Tag Archives: London

Adam Deacon Profile | Film

Posted on by

In the film Payback Season, actor, director, writer and BAFTA-Orange Rising Star award winner Adam Deacon plays the lead role of Jerome Davies, a young man who has risen above his harsh beginnings of life on a council estate to achieve celebrity status as a premier league footballer.

Adam describes the role: “Jerome is living the high life, he’s got the lovely car, the penthouse flat, but fundamentally his family are still living on a council estate, and he has to go back there. I think Jerome’s dilemma is trying to balance his old life with the new life. Old friends start appearing and before you know it he’s involved in extortion. Jerome has tried to leave that life behind him. For me, it was really nice to play a ‘normal’ character; I wouldn’t call Jerome humble, but he’s just trying to do his thing. I also enjoyed playing a character who spoke proper English,” he laughs. “I am not playing the typical ‘d’you get me Blud’ thing, we were actually asked to tone it down.”

“I think it’s a great story as well, you don’t often get to hear about what happens to people on the other side, and I am sure this sort of thing goes on…it’s a great part to play especially after Anuvahood. It’s also nice to get a romantic role, in some of my films I get a girl, it all goes wrong and I’m gone, so it was really good to have a proper romance for once, and Nichola is a lovely girl as well,” he says.

“I definitely believe it’s a story that needs to be told; I am strong believer in films having a proper story, it’s no good just having a kid running round with guns and knives, we have to start thinking out of the box”

Deacon is currently writing another comedy film. “I made a lot of films last year for other people, and this year I have kind of got my heart set on an Adam Deacon film,” he laughs. “These are exciting times.”

Deacon has come a long way from his Stoke Newington School where he was deemed “a joker”, his natural antipathy to academia exacerbated by the “madness” at home. At 12, noticing his enjoyment of music and drama classes, his head of year suggested he apply for the weekly after-school course at the nearby Anna Scher School. He took a Saturday job to pay for a preparatory summer school and was immediately fast-tracked on to the course by Scher herself, who he portrays as a cross between a mentor and a fairy godmother.

“She’d get the rowdiest London street kids – who were in trouble with the police and stuff – and get them to read scripts properly,” he says. “There were kids there with jobs on EastEnders but she never let anyone act starry, or do stuff for money: she wouldn’t let kids do adverts before they were 16, in case they didn’t know what they were selling. I owe everything to that woman. If that opportunity hadn’t been there for me at a young age, I might have ended up inside,” he says ruefully.

Deacon, from Hackney, East London, began acting at the age of 12. His early career included work with Y Touring Theatre Company, with which he appeared in a number of tours including Cracked by Nicola Baldwin.

Deacon made his name as the lead in Noel Clarke’s Adulthood and co-starred in West 10 LDN, a Kidulthood-like TV program made by Noel Clarke. He has also starred as ‘Bones’ in an MTV show called Dubplate Drama. His next role was in 4.3.2.1, a heist movie, released in June 2010 which also starred Tamsin Egerton, Emma Roberts and Noel Clarke, who directed the film.

Recently Adam co-wrote, co-directed and played the lead role in Anuvahood, which was released on March 18, 2011. The film is described as, ‘A pulls-no-punches, coming-of-age story centering on one directionless hopeless shotter, who finds his true worth in the face of urban adversity.’

Adam has featured in various music videos including; Bashy’s “Who wants to be a Millionaire” and Chipmunk’s Chip Diddy Chip. He is also a musician and musical performer most noted for his two tracks on the soundtrack to Adulthood. The tracks are: ‘Adamhood’ and ‘On It 08’.

His television roles include The Boarding School Bomber and more recently The Royal Bodyguard starring David Jason.

Pre-Cannes Networking Event | Social Diary

Posted on by

Frost Magazine proudly sponsored Sheepish PR’s Pre-Cannes Networking Event. Director Howard J Ford, Valeria Bandino, actress, Normski (TV host, DJ), Marc Zammit (actor), Louise Glover (Model of the year and cover model at Playboy), Emma Cony (from Take Me Out), Johny Pach (Sky TV presenter), Robbie Moffat from Palm Tree Entertainment, and Mac Chakaveh, president of the Marbella Film Festival all attended, as did the wonderful Paola Berta.

© S. Dean Photography. Thanks to Paola Berta, Sheepish PR, Beverly Hills UK – Film Society & Events –

Spotted!

Posted on by

The Saturdays in Glossybox.

Millie Mackintosh launching the 2012 Nature Valley games at Potter’s Field in London. Alongside Millie, former British Olympic team mates Roger Black and Jamie Baulch.

And last but not least, Game of Thrones actress Laura Pradelska at Nozomi for an exclusive Italian fashion party. Some of the finest Italian designers showcased their wear, whilst guests sipped on Champagne, nibbled on Nozomi’s revered canapés and relaxed in the chilled atmosphere.

London Artist Makes ‘Top 10’ In Harley-Davidson Art Competition

Posted on by

UK Artist From London Makes ‘Top 10’ In Harley-Davidson Art Of Custom Competition

Fans urged to vote for the UK’s shortlisted entry

Harley-Davidson®, the world’s most iconic motorcycle brand renowned for its rich heritage in customisation and self-expression, has announced that UK artist, Christopher Hollands’s ‘Graffiti Tank’ design has been officially shortlisted into the ‘Top 10’ of the brand’s Art of Custom competition, which has searched for inspirational new art to appear on bespoke Harley-Davidson fuel tanks.

The competition received over 2,000 entries from 16 countries including the UK, Spain, France, Italy and Germany. Each budding artist downloaded a template of the famous fuel tank and got to work bringing their interpretation of the Harley-Davidson spirit to life, just as the Harley-Davidson styling team have done for over one hundred years.

Competition finalist, Christopher Hollands said: “Art has always been a passion in my life, especially street art. Although I have no art qualifications, I am an avid fan of graffiti and tattoos. I come from a family of motorcyclists, so to connect my passion here with my artistic skills has brought me great happiness through the Art of Custom competition.”

The judging panel, made up of Harley-Davidson styling team members, Ray Drea, Frank Savage and the legendary Willie G Davidson, along with street artist ‘Lebo’, whose art graces the walls and galleries of Wynwood, Miami and Northern-Irish character artist Terry Bradley, had a tough job picking their top 10 favourite designs.

Terry Bradley said of the entries: “We’re over whelmed at the high standard of designs entered. It’s great to see so many people having the freedom to create and express themselves, and what better canvas than the iconic Harley-Davidson tank. The public have a hard job choosing the winner.”

The public now hold the power in deciding who will win ‘Art of Custom 2012’ and receive the prize of a lifetime; their bespoke design re-created on their very own mechanical masterpiece; a Harley-Davidson Sportster. The winner will also visit the home of Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with two runners up to see their tank art displayed at the famous Harley-Davidson Museum.

To vote for your favourite design, visit the Harley-Davidson Digital Tank Wall at www.harley-davidson.com/tankwall before the 1st June. The wall is an online version of the real-life wall housed in the Harley-Davidson Museum and also showcases some of the most iconic designs from the past century including the classic 1971 Willie G. Davidson designed ‘FX Super Glide’ and the 2008 ‘Cross Bones’ which formed the basis for the motorcycle ridden by Captain America in the 2011 Hollywood film.

The winner will be announced in June 2012.

Londoner’s Life 30 – by Phil Ryan

Posted on by

London is filling up – it’s official. Day by day it’s a combination of the vaguely improving weather and the tourists. All I can say is I’m seriously trying to avoid Central London most weeks now. I’ll stay out on the periphery. The tubes are becoming pretty unpleasant as well as curiously unreliable. And by that I mean it’s like they’re going to mess Londoners around until the Olympic weeks and then they’ll go for a breakdown free period by throwing our money at the problems in bucket loads. There was a great article in the Evening Standard where some TFL lackey mused about the ‘possibility’ that some customers (we’re not customers we are passengers!) MAY HAVE BEEN overcharged. So now they say they will allow us to check our journeys online and see where we’ve been ripped off. I wonder how many people will be able to backtrack their weekly travels with pinpoint accuracy plus how do you prove you were overcharged? And try to imagine how this will work during the Olympic cattle train period. Hm.

But London is full of other activity right now as to give one example – the foodie season slides into view. You know those events with chefs and foreign food suppliers creating dishes no-one ever cooks at home but wishes they could. And if you ever needed edible proof of a financial divide in our London communities you’ll note the explosion in ‘boutique’ foodie shops that sell only olive oil or cheese happily trading in Kensington and Hampstead whereas Cricklewood and Dalston get a new Lidl. Various food festivals are scheduled for parks and exhibition centres giving a slight lie to the ‘recession’ theory. By that I mean there is of course those who are ‘recession’ free. I think these are the same people who seem to be able to afford the ever insanely spiralling housing costs. Is it me but never a week goes by now where I don’t see huge demolition sites popping up across London all carrying artists drawings of ‘a new selection of fine apartments’. They are cramming these places into every nook and cranny they can. And the average prices all start from £850,000. I noted at least four in town where the starting prices were £1.5 million! Huh? I guess London isn’t doing a badly as I thought. But where is this kind of money coming from? It must be from the same folk who buy wind dried Bolivian Llama cheese with pistachios and vintage pear brandy.

The food styles as ever usher in the latest fads – and the new ‘hookah’ shisha cafes seem to be fitfully springing up everywhere but I get the sense they just won’t last. The food is secondary to the sitting there blowing bubbles out of a table lamp as far as I can see. A new one opened up recently in my area (we already have one) and it just looks tacky and slightly seedy. All the cafés interior lights are red for some odd reason giving the customers the appearance of sitting in the recreation of a womb or a nuclear submarine during an emergency dive. There’s a huge flickering TV that no-one seems to be looking at. And the music is that curious thudding Arabic meets disco style that screams how trendy and cosmopolitan our patrons are. This ignores the fact that they are killing themselves with a highly carcogenic substance as they puff away like beagles on acid. But they are clearly trend setters. On the Edgware Road I understand it as it is officially part of the Gulf States up there. But in most other places it just looks vaguely out of place. And they all seem to have a temporary air. There is something vaguely inevitable about it. I give my new local one about three months. Style eh?

Finally the papers are full of it. It really is strike season in London with a vengeance. Almost every Transport group is faced with demands for more money from its staff (the Olympic effect) plus other obscure groups are now getting in on the act. My favourite group being the Traffic Wardens. These guys (who I personally can’t stand) are I understand badly paid as they gleefully extort money with official sanction from all London councils.

I know they are people and they are only following orders and I know they have targets to hit. BUT. No-one likes them and it’s not just a London thing. And it would be ironic if they went on strike. Because people still wouldn’t like them! Even though, we might get some relief from the extortionate parking charges that are now a staple of every London Borough. The sad fact however is that when the strike ends the Council will just charge motorists even more to make up their losses (see Camden Council the biggest bunch of hypocrites on the planet) Like many London Councils they have a ‘green agenda’. This involves ripping off motorists, lying about it, er that’s it. But hey ho that’s how the cookie crumbles nowadays. And no matter how ludicrous the charges get (I personally pay more for my residents parking permit than I do for my car tax!!!) We have no choice. No car means tons of inconvenience and a loss of personal freedom for thousands of us. But do Londoners get upset. Yes they do. Will it ever change? No.It’s a London thing.

Top Art Fairs

Posted on by

If you love art you are probably going to want to go to as many exhibitions and art fairs as possible. The more art you see, the better your ‘eye’ will get and the more you will learn. There is so much art out there it’s hard to know where to begin.

If you really love art it’s worth taking a trip to London. October in London is art season. Art fair after art fair happens. I have visited Art London every year for the past four years, ditto with the Frieze Art Fair. Champagne, art, people watching. So much fun to be had. There is also the and that is just scratching the surface. You are spoilt for choice in London.

Frieze. Established in 2003. It takes place in London’s Regent Park every October. Frieze also has it’s own magazine There is also the Frieze in New York which will feature art from approximately 170 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries. It is massive. Almost impossible to do all in one day. Unless you make a day of it and have lunch there.

British Art Fair runs 12 – 16 September at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London. Champions Modern British art.

London Art Fair takes place 18-22 of January every year (all of the art fairs are every year, sometimes twice.)

Art London runs 6-10th of October. Art London is at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. I thoroughly recommend it. It is a brilliant art fair. The experience starts before you even step into the marque and there is also free champagne on the first night.

The Affordable Art Fair travels all around the globe.

And two that are not in London:

Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Runs June 14th-17th

The Armory Show, New York

Founded in 2000. Runs March 8-11.

Is It Art?

Posted on by

Art can be controversial. With the comment ‘That’s not art’ a common thing, especially in the face of modern art. But is it a fair comment? Well, it’s a matter of taste but I now have a theory: If something makes you ask ‘Is it art?’, then it is art, because it made you ask the question, it made you think. It’s also different from saying ‘that’s NOT art’.

Modern artist don’t have to draw, paint or even (controversial thing) have talent. Sure, they will have imagination, but they can just put their unmade bed in a gallery or all the names of people they have slept with (Tracey Emin) or pickle a shark and cut it in half (Damien Hirst, incidentally worth over £100 million, financially, one of the most successful artists in history). They can take black dummies and dress them as the SS in Nazi uniforms, complete with swastikas. (Jake and Dino Chapman) I remember watching a documentary on the Chapman brothers a few years ago and one of them, Jake or Dino, who knows?, walked around an art gallery and contemptuously pointed out a drawing of Will Smith that a talented artist had done, as it takes a lot of talent to draw well, and sneered ‘What is the point of that?’. Well, what wasn’t the point? It was someone drawing a portrait of a famous people. That is what art mostly was for centuries. It was good and it was, without a doubt, art.

Now, although it may seem like it, I am not attacking Emin, Hirst or the Chapman’s. I think they do have talent. Hirst particularly. They are different, avant garde. But can you be an artist without the talent to draw or paint? Evidently you can. From Duchamp’s urinal to Jackson Pollack’s splatter paintings art opinion has always been divided.

But I still think it takes more than putting something in an art gallery to make it art. And more importantly, I think it takes talent to make it good, and that is what it really comes down to: good art.

Winston Churchill once said: ‘Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.’

The Comedy Autopsy Live : You’d have to be dead to miss it!

Posted on by

 

You wish you had something to do on Wednesday the 23rd of May from 7PM to 9:45pm? Well that’s Interesting. And you wish it cost £4? This is getting a bit spooky now. Don’t tell me you wish it could be of a comedic nature? You do wish it could be of a comedic nature? Ok let’s try one more check: You wish it was in Peckham? This is freaky. The Comedy Autopsy Live is a comedy event happening in Peckham at The Last Refuge, it starts at 7PM and ends before 10PM and, even better, costs just £4. This is meant to be.

The Comedy Autopsy Live is a live stand up comedy event which incorporates elements of podcasting to enhance the experience and give the event a unique flavour. This is comedy version 2.0 if you will allow us such over confidence. We take the comedy out of the pub and put it in a chilled environment that will scream “comedy unplugged”. We can promise that if you come along we will make jokes go into your ear-holes that will make laughter come out of your mouth-hole. It will make you laugh. And that’s all comedy is.

Why start a comedy night man London like totally is crawling with comedy nights? Yes that’s a good point not real person. The reason is simple: I want too. What you want more? Is that not a bold enough statement of mission? Fine I actually do have one of those. It can be tough for emerging comedians (people starting out) to get longer sets to develop their skills. That’s where we come in. This isn’t open mic, nor is it for the comedic elite to try out new material. And by comedic elite I mean they get paid. No the comedians who will appear on The Comedy Autopsy Live are ones that the good people at Comedy Autopsy HQ find funny because we’ve seen them and they have made us chuckle till we buckled. Every act that appears is a 100% guarantee laugh out loud….comedian. Sorry thought there was something better coming but I went with the obvious.

But if you want a specific reason to come along then I have one or two for you. For a start Amy Howerska and James Loveridge will be previewing their Edinburgh Festival show for us. That’s right an Edinburgh Festival preview makes us sound and feel like a proper comedy night. The second reason is that we have Sarah Callaghan. Sarah is a very talented comedian who while not only a graduate of the prestigious Second City improv comedy group in Chicago has also appeared on Coach trip. And we here at The Comedy Autopsy are not sure which we are more jealous of.

So May 23rd. The Last Refuge. Peckham. A night of awesome live comedy. Only £4. It would be great to see you there. I’d appreciate it and so would the performers. £4.Got to be worth a shot.

PS: While it’s not in a pub you will still be able to buy alcohol. In case you were wondering.