connor pr
CONNOR PR WORKING WITH SHOOTING TIGER PICTURES ON THEIR LATEST FILM “WELCOME TO CURIOSITY” UK PREMIERE ARRIVES IN LONDON ON MONDAY 4th JUNE 2018
UK PREMIERE ARRIVES IN LONDON ON MONDAY 4th JUNE 2018
HEADING TO DVD & DIGITAL HD AND SELECTED UK CINEMAS FROM FRIDAY 8th JUNE
Prepare for palpitating, edge-of-your-seat suspense as Salt Film Releasing presents psychological thriller and British feature, Welcome To Curiosity, arriving in selected UK cinemas and heading to DVD and Digital HD across the UK and Ireland from Friday 8th June.
With a stellar ensemble cast, the British indie film was shot in Cornwall and set in the fictional English town of Curiosity. It stars Richard Blackwood (Eastenders, Outside Bet, The Guvnors), Stephen Marcus (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Amrita Acharia (Game of Thrones, The Good Karma Hospital), Cristian Solimeno (Rush, Love, Footballer’s Wives), Jack Ashton (Call the Midwife, Endeavour, Four Seasons) and Kacey Clarke (The Inbetweeners, Blood Orange).
Welcome To Curiosity explores four parallel storylines with the fates of five key characters unwittingly and sometimes fatally intertwined; a heist gone wrong, a serial killer on the rampage, a lunatic missing from the asylum, a vulnerable girl mixed up with a predatory man and a salesman with a vivid imagination. All with just one thing in common; an insatiable curiosity which may ultimately cost them their lives.
The story begins with the news that psychotic mass-murderer, Lee Hunting, has escaped from a psychatric unit. DS Binon is assigned to track the killer down and sets about a full scale man-hunt.
Arch-nemesis Fordy (Richard Blackwood) and Dexter (Cristian Solimeno) are commissioned by Dexter’s ex-father-in-law to carry out an armed robbery. Having pulled the heist off successfully, Fordy and his gang double-cross Dexter and a firefight ensues injuring Dexter’s right hand man, Al (Eke Chukwu). Dexter and Al escape with the £6 million haul and hide out on a rural farm, taking its owners Martine (Kacey Clarke) and her brother Thomas (Christopher Rithin) hostage. Events soon take a turn for the worse and the unlikely group go on the run as Dexter tries to flee the country.
Zoe (Amrita Acharia) is a young runaway who meets the dangerous and violent Sean (Jack Ashton) at a roadside cafe. The deadly duo embark upon a journey of lust and vengence with tragic consequences.
Elliott (Finn Corney) is young newspaper boy with an inquisitive mind. With the news of a serial killer on the loose in his rural village, Elliott becomes convinced the killer is local gardener, Stubbs (Brian Croucher) and sets out to investigate. But as the net closes in on the killer, will Elliott find out the truth and live to tell the tale?
Struggling beer salesman Tim (Gary Grant) is frustrated and disillusioned by life, which takes him on the road six days a week. He’s also deeply resentful of his boss. By chance, he picks up a hitchhiker who takes him on a wild and precarious journey through the seedier side of life. Events take a surreal and sinister turn for the worse and Tim soon realises his life is changed forever.
Directed by Ben Pickering (The Smoke), with screenplay by Darren Ripley (The Smoke, The Gatekeeper), Welcome To Curiosity is produced by Shooting Tiger Pictures and Taffy Boy Films. Cinematography is by Bruce Melhuish (The Glass Man, I Made This For You) with production design by Hannah Howell. Award-winning music composers, Luke Corradine and Stewart Dugdale are on board, producing a captivating original music score.
Director, Ben Pickering, said: “The film was originally written to be set in the rural United States but various reasons filming there was impractical for us. One of the challenges of bringing it to life on this side of the Atlantic was preserving that quirkiness. Rather than setting it in a town we all know, we created this fictional town of Curiosity where everything just isn’t quite right.”
“We considered shooting the film in Wales (where I grew up) and in secluded rural parts of Hertfordshire, even finding locations in both. And then one day while out with my kids, we stumbled across this vintage American diner called Mimi’s, parked up in an industrial estate near St Austell in Cornwall. It was so completely out of place, I took it as a sign.”
“So we moved the production down to Cornwall, using local cast and crew wherever we could and shipping in everything else. For a low-budget film seeking to punch above its weight, with aerial sequences and firefights, it was an enormous logistical challenge.”
Star, Richard Blackwood, who plays the villain Fordy, added: “We shot the movie before I started EastEnders and it’s coming out just after I’ve finished, which is great. As happens a lot with low-budget British movies, it can take a long time to hit the screens, there so much involved in making these things happen that people don’t see.”
“It’s the closest thing to Pulp Fiction because it’s an amalgamation of different stories intertwining.”
“My character Fordy is basically everyone’s nightmare. He’s borderline psychopathic and will take almost anyone out who gets in his way. But he does it with humour and a smile.”
Welcome To Curiosity hit the headlines in 2014 as the world’s first ever equity-based crowdfunded film through online investor platform, Seedrs.com. Many independently produced films have since gone on to use this equity-based model, which enables investors to own a stake in the film and its profits. Welcome To Curiosity was the first in the world to pioneer this route.
Before landing in the UK, Welcome To Curiosity will also be released in selected cinemas across North America on Friday 25 May. The UK premiere will take place in London’s Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square on Monday 4 June, attended by cast and crew who will participate in a Q&A following the screening.
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FILM INFO:
Running time: 94 mins approx.
BBFC Cert 15
Watch the trailer: http://www.vimeo.com/welcometocuriosity7
For more information, media interviews or images please contact:
Siobhan Connor at Connor PR on 07966 177025 or email siobhan@connorpr.com
Hayley Hamburg at Connor PR on 07799 714727 or email hayley@connorpr.com
Editors notes:
About Salt Film Releasing
Salt Film Releasing is an all rights UK distributor. Part of the Tiger Lane Group of companies (whose subsidiaries include Shooting Tiger Pictures and Taffy Boy Films), it was established in 2017 to fill a gap in the distribution market for low-budget (less than £500,000 budget) UK British films struggling to gain distribution. WELCOME TO CURIOSITY is Salt’s first UK release, hitting UK cinema screens, DVD shelves and VOD platforms in June 2018. It will be followed by 10-12 releases per year, drawn from the best of the 60% of British films made for under £500,000 each year but which struggle to secure distribution.
About Shooting Tiger Pictures
Shooting Tiger Pictures is a London-based film and television production company run by Welsh film producer-director Ben Pickering. It develops low-to-medium budget British films for the domestic and international market as well as television projects in collaboration with Taffy Boy Films and others. It also offers production services through its parent company Jericho Lane. Shooting Tiger’s first feature, WELCOME TO CURIOSITY, will be released in selected cinemas, on DVD and on VOD in the UK, US and Canada in June 2018.
About Taffy Boy Films
Taffy Boy Films is a Wales-based film and television production company. Headed by writer-director Darren Ripley (writer of UK features THE SMOKE and WELCOME TO CURIOSITY), it develops film and television projects often with a crime theme. Following the release of WELCOME TO CURIOSITY in June 2018 in the UK, US and Canada, it will shortly begin production of the comedy TAFF’S GOLD directed by Ripley and produced by Shooting Tiger Pictures’ Ben Pickering.
Welcome To Curiosity, Ben Pickering, Film, Connor PR, Connor PR and film PR, Connor PR and premiere PR, Richard Blackwood (Eastenders, Outside Bet, The Guvnors), Stephen Marcus (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Amrita Acharia (Game of Thrones, The Good Karma Hospital), Cristian Solimeno (Rush, Love, Footballer’s Wives), Jack Ashton (Call the Midwife, Endeavour, Four Seasons) and Kacey Clarke (The Inbetweeners, Blood Orange).
Farewell to the Godfather of Italian cooking #AntonioCarluccio who I had the pleasure of working with
Farewell to the Godfather of Italian cooking #AntonioCarluccio who I had the pleasure of working with on Comic Relief PR Campaigns and restaurant launches
SHROPSHIRE STAR.
Opening of Carluccios at Shrewsbury.
Antonio Carluccio speaks at the opening.
Connor PR, Antonio Carluccio, lifestyle PR, Consumer PR, Restaurant PR
Siobhan Connor of Connor PR, columnist in My Shrewsbury Magazine
Whicker’s World Foundation launches new grant for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures
Whicker’s World Foundation launches new grant for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures
- Whicker’s World Foundation is expanding its reach to help ensure that more women enter the profession.
- Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women non-fiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyses social change.
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Submissions for existing Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are being accepted.
Whicker’s World Foundation launches a new bursary for New York-based Chicken & Egg Pictures, to help fulfil their mission to increase the number of women documentary makers introduced into the industry pipeline.
Whicker’s World Foundation—set up to fund a new generation of documentary makers—is expanding its reach to help ensure that more women enter the profession. The Foundation, which awards one of the biggest cash prizes in documentary production (£80,000 to an individual) has created an additional annual £10,000 grant for Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Accelerator Lab program.
Accelerator Lab, open to applicants from around the world, provides first- and second-time women filmmakers with a $35,000 grant, a year-long creative support program with participation in three one-week labs (all expenses covered), mentorship catered to each individual and her project, and opportunities for networking with industry professionals and the filmmaker community. As Jenni Wolfson, Executive Director of Chicken & Egg Pictures, said about the program, “We don’t simply support films, we foster careers. This holistic approach is the key to successfully supporting women filmmakers.”
The New York-based organisation’s strategy uniquely aligns with Whicker’s World’s continued efforts to broaden the world of documentary. Announcing the new annual award, Alan Whicker’s lifelong partner and founder of the Foundation Valerie Kleeman said: “Alan wanted his legacy to help documentary makers the world over. He was ahead of time in his enthusiasm and support for the female perspective in his own filmmaking. At the Whicker’s World Foundation, we want to be sure that there is equal opportunity for men and women in documentary and I have been impressed by the fact that Chicken & Egg Pictures give to women when they most need it. I feel sure that funding at an early stage will make a huge difference to women in this industry.”
The Foundation is kicking off its support with a grant towards Assia Boundaoui’s participation in the Accelerator Lab program for The Feeling of Being Watched, an exploration of the FBI’s pre-9/11 counterterrorism activities in the filmmaker’s Arab-American neighbourhood outside of Chicago.
“We are so excited about this highly topical project and hope our support will help ‘accelerate’ Assia’s film towards receiving more funding and making the most powerful film she can. Last year, only one in five of our finalists for our main funding award was a woman. We hope the Whicker’s World grant to the Accelerator Lab will widen the base of would-be applicants,” said Jane Ray, Artistic Director of Whicker’s World Foundation.
Not the first time the two organisations crossed paths in the world of documentary, the Foundation previously made an ad-hoc payment of £5,000 to another Chicken & Egg Pictures grantee, Hana Mire, who is developing Rajada Dalka (Nation’s Hope), the working title of a film about Somalia’s women’s national basketball team.
-Ends-
Notes to Editors:
For press enquiries about Whicker’s World Foundation please contact:
Siobhan Connor
CONNOR PR
+44 (0)7966 177025
siobhan@connorpr.com
www.connorpr.com
twitter: connorpr
About Whicker’s World Foundation
Whicker’s World Foundation was set up in 2015 and gives one of documentary’s biggest cash prizes (£80,000) to an authored documentary-maker every year and £15,000 to the runner up. Entries for the main WWF Funding award close on February 14th 2017.
Applications for the Radio & Audio Funding Award close 28th February 2017
Applications for the 2017 Audio Recognition Award close 14th February 2017
Applications for the 2017 Sage Awards close 14th February 2017
For further information visit www.whickersworldfoundation.com
Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation
https://twitter.com/whickersworld @whickersworld
Chicken & Egg Pictures
Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women non-fiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change.
For more information, visit chickeneggpics.org or contact Cindy Choung, External Relations Manager, Chicken & Egg Pictures, at cindy@chickeneggpics.org
http://www.feelingofbeingwatched.com/home/#the-film
film, documentary, TV, Whicker’s World Foundation, Connor PR, specialist in film PR, Specialist in TV publicity
Whicker’s World Foundation launches inspiring Funding Award at Radio Festival
Whicker’s World Foundation launches
inspiring Funding Award at Radio Festival
- Whicker’s World Foundation launches the Radio & Audio Funding Award (RAFA) at the Radio Festival, the annual celebration of all things audio at the British Library. The festival brings together a full media scope of leading figures from the UK’s audio industry.
- Supporting authored storytelling in the UK, taking us into new or hitherto unseen worlds, RAFA will help fund independent audio documentary makers.
- RAFA Awards are worth a total of £7,000.
- Submissions for this and existing Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted.
Whicker’s World Foundation will today, at the UK’s popular Radio Festival hosted by broadcaster Paddy O’Connell launch a brand-new funding award – the RAFA – to help aspiring independent audio documentary makers. The awards were created to celebrate and encourage excellence in audio documentaries, and have been generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated journalist Alan Whicker who died in 2013. Whicker wanted to encourage curiosity, stimulate the senses and empower talent which might otherwise never find a place in today’s highly-competitive industry.
The Whicker’s World Foundation, launched in 2015, has already awarded over £100,000.The award prizes consist of £5,000 for the winner and a runner-up prize of £2,000. The winning pitches will offer new and exciting ideas for audio documentaries, meeting Whicker’s World Foundation criteria of: taking us into a new or hitherto unseen worlds; being personal but not partisan; and with an emphasis on strong original storytelling and development of the medium. Applicants need to supply up to six minutes worth of audio in support of their proposals.Deadline for entries is 23rd December 2016, there is no application fee and candidates can apply online. The best five will be invited to pitch at an event in March 2017 and the winners will be announced at next year’s Radio Festival.Whicker’s broadcasting career began in radio and he went on to join Radio 2 in the late 1990s, adding what Jim Moir, the then Controller, described as “Great lustre to my network”. Alan was an avid fan of radio documentary and told the press he wanted to return to it because, unlike TV, it didn’t ‘dumb down’ – radio and ‘assumed an intelligent audience’. Alan Whicker’s passion continues into new generations with awards such as RAFA, created to empower emerging talent.The panel of judges will be looking for imaginative storytelling, either breaking new ground or taking a familiar path in a new and innovative direction. Valerie Kleeman , Whicker’s partner in life and work for over 40 years, said: “Alan was well aware that he had been lucky enough to start working at a time when serious journalism was respected and presenters given the freedom to fashion their own programmes. He and his colleagues were writing the grammar of what was to follow; they were given support and opportunities and often allowed to learn on the job. He was aware that this scenario is not replicated today; money is scarce and commissioners are reluctant to green light without a celebrity name fronting a subject with which they often have little connection. Alan, who felt the best shot of himself was the back of his head, abhorred this trend. He was apolitical; he sought to intrigue and stimulate but not to influence. He strived to uncover the unusual as well as entertain. Above all he was a writer and observer who wrote and filmed what he saw. At the Foundation we seek to use Alan’s legacy to further his vision and to help those with talent to take the first step up a ladder which is increasingly difficult to climb.“
Jane Ray, Consultant Artistic Director for Whicker’s World Foundation said: “I am thrilled that the Radio Festival are partnering this new funding award for audio. I am a passionate believer in the enduring power of the well made, thoughtfully produced audio documentary. The other day we were contacted by someone looking for a series Alan Whicker had made 18 years ago. They knew the title and could describe the pictures vividly – then remembered they’d actually ‘seen’ radio broadcasts. Those who inspire us to listen, I mean really listen, and take us deeper into understanding the notions and motivations that shape our human story need to be nurtured. If this award goes some way to helping talented independent audio producers realise their documentary dreams Alan Whicker’s legacy will be wonderfully well served.”Roger Cutsforth, The Radio Academy Managing Director added: “The Radio Academy is proud to be partnering with Whicker’s World Foundation on this fantastic initiative to encourage and support new talent in audio documentary making. The Radio & Audio Funding Award [RAFA] is a wonderful legacy of the late, great Alan Whicker and his passion for the medium and will be a wonderful addition to the Radio Festival.”
Francesca Panetta, last year’s runner up for ‘The Dhammazedi Bell’ and multimedia special projects editor at The Guardian said: “It’s wonderful to see this new funding award. There is so much talent out there but few avenues for funding creative audio. I’m looking forward to seeing or more appropriately hearing the results.”
Nina Garthwaite, founding director of In the Dark Radio, added: “While the Internet has opened up new platforms for independent audio production, it’s still not always easy for producers to find the funding to do the work they’re passionate about and you need money to have the time to really explore your ideas. So it’s great that the Whicker’s World Foundation Awards want to support radio makers with a strong independent voice and a desire to develop the medium. I’m excited to hear the results!”
Will Jackson, managing Director of the Radio Independents Group commented: “RIG greatly welcomes this new funding award, which gives the next generation of Britain’s audio documentary makers an invaluable opportunity to join the ranks of Britain’s highly successful indie production sector.”
Alan Hall, previous Whicker’s world Foundation audio judge and CEP of Indie Falling Tree said: “It’s exciting to welcome a new funding award that encourages documentary production to go beyond worlds (literal or figurative) known already to us and, in so doing, to develop the unique qualities of a medium now entering a new golden age!”
Whicker’s World Foundation’s pre-existing awards are also opening entries for submissions today.
The Audio Recognition Award
This is moving to The Radio Festival. This is for a documentary, 15 minutes or over, broadcast or published online in the previous year. It was won this summer by Cathy Fitzgerald’s Little Volcanoes. The award is for £5,000 to the winner and £2,000 for the runner-up. The winners will be announced at next year’s Festival.
The Film and TV Funding Award
This is the primary focus of Whicker’s World Foundation. Each year £80,000 will be awarded to a new director with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary which fulfils the core criteria of the Foundation and can be completed for screening with this award. The money will be paid in instalments to the director’s film company, enabling a project which deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. This year it was won by Alex Bescoby for Burma’s Lost Royals. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2017 and the shortlists will be announced in May 2016. The first winners will be announced by Whicker’s World Foundation at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Ceremony, which will take place on the final night of the 2017 festival, 13th June 2017.
The Whicker’s World Sage Award
‘Retirement’ was not a word in Alan’s vocabulary. He was 83 when he wrote and presented Whicker’s War, a much acclaimed account of his army experiences in Italy for Channel 4. He made his last series for BBC Two, Journey of a Lifetime, in his late eighties. The Sage award will recognise a TV or audio professional who has come to air with an authored story for the first time, a prize of £5,000 will be awarded annually to an applicant aged 50 plus. Submissions of no more than 10 minutes; this can be for presentation but must be their own work. A runner-up will receive £2,000. Keith Earnest Hoult won this award for for Fluechtlinge – Refugee. Keith, a fan of Alan Whicker’s ‘gentle approach’ to interviewing, was inspired to create a ten-minute film about Syrians seeking refuge in a disused airport used for the Berlin Airlift. When he witnessed his friend’s wife Caroline trying to help refugees against a growing backlash he ‘felt the urge to film it if only for her family to reflect on later in life’. Keith learnt his film-making skills at the SAE Institute after redundancy and divorce turned his life upside-down. Judges were impressed that he made this entirely self-funded film as ‘a simple tale of ordinary people helping other ordinary people at their time of most desperate need.’
For further details on the awards and entry forms please go to
www.whickersworldfoundation.com
-ENDS
Notes to editors:
For images, media information and interviews please contact:
Siobhan Connor at Connor PR siobhan@connorpr.com + 44 (0) 7966 177025
For Terms and Conditions and award Criteria please go to http://whickersworldfoundation.com/application-forms/
Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation
https://twitter.com/whickersworld @whickersworld
About Whicker’s World Foundation
On 7 June 2015 Whicker’s World Foundation, whose principle aim is to give a much needed fillip to authored documentary storytelling in the UK, launched three new documentary awards worth over £100,000 for the promotion of curiosity in programme making, generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated broadcast journalist Alan Whicker. The launch took place in the Sheffield Winter Gardens led by Alex Graham, chair or Doc/Fest, Jane Ray, Artistic Director for the foundation and Kim Longinotto, multi award winning filmmaker. Entries for 2017 Awards opened on September 26th 2016 www.whickersworldfoundation.com
Radio Festival
Radio Festival is an annual event organised by Radio Academy, a registered charity dedicated to the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK radio broadcasting and audio production. www.radioacademy.org
Connor PR, Whicker’s World Foundation, Siobhan Connor PR
ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION NOW AVAILBLE TO VIEW AT BFI SOUTHBANK AS PART OF LATEST ACQUISITIONS EXHIBITION
ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION NOW AVAILBLE TO VIEW AT BFI SOUTHBANK AS PART OF LATEST ACQUISITIONS EXHIBITION
Inside Whicker’s World: The life and travels of Alan Whicker
- Alan Whicker collection on view now as part of an exhibition of material from the BFI National Archive’s Special Collections; ‘Latest Acquisitions’ is free to view in the Mezzanine Gallery at BFI Southbank until October 23
- Items on display include Alan Whicker’s passports, a BBC Audience report for Whicker Down Under, interview question cards for Papa Doc: The Black Sheep (1969) and The World of James Bond (1967), photographs, correspondence, and shooting schedules
- Test your knowledge by taking part in a travel quiz made by the Whicker’s World Foundation – https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/
- Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted
As well as caring for one of the world’s richest and most significant moving image collections, the BFI National Archive also holds world-class Special Collections of scripts, posters, designs, photographs and other documents, including the archives of some of Britain’s most important film and programme makers. This exhibition presents highlights from some of our exciting recent acquisitions including the papers of Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, television journalist and documentary-maker Alan Whicker, and S John Woods, the man behind many of the best-loved Ealing Studios posters. The exhibition is open now and free to view until October 23rd 2016 at BFI Southbank, Mezzanine Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT.
The BFI National Archive is now home to the archives of pioneering investigative TV journalist, Alan Whicker, donated by Valerie Kleeman, Whicker’s World Foundation. The collection contains meticulous records of one of the most enduring and influential careers in British television history, spanning the late 1950s into the 21st century.
This is an extensive and significant donation covering the entire career of a world-renowned broadcaster, and represents a unique insight into the production methods of a master documentarian. Alan Whicker’s name is a by-word for brilliantly crafted and revealing studies of people and places, whether exploring behind the scenes of the Miss World competition, interviewing Papa Doc in Haiti, or exposing the lifestyles of the hippies of San Francisco, with an enquiring mind and a sceptical tone. This unlikely figure, clad in Gucci tie and blazer, found his way into the nation’s hearts as he went where his audience was unlikely to follow.
The meticulously kept Alan Whicker archive spans the years 1938-2014. It includes a school report from 1938, documents relating to his war career and letters, photographs, extensive production files, audience reports, interview notes and questions (including Whicker’s hand-annotated question cards) and transcripts of every TV programme he made, along with some, as yet, unidentified films. The archive gives an insider’s view of some of the key events, social trends and personalities of the 20th century, while fully documenting the changing world of television reportage across more than five decades.
Around Whicker’s World in 13 Guesses
Test your knowledge of Alan Whicker’s Life and Work by taking part in our quiz
https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/10/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-whickers-world/
Submissions for Whicker’s World Foundation Awards 2017 are now being accepted
The Funding Award
This is the primary focus of Whicker’s World Foundation. Each year £80,000 will be awarded to a new director with the most promising pitch for an authored documentary which fulfils the core criteria of the Foundation and can be completed for screening with this award. The money will be paid in instalments to the director’s film company, enabling a project which deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. This year it was won by Alex Bescoby for Burma’s Lost Royals. The closing date for entries is 31st January 2017 and the shortlists will be announced in May 2016. Entrants must be aged 35 years or younger on the closing date for applications. The first winners will be announced by Whicker’s World Foundation at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Ceremony, which will take place on the final night of the 2017 festival, 13th June 2017.
The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA)
For 2017 we are introducing a new Funding Award for Radio and Audio documentary projects in association with the Radio Academy. This is for a documentary, 15 minutes or over, broadcast or published online in the previous year. The Whicker’s World Radio and Audio Funding Award (RAFA) has a £5,000 first prize and £2,000 runner up award. The deadline for this award is the 23rd of December, with the best pitch being announced at a special event in March 2017.
The Recognition Awards
In addition to our funding awards there are two further annual prizes to recognise completed work: the ‘Audio Award’ and the ‘Sage Award’, the latter of which is for the finest industry newcomer over the age of fifty.
Alan worked in radio before TV and was snapped up by Radio 2 in the late 1990s, adding what Jim Moir, the Controller from 1996 to 2003, described as “great lustre to my network”. Initially Alan’s radio programmes revolved around re-visiting his most memorable encounters from Whicker’s World: from the ‘Ten Pound Poms’ to Margaret Rutherford’s transsexual adoptee who ‘gave birth’ to a mixed-race daughter in South Carolina. He went on to create a radio history of television called It’ll Never Last.
Whicker’s World Foundation will award an annual £5,000 prize for the best audio project of over 15 minutes in length, broadcast in the last year. A runner-up will receive £2,000.
The Whicker’s World Sage Award
‘Retirement’ was not a word in Alan’s vocabulary. He was 83 when he wrote and presented Whicker’s War, a much acclaimed account of his army experiences in Italy for Channel 4. He made his last series for BBC Two, Journey of a Lifetime, in his late eighties. The Sage award will recognise a TV or audio professional who has come to air with an authored story for the first time, a prize of £5,000 will be awarded annually to an applicant aged 50 plus. Submissions of no more than 10 minutes; this can be for presentation but must be their own work. A runner-up will receive £2,000. Keith Earnest Hoult won this award for for Fluechtlinge – Refugee. Keith, a fan of Alan Whicker’s ‘gentle approach’ to interviewing, was inspired to create a ten-minute film about Syrians seeking refuge in a disused airport used for the Berlin Airlift. When he witnessed his friend’s wife Caroline trying to help refugees against a growing backlash he ‘felt the urge to film it if only for her family to reflect on later in life’. Keith learnt his film-making skills at the SAE Institute after redundancy and divorce turned his life upside-down. Judges were impressed that he made this entirely self-funded film as ‘a simple tale of ordinary people helping other ordinary people at their time of most desperate need.’
For further details on the awards and entry forms please go to
www.whickersworldfoundation.com
-ENDS
Notes to editors:
For images, media information and interviews please contact:
Siobhan Connor at Connor PR siobhan@connorpr.com + 44 (0) 7966 177025
For Terms and Conditions and award Criteria please go to http://whickersworldfoundation.com/application-forms/
Join the conversation: facebook.com/whickersworldfoundation
https://twitter.com/whickersworld @whickersworld
About Whicker’s World Foundation
On 7 June 2015 Whicker’s World Foundation, whose principle aim is to give a much needed fillip to authored documentary storytelling in the UK, launched three new documentary awards worth over £100,000 for the promotion of curiosity in programme making, generously funded by a legacy left by the celebrated broadcast journalist Alan Whicker. The launch took place in the Sheffield Winter Gardens led by Alex Graham, chair or Doc/Fest, Jane Ray, Artistic Director for the foundation and Kim Longinotto, multi award winning filmmaker. Entries for 2017 Awards opened on September 26th 2016 www.whickersworldfoundation.com
Nadiya Hussain is supporting ‘Be School Ready’, PTA UK’s national campaign to help families with children starting school in September
Exclusive interview with The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Hussain is supporting ‘Be School Ready’, PTA UK’s national campaign to help families with children starting school in September. The Be School Ready magazines, produced by PTA UK, which is also celebrating its 60th year, have been distributed providing both practical and emotional support for parents, carers and children so they can start school life with confidence.
http://www.pta.org.uk/BeSchoolReady
Get your kids making their healthy after school snacks as well as eating them! Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story is a book of recipes and stories devised and written by Nadiya herself. Cook up a batch of Carrot and Nutmeg Cookies on a Sunday afternoon and share the story of Rapunzel’s Enchanted Carrots while the cookies bake or read about Ruby-Red and the Three Bears and their Very Berry Muffins while you wait for your own to rise! Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story publishes 8th September 2016 in hardback, priced £14.99
As a mother of three very lively children it is safe to say that I have had my fair share of ‘mum I’m starving’ ‘how long before dinner?’, I’m so hungry’, ‘please can I have a crisp?’, ‘if I can’t have crisp, can I have a small biscuit?’. Whether you have one child, three like me or more, I know it’s the worst feeling trying to decide whether your child should have a snack or should I just let them have whatever they want. If not to just keep them quiet before dinner but ease your own guilt.
I spent years wondering what the right thing was to do during that very intense time between school pick up and dinner time. I will not lie, there have been times where I have just given the kids the easiest option, a packet of crisps, a small bar of chocolate, a biscuit (or two). But I noticed that the kids were like yoyos. After school the kids slumped, tired and exhausted from the day. They walk through the door and as I rush around they have a quick sweet treat and they are then the polar opposite, high as kites, excitable before the inevitable sugar crash to follow.
A few years ago I decided that I needed to overhaul my eating habits along with the kids. I just couldn’t do the constant peak and trough that come with lots of sugar all day long. Better eating habits didn’t mean taking everything away, it just meant eating sugar in moderation and incorporating more fruit and vegetables where possible. I thought it would be a difficult change to make when in fact the transition was the opposite of our sugar crashes and slumps. The transition was smooth.
One of the first things I knew I had to tackle was the time between school pick up and dinner. Upon picking the children up my first question is always ‘how was your day?’ and all three kids always respond with ‘Great, what’s for dinner?’ One of my first tips is that I always take a bottle of water (not chilled). I find children are weary of drinking chilled water because it’s cold and harder to drink quickly. So I take a bottle of water at room temperature and allow them to drink to their fill as soon as I see them. I never believe my children when I’ve asked them if they’ve drunk lots of water through the day. What I like to address is the fact that they may just be very thirsty.
As a fruitier alternative to plain water I like to have water bottles with wide necks and to this I add slices of oranges, kiwi and strawberries and leave it to infuse during the day and take that with me on the school run. Once they have drunk all the water they can finish the fruit inside too.
In between sorting the children, preparing for dinner, finishing emails and doing laundry, I always have a few snacks that I have pre prepared or snacks that can be quickly made. Here is a list of a few of our favourites:
- Frozen Yoghurt – small pots of yoghurt, I just pierce a lolly pop stick through the covering and stick the whole thing in the freezer. When frozen, peel off the top of the yoghurt pot and ease the frozen yoghurt out of its pot.
- Frozen Blueberry Yoghurt Sticks – take a wooden skewer and pierce it with about 10 blueberries. Dip the whole stick into yoghurt and place the sticks on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen take them off the sheet and place inside a freezer bag and store in the freezer.
- Apple and Peanut Rings – core and horizontally slice a green apple, spread the tops with smooth peanut butter and eat straight away.
- Houmous Celery Sticks – cut slices of celery sticks about 2 inches long. Fill the inside with houmous and serve.
- Summer Fruit Spring Rolls – take a circle of rice paper and soak for a few seconds till soft. Squeeze off any excess water and place down. Add any fruit, the more colourful the better and wrap like a spring roll.
- Boiled eggs – I like to keep boiled eggs in the fridge during the week. They are quick simple and nutritious and very easy to eat.
- Turkey Ham wrapped Cheese sticks – take a small stick of cheese and wrap around a slice of turkey ham.
- Mini omelettes – whisk up some eggs and add onion, cheese, chives and chopped peppers. Pour the mix into a 12 muffin cupcake tin and bake in the oven. Once cooled these can be stored for a week.
- Steamed edamame beans – these are great placed in a bowl, splashed with a little water and the covered in cling. Cooked in a microwave for 3 minutes and then sprinkled with salt and paprika.
- Plain popcorn – plain popcorn, quickly popped and a large handful is just enough.
In terms of drinks on a warm day I love to make the kids a quick cold smoothie after school and a nice warm drink on the colder school days.
Cold Drink – in a smoothie maker I like to add ice, mint, 1 green apple, the juice of a lime, half water and half apple juice and whizz.
Hot Drink – in a pan add coconut milk and heat up, to this I like to add unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract and honey, boil and serve.
These are all great ways to give the kids a little something to eat to take the edge off the hunger before dinner. But also a great way of getting some of their 5 a day in too.
This is just enough food to keep them sustained long enough to get on to help cook dinner in the kitchen with me, which is their favourite thing to do after school.
ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION DONATED TO BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE
ALAN WHICKER COLLECTION
DONATED TO BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE
London – Thursday, 5th May 2016. The BFI National Archive is pleased to announce that it has received the archives of pioneering investigative TV journalist, Alan Whicker, donated by Valerie Kleeman, Whicker’s World Foundation. The collection contains meticulous records of one of the most enduring and influential careers in British television history, spanning the late 1950s into the 21st century.
This is an extensive and significant donation covering the entire career of a world-renowned broadcaster, and represents a unique insight into the production methods of a master documentarian. Alan Whicker’s name is a by-word for brilliantly crafted and revealing studies of people and places, whether exploring behind the scenes of the Miss World competition, interviewing Papa Doc in Haiti, or exposing the lifestyles of the hippies of San Francisco, with an enquiring mind and a sceptical tone. This unlikely figure, clad in Gucci tie and blazer, found his way into the nation’s hearts as he went where his audience was unlikely to follow.
The meticulously kept Alan Whicker archive spans the years 1938-2014. It includes a school report from 1938, documents relating to his war career and letters, photographs, extensive production files, audience reports, interview notes and questions (including Whicker’s hand-annotated question cards) and transcripts of every TV programme he made, along with some, as yet, unidentified films. The archive gives an insider’s view of some of the key events, social trends and personalities of the 20th century, while fully documenting the changing world of television reportage across more than five decades.
The material will be stored at the BFI National Archive’s paper store at Berkhamsted where it joins over 600 named collections from individuals such as producers Michael Balcon, David Puttnam and Betty Box, directors including David Lean, Joseph Losey, Michael Powell, Carol Reed, Mike Hodges, Muriel Box and Derek Jarman, writers such as Emeric Pressburger, Janet Green and Trevor Griffiths, and documentary filmmakers such as Humphrey Jennings, Derek Armstrong and Michael Orrom. Among the most recent additions to the collection are the archives of Ken Loach, Alan Parker, Jenny Beavan, Richard Lester, Karel Reisz, Jack Clayton and Halas & Batchelor. The Whicker papers will be able to be consulted by researchers and students of television history once cataloguing is fully completed.
Robin Baker, Head Curator, BFI National Archive said, “This is a major collection that gives us a unique insight into one of the great figures of 20th century television. Alan Whicker was a household name, famed for his daring and insightful investigations of people from all walks of life, from close to home and around the globe. His standards were meticulously high and his programmes set a benchmark for longform television documentary. The Alan Whicker collection is a very generous and important donation from Valerie Kleeman of the Whicker’s World Foundation, for which we are extremely grateful. We’re delighted that Whicker’s papers are now part of the national collection of film and television. “
Valerie Kleeman, Whicker’s partner in life and work for over 40 years and founder of the Whicker’s World Foundation said, “The Whicker’s World archive is now where it belongs – in the safekeeping of the BFI – where, I hope, its content will be of help and guidance to generations to come.
The 90 boxes, carefully curated by archivist Catherine Kirby, contain an intimate and personal take on the last half of the 20th century. Beginning with a letter informing him he has passed his School Certificate and continuing throughout his life in the Army Film and Photographic Unit, journalism and television, Alan Whicker observed both the light and the shadows of life.
Often he witnessed history in the making: war trials in Strasbourg, race riots in Alabama. He had access to the unaccessible: dictators, witch doctors, cults – and even the occasional royal. ‘Whicker’s World’ covered everything from bullfighting and the first gay weddings to the horrors of Papa Doc’s Haiti, always with intelligence, often with humour.
Whicker wrote and filmed what he saw, he had no preconceived ideas, no axe to grind. His motivation was to stimulate, to interest, to entertain…..and to allow viewers to come to their own conclusions.
The archive contains 60 years of carefully documented work: transcripts, notes, diaries and photographs, a lifetime of watching the world through thoughtful, quizzical eyes.”
Alan Whicker CBE (1921-2013) was a renowned journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. During the Second World War he joined the Army Film and Photo Unit, and by the 1950s he was working as a foreign correspondent for a Fleet Street agency, and then as a broadcaster for BBC Radio. In 1957 he was spotted by producer Alasdair Milne (later Director-General of the BBC) who gave him a regular ‘Whicker’s World’ slot on the ground breaking Tonight programme. This paved the way for the longer format Whicker’s World which began in 1965 and ran for 40 years on the BBC and ITV.
His reportage spanned the globe and covered a huge range of subjects which reflect all aspects of 20th century culture, politics and history. These include race relations, gay marriage, gun culture, bullfighting, haute couture and interviews with significant (and often controversial) figures of the 20th century, for example, Francois Duvalier (‘Papa Doc’), the notorious Haitian dictator, and oil billionaire John Paul Getty. At the height of his popularity Whicker’s programmes commanded audiences of 15 million people. Whicker’s work was also significant in terms of style and format, for example, he was an early pioneer of the ‘blue light’ programme, a format that is now well-established and perennially popular (shadowing police in their daily and nightly duties). Alan Whicker is a significant cultural figure and a household name for a whole generation. He won many awards during his career including the BAFTA Richard Dimbleby Award and the Screenwriters’ Guild Best Documentary Script (in 1963). His legacy lives on through the Whicker’s World Foundation which supports new documentary talent.
About the BFI
The BFI is the lead organisation for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
- Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
- Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
- Championing emerging and world class film makers in the UK – investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
- Promoting British film and talent to the world
- Growing the next generation of film makers and audiences
The BFI is a Government arm’s-length body and distributor of Lottery funds for film. The BFI serves a public role which covers the cultural, creative and economic aspects of film in the UK. It delivers this role:
- As the UK-wide organisation for film, a charity core funded by Government
- By providing Lottery and Government funds for film across the UK
- By working with partners to advance the position of film in the UK.
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter.
The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger.
About the BFI National Archive
The BFI National Archive was founded in 1935 and has grown to become the one of the largest and most important collections of film and television in the world with over 180,000 films and 750,000 television programmes. For over 80 years the BFI has been an international leader in film preservation and guardian of Britain’s unparalleled film and TV heritage. The BFI is an innovator in presenting films to audiences in new and dynamic ways, from cinemas to film festivals, outdoor events to online video-on-demand. At the heart of all its activities is the BFI’s central aim to ensure that everyone in the UK has access to the widest possible range of film and their own film heritage.
That heritage includes all time great British directors Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and Powell and Pressburger; and the rich vein of documentary filmmaking, in which Britain led the world, including the lyrical work of Humphrey Jennings. The archive also boasts a significant collection of filmmakers’ papers as well as extensive stills, posters and production and costume designs along with original scripts, press books and related ephemera.
Expert teams undertake the time-consuming and complex task of restoring films at the BFI John Paul Getty Jr Conservation Centre in Hertfordshire. The BFI’s most precious film materials are kept in optimum conditions in the world-leading Master Film Store in Warwickshire.
Stills
A selection of stills for press use in connection with this story can be found at:
www.image.net/BFI/BFI National Archive/Whicker
Press contacts:
Brian Robinson, Communications Manager, Archive & Heritage, BFI
Email: brian.robinson@bfi.org.uk
Tel +44 (0) 207 957 8940
Mobile: 07740 171968
Judy Wells, Head of Press and PR , BFI
Email: judy.wells
Tel +44 (0) 207 957 8919
Mobile: 07984 180501
For press enquiries about Whicker’s World Foundation please contact:
Siobhan Connor CONNOR PR +44 (0)7966 177025 siobhan@connorpr.com
Connor PR promoting The Dog Rescuers Puppy Farm Special
The Dog Rescuers Puppy Farm Special
Channel 5, 8pm
Tuesday 27th October 2015
In this special puppy focused episode of Dog Rescuers Alan Davies reveals how the RSPCA cracked one of Britain’s biggest puppy farm operations in Manchester, rescuing 87 puppies from harrowing conditions and eventually bringing the owners of the racket to successful convictions just one week ago. Operation Pagan lasted 5 years and we will see exclusive footage from the raid and talk to the Special Operations Officers who conducted the investigation, who explain how they managed to bring this barbaric business to an end.
We see incredible footage of the puppies being rescued and taken to be examined by [RSPCA?] vets and we also visit them now to see how their lives have been turned around by living in loving new homes.
The programme also features; information on how viewers can give a rescue puppy a loving home, brand new dog rescues; and a story from Somerset, where we meet three adorable Japanese Chin puppies who, at six weeks old, are enjoying their final days at the animal centre before getting rehomed.
And finally we meet Bruce and Rebel, two 18 month old Lurcher pups who are long term residents of Newbrook Animal Centre. They were saved from living in terrible conditions for days on end and we will do a “live” appeal to see if we can find them a new home. In their heart breaking story we’ll hear how they will have to be rehomed together as Bruce has a degenerative eye disease and will be blind within a year, so will need to rely on best mate Rebel to lead him around in the future.
Connor PR specialists in TV promotion, Connor PR specialists in Entertainment PR, Connor PR and The Dog Rescuers
PUSSIES GALORE: THE WOMAN WITH A THOUSAND CATS
PUSSIES GALORE: THE WOMAN WITH A THOUSAND CATS
Friday 18th September, 8:00pm – 9.00pm
Channel 5
There are over 9 millions cats in our UK homes, with most owners living with a single feline friend, however for someone just isn’t enough. In this extraordinary one hour programme we meet some of the most fanatical kitty lovers who have taken their love one step further. We meet a woman who can’t stop taking local strays in, a man with a cat tattoo obsession, we get an insight into the world of cat competitions and we visit a unique establishment that allows you to enjoy your food whilst stroking a pussy.
Lynea Lattanzio is the embodiment of a crazy cat lady, she has over 1000 cats on her premises and is still unable to say no to more. What started off as company for the divorced retiree, has now spiralled into taking over her whole existence.
Lynea was refused a cat as a child and has been working hard since, making up for lost time. We visit her Californian home and see her surrounded by her furry family, witnessing just how she manages to keep things ticking. With a thousand cats on the property is it all getting too much for Lynea or will she always be thinking of the many more roaming the streets?
From Crazy Cat Lady to Crazy Cat Man, we meet pussy magnet Andy Richards who has spent the last 20 years of his life dedicating his time to helping cats. Andy, the manager of the East Lancashire Cats charity store and owner of 18 of his own, has now racked up 40 cat related tattoos! We join Andy as he embarks upon his latest design, as he goes under the needle for two more tatts. Will Andy’s cat inking obsession come to an end or will he run out of space first?
Later in the episode we meet up with some UK based cat crazies as we discover the world of the Cat Competition. We follow Sue Miller from Devon, a self admitted cat obsessive, who is taking seven of her eighteen cats to the West of England and South Wales Cat Society Show in hope of adding to her vast collection of ribbons and rosettes. We see the preparation, the judging and the results and find out just how much her little superstars winning means to her. Will the pressures of the competition get too much for Sue or will see come away with more accolades?
In the final instalment of the hour we enter a unique establishment that allows people to eat their lunch and drink a coffee surrounded by their favourite feline. We meet Katie Jane Glazier who has opened up Newcastle’s first of its kind, the Cat Café called Mog on the Tyne! In a café influenced by its phenomenon success in Japan, you can now eat your lunch at the same time as stroking a pussy. Will Katie’s unique business venture be a roaring success or will it be doomed to failure?
-Ends-
Connor PR specialist in TV programme promotion, Connor PR working with Channel 5, Connor PR expert in entertainment PR