Spiteful Puppet - Double Winners in New York.

Spiteful Puppet's spectacular year continues with two awards from New York.

"We feel hugely honoured and humbled to be featured amongst some of the best radio talent in the world and have been spurred onto achieve even greater success." - Iain Meadows writer & director at Spiteful Puppet with a special News Blog exclusive comment.

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2015 BBC Audio Drama Award winners Spiteful Puppet have done it again! This time they've come back with TWO AWARDS from the prestigious New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs ceremony.

New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards for The World's Best Radio Programs, honours radio programming and promotions in all lengths and formats from radio stations, networks and independent producers from around the globe.

They were nominated in TWO CATEGORIES for 'HOOD: THE SCRIBE OF SHERWOOD'; Best Audio Book (Fiction) and Best Drama Special, coming away with BRONZE in both categories.

Iain Meadows and Matt Hopper from Spiteful Puppet at the New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs ceremony in New York and the winning audio drama 'HOOD: THE SCRIBE OF SHERWOOD'.

This is fantastic news for my friends and colleagues at Spiteful Puppet with whom I worked with on 'HOOD: NOBLE SECRETS' playing BROTHER TUCK. Ironically I was not involved on their award-winning 'HOOD: THE SCRIBE OF SHERWOOD' but I will be back in the next two instalments of 'HOOD' to be released later this year.

Iain Meadows again; “We’re just overwhelmed by this recognition on a world stage at our first time of being nominated. We know the level of expertise represented internationally and that makes these wins even more special. We’re just in the process of finishing the next HOOD chapters, so maybe we’ll have to come back and have a go for the gold!”

The ceremony itself was held on the 22nd June 2015 at “The Manhattan Penthouse”, New York, USA.

Nick Park's NEW Aardman feature 'EARLY MAN'.

A early poster image from Aardman for their forthcoming Nick Park feature 'EARLY MAN'.

Great news, a new feature film from Oscar-Winner Nick Park and Aardman Animations has been announced.

The words on the poster are intriguing; 

"From Aardman, a film by Academy Award Winner Nick Park. Meet the ancestors of Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep."

It will be the second co-production between Aardman and  STUDIO CANAL following on from the huge success of 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE'. The BFI (British Film Institute) is also a partner on the film.

The 'EARLY MAN' script will be written by Mark Burton ('Shaun The Sheep Movie', 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit', 'Chicken Run' and 'Madagascar') and John O’Farrell ('Chicken Run', 'Spitting Image'). It will be Nick Park’s first feature film since 'WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT'.

According to its official synopsis, 'EARLY MAN' is set at the dawn of time, when woolly mammoths and dinosaurs roamed the earth. One plucky caveman must unite his tribe against a mighty enemy and save the day for everyone.

A very early production picture with some familiar faces ...

Quotes about the film that are circulating at the moment;

Nick Park himself;

“I’m very excited to be making this film with such great partners – STUDIOCANAL and BFI. And with the support of the incredible team at Aardman – bringing this inept bunch of cavemen to life is going to be a hilarious adventure! “

Studio Canal's Chief executive Olivier Courson;

“I’m thrilled to partner again with the Aardman team. All of us at Studio Canal are such fans of everything that Aardman does. After the great experience together on Shaun the Sheep The Movie, we could not be happier than to be able to work on a Nick Park film with Aardman.”

'EARLY MAN' won't be hitting cinemas for a good while yet, it looks likely to be released in time for the 2018 Football World Cup (wherever it ends up being played!) with some sources saying that the film will feature the first ever football match!

And The Final Score is: BLAKE'S 7 - MAGNA CARTA 800 ...

JUNE 15th 2015 is MAGNA CARTA DAY!

A couple of weeks ago I had the great pleasure of meeting and working with actor GARETH THOMAS, perhaps best known for playing ROJ BLAKE in the British Sci-Fi series 'BLAKE'S 7' (1978-1981). It was such a tremendous thrill for me to work with Gareth as I was a big fan of the series growing up as a teenager. 

What was the occasion I hear you ask?! Well ... the good folk at the BBC Audio Drama Award Winning SPITEFUL PUPPET had been commissioned by Salisbury Cathedral to produce a standalone audio drama for visitors to listen to as they walk around the new exhibition to mark the 800th Anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. The 30 minute drama entitled 'MAGNA CARTA: LEGACY' was terrific fun to record and listening to the final result it's fair to say that Spiteful Puppet have produced yet another authentic period piece! No surprise really after their wonderful work on the Robin Hood reboot 'HOOD', which I was fortunate to work on with them playing BROTHER TUCK. 

Cast from left to right: Gareth Thomas, Sean Connolly, Peter Greenall, Damian Cooper and Ian Brooker. The director was Iain Meadows and the play was written by Kelly Dobitz.

Four members of the 'HOOD' cast were involved in recording the Magna Carta piece, joined of course by Gareth. The play (as does the exhibition) explores the link between Elias of Dereham (Gareth Thomas), the right hand man of Archbishop Stephen Langton (me!) and a key negotiator between the Barons and the King, and Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta. Present at Runnymede, Elias had the responsibility of distributing the charter across England in 1215 and began masterminding the construction of Salisbury Cathedral five years later.

The cathedral now is home to the "finest preserved" of the four original copies of the historic charter. Signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, it is seen as the foundation of constitutional law in England. Outlining basic rights with the principle that no-one was above the law, including the king, the Magna Carta charted the right to a fair trial and limits on taxation without representation. 

Being Animated in Wolverhampton ...

I had a great time over at the University of Wolverhampton yesterday at 'OUT OF DARKNESS - THE WORLD OF STOP MOTION ANIMATION', part of the city's ARTSFEST. Artsfest runs at a host of venues across the region celebrating the creative and cultural spirit of the Black Country. Events include dance, theatre and musical performances, art exhibitions, workshops and educational sessions for schools and college groups. The festival continues until June 13th ...

The day started with some of the very earliest examples of stop motion animation presented by STEVE ARNOTT, the University's Course Leader in Animation. Second up was EMMA CAULDER from PEARLY OYSTER PRODUCTIONS who showed several of her beautiful animated films and provided a fascinating insight on her particular career path. We then had an entertaining Skype conversation with TAM JOSEPH who worked on THE BEATLES animated film 'YELLOW SUBMARINE' back in the late 1960's.

A break for a spot of lunch was followed by ... yes you've guessed it a special screening of 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' in support of AARDMAN'S fund raising efforts for their 'GRAND APPEAL' which helps with particular support for children’s care and hospitals. Our final guest was the Senior Story Artist on the 'SHAUN MOVIE', RICHARD PHELAN. After the film had finished I was thrilled to be asked to take part in the Q & A session to round off the day with Richard, Emma, Steve and ARTSFEST organiser PAUL WILLIAMS. During the course of the conversation we discovered that Richard had actually drawn quite a few of the characters I'd voiced in the film! There were some very insightful questions by the largely young audience, quite a few of whom expressed serious ambitions to be the animators of the future. It was a terrific event put on by the University of Wolverhampton, plans are already afoot for an even bigger Artsfest next year.

The Official US 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' trailer in readiness for the AUGUST 7th 2015 cinema release.

I came across the Official US trailer for 'SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE' today, it's fun hearing it with an American accent ... I hope they love it as much as British audiences have.