voiceovers distribution and trying to hold the camera straight

Having spent the last day trying to get the script ready for the voiceover artist, it turns out his equipment has been borrowed by his girl-friend, so he can’t do the work until next week… it doesn’t matter – I wouldn’t be able to use it until then anyway and the pressure of the deadline made me work harder on getting the script finished, so it’s a good thing.

I also got a call from my distributors today – they want to sell the previous documentary as part of a package of other shark-documentaries at an upcoming market (mip something or other). Anyway, that’s fine with me. Except that if this big market is coming up in April, that means I really need to have something of the new documentary ready for them to show there.

In other words, I’ve had my deadline of writing the script relaxed even though I’ve now met it, and had it replaced by a much bigger and scarier deadline of getting a finished programme ready for them to start pre-publicity in a couple of weeks.

Will I have it done? Not sure… I do have a book to write, you know.

In any case, it’s not a hard deadline – if I can’t do it then so be it. It will have to wait for the next market.

Maybe I ought to be more in tune with when these events take place, but I can’t be up on everything! Anyway when the distributors called, they were also able to tell me of a couple more sales for Shark Story, bringing the total now to 3.

One is in Spain – and given that the end of the documentary is very critical of Spainish fishermen’s shark fishing techniques, I’m quite surprised (and pleased) that they’re showing it.

Anyway, again, the payments aren’t huge (one will be £500 and one will be £1,100) , but it all adds up and with each sale, I become more confident that I can make money doing this.


I also managed to write another chapter of the new book today. The basics of shooting. Keep in mind that this is a book aimed at those who are new to the whole video revolution. I’ve been trying to take them from how to find the record button right up to what an MCU is and how to shoot video for a later edit. It’s quite a stretch in a 3,000 word chapter, but I think I’m doing OK…..

Oh – and I’ve come up with a title for the new doc… instead of “going to Gliese” which has become less and less relevant as new science has revealed the planet to be pretty much incapable of supporting life, I’m calling it a much more catchy title: “how to colonise the stars”.

That should get people’s attention a bit more easily.