Our Message to Kat Auditionees!

Thank you all so much for submitting your auditions. We had over 400 of them and it took us a little longer to look through them all than we’d originally imagined so thank you for your patience. If you got through to the next round, Congratulations! If you did not, console yourself with the thought that we weren’t judging the auditions only for the quality of the acting (though of course this is an extremely important factor) but we were also looking for a girl who has the right feel for the character of Kat and were considering factors such as age, voice-quality, tomboyishness, quirkiness and many other, difficult-to-explain factors. Casting is a lot about gut instinct and responding to quite abstract human qualities which you imagine the character you are looking for will have.

If you are serious about acting, DON’T GIVE UP! Join drama groups, do school plays, keep at it. Acting is a tough career and some of the qualities you need for it are tenaciousness (sticking with it, persisting, not giving up) and a thick skin because there are many more nos than yesses in the acting world and this is something you need to be able to manage. It’s not for everyone. I couldn’t do it. And it’s certainly not about being famous! That is reserved for the lucky (or possibly unlucky) few.

– Hannah, Simone and Team Fireworks

7 Good Reasons to Support Fireworks

With only 6 days to go until our campaign ends, we really need your support. Lots of you have already contributed, tweeted and shared about our film. Some of you, though, may still be dithering, and others may have no intention of supporting us. Yet! We want you with us on this. Here are seven reasons why you should get on board.

1. All The Best People Say So

Yes, we hang with some of the coolest people on Twitter. The brilliant Stephen Fry has put out a tweet telling people to support our film, and we’ve been retweeted by lovely people like Rebecca Front, Rory Bremner, Billie Myers and Gail Porter.

2. We Have Ewen Bremner

Ewen is a brilliant actor and we are thrilled to be able to create a role for him in his home town. Poor Ewen has been stuck out in Hollywood too long – give the poor chap a trip home.

3. You Might be in it Too!

Looking for our new teen star

We’re running an open online casting call for the role of Kat, a headstrong, sparky teenage girl. Tons of young women have already submitted their auditions. Will you be the chosen Kat to play the lead role?

4. It’s Made By Women

Not many films are made by women. Most don’t even have a lot of women in them! And when they do, these women don’t have much to say. With Fireworks the Exec Producer, Producer, Co-writer, Director and even the web guy are all women! Let’s show what they can do.

5. It Sorts Out Your Christmas Shopping

Don’t just do it for us – do it for that tricky international auntie who loves knitting, or that guy in the office who’s a bit of a smunt. Our campaign is one big Christmas shopping market. Check it out.

6. We Want to Destigmatise Mental Disorder

Fireworks is inspired by Director and Co-writer Hannah’s experience of growing up with a father who suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression. Hannah wants the film to help get people talking openly about mental illness, to help reduce the stigma that sufferers already face.

7. It’s Going to be Good

This is (arguably) the most important point on the list. Fireworks is going to be a cracking good film. It’s funny, it’s got a great actor confirmed and others potentially in the wings. The script has won a ton of awards, and the team behind it are celebrated film-makers and writers. You do not want to miss out on this film!

It’s not easy to get a film off the ground that bucks the box office trends and tries to do something a bit different, but with a bit of help we think we can create something really special. Please support our film, and help spread the word on twitter and Facebook. Thank you!

Euan Gray’s Hut Drawings

Our hut builder Euan Gray is a true artist. Not only is he creating a unique, cinematic, charming hideaway hut for our film, he has also created this stunning set of hut-inspired artworks to get hut-lovers in the mood for the finished design.

The drawings were created by Euan to give a sense of the tone and style of the film, and of the hut itself, and he is generously offering them as perks for contributors to our crowd-funding campaign. For a contribution of £60 or more, you can have this set of 4 prints. The perfect addition to your own hideaway, or the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who longs for a hut of their own.

The 4 Prints

Claim Your Prints

– Find out more about Euan Gray and his ideas for Gillies’ hut design.
– Visit our IndieGoGo page to support our film and get your set of four hut-inspired prints.

Euan Gray Hut Builder on Gillies’ Hut Design

When we found out architectural designer and fabricator Euan Gray was up to the challenge of creating Gillies’ hut for Fireworks we were delighted. Euan both designs and builds most of his projects, following the design process from conception right the way through to installation. With an impressive portfolio stretching from buildings to installations to furniture, he is a true master of his art.

 

Hannah Robinson and Jonathan Hall’s award-winning script and colourful characters attracted Euan to the project, and he can’t wait to get started. Euan says:

“I’m really looking forward to designing the hut for Fireworks – it’s a great script and I could see it all playing out when I read it, the characters interacting in different places in and around the hut. I’ve tried to get some of those ideas of the eccentric, intimate spaces through into the design – as well as making it work technically.”

Euan’s hand-crafted huts are often chic, Nordic style retreats. Gillies’ hut, though, will be anything but neat! He explains:

“It’s fun to be able to work on something that needs to look homemade, odd and ramshackle, rather than neat, refined and perfectly finished!”

The personalities and complexities of the film’s characters are reflected in his design, which promises to be truly exciting and completely unique. He highlights the challenges of this particular project:

“Filming presents a whole different set of technical challenges – you’ve got to be thinking about where the camera will film from, where the lights will be hidden, where the shots can be framed – windows, doors and walls will all need to be removable just to get the filming angles right in such a small space!”

Euan points out that designing for film is not the only challenge he faces in creating Gillies’ hut; being a part of an indie comedy filmed in Scotland means his structure also has the weather to contend with! No mean feat, but a challenge he accepts with pleasure:

“That unseen technical dimension is actually a bigger challenge than the aesthetic design – but both are equally enjoyable.”

Gillies’ hut is set to be a stand-out piece, beautifully designed and hand-crafted by Euan. If you’re tempted by the idea of owning an iconic piece of film memorabilia which doubles up as a perfect hideout you can have Gillies’ hut delivered to your door as one of the perks of our IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign.

His beautiful collection of hut drawings inspired by his designs are another perk, coming as a set of four prints of original drawings that are an affordable gift in time for for Xmas.

We’re certainly glad Euan was up to the challenge and can’t wait to see the finished hut. Visit Euan’s website to see more of his designs, and visit our IndieGoGo page to claim Gillies’ hut as your very own, very special, hideout.

Knit Your Own Carlo Volpi Scarf

We are very excited to announce a special new perk – a designer knitting pattern and illustration for Kat’s scarf.  Brilliant knitwear designer Carlo Volpi has created a unique design for the scarf, using wool from Todds Hand Knits. Carlo is still knitting the scarf – we’ll be posting updates on his progress! Meanwhile, you can now make your own iconic Kat scarf by downloading the knitting pattern and illustration of the scarf via our IndieGoGo page.

A very special scarf…

Carlo with his work-in-progress

Kat’s scarf is an important object in the film, and we wanted it to be special. When runaway Kat flees London to go find her biological father Gillies, she is wearing the bright, stripy scarf that Ian, who she had always knows as her dad until he died, wears in an old family photo. The scarf is a constant throughout the film, and becomes synonymous with the lead character, Kat.

A very special designer…

scarf illustration by Carlo Volpi

So we contacted Carlo Volpi, a fantastic knitwear designer. Carlo studied at Goldsmiths before completing his masters at the Royal College of Art. He uses an eclectic choice of stitch structures, gauges and textures, merging traditional knitting techniques, urban landscapes and pop imagery. Take a look at the work on his website – we particularly love the ‘Lipstick Stab Wounds Collection‘.

He has already won several awards for his creative, eccentric designs, including the first prize of The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’ award and The Worshipful Company of Framework knitters’ award. He was also one of the winners of a design competition for Waddesdon Manor and his work was selected by Rowan and included in an exhibition at Liberty’s as part of The Campaign for Wool. Since graduating, he has been selected as one of the 24 Texprint finalists and was awarded the Body Prize for best fashion fabric. He was also the silver winner of the 2012 edition of the Knitted Textiles Awards sponsored by the UK Hand Knitting association, Knitting Magazine and Creative Exhibition.

Carlo was instantly enthusiastic about making a scarf for our Kat. He writes in his blog on www.knittingindustry.com.

‘Designing a scarf for the film was incredibly fun: when I met Hannah Robinson she explained how fireworks could metaphorically represent a bipolar personality, on one hand colourful, bright and buzzing but on the other explosive and dangerous as well. In my design I wanted to incorporate these opposing elements, the controlling and manic nature of bipolar versus its creative expressive potential.

 I used a very precise, geometric pattern knitted with some brightly coloured merino wool kindly sponsored by Todd’s Hand Knits.

…and some very special yarns too!

We’re delighted that the brilliant Todds Hand Knits are also supporting the film by supplying the wool for Kat’s scarf. Todds Hand Knits work with some of the world’s top fashion houses, and create high quality yarns in Italy, using precise techniques to get the colours that Carlo needed.  They said:

‘We’re all really excited about the film here at Todds Hand Knits! We’re all lovers of small, independent films especially British indies and to contribute to the project and be a part of it in any way is just fantastic. The message of the film is also an important one, it will get people talking about mental illness and encourage a destigmatization that is very, very necessary.’

Take a look at the Todds Hand Knits website to find the wool that Carlo selected for the scarf. Maybe you could shake things up a little by choosing different colours?

Want to knit Kat’s scarf for yourself? Looking for a gift for a very stylish knitter? Or just love the gorgeous illustration? The pattern and illustration are available as PDF downloads to anyone who contributes at least £15 to our IndieGoGo campaign.

That’s Christmas, and this winter’s threatened mini ice age, sorted.

Exclusive Signed Art Print by Hew Locke

Fireworks by Hew Locke – available as an A3 fine art print

Announcing a very special new perk… the world-renowned, award-winning artist Hew Locke has created this very special artwork for Fireworks, and you can get your own signed, limited edition A3-sized fine art giclée print of the work by contributing to our crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo.

Hew Locke was born in Edinburgh before moving to Guyana, and now lives in London where he is a respected and much sought-after artist. In 2000 he won both a Paul Hamlyn Award and an East International Award.

His work is represented in many collections including The Government Art Collection, The Perez Art Museum Miami, The Tate Gallery collection, The Arts Council of England collection, The Collection of Eileen and Peter Norton, Santa Monica, The Brooklyn Museum collection, New York, The Arnold Lehman collection, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City collection, The RSID Museum, Rhode Island, The New Art Gallery Walsall, The Victoria & Albert Museum Drawing Collection, London, The British Museum, London, The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and, soon, your house.

Hew said:

“When I first heard of this project, I thought,I have got to be involved and support it in some way. I wanted to design something that reflected both the fireworks in the film, and the mental fireworks going on in the head of the main character. I tried to give it the feeling of a retro firework box. I also wanted to express visually the idea of the chemical power within the actual capsule, which is going to be released explosively, in a very unexpected way.”

Take a look at Hew’s website and his profile page on the Hales Gallery website to see more of his work, including the artworks below.

El Dorado and Captain Cook by Hew Locke

If you contribute £500 or more you can get snap up one of the limited edition Fireworks prints. Your limited edition artwork will be signed by the artist himself, and posted out to you in December. We will do our very best to get your print to you in time for Christmas. Let us know if you need it by a particular date.

This is an amazing chance to own a piece of art by one of the UK’s most interesting and innovative artists. The print run is limited to 20 so visit our IndieGoGo page to claim yours now.

Online Audition Dos and Don’ts From our Casting Director

Are you planning to audition for the role of Kat through our online open audition process? We really want to discover a bright new star, and so our fab Casting Director Simone Pereira-Hind has put together some top tips for you.

Some Do Dos and Some Don’ts from Simone

Check out the video below to find out how to make the best of your audition. As Simone says, we’re willing you to do well. We want you to be great!

Get full details, download the audition script, and enter online here.

Good luck!

Ultimate Champion IndieGoGo Competition

Only two weeks into our digital campaign and we’re already blown away by your support. Over 200 followers on Twitter so far, over 500 likes on Facebook, and well over £900 contributed to our IndieGoGo campaign, not to mention all your comments, likes, blogposts, paper.lis and general digital thumbs up. You people are awesome. In recognition of your support, we would like to give a special prize to the person who campaigns the hardest for our film. Start sharing now and you could end up being thanked in person by the cast and crew on set, and credited in the film.

How to Take Part

1: Grab Your Link

Find your unique URL for our IndieGoGo campaign. You must be registered with IndieGoGo and signed in to view your unique link to our campaign page. You’ll see your link right underneath the pitch video. We’ve pointed it out for you in the pic below.

2: Share it Like Crazy

Get your link out there! Tweet it, post it on facebook, blog it, Tumble it – share it as widely, broadly and frequently as you possibly can. The more your link gets seen, the better your chance of winning.

3: Get Cheered On

We can track how many people you are referring to our IndieGoGo page. Once we see that you are sending lots of visitors our way, we’ll start cheering you on. We want you to win!

4: Claim Your Prize

The person who refers the most people to our IndieGoGo page will be announced as our ULTIMATE CHAMPION. You and a friend will be invited to join us on set for a day (travel expenses not covered, sorry), where the cast and crew will thank you in person. You will get to see the fruits of your campaign, including the wooden hut and trebuchet. If you like, we can engrave your name or a message on the hut. You will also get your name in the credits and on IMDB as a special thank you.

And that’s it! Don’t worry, the Fireworks team and Stephen Fry aren’t eligible, so this is all up for grabs. Get started now to get ahead of the race!

Ewen Bremner to Play Gillies in Fireworks

It’s not every day you get to work with actors with a back catalogue as impressive as Ewen Bremner. We couldn’t be more pleased to have him on board for Fireworks. Having worked with directors we admire (Harmony Korine, Ridley Scott and Woody Allen to name a few) and films that not only we love but are truly iconic, having Bremner on board as part of our team is a real privilege. Ewen Bremner shot to fame as Spud in Irvine Welsh’s  Trainspotting, and has gone on to become a much sought-after actor in film and television. He has appeared in a diverse slate of roles in projects as varied as Pearl Harbour, Julian Donkey-Boy, The Vatican, Black Hawk Down and Snatch. We are huge fans, and think he’s a fantastic talent. <h3>Check out clips from some of his performances below</h3>

From kind-hearted heroin addict to a sensitive portrayal of the effects of schizophrenia on family life, the immensely talented Bremner is the perfect choice to play Gillies – Kat’s dad, who has bipolar disorder, and uses his meds to make a giant firework. If you love Ewen as much as we do and want to help support a Scottish indie film, we need your help!  We really need your support to make this happen, so pledge a few pounds or pennies, share our IndieGoGo page on Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a nice comment. Thank you!

Why we all Need to Support Films by Women

Do you know how many women produce, direct or even star in films? You would be shocked by some of the statistics. According to The Celluloid Screen Report, Women make up just a small proportion of film-making professionals. They found the following:

• 9% of directors are women
• 15% of writers are women
• 25% of producers are women
• 17% of executive producers are women

… and according to a study released by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism:

• 28% speaking roles are for women

Pretty shocking. And no it’s not because women are rubbish at film-making, and not because people don’t want to see films about women. When women do appear as lead characters (Pretty in Pink, Devil Wears Prada, Thelma and Louise, Bridget Jones…) these films are box office hits. Partly because women buy 50% of the cinema tickets.

Here at Fireworks, we didn’t set out to make a female film, or to give on or off screen opportunities to women. We just set out to make a great film. It just so happened that our Director, Producer, Exec Producer, Digital Developer, and one of our two Co-writers, are all female. They’re all just great at their jobs.

You want more films to be by women, right? You want to see more bright, strong, funny women playing leading roles in feature films? You want talented female film-makers to inspire the next generation of young women to do just whatever the smunt they want, yes? Any you want some choice when you go to the cinema?

Please show your support for women in film by helping make one film (largely) by, and about, women. We really need your support to make this happen, so pledge a few pounds or pennies, share our IndieGoGo page on Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a nice comment. Thank you!

Fireworks on IndieGoGo: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fireworks–4/x/351097