt’ –  which is not necessarily a bad thing. ” – Ashley Thorpe

Carrion film animations ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ have been officially selected to be shown tonight (Friday 5th June 2009 at 6pm) as part of the ‘Fangoria weekend of Horrors‘ Manhattan, New York.

“Quite literally moving art. I have never seen anything like them…truly original.” – Marla Newborn, Fangoria.

The films are to be shown ‘back to back’ in the film room as part of a 30th Anniversary event that has toured across the United States.

This years guests include Italian horror maestro Dario Argento – ‘Suspiria‘ and ‘Deep Red‘, Tobe Hooper – Director of the legendary ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘, make-up superstar Tom Savini and a signing session with the visionary  Guillermo del Toro – director of ‘The Devils Backbone‘, ‘Hellboy‘ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’. There will also be a cast reunion of  Wes Craven’s original ‘Last house on the left‘, ‘Hellraiser‘ – with  Doug Bradley and Ashley Lawrence in attendance and a rare treat to meet a selection of the actors that have donned the mask of Jason Voorhees (Friday 13th)!

“In our continuing efforts to make these events the best that they can be we are introducing our latest cutting edge programming, SINISTER SEMINARS. This is where you can sit in with some of the Industries heaviest hitters for limited attendance 2 hour courses. We intend on covering topics such as writing, directing, scoring, and creating special effects, to name a few. The seminars will be taught by some of the biggest names in the industry, many of whom are currently working on new projects. So don’t miss out!” Some of the filmmakers confirmed for these seminars are Tobe Hooper, Herschell Gordon Lewis and regular Stuart Gordon screenwriter Dennis Paoli.

This is the first time that the animations have been screened as a double-bill and is also the official premiere of the films in the United States. Director Ashley Thorpe had this to say: – “I am absolutely thrilled by the selection. It really is a dream come true I have to say. I’ve read Fangoria since I was about 15 years old …I used to hide them in my English folders, ha ha,  so to have these films screened at such an event is truly amazing. I think it’s incredible how the films have been so utterly embraced by the magazine. I feel very honoured and very lucky. It’s an amazing achievement. These are British independent films after all; films with no distribution, no major stars or advertising, it’s all been word of mouth so far. Incredible. Perhaps the British horror revival really has begun.”

The films, after Marla Newborn’s recommendation, have also been sent to Chicago for a possible future screening and also to L.A for entry in the Fangoria ‘Midnight Madness‘ event. Each week in L.A  a horror feature is shown preceded by a short film. Both ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ have been entered. As soon as details are available about these screenings they will be posted here.

Both films are also contenders to be shown in the ‘Fright Fan Film fest‘ – an online festival currently under construction and due to be launched on www.fangoria.com later in the year.

Ashley Thorpe is currently concluding pre-production on the 4th Penny Dreadful animation – ‘The Hairy Hands’, which is due for completion Halloween 2009. Excerpts and interviews from the ‘Weekend of Horrors’ will be streamed live via www.fangoria .com for the duration of the festival.

FANGORIA WEEKEND OF HORRORS UPDATE 10/6/09

Reaction to the double-bill screening in NYC has been extemely positive, and this time the greatest crowd pleaser proved to be the sombre M.R James / Lovecraft / Poe inspired ‘The Screaming skull‘. Marla Newborn of ‘Fangoria‘ magazine reports: –

“People LOVED your work. The response to ‘The Screaming skull‘ was a notch more intense but you could have heard a pin drop when I ran the first one (‘Scayrecrow‘) because frankly Ashley they are beautiful.” – Marla Newborn, Fangoria magazine.

Ashley Thorpe, and all cast and crew at Carrion Film would therefore like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Marla and to all the organisers, staff and attendees at the festival for their time, dedication and enthusiasm.

To read Marla’s blog visit : http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/marla-newborn.html

Carrion film director Ashley Thorpe is to be interviewed today on the BBC Devon ‘Review show‘ .

Due to the recent flurry of  interest in the animations, namely ‘Scayrecrow‘ ; the Media Innovation Award and it’s entrance in the ‘Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner‘, Review journalist Joe Loosemore will be talking to Ashley regarding the film and his plans for the ongoing ‘Penny Dreadful’ project. The  broadcast has yet to be aired so tune in between 6 and 7pm today (7th May 2009) or visit the website – BBC Devon Review – to hear the full interview.

The following comes from the BBC Devon site: “Radio Devon raises the curtain, strikes a chord, paints the picture and finds the beat with its weekly arts show. The Review showcases the arts in Devon, reflecting everything from film to theatre, dance to music and the visual arts”

“Presented by Jo Loosemore, The Review is BBC Radio Devon’s hour long arts programme – broadcast each Thursday evening between 6pm and 7pm. It focuses on emerging talent in the local music scene, while previewing all the county has to offer at theatres and other venues.”

“We want to give performers and artists a chance to share their work with the widest possible audience,” said Jo.

“If you have an upcoming exhibition or are about to stage a performance please get in touch so we can consider

Jo Loosemoore-BBC Radio Devon

featuring details of your event in the programme.”

The Review takes a look behind the scenes at both professional and amateur theatre productions being staged locally plus mainstream and art-house cinema screenings.

The BBC Radio interview is the culmination of media interest in a week that saw the ‘D & C Film show interview’, an article in the ‘Express & Echo’ and also a piece in Saturday’s  ‘Western Morning News’.

BBC Radio Devon – ‘The Review’ 103.4 FM | 95.7 FM

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LOCAL NEWS UPDATE

On Monday the 18th May the Express & Echo ran an article on the recent UK Film Council winners – Ashley Thorpe and Toby De Burgh, who  curiously enough are both Exeter Phoenix ‘proteges’ and good friends.

The article focuses upon Toby (scientist and engineer and winner of the jury prize in the 2008 ‘Two Short Nights festival‘) and his upcoming production, tentatively titled ‘Undertow‘ and his search for a location.

Toby De Burgh -“The type of place we are looking for is a rural setting with a river that is deep enough and slow moving enough to take a rowing boat.”

“There would need to be  a characterful house, not modern, with a garden on the river with a woodland around it and we would be shooting on set for four days.”

To suggest a suitable location (or answer Toby’s call for actors / extras) email toby@cineonproductions.com

Ashley Thorpe’s UK Film council funded project is to be Penny Dreadful 4: ‘The Hairy Hands‘ – also due to commence filming in June 2009.

HORROR UK, Fareham UK : October 29th – November 1st

A Halloween screening has been announced for  ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming Skull’ at  Horror UK 2009 (a 28 hour horror marathon) – a festival that “aims to bring new and accomplished horror film makers and writers together, providing an avenue for those who want their films to be seen and those who want to get exposure.”

“For those wanting to give a purpose, other than your enjoyment of horror, to this event, then we are working with a children’s cancer ward.  Allowing you to be sponsored to stay for 12, 18, 24 or the full 28 hours.”

Aswell as  the double bill screening the films have also garnered the ‘Bloody Good Film Award‘ from the judging panel. “This is an award given out during the reviewing process of Horror UK, It is only awarded to films that we feel are an overall good watch. We take into account plot, script, acting, music etc and award those films which we feel are deserving.”

Initially expected only to be a screening of ‘Scayrecrow‘ a curious coincidence led to a double bill screening. The Director of the festival – Joe Jenkins –  happened to have spent much of his childhood in one of the notorious sites that housed a ‘screaming skull’…

During his illness, he was given a hiding place in the farmhouse at Higher Farm, Chilton Cantelo.  He died whilst in the farmhouse and was scared that the Roundheads would get hold of his head and stick it on top of a spike.  Due to this, he asked for his head to be removed and kept in a box, which was done.

"The Screaming skull" - Ashley Thorpe

For Official site visit: http://www.horroruk.com/

LOCAL NEWS UPDATE

Devon newspapers ‘The Western Morning News‘ and ‘The Express & Echo‘ have printed their reaction to the news of the Short Film Corner screening in Cannes. Apart from a general potted history (and some slight confusion by the Echo between ‘Short film corner’ and the main site festival) Stuart Mitchell, Digital media co-ordinator at the Exeter Phoenix commented –

“We are obviously delighted that the work of one of our emerging film-makers has been selected for the Short  Film Corner  at the Festival de Cannes. It is a great opportunity for Ashley, which will hopefully also raise awareness of the myriad talent in our city.”

“We hope that it will encourage more and more of the many creative people in Exeter and the rest of Devon with innovative ideas to come forward and work with us to develop their projects.”

For details on how to apply for grants / competitons or production advice visit the Exeter Phoenix Media site here.

“If it weren’t for the Exeter Phoenix and that first Project Greenlight bursary, I’d still be bumming round looking for illustration work. They’ve had their eyes open every step of the way for ways and means to get my work out there. I’ve got a lot to thank them for.” – Ashley Thorpe

The second D+C Film Show, created by Devon film maker Alex White, has in-depth interviews with two of Devon’s renowned filmmakers: Elizabeth-Jane Baldry and Carrion film Director Ashley Thorpe, in a ‘Fairytales and Nightmares‘ Special.

“Elizabeth-Jane has been inspiring the whole town of Chagford to get involved in filmmaking while giving new life to traditional tales – specifically Victorian fairy tales. A classically trained harpist Elizabeth has also been collaborating with Oscar winning artist Alan Lee (Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy) in designing the costumes.

And Ashley Thorpe this year picked up the best independent filmmaker award at this year’s media partnership awards and has been hailed as leading the British Horror revival with his Victorian inspired Penny Dreadfuls.”

The in depth interview with Ashley touched upon such subjects as the methods used to create the  animations, the scoring (by Mick Grierson), self-distribution (the downloads), the recent Media innovation award  and the inspirations and reasons for making them – “I got to this point where I almost felt exhausted…that most of the films out there are regurgitating similar things. So, to re-invigorate my enthusisams, so I went back to the beginning of horror as populist entertainment and naturally looked to the Victorian penny dreadful’s.”

“And most of the things, Scayrecrow especially, are based upon the ‘chapbooks’ which used to be sold pretty much by the gallows – as these guys were being hung – it was like : ‘There’s Dick Turpin….now read the comic!’  and they’d hang this guy as people were reading his life story, y’know…so Highwaymen and neglected ghost stories…

Ashley Thorpe interviewed by Alex White

especially the screaming skull, very famous ghost stories but no one has really made films about it…so it’s basically going back to the beginning and looking at the stuff that’s been left behind really, and trying to take those things and try to stay true to the original story and at the same time trying to give them a spark and hopefully make them entertaining for the 21st Century audience.”

The complete interview can be viewed via the Devon and Cornwall film site and is vieweable in HD via vimeo here.

“Just sit back and take in the fairytales and nightmares of the Devon filmmaking experience” – Lee Morgan

‘Scayrecrow‘ / ‘Epouvantail‘ – is to be screened at the auspicious Festival de Cannes 2009 as part of the ‘Short films corner’.

“Inspiring, independent, in the fringe short films are at the heart of the film creation.
Organized by the Festival de Cannes, the Short Film Corner is the essential rendez-vous for short film makers.” – Short Film Corner

The Short film Corner is organized by the Festival de Cannes, and is is the essential rendez-vous for short film makers from all over the World. Last year more than 80 countries were represented, including Northern America (32%), France (24%), UK (16%), other European countries (18%). There were 1830 registered short films and 22 000 viewings. The Short Film Corner’s aim is to stimulate new cinema talents and throughout the Festival thematic programs, competitions and workshops create a privileged meeting place for international professionals.

Synopsis in French: “Nous sommes en 1742 et tout le monde ne parle que des brigandages de Joshua Rookwood. Il parait que personne sur les chemins ne peut s’échapper au bandit notoire et son alter-ego effrayant, le Scayrecrow (l’épouvantail). Bien que la plupart des gens font l’amalgame entre Rookwood et Turpin*, le mobile de ses actions n’est pas basé ni sur l’avidité ni sur la brutalité. A chaque pleine lune, après avoir volé les biens à la bourgeoisie, Rockwood se faufile rapidement pour donner les biens à sa chère et tendre, une serveuse Eleanor Tawney. Comme la récompense contre la capture du hors-la-loi augmente, les rendez-vous des amoureux attirent des attentions inopportunes. Lentement mais sûrement quelques-uns vont à l’encontre des amants.”

*Le bandit le plus craint d’Angleterre

The festival runs between the 13th and 22nd of May and any further developments will, as always, be posted here!

www.shortfilmcorner.com

After the success of ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ – Penny dreadful number 4 : The Hairy hands has been awarded a budget of £10,000 to begin production by South West screen and the Arts Council of England. The film, as with previous entries, will be directed by Ashley Thorpe, music and sound design by Mick Grierson and will star ‘dreadful regular’ Ed Berry. The film will  be produced by Tom Atkinson – the man behind the ‘10 pound horror film‘.

Director Ashley Thorpe – “The primary aim of ‘THE HAIRY HANDS’  is for me to find a way to set an atmospheric horror short in a moving vehicle. I love Hitchcock, I especially love that sequence in ‘Psycho’ when Marion has stolen the money and is racing out of town with all that character voiceover – its a very clever way of doing exposition, and all the while you’re getting to see her reactions, the camera just cutting between her car and the road. Pure drama. ‘Psycho’ is also a good example of a film that sets the audience up going in one direction and then completely turns it upside down just as you’re getting comfortable, and I’m hoping to do the same with this one.”

“Though ‘The Hairy hands’ will be a technical advance upon previous shorts ‘Scayrecrow’ and ‘The Screaming skull’ –  I am aiming for the technology not to rule the aesthetics of the piece. Though cleaner, the look of the new film will still have a ‘painted’ look and though more polished the film will still retain a textural hand made quality, highly stylized, but still retaining all the hallmarks of the previous animations – albeit this will be a lot more noirish. It’ll be a little shorter, a little tighter than the previous entries but it’s packed full of ideas, references and little asides…It’ll also have a few surprises…something you probably won’t have seen before…which I’m not going to tell you about…” – Ashley Thorpe

Fangoria journalist Chris Alexander, hot from interviewing genre fan Nicholas Cage, Alex Proyas (‘The Crow‘ & ‘Dark City‘) and UK ‘national treasure’ Kenneth Branagh, has interviewed Carrion film director Ashley Thorpe about last years animated shorts – ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘. Here is an excerpt :

“If I see another low budget indie horror film about some shmos getting stranded somewhere and running afoul of some class of homicidal skin snacking shmuck, I shall most assuredly scream and shoot holes in my home screen. Yes, yes, yes, the phrase “indie horror” is more often than not a real deal red flag to stay the eff you see kay AWAY. That’s why it is my pleasure, as both a lover of horror films that break rules and refuse to behave and gothic, stylized shockers that bow and kiss your hand before they cut your throat, to wax rapturous about Ashley Thorpe.”

“Thorpe’s visionary and reverent animated gothic melodramas SCAYRECROW and THE SCREAMING SKULL are throwbacks to a gentler age of terror, especially that of Hammer Studios, the Victorian terror machine that I live and die by and that from 1957 – 1975, pumped out the sort of swoony stiff collared horror films that, well, just aint made no more…But Englishman Ashley Thorpe aims to change all that. And he’s altering the face of fearsome animation to boot.”

“So please…if you give a rabid rats rump about the art of terror than take a few minutes, read the interview with Thorpe below and then follow his instructions to watch his little slabs of slick, stylish bloody bliss. Write me into your will later…”

– Chris Alexander, Fangoria.

This amazing introduction then leads into an in depth interview with Ashley which touches upon how he became interested in the genre, the influences, the animations and what may lie ahead. The complete article can be read here: http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/chris-alexander

Chris Alexander is a world respected genre journalist who has written for ‘Rue Morgue’ magazine, ‘Fangoria’ and recently submitted an interview with ‘Ogre’ from seminal industrial outfit ‘Skinny Puppy’ for ‘Darkside’ magazine. He also serves as Film History teacher at Toronto Film & Media College. To read all about the great man, and to check out his interviews with Nicolas Cage, Kenneth Branagh and Alex Proyas visit: www.chris-alexander.ca.

So…In the words of Chris Alexander himself – “What are you waiting for?”

A gala dinner held in Bristol last night celebrated and recognised the innovative use of media and design in the region. The evening was introduced by Mark Hawkins, chairman of the awards and hosted by international sports reporter Rob Walker.

Carrion Films  took the award for the independent film/video category for the production of ‘Scayrecrow’ directed by Ashley Thorpe with funding from Exeter Phoenix in association with Devon County Council.

The film was judged “a visually rich, innovative and atmospheric production that held the viewers’ attention to the final frame”.

Upon accepting the award Director Ashley Thorpe remarked – “Wow…what do you say? The British horror revival begins here in the South West!”

Footage of the acceptance speech can be viewed here : Ashley Thorpe – Media innovation award or by visiting the main award site at : http://mia.silverstream.tv/

Karen Stockdale of the Media Innovation Awards said, “There was a very strong response from the creative media industry in Devon and the fact that so many nominations have been successful in such a wide range of categories demonstrates the wealth of talent in the area.”

‘Scayrecrow‘, for the un-initiated, is a Hammer inspired animation about a ghostly Highwayman, written and directed by  Ashley Thorpe. It is set in England in 1742 – wherein the daring robberies of Joshua Rookwood are the talk of all of England. No-one it seems is safe on the Kings highways from the notorious highwayman and his fearful alter-ego ‘The Scayrecrow‘. Rookwood’s motives however are not mere brutality and greed. Every full moon, after robbing the gentry of their riches, Rookwood steals away to deliver the choicest of the booty to his love, the serving girl Eleanor Tawney. As the reward for his capture grows ever large, these moonlit rendezvous attract unwanted attention…and slowly and surely plans are drawn against them…

“In some ways ‘Scayrecrow’ remains my favourite – mainly because of my childhood love of Dick Turpin and the highwayman as character in general. I’m also completely obsessed by that period; the bawdy stories, the fashions…and ‘Scayrecrow’ gave me the chance to share these obsessions whilst simultaneously taking everything I love about Hammer and gothic horror and putting my own spin on it. It’s certainly the most romantic thing I’ve ever done and I’m thrilled that people love it so much. The Innovation award is amazing…it’s really satisfying to receive that kind of acknowledgment – y’know ,recognition from your peers…and for a jury that included representatives from Channel 4 to acknowledge and reward an independent company that is essentially only a couple of years old is extraordinary. It’s amazing!” – Ashley Thorpe