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More of David Severn's incredible photography from the Paa Joe celebration event at Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire www.davidsevern.com
#David Severn#photographer#social documentary#Paa Joe & The Lion#Ghana#Nottinghamshire#City Arts#artist residency#Clumber Park#National Trust
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Interview with photographer David Severn

David Severn is a social documentary and fine art photographer based in Nottingham. His work is concerned with the relationship between people and place. More specifically, how individuals and communities interact with or are affected by their environment. Within this context, he is particularly interested in working class culture and the places associated with it both historically and today. David attended the event marking the end of Paa Joe's month long artist residency at Clumber Park (in May 2013). We were wowed by his photos from the day and how they captured the spectacle and atmosphere of the procession.
We will be posting some of David's Paa Joe photography alongside this but If you would like to see more of his work you can find him at www.davidsevern.com. He is also on Twitter and Instagram. How did you get involved with the Paa Joe event? David: I'd met Ben been during the World Event Young Artists festival (2012) in Nottingham, which we were both working on; Ben as filmmaker myself as a stills photographer. I was blown away by his WEYA film and was intrigued to hear of any future projects. I'm often at Broadway (where Ben has an office) working and drinking coffee in the CafeBar, so would run into Ben quite regularly and on one occasion he told me all about his plans for the Paa Joe residency and the documentary he'd been working on. I thought the whole project sounded amazing and very exciting, something I'd love to be a part of. When the residency had finally come to fruition, Ben came back to me about being involved and invited me to photograph the Paa Joe event at Clumber Park. I was keen to shoot in my own style, using film and a rangefinder camera, so excused myself from turning over tens of digital images, which Ben totally understood. This meant I had freedom to consider more carefully which moments I would photograph and more importantly, what I would not photograph! What are your favourite memories of taking part in the project? On a simple level, the beautiful weather that day, drinking nice beer and being with friends. I spent a lot of my childhood at Clumber Park too, it's where I learnt to ride a bike, so going back there brought a lot of good memories to mind. In terms of the project though, I thought the journey from Nottingham added so much theatre and excitement to the day. It really felt like you were going as part of a community to witness this incredible spectacle in these very opulent surroundings. It was a major highlight of 2013 for me. How would you describe your work and your approach to photography? I describe myself as a social documentary photographer. My personal work takes the form of mid / long term projects whereby I explore place, culture, community and environment. I'm interested in the relationship between people and place, often pairing portraits with associated landscapes or interiors to build a narrative that suggests and hints rather than boldly describes. Coming from a mining background, my work is typically concerned with the working class and more recently, young people. I shoot almost exclusively using film with a 6x7 rangefinder camera. Which photographers and artists have influenced you? The list could go on forever but I will list a few: Rineke Dijkstra Doug Dubois Alec Soth Spencer Murphy Laura Pannack Richard Renaldi Tell us about some of your other recent / favourite projects In 2012 I completed a series of pictures looking at the reinvented social uses of former colliery sites in and around the former coal mining stronghold of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The project also explores the current social situation in the area, particularly in relation to its post-industrial recovery. More recently I've photographed travelling showmen families at home in their trailers during the Nottingham Goose Fair. The portraits, which were exhibited during Goose Fair 2013, portray showpeople in a sensitive light and seek to quash commonly held misconceptions about the community. I have a few projects in the pipeline but I'd rather not spill the beans on them just yet! Where can people find out more about your work? My website is the best place to start! davidsevern.com I'm also on twitter @davidsevern.

#photography#paa joe#ghana#Clumber Park#artist residency#Nottinghamshire#Mansfield#colliery#Goose Fair#Rineke Dijkstra#Doug Dubois#Alec Soth#spencer murphy#Laura Pannack#Richard Renaldi
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FORGET BEAR HUGS! Team Paa Joe just wanted to thank EVERYONE that supported us on Kickstarter.
So here, at long last, is the complete list of all our delightful backers - thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!
Paul Boateng
Constance Brinkley
Stephen Etheridge
Becky Morris Knight
The Worksop Loop
Jessica Hayes-Gill
Richard Frost
Susan Fraser
Eleanor Keys
Ali Emm
Jason DaPonte
Masato Taniguchi
Caroline Cawley
David Wayman
Jared LeftLion
Harry Wilding
Katherine Pan
Nail Jay
Oscar Lhermitte
Jeremy Salfen
Nell Brooker
Michael Ogura
Tom Devey
Penny Reeve
Chrisón Thompson
Robert Brinkley
Dave Deighton
Rebecca Brand
Simon Linder
Brandon Kahn
Lisa Oliver
Jennifer Tucker
Andrea 'Drizzy Drake' Quainoo
Gus Péwé
N3V Games
Brian Golden Davis
Jenny Lee
Stephanie Weston Smith
Jane Nicholson
Lucy Bowers
Kallina Brailsford
Sharna Jackson
Susan Morris
Ed Bannard
Melanie Diggle
Trev Coker
Miles Morland
Ama Karikari-Yawson
Paul Atchison
Tim Talbot
Nick Lawford
Anna Ray
Elhum Shakerifar
Natalia Ossowska
Tomas Leach
Jen Mazer
Graeme
Tracey McMaster
Rhys Fowler
Stuart Elms
Amy Rose
Tom Walsh
John Sampson
Georgia Bateman
Chris Black
Sarah Mosses
Alexa Smith
Philip Formby
Cheri Quincy
Luke McGibney
Jennifer L Smith
Kris Williams
Suzanne Alizart
Mandy Briggs
Gifted Scribble
Mattias Kiiehn Nielsen
James Edwin Bettney
Sophie Bower
Erik Fonseka
Susan Kattwinkel
Rose Tea
Laura Leighton
Carlton Solle
Kate Mytron
Zoe Brummell
Subjective Films
Dianne Thomas
Ian Dinwiddie
Nick Tyler
Will Massa
Kate Stoddart
Anna Maloney
Letty Bonnell
Rowland Jobson
Vercruyssen Maxime
Colin Shanks
Andrew Payne
Jonathan Carr
Anthony J Sullivan
Lauren Squires
Rosamund Ward
Sally Morris
Clare Hansen
Sam Goodman
Ben Chapman
Chris
Sara Bivigou
Jean Power
Camille Sales
Kevin Tobin
Hamish Lindstrom
Alexander Sarlay
Jon Saxon
Jenna Elizabeth Round
Segun Lee-French
Bettina Reuhl
Virginia Ryan
Jes Benstock
Amy Blackwell
Rachel Jolley
German Kral
Anna Jeffries
Caroline Eccles
Bethan Weston
Jeffery Baker
David Stewart
Topher Batchelor
Raechel Beardwood
Ed O
Holly Elson
Aiko Hiramatsu
Sarah Winfield
John Keville
Jeanie Finlay
Caroline Pick
Chloe Johnson
Tony Kelly
Libby Durdy
Lucy Atkinson
Deborah Fletcher
Andrew Knight
Philipp Enders
Century Films
Shana Ponelis
Maren Strenge
Steven Dhoedt
Mark Michel
Eileen Wigley
Catherine Simpson
Mari
Jonathan hamilton
Sophie Goswami
Aimie Glenn
David Louis Lankester
Jordan Brooks
Stephen Jon
Kevin Tennant
Paul Henegan
Sue Jolley
Jim Silverman
Anna Seifert Speck
bang Short Film Festival
Mary Ellen Mark & Martin Bell
Daniel England
Malcolm Calvert Stubbins
JD King
Ben Knapp
Sue Collins
Alma Cunliffe
Chris & Helen Osborne
Philippa Cracknell
Tom Hemmings
John Slee
Kate Duncan
Nana Asamoah-Twum
Imogen Sotos-Castello
Curtis W. Jackson
Lucy McDonald
Sarah Tolman
Ruth Heinemann
Cary Welling
Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Adam Lee
Megan Wigley
Sasha Andrews
A+W
Cheryl Gill
Tom Wood
Rosemary Parkhill
David Chamberlain
Jo Allen
Diana Pasek-Atkinson
Rachel
Meryl Somersall
Melanie Grant
Bryn Mabey
Gary Thomas
Adrienne Maguire
Abigail Landon
Karolina Lidin
Rob Mackinder
Julie Gibbon
Vanessa Merrill
Toby
Andy Eastwood
Joe Hardy
Elspeth Berry
Alison Little
May Davies
Clare Long
Mathew Trivett
Alison Denholm
John Turrell
Will Wilkinson
Ian Gardiner
Russell Noon
Russell Slater
Christopher M Shannon
Leanne Rhodes
Lydia Evans
Ben Govier
Gavin Humphries
Andrew Senay
Kate Ibbeson
Mary Kearns
Jamas Enright
Kate Webborn
Katy Wigley
Debbie Senior
Rebecca Gove-Humphries
Sue Cullen
Rebecca Ashton
Pippa Kahn
Kayleigh Hunt
Andy Batson
Miles Clark
Tom and Roxy
Victoria Broackes
Mayhem Film Festival
Zena Marchington
Rachel Dargavel
Dana Moffett
Meli Gueneau
Christopher Hird
Margaret O Brien
Mark Frost
Tony Roe
Gabrielle Smith
Cailin Yatsko
Karen waters
Chris Bray
Mark Pyper
Dan Pascall
Edward Yeoman
Kathy Brummell
Peter Talbot
Gideon Malitskie
Jem Talbot
Saira O'Mallie
Ellie Manns
Thomas Freshwater
Dan Hodgett
Alex giles
Mike Mcloughlin
Lisa Tehrani
Donna M Capin, MD
Diana Smith
Anne Jennings
Spaceships are cool
Tommy Rampling
Matt Scullion
Peter Hutton
Mara Sprengel
MyMoog
Sinae Ha
TSquared Films
Mathew Nixon
Sita Owen-Shaw
Simon Laws
Dense & Andrew Fett
Jon Benson
Nathan Shelock
Vpoint.TV
Doug Smith
Adam Gahlin
Beth Kagan
David Jolley
Wellington Films
Elly Condron
Wellington Films
Elly Condron
Rocket Scenery
Marc Godait
Francois Matarasso
Broadway
Bottletop
Deborah Joan Haywood
Carol Williams
Rob Coke
Benjamin Wigley
Andrew Peter Smith
Marie Luckett
Miriam Jackson
Kelly Knight
Ruth Paxton
Ursula Liang
Farmer Ted
Winifred Boyd
Christina Wood
Mark Grieco
Martin Morgan
Shona Powell
Ali Gavan
Charlotte Poole
Arif Mahmood
Christopher Thomson
Tom Cooper
Adrian Bhagat
Rachel Clare Williams
Yvonne Mustapha
Chas Palmer-Williams
Charlotte Meredith
Thais Lenkiewicz
Cheryl Bowles
Mary Mizuno
Andrew Coles
James Ollerhead
Anthony Hammond
Emily Morgan
Paul Scullion
Peter
David Wallis
Bridget
Anne Whiteley
Jamie Wolpert
James Wigginton
Sarah Stout
Ted Hemsley
Al Needham
Karen Hoy
Nick Aldridge
Sam Derby-Cooper
Ashley Carter
waynex
Sam Potter
Sarah Lucas
Tim Smith
#kickstarter#thank you#hugs#supporters#backers#movie moguls#independent film#documentary#Paa Joe & The Lion#ghana#art#africa#fantasy coffins#Paa Joe film#artdocs#Benjamin Wigley
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JUST HOURS LEFT!
We are delighted that our project will definitely be funded now we've passed the £20k mark and would like to say a HUGE thank you!
If you want to join our successful campaign you've still got a little bit of time left to grab yourself one of our fantastic rewards - a Paa Joe tee, tote bag, Ghana print or even a mini lion sculpture by Paa Joe himself!
Any money we raise over the £20k will be put towards music licensing for the film - enabling us to use tracks by Ghanaian Ebo Taylor and more. If we raise over £2000 more we also hope to be able to work with poet Benjamin Zephaniah to bring his unique voice and words to the film, adding another work of art to a film full of them.
Extra money will also help us pay for post-production work, marketing and promotion and the Gala event to launch the film when finished.
Thank you all for getting involved... here's to the last few hours!
#Team Paa Joe
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Producer Anna tells us what Paa Joe & The Lion means to her
Back in 2011 I got an email from Ben that was, as is his way, very direct and to the point. It just said something along the lines of "Here's a trailer I've put together. Do you want to help produce it and make it into a feature?" I watched the trailer and as soon as I heard Paa Joe's laugh and saw the images of the different coffins there was absolutely no question, of course I was going to help to produce it!
And so the whirlwind began - applications for funding, Documentary Campus Masterschool, pitch workshops, Doc/Fest good times, and of course, going to Ghana. I've only been over once, to collect Paa Joe and Jacob before their trip to the UK, and it was incredible.
I was supposed to go another time, around New Year '13, but, the powers that be had other ideas. Just a week or so before Christmas 2012, on the day Ben and I were due to go to London and meet James Hunt from Sky Arts, I fell down the stairs and broke my foot. I was absolutely gutted as it meant I wasn't allowed to fly with a cast on my foot and was strongly advised not to make the trip. I couldn't believe it.

The reason for the January trip was to film Paa Joe building his mother's coffin, who had died earlier that year, and then her funeral. I so wanted to be a part of it. At the time I was struggling with my own grief, as my Dad died just a week before I tripped down the stairs, and I thought that going to Ghana to visit Paa Joe and be with his family during their time of grief might help me in my grieving process. But alas, it wasn't to be.
When Ben came back from the trip and showed me the footage he'd shot, I found it incredibly powerful. I was still going through the motions of what had happened and watching Paa Joe, this big, strong character, organise funeral proceedings, build his mother's coffin, and be surrounded by his family was somewhat difficult to watch but very beautiful too. As I watched, memories of my father that had been locked away were released back into my consciousness and I felt as though I could see this in Paa Joe - as I watched him putting the finishing touches to the stunning white coffin, I imagined that memories of his childhood and his mother were being unlocked too.
Paa Joe & The Lion follows a man trying to save his business and legacy, but it also shows a man, and a family, dealing with emotions and difficulties that each and every one of us have to too. It is poignant, moving yet also celebratory and has had a deep impact on my life. I treasure this film, and Paa Joe and Jacob, very much and am looking forward to the next stage of the journey.
Thanks, Anna
#Paa Joe film#paa joe#paa joe & the lion#film#Film Makers#film making#film producer#documentary#documentaries#ghana
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A great reward for anyone involved in film and documentary making - or who just loves an awesome film festival! Sheffield Doc/Fest is an acclaimed event with fantastic guests, a brilliant programme and lots of exciting opportunities for documentary film-makers.
If you're a director, producer, editor, cinematographer or just looking to get into the film industry then you can grab this perk and get yourself a unique networking opportunity. As well as getting to meet the other festival-goers you'll get a Professional Date with the Deputy Director Charlie Phillips, who will give you a tour of the festival and advice on how to make the most of it. Big thanks to everyone at Doc/Fest for their support throughout our Kickstarter campaign and for donating this awesome, one-of-a-kind perk!
Visit kickstarter to grab this perk now - only 48 hours left!
#docfest#doc fest#doc campus#doc#doc/fest#documentary#documentaries#Film Makers#film#film festival#film making#film club#indie film maker#indie film#indie doc#indie documentary#Sheffield Doc Fest#sheffield#sheffield doc/fest#kickstarter#crowdfunding#Crowd Funding#perk#pledge#pledges#charlie philips#charlie phillips#director#directing#film producer
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A message of support from our Associate Producer
We recently received a lovely message from our Associate Producer, Constance Brinkley (who pledged over £1,500 through Kickstarter) and thought we'd share it with you. Here's just one of the many reasons people are supporting Paa Joe & The Lion, and we could couldn't be happier about it!
If you'd like to do the same you only have a few days left to get involved. Head to Kickstarter to find out more now.
"I have a love of West Africa and the artists that live in these countries. My brother and his family lived in West Africa for about 10 years on two different occasions and two different countries.
I visited him for 35 days when he lived in Dapaong, Togo and 14 days when he lived in Abidjan, Cote d'ivoire. I have such respect for the people who make their living through art and creativity. I have collected some of the most beautiful work on my visits. I have seen fantasy coffins and admired the work that went into them. I also am a photographer and have done some film work, so when I saw this project it was a "marriage made in heaven" art and a documentary.
I want to help preserve this craft and supporting this project brings awareness to the creativity of the great carpenters of Ghana and their gift of teaching others to carry on with this tradition. Paa Joe's craft needs to continue as an integral part of the local funeral culture and as a craft of creative art. I feel compelled to help you make this happen. Preservation through documentary awareness. Great project. When this is completed, and I know it will happen, I will be making a trip to England to hopefully meet you and the team and see the outcome of my investment. Best wishes to you! Constance"
Our huge thanks to Constance for becoming our Associate Producer and for these beautiful, inspiring words.
#TeamPaaJoe
#artdocs#art#ghana#africa#West africa#West African#Fantasy Coffin#paa joe#Paa Joe film#support#kickstarter#independent documentary#independent film#Film Makers#film#film club#associate producer
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Pop In to the Pop Up! The Creative Quarter have just opened their doors to their Pop Up Shop in Nottingham city centre. It's where the furniture shop, Dwell, used to be on Fletcher Gate...by the Lace Market tram stop, next door to Tesco Express. You know where I mean? Good. Well, why don't you pop in and have a look at Broadway's pop up cinema that is currently housing none other than our lil' lion. Chill out with him and watch half an hour of footage from the film on a split double screen and completely immerse yourself in the Paa Joe & The Lion experience before the film's even out!! He'll be there until Tuesday 12th November (which is also the Kickstarter deadline day!!) - so pop in on your lunch break, pop in when you need to shelter from the rain, or pop in on your way home from work. Creative Quarter Pop Up Shop opening times are: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 7pm Sunday 11am - 4pm Monday - Closed And you can even bag some gorgeous Christmas presents there too from the other wonderful people who have popped up their shops to sell their homemade and unique wares. Just 4 days left of the Kickstarter campaign so please pledge now!! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paajoeandthelion/paa-joe-and-the-lion-documentary
#paa joe#creative quarter#nottingham#art#christmas#installation#ghana#shop#pop up#independent film#Broadway Cinema#arthouse#pop up cinema#pop up shop#lion#Paa Joe & The Lion
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Another mix to Get Down to!
The guys from Get Down Sounds have sent us an afro-centric mix for our (and your) listening pleasure. Enjoy...
Get Down Promo Mix #4 by Getdownsounds on Mixcloud
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BIIIIIIIIIIIIG HUG! It's time to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH to a bunch of our lovely Kickstarter supporters. So, to these very special people we send a big squeeze from all of Team Paa Joe...
Ben Chapman
Alexander Sarlay
Simon Linder
Christopher M Shannon
Sam Goodman
Clare Hansen
Russell Slater
Russell Noon
Rebecca Brand
Doug Smith
Jem Talbot
Ian Gardiner
Charlotte Meredith
Dave Deighton
Will Wilkinson
Sally Morris
Chas Palmer-Williams
If you'd like to join the roll call of awesome individuals head to our Kickstarter page now - we've only got a few days left and we're SO, SO CLOSE!
#kickstarter#crowdfunding#Paa Joe film#Ghana#thanks#supporters#backers#movie moguls#big hug#lion#wildlife photography#lion cub#lioness#independent film#documentary#Paa Joe & The Lion
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AWESOME REWARDS!!
We've got some really mega rewards to give out as thank yous to everyone who backs our Kickstarter campaign!
Help us finish our documentary Paa Joe & The Lion and you can bag yourself a bundle of great Amy Blackwell Paa Joe merch...
Get a Tote Bag, T-shirt AND an A5 Amy B print AND be the first to see the film with a high quality digital download!
I know you're probably thinking "but that must be at least 70 quid's worth of stuff..."
It is.
But we're giving it to you for just a £50 pledge.
So you get to support a great film made in the UK & Ghana, and you get a totally rad bundle of amazing stuff as a thanks from us!
Let a bit of movie-biz glamour rub off on you and pledge now to get this limited edition magic bundle perk
#ghana#kickstarter#Crowd Funding#crowdfunding#rewards#Paa Joe film#paa joe & the lion#paa joe#amy blackwell#independent documentary#independent film#screenprint#tote bags#t-shirts#t-shirt#lion#uk films#uk#indie film maker#indie flick#crowdfund#nottingham#africa#accra#ghanaian culture#Coffin#Fantasy Coffin
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Interview with Charlie Philips of Sheffield Doc/Fest Fame The wonderful folks behind Sheffield Doc/Fest have been very generous in their support of Paa Joe & The Lion so far. From hosting guest blog posts from us to offering up an exclusive Doc/Fest VIP reward as part of our Kickstarter campaign - including a special professional date with their Deputy Director, Charlie Philips. To give you a tiny taste of what it's like to gain such exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the festival here's a quick natter we had with Charlie earlier this week...
PJ&TL: What is your role at the festival? CP: Deputy Director …and what exactly does that entail? That entails doing everything really. So anything from inviting people to come to the Meet Market, either to ask for money or to give money, helping to programme the films, raising money for the festival, just kind of anything and everything really. What is the best thing about working for Doc/Fest? It has organisational ethics and a real commitment to helping filmmakers rather than doing an event for the sake of it. We're totally committed to supporting the industry Who has been your favourite festival guest over the years? I was really excited to have Ira Glass. He’s such a big hero of mine so purely on the basis of getting one of your heroes to come, that would be it… and he was really nice as well, really inspiring. What can a newbie from Doc/Fest expect from the festival? That we’ll treat you as an individual…that’s kind of what we do. We try and give everyone a chance to live up to their potential and to get everything out of the festival. What are you most excited about for Doc/Fest 2014? Urrrmmm… well it’s too early to say anything really, we haven’t confirmed anything! But just that it’s going to be even bigger and more exciting than ever, but I can’t say any more than that!
So, you'll have to wait and see what surprises are in store for Doc/Fest 2014 but rest assured if you love films or want to get unprecedented support for your film this is the festival for you
http://sheffdocfest.com/
http://kickstarter.com/projects/paajoeandthelion/paa-joe-and-the-lion-documentary/
#Sheffield Doc Fest#Charlie Philips#Doc Fest#film festival#documentary#independent film#Ira Glass#This American Life#VIP#behind the scenes#film makers#pitch#Meet Market
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Danke! As Wayne (and Ferris) would say Danke to all these lovely people for pledging on Kickstarter and supporting the film.
Anthony J Sullivan
Chrisón Thompson
Jonathan Carr
May Davies
Penny Reeve
Alison Little
Kathy Brummell
Elspeth Berry
Joe Hardy
Andrew Payne
Jes Benstock
Yvonne Mustapha
Rachel Clare Williams
Andy Eastwood
Adrian Bhagat
Oh, and we have to say a special little thank you to actor Toby Jones who kindly contributed to the campaign this week.
If you'd like to join this roll call of awesome people head to our Kickstarter page now! http://kck.st/16uVnlT
#kickstarter#supporters#independent film#funding#movie moguls#backers#pledge#Crowd Funding#paa joe & the lion#ghana#documentary#Ben Wigley#indie film maker#danke#ferris bueller#wayne newton#Toby Jones#Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy#berberian sound studio
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Interview with Anna Griffin, producer of Paa Joe & The Lion People often ask about the various roles involved in making an independent film like ours. So, we decided to shed some light on the behind the scenes action.
Here's an introduction to our producer Anna and what she gets up to making films like ours, not to mention working alongside star talent and top directors like Nicolas Winding Refn.
Anna Griffin is an independent film producer who works for Wellington Films. She has been involved with a range of productions including Bronson and Only God Forgives and has recently produced the spine-chilling short horror, The Gas Man.
How did you get into Producing? I landed my first job as a Production Runner on the seminal film, Goal!3, in 2007. Rachel Robey hired me and Rachel Dargavel got my foot in the door. From there I went on to work on numerous productions, many of which took place in Notts, (Bronson, Unmade Beds, Skeletons) in various roles, Director’s Assistant, Floor Runner, 3rd AD. I loved the buzz of working on a shoot but was always a bit bummed that that was the only part of the process I saw. I wanted to know what happened before and after the shoot. Since 2010 I’ve been with Wellington Films, the brilliant production company behind London to Brighton, founded by Al Clark and Rachel Robey, my first boss. And more recently, I’ve joined forces with Rachel Dargavel and her company, Crybaby. It’s all gone full circle! For the uninitiated, what exactly does a producer do? Try to make the director’s dream come to life. A less floaty answer would be plan, budget, write, encourage ideas, solve problems, drive vans, try to keep everyone happy, cook breakfast and try to pay people on time. What has been your favourite film to work on so far – and why? Oh goodness, they’ve all been incredible for so many reasons! Bronson was ace because it was my first time working with Nicolas Winding Refn and I just think the film is incredible. And the duties were varied – being sent on cookie-buying errands to helping with script amendments. Unmade Beds was filmed almost entirely in Roden House, Sneinton, and by the end of it, it really did feel like cast and crew had become one big weird bohemian family. Best wrap party EVER! On Skeletons the director, Nick Whitfield, called everyone Jimmy and we were filming in a village near Matlock where everyone seemed to have pampas grass in their front gardens… I’ve heard that’s supposed to signify something. I actually can’t pick my favourite and I think that’s because for a couple of years, with the help of local screen agency EM Media, there were so many great films being produced in Notts. This meant that we had loads of really talented crew-members based here. We’d all go from one production to another together, eating on double-decker dining buses in the cold and gossiping about who fancied who. It was really fun and built the foundations for some great friendships and working relationships. Have you got a funny behind-the-scenes moment you could share with us? During Bronson and Valhalla Rising Nicolas would choose to shout “Let’s f**k!” instead of “Action!”, often to the horror of any unsuspecting set visitors or extras we’d have on set that day. As a producer what’s the question you get asked most often? Can we afford that? Normally, no. Who’s the nicest celeb you’ve met? Mads Mikkelsen, nicest, funnest, silliest man in Hollywood. All round babe. What has been the toughest part of the Paa Joe project so far? Well, I thought it was trying to organise a performance with fire spinners, Vikings, drummers, dancers, a stilt walker, giant puppets and a 6ft lion. But it turns out it’s trying to run a Kickstarter campaign. What has been the best part of the Paa Joe project so far? Having Paa Joe and Jacob over in Nottingham in the summer. It was such an honour to be working with them, seeing them create the masterpiece that is The Lion. And taking them to see Paa Joe’s eagle coffin in the British Museum was really special. He’d never seen his work in an exhibition space before and the British Museum is a pretty magical place. Plus watching Jacob eat a burger for the first time at Annie’s Burger Shack… I think it’s safe to say he enjoyed that. And we had so many laughs, in between the tiredness. Even now I can’t think of Anthony Caro without smiling from ear to ear. (For a long time we thought Anthony Caro had visited Paa Joe’s workshop in Ghana. After many phone calls and emails with his assistant, trying to set up meetings with the world-renowned artist and one of the best sculptors Britain has ever produced, we realised it was Aunty Carol who’d visited Paa Joe’s workshop). If you could travel back in time to when you were first starting out and could give yourself some advice, what would it be? Don’t underestimate anything – money, time, effort or energy – production’s a tough slog. Plans for the future?
For the Paa Joe & The Lion party to take over the world!
--- For more information see http://paajoe.artdocs.co.uk
And please support our film on Kickstarter - we've only got 7 days left and several thousand pounds to raise - every small (or large!) donation gets us one step closer. Thank you! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paajoeandthelion/paa-joe-and-the-lion-documentary
#Anna Griffin#film producer#movie making#independent film#nicolas winding refn#drive#ryan gosling#only god forgives#bronson#valhalla rising#skeletons#nick whitfield#mads mikkelsen#wellington films#nottingham#east midlands#uk films#film production#Paa Joe & The Lion#kickstarter#crowdfunding
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NEW MIXTAPE SUBMISSION!
DJ Double Denim got all inspired by Paa Joe & The Lion and created this dead good mixtape for us...enjoy!
Double Denim's deadly Paa Joe mixtape by Double Denim on Mixcloud
#mixtape#indie#paa joe & the lion#Louis Armstrong#jazz#funeral jazz#Jeffrey Lewis#anti-folk#Daniel Johnston#Casper the friendly ghost#Prince Buster#reggae#Thee Oh Sees#garage#Rough Trade#Harry Nilsson#undertaker#coffin#indie rock
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Some handy advice from Ben Wigley, the director of Paa Joe & The Lion, on how to make a good project video (even if you hate being on camera).
#crowdfunding#kickstarter#tips and tricks#ben wigley#film#director#independent film#documentary#pitch
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BEFORE PAA JOE THERE WAS SIR PAUL SMITH Here's director Ben Wigley's award-winning short film PS Your Mystery Sender(after the trailer for his latest project) for your enjoyment.
The film began when Ben heard about the world renowned fashion designer receiving strange and curious gifts from an anonymous admirer . With 20 years' worth of these mysterious offerings to show Paul agreed to meet our film-maker to discuss these odd items along with other ideas such as his inspirations, creative process and much more.
#PS Your Mystery Sender#paul smith#fashion#inspiration#creative process#design#Nottingham#Sir Paul Smith#gifts#Ben Wigley#independent film#kickstarter#paa joe & the lion#artdocs#short film#its nice that#art
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