American Rebellion - A Consuming Passion

I came up with the story of "American Rebellion" in September of this year, it was a "What if?" type of movie set in the late 1990's. The story is about a group of Americans called "American Liberty" fighting for independence from the British Empire in an alternative history. Instead of the USA getting it's independance in the 1700's it starts to in the 1990's. The two world superpowers are The British Empire and The German Empire in a world that both the USSR and USA do not exist.

The short film shows the arrest of Josh Franklin by the Royal Colonial Security Service, an organisation who police and control colonial life in the British Empire. Josh is taken to a detention centre in Boston where he is interogated by Major Steven Claymore for information about "American Liberty". I aim for the short to be dramatic and disturbing. The short film will hopefully lead to the making of a feature length version which I will start writing in February 2010.

Once I had done several drafts of the script (much to the annoyance of my partner in crime Paul Dolmen) We finally started the audition process for the short in October 2009. We decided to place an advertisement on Casting Call Pro and of course on our Facebook Group. In the space of 12 hours we had over 50 applicants in our mail box! Eventually we managed to narrow that down to 28 applicants and started auditions at VUE Fulham Broadway. By we I mean Paul Dolmen my 1st Assistant Director and Nikki Porscin my 2nd Assistant Director.

I have to say the standard of acting was very high and for the first time we had to do call backs on 10 actors for the roles of Josh Franklin and Major Steven Claymore. As I could not make my mind up on who to play the two pivotal roles in the short. In the call backs I was assisted in my decision process by Edward Mitchell a very talented actor who had worked with us on our short film "The Mayfly". We had decided to pair up the actors so we could see them interact with each other. After a three hour session I had cut the list further. After seeing the last candidates in Birmingham at the end of November I then made up my mind on who I wanted to make "American Rebellion" reality.

Once we had our actors the task of sourcing costumes started, so after searching the internet for hours I finally got my uniforms and military props sorted. I even had badges made for the uniforms of the "Royal Colonial Security Service". In December we also found the perfect location for the short in Wednesbury in the West Midlands. A large old municipal building which had been derelict for ten years with loads of atomsphere and I hope make the film stand out and be seen.

Ahhh, ten minutes of fame. So this is what being a director is all about? Sadly, no.

While it is nice to have exposure in the local press, even if I did write the feature myself, and albeit with an uncomfortably large photograph, self-publicity is probably the part of filmmaking which I like the least.

It is, perhaps, one of those necessary evils which helps you cross the boundaries of 'credible' and 'not credible'. I'd prefer just to write, make films, and get on with my own business - but good publicity sometimes seems to speak louder than a script. Especially when you're setting out, competing against hundreds of other filmmakers, and you want to stand slightly apart from the rest - especially when you want that all important funding for an ambitious feature film.

While the full-page feature in this week's prestigious Tamworth Herald was literally all about me, I maintain that a film is not made by one person, but by the many who contribute and take part. But when it comes to publicity it's difficult to put an extensive credit list to thank all those who were integral in the film's creation. It really is not all about me.

If you're bored and want to read the feature, written under my real name Paul Kemp, then you can download the .pdf version here.

Photographs by Paul Broome (www.broomephoto.com)

Today, I feel a sense of euphoria (not that I want to speak too soon) at a successful three days of filming. From the historical settings of Shugborough Hall to the darkest depths of a metal fabrications factory in Tamworth, more than six months of planning finally came to an end. Surrounded by a fantastic team of friendly people, talented actors, family and friends, we completed the filming of two short films - namely The Mayfly and Retribution of the Soul.

My head has been spinning, and it feels as though I am at a loss with words. Richard and I want to express our thanks and admiration to everyone who took part; who gave up their time to ensure the projects' success. I know I have masses of such fantastic images and words and am itching to begin the editing process, to review each and every take, to begin putting together the jigsaw of shots to create the finished products. It was such a wonderful and creative process.

There are already a couple of shots available at www.broomephoto.com, by photographer Paul Broome who took many, many still photographs on The Mayfly project. There'll be many more photographs and movie stills to come.

I maintain that a film does not belong to one person but the many who are involved, and who enable it to happen. It is a tribute to them.

Everything changes, yet nothing changes. It's funny how you can spend your life planning for something (ie filming) for it to take an eternity to happen.

We plan, deadlines get pushed back, we plan some more, and deadlines get pushed back even further. But then eventually something happens - a date is set - but then still nothing is certain. Welcome to filmmaking.

So, even though it's been seemingly quiet here at Nebula Gate we have been planning. We've been writing scripts, thrashing out storylines, holding auditions and now we are planning to film a short film in September... which we hope will further lead onto the fruition of an ambitious feature film idea.

Well, you don't know unless you try. Times are still exciting.

We've been meeting with some very talented people and regret that we have not able to choose all to stand infront of the camera, and thank those who have taken time to meet us over the past couple of months.

Time is moving forward, albeit a little faster than we would like.

And the time is coming to put all those plans into action.